New Dress for Madame Alexander Travel Friends, Plus a Furry Life-Size Companion

With the more relaxed pace of summer, and only having one daughter at home, I've been trying to work hard at sewing, in the hopes of opening up an Etsy store for doll clothes soon. Today, I completed a dress that fits the Madame Alexander Travel Friends. I'm not happy with the bunchiness around the sleeves, but I think that was partially from trying to loosen the armseye up a little, because last time I thought it was too tight. I'm such an awful perfectionist, and I need to work through that if I'm going to sell my work. I'll never get anything up for sale if I'm never happy with what I sew.

I really love the dress on Russia. The blue just seems to suit her hair and eyes. I think next I am going to work on making a dress for the Mini AG size. I should be able to tweak this pattern a bit. Believe it or not, the Mini AG has a bigger chest circumference than the Travel Friends, at least the stuffed Minis.

My daughter has been gone all week at a youth conference, so her cat has been following me around for company since her girl was gone. I was taking some pictures on the floor today for an eBay auction, and Agatha decided to insert herself into the photography, as cats do. So here's a picture of one of our beloved kitties.

Childhood Dolls

I know basements, or cellars, aren't common in many areas of the world, but here in Northeast Ohio, they are extremely common. They usually have the washing machine and dryer, and the utility tubs, large tubs for cleaning things that would be impractical in the other sinks in the house. Before showers were common, utility tubs were apparently even used for washing hair, which is what my mother taught my sisters and I to do when we were old enough to reach over to the faucet. It wasn't until we got a little older that we realized that we *did* have a shower, and we could use that to wash our hair, like our friends did!

Moving on from that bit of history and nostalgia, basements are also used to store things that are wanted, but aren't used often enough to have them take up space in the living areas of the house. Holiday decorations or camping supplies are a common example. However, my mom's basement needs some serious waterproofing, and it was largely for that reason that my sisters and I needed to clean out what was unnecessary in the basement, either throwing things away, donating things to charity, or taking what was precious up to the first floor now that my mom has the whole house to herself to store things.

We found some interesting things down there. A few newspapers headlining the end of WWII in Europe, or the first moon landing. My mother's high school diploma, tassel, and class picture. But my mother had also stashed lots of old toys belonging to my sisters and I down there, and I want to show two of my old dolls today.

The first one is probably my very first doll. I received her from my grandparents for my first Christmas when I was six months old. She's dirty, her rooted hair is matted and dried out, and her dress is dirty. Her hollow torso is of a cheaper plastic than the limbs. Her only marking is U11 on the back of her head at the hairline. Here she is after years of play, and a few extra decades spent in a basement.

Here I am as a baby, sitting on my grandmother's lap, with the doll on my lap. My mother's hands are also in the picture. Please excuse the poor quality photo; this is a screen shot from an old Super 8 home movie, converted to DVD.

The other doll I discovered who was worth taking away, was my Rub-a-Dub Dolly, made by Ideal. Her main characteristic was that she was supposedly waterproof, so she could be played with in the bathtub. Her initial release date was 1973, so if I got her that year, I would have been five. I don't think I have any old photos of her, but I found a website where a girl put up a picture of herself having just received her Rub-a-Dub Dolly. Click here to check that out.

As you can see, she came with a hooded towel, and underpants which probably should have been a diaper except that would be impractical for water play. My mother sewed a bathrobe for my dolly as well. Based on some other items found down the basement, it looks like my mother used one of our old baby receiving blankets to make the bathrobe. Here is Rub-a-Dub Dolly showing every bit of her forty-two years, poor thing.

I think my mother would have preferred us to play with dolls like this for our entire childhood, although I'm not sure of her exact reasoning. One Christmas, though, my aunt gave my sisters and I Malibu Barbie and Skipper, with the really cool tan lines, and the damage was done. In my case, it launched me to a lifetime of both doll collecting and sewing, for dolls and otherwise. (I enjoyed hand sewing clothes for my Barbie dolls.)

The question is now, what do I do with these dolls? If they were to be given away, they'd have to be cleaned, rerooted, and get new clothes. I don't do rerooting, and I'm not inspired to sew for dolls this old. Would it be terrible just to throw them out? I have a bad habit of anthropomorphizing things like old dolls and stuffed animals, when sometimes they are just too worn out, or there isn't a need for them anymore. Once they were given away, I wouldn't know what eventually became of them, and that might even bother me, silly though I am. Know if any old dolls like this have been successfully given new lives?

Madeline's Horse and Carriage by Learning Curve

Between them, Eden and Learning Curve turned out some very nice dolls, pets, clothes, furniture and accessories for the 8" Madeline doll, based on the character who first came to life in a series of books by Ludwig Bemelmans. One of those was a horse and carriage for Madeline and a companion to go driving around the streets of Paris. I love carriages, and Madeline's seemed very nicely made, so after quite a while of looking on and off, I found one. Since Madeline is only 8" (20.3cm), I expected the carriage to be nice, but not exactly very large. Imagine my surprise when I found a box this size at my front door.

It was quite a handful to carry up to my bedroom. I was glad it was easy to get out of the box--four twist ties around the horse's legs, two around the carriage wheel, and a zip tie that can be seen where the dolls' feet would rest.

World Doll Day Tag Post

I was tagged by BlackKitty for a World Doll Day post. World Doll Day occurs on the second Saturday of June every year. Here are the requirements for the post:

1. List 3 favorite dolls from the ones you got last year.
2. List 3 dolls currently on your wish list.
3. Tag 5 people to do the same thing!

When I looked to see what dolls I got last year, I was surprised at how few dolls I actually bought! Oh, I did buy several mini AG dolls, but they were often around $10 each, cheaper than many Barbie dolls. Other than that, there were only a few new doll purchases. Makes it easy to pick favorites.

1. Vintage Daphne by Robert Tonner

I love the Daphne sculpt. I love her old-fashioned undergarments. She has the newest style body produced in Tyler size. And she's one of the few dolls that I've been in a position to afford right when it was produced.

2. Mini American Girl Caroline

I bought a bunch of mini AGs when they went on sale at American Girl. I also bought a few for good prices on eBay at the same time. Although Samantha is my favorite character in the 18" line, I like the Caroline doll the best overall. I don't have a picture of her individually, so her she is with some of her friends, in a bookcase I've converted mostly to roomboxes for dolls. She's the one in pink. I like her face, her dress, and her wavy hair.

3. J-Doll Spitalgrasse

I didn't like any of the clothes that she came with, but I was able to sell her outfit. I like how her blue eyes really glow in certain looks.
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What dolls are currently on my wish list? That's kind of a difficult subject. I don't have too many specific dolls that I want, as much as I want to expand the number of dolls that I have from certain lines. There are a few individual dolls I'd like to get.

1. J-Doll Abbott Street

I really like this doll, and her outfit. I don't think she's worth a hundred dollars in terms of what you get for the money. J-Doll bodies are fragile, outfits can be problematic, and the wigs are hit or miss in terms of quality. This one will probably remain on the wish list for a very long time.

2. Spring Unsprung Holly O'Hair

I keep debating whether or not to get into the Ever After High line. This doll is on my wishlist if I do. Mr. BTEG won't buy EAH dolls for me as gifts, because he doesn't find "big head" dolls aesthetically pleasing. That wouldn't stop me from buying one for myself, but it is one less route I might acquire a new doll. I'm also not sure I want to get into yet another line and body type. Fitting new dolls into displays with dolls of the same type is not as hard as finding someplace for a whole new doll line to live.

3. Ann Estelle Dottie Delight by Tonner

 I did have this doll at one point, and sold her during a rough patch. I'd really like to get this doll back.
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So... tagging people. Many of the dolly folks that I read have already been tagged, and we're already moving on past World Doll Day. So if you read this, and want to join in, please feel free to do so.

Back at Last: Angelina Ballerina Kitchen Sink and Stove, Plus Magnetic Room Backdrop

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last! But between Mr. BTEG's gall bladder surgery, and a special human-size sewing project, I guess time went by faster than I thought. I'm so glad to be back to the world of doll blogging.

Way back in April of last year, I got a super deal on an eBay lot that included several pieces from the American Girl Angelina Ballerina line. For those of you who don't have girls who were/are the appropriate age, Angelina Ballerina is a small girl mouse in England who wants to grow up to become a ballerina. There were several books published about her adventures in her ballet classes, and with friends and family. Later a number of videos were created of her stories. I'm putting a link here to the other furniture pieces that I bought in that auction, and reviewed.

As of my latest posting about the set, I hadn't received the stove that was part of the auction, and so I wasn't enthused about taking pictures of the sink that I did get. At least a month after I received the first box, I got an email from the seller. Apparently her grandchildren had made off with the stove to play with it in the family room or something, and she had just found it! By the time I actually got the stove, I was on to posting about other things. However, I just recently bought the magnetic room set that was also part of Angelina Ballerina's line at AG, so here it all is.

Ann is ready to turn on the taps and do the washing up. (I picked up an English vibe during this.)

Posy brings her tea cup from the table for Ann to wash.

I forgot to take a picture of the two top doors open. Right side has shelves for cooking; left side shows a roaring fire.

The walls are magnetic, and there were over a dozen magnetic pieces with this set to decorate Angelina's house. I'll show a few.

I don't know why some of these pictures are crooked. I think I was trying to avoid glare here.

Ann stands at the window and looks out on the beautiful English countryside.

Here's a picture of Angelina and her parents celebrating the birth of her sister Polly.

As you may have noticed, there are two sides to the wall, with two different wallpapers. There are simple tabs in the floor that the walls go into, so it's easy to pull out the wall and change sides. The walls and the floor also fold up so they can take up less space put away. And lastly, there is a brick floor on the other side of the wooden floor. Once I took a picture of the kitchen with the brick, I thought it looked so much better.

 

Do you like using pre-made backdrops for dioramas, or do you like using your own? Do you even use dioramas?

10 Inch Tonner Patsy with New Dress

I've been wanting to acquire a new Tonner Patsy, largely because I wanted to see the new body with bending knees, elbows and wrists. Unfortunately for me, the new Patsy dolls don't really appeal to me, even after seeing one in person. Their combination of large eyes, lots of long, applied eyelashes, and sober appearance was too waif-like for me. Picture Oliver Twist saying "Please, can I have some more?"

However, when I saw Sydney of Dolly Panic was giving Patsy dolls new eyes, and new wigs, I found a Patsy I could bring home.

I've been debating a name for her. I think I might go with Posy. I love her new gray eyes, and I think her painted-on eyelashes are perfectly fine. Her wig is very nice and soft.

I've been wanting to blog about her sooner, but I wanted to give her something to wear first! With the warm weather arriving here in NE Ohio, a sundress was perfect to sew, and not too difficult. I still hate gathers, though. Her dress is made out of blue cotton chambray, with fake tucks on the bodice, and insertion trim on the skirt. The bodice is lined with cotton voile, which I again starched. The voile is so thin and delicate that it unravels very easily. I may stick with a cotton batiste as a lining for the bigger dolls.

Ann and Sophie are happy to welcome Posy to their group.

Since Posy has a new body, I took a couple of pictures comparing this latest body with the oldest one. In between these two types, 10 inch dolls got bending knees, and now have added bending elbows and wrists. Other doll lines that have used this body are Petite Filles, Dr. Seuss, Half Pint, and It's a Small World. Half Pint and Patsy dolls are technically dolls by Effanbee, which is owned by Robert Tonner. The official Effanbee site has not been updated since 2010, however. Half Pint and Mary Engelbreit dolls are also from Effanbee.

I have to admit as far as weight and feel, I prefer the older body. It's nice to have both kinds now, though.

Tonner has certainly gotten a lot of use out of the 10 inch body sculpt. I will be looking for a few more of this body type to add to my collection.

Madame Alexander Travel Friends Dolls Kenya, Italy and Russia

Remember when I said I would buy more Madame Alexander Travel Friend dolls if they were a good price? They appeared on zulily again, and I bought three more. They ended up being about $10 each including shipping, definitely a nice price for these girls. I'm tired and don't feel up to doing name research right now, so these girls will appear as Kenya, Italy and Russia throughout. There will also not be information about the bodies. I covered those in my previous post on Travel Friends dolls.

Here are the backs of the boxes, with the information about each country. Some of the words are a little bit blurry. If you want to see anything closer up, let me know.

I don't know too much about any of these countries. Mr. BTEG's grandparents came from Italy, and I have studied some Russian history. There are only a couple of curious things on these boxes, as opposed to the litany of errors from last time.

Ciao is only spelled correctly three times in this circle! The rest of the time, it is Caio!

Do you say Hujambo or Habari as Hello in Kenyan? Or could you use either?

Also, I didn't remember to get a closeup picture, but in the word Siberia on the back of Russia's box, the b in Siberia is kind of a strangely shaped lower case b that almost looks like an upper case G. The other letters are upper case. That's not really a mistake, exactly, just strange. So many of these boxes have errors, though! It looks so careless and sloppy. I can overlook some manufacturing imperfections in a $10 doll a lot easier than I can simple writing mistakes that I spotted in about a minute. Who threw these together?

Other bloggers have mentioned the plastic piece around the back of the dolls neck, with the plastic tie around the neck. Italy also had two of those awful little plastic tag thingys in the back of her head. And I figured out why the interior cardboard liner holding the dolls so often sticks to the box, so that you have to rip both apart to get to the back where the ties and threads and so forth are. You know that sort of glue strip that comes on the back of a credit card when you get it in the mail, to hold it on the paper mailer? There is a strip of that on the back of each liner, by the doll's head. On Italy, it covered up the little plastic tags, so I'm guessing the glue strip was to hold those in place. On Russia and Italy, the glue was not really sticky anymore, so their interior boxes slid out easily.

Out of the box

Can I say here that Italian skin fascinates me? My husband and my eldest daughter both have olive skin, and it really can have a faint greenish cast in the right light, especially during winter. Hard to replicate in a doll, however. When Mr. BTEG saw Italy, his comment was, "She looks just like my cousin Molly."

I took a picture of the three doll's arms, so you can see what the skin colors look like next to each other.

1-2-3 Let's Win!

Is it weird to say Kenya's hair felt sleek touching from one direction and rough when I touched it another way? It's beautiful in the sunlight, in any case.

Russia has a LOT of hair. It doesn't all lay straight from how it was tied in the box.

Italy's curls are very coarse.

Russia's outfit was the most ambitious as far as sewing, and it has the most issues. In pictures above, you can see that Russia's blouse is pulled over to the left. I wondered if that was a sewing issue. Instead, it was how the outfit was put on the doll.

This is how she arrived.

The neckline neatened up for the most part once I took the jumper off and redid the Velcro.

Russia's jumper goes on very tightly over her blouse. It could have been a bit looser.

The soles of Russia's shoes were painted white. To me, it makes them look like tennis shoes. Also, the paint was not done neatly.

Germany's shirt was unraveling in quite a few places on the inside. The only unraveling in Russia's so far is in the armscyes. The elastic around the neck is also not sewn on perfectly. The gathered effect at the neckline is nice, but it would probably have been easier to have a plain round neck.

Kenya's shirt and leggings are knit, so no unraveling problems there. Her skirt has been stiffened with what is probably sizing, kind of like starch. The seam at the back of the skirt is not finished, but may not have issues because of the sizing. The tag sticks out on the back of her shirt. I hate clothing tags. I hate them on my own clothes; I hate them on my dolls' clothes. And why did they have to be so big?

Kenya's outfit doesn't really seem to all come together. And I have no idea if the tribal print on her skirt is accurate. Also, the skirt is so narrow that it makes a little difficult for Kenya to sit.

Italy's simple sundress is the colors of the Italian flag, red, white and green. The bodice is lined. The waistline seam and the one on the back of the skirt are not finished, but are cleanly cut.

I bought Russia because I thought she was cute, but I was also afraid that Russia would look just like Germany, only with straight hair. Fortunately, their coloring is quite different. The face paint is different, and Russia's hair is strawberry blonde. I generally don't think of Russians as blonde, but it's a very big, diverse country, so it's possible. Although her hair is down like my Irish girl Nora, Russia's bangs are not as thick. You can even faintly make out her eyebrows through her bangs, looking at her the right way.

Germany on the left, Russia on the right

And last, a group shot of the whole crew. Germany is not wearing her original outfit, because I don't like the way it fits her. She is wearing Mini AG Felicity's outfit instead. Germany is also not wearing her shoes, because they are too big and fall off too easily.

Goodbye!