Happy Easter!

Rabbits are one of the symbols of new life that Easter holds. Mashka is enjoying playing with this mama bunny and her two babies. I hope fellow celebrants of Easter had a good one!

Sewing Progress: J-Doll and Curvy Barbie, Update

I spent a good bit of the early part of this year cleaning and organizing my doll/sewing area. While I'm thankful for the space I have, the number of dolls, and the amount of fabric, trims, etc. that I have make my storage space quite tight. I'm still working on that, but I had a strong urge to get back to sewing, too, so I'd like to show you a couple of things that I've made recently.

Melanie is wearing a purple gingham dress of homespun type fabric. I think the fabric really suits her. It looks a lot like something you might see a Momoko doll wearing. The next time I make the dress, I would like to get the bottom ruffle to hang better.

Curvy Barbie models a pink gingham dress. I guess I have a thing for gingham! I'd like to get a few more dresses like this sewn up this weekend and in my Etsy store next week. There isn't much for the Curvy Barbie to wear out there.

It's so satisfying to complete a project successfully!

New pictures below the fold.

Liebster Award 2016

This time around Farrah Lily from Cozy Comforts and Dolls nominated me for the Liebster Award. It's a chance to get to know bloggers with under a 1,000 followers, and also find about new blogs.

As usual, this award involves thanking the person who nominated you, answering their questions, coming up with questions of your own, and nominating people to answer your questions. In case, the number of the questions is eleven, and the number of the nominees is five (six is right out.)

1. Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Snoopy! Back in my day, it was always An Event when the seasonal Peanuts special appeared on television (get off my lawn.) I always loved to watch them, and I still have some of that great jazz music on my playlist. And Snoopy is my favorite. I love when he and Woodstock sit down to eat Thanksgiving dinner after Charlie Brown and his friends have left for Charlie Brown's grandmother's house. I love when (in his imagination) he dances with the bunnies in the Easter special.

Knott's Berry Farm, November, 2001

2. What's your favorite flower (or plant if you're not a flower person)?
The pansy. I love all the different colors and color combinations that a pansy can have. It's why I named my Etsy store Sweet Purple Pansies.

3. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
In Mr. BTEG's Italian family, Christmas Eve dinner consists of seafood. The first Christmas eve dinner I ate with Mr. BTEG's family, was at his grandmother's house. Among other things being served was calamari. But not just any calamari. It wasn't breaded or anything. It looked like the squid had been boiled and set right out on the plate (they still had their eyes!) Desperate to make a good impression with my possible future in-laws, I tried some. Meh. But it was better than trying the eel.

4. What was the last movie you saw (in home or in theaters)?
Um. Wow. I'm not big on movies. Probably the Hunger Games, a couple of years ago, when it was on Netflix, and my daughter and husband were watching it. Or maybe Cabin in the Woods, when we still had cable.

5. If you could visit any country in the world, where would you go?
Romania, but specifically Siebenbürgen, Transylvania. I'd love to see where my grandfather's parents came from.

6. How did you meet your best friend?
My husband is my best friend, and we met at college in the late 80s. Neither of us can clearly remember the first time we met, though. I guess we didn't think it was momentous as it turned about to be. :)

7. What is your dream job?
A doll clothing designer, of course! (First two patterns created by me.)

Franklin Mint Lily wearing period undergarments

My version of a dress Joan Crawford wore in the film The Women, worn by Ashton Drake's Madra Lord

American Girl high school marching band Color Guard costume I made for daughter's friend. I made a few changes to a pattern from a Joan Hinds book.

Tonner 16" Daphne, wearing two piece costume, pattern by Vince Nowell

8. If you could make a custom doll based on any character or real person, who would you make?
Loki from the Marvel movies. Yes, the character has already been made, but I'm not happy with how any of the faces turned out. If I could create a custom doll, I'd have the face sculpt made to my satisfaction.

9. What's your favorite season?
Autumn. The days are not as hot as summer, but still comfortably warm. The leaves on the trees become vibrant colors. Football season is starting. Major League Baseball is making the run towards the playoffs. Halloween takes place in autumn; it's not my favorite holiday, but it's fun.

LEGO haunted house, based on the places of amusement for visiting that occur every Halloween in the US,  created by Mr. BTEG

10. If you could talk to/understand one species of animal, which would you choose?
Cats. Although I would also like to go back in the past and talk to some of the pet cats we've had over the years who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Why did Callie like to drink from the bathtub faucet?

11. If you could instantly learn any language, which would you choose?
It might be fun to learn an Asian language, so I could go to a doll website like this one, and be able to understand it! But I like Japanese and Chinese dolls, and Atelier 613 appears to be in Korean? So I'd go with German. I learned it long ago, but I've forgotten so much of it from lack of use.

So here are my questions:
1. If you could have one doll outfit made in life-size for you, which one would it be?
2. If you could make a custom doll based on any character or real person, who would you make?
3. Inset eyes. Yes or no?
4. Do any of your dolls have personalities based on people in real life?
5. Do you have any dolls that you would like to be friends with in real life based on their personalities (whether created by the manufacturer or you?)
6. Is there a skill or ability you would like to instantly learn?
7. Do you have a travel doll that you take with you when you're out?
8. Some people write stories using their dolls as character inspirations, or draw pictures of their dolls. Do you do anything like that?
9. Do you like to treat your dolls as canvases for face-painting, new wigs, etc., or do you keep your dolls the way they came?
10. Who was the first doll blogger you followed?
11. What book or movie or television show would you like to see get its own doll line?

Now the hard part, nominations. I'm going to choose: Hannah, Natalia, Smaller Places, Presto, and Lisa. No pressure, guys. Only do this if you want to.

Correction on Madame Alexander Dolls

After looking at several people's shots of the Madame Alexander booth at Toy Fair, I didn't see any of the 7" size dolls like the Travel Friends, and so I thought the line was over. But the Princess line that I saw last year has actually been produced for this year, it would seem. The face mold looks different from the Travel Friends in the promo website pics, except for the Starry Princess, who really looks a lot like the Italy doll, except with a new eye color and a princess outfit. I might pick up a couple; I might not. I'm glad I was wrong about these, anyway.

J-Dolls and the Latest Barbie Shoes and Clothes

Since the newest "regular" Barbie bodies are rather thin, and some of them have flat feet, I decided to see if the latest shoes might work for J-Dolls. As you can see there isn't that much difference between the two feet (J-Doll on the left, Made to Move Teresa on the right.)

I was thrilled that these neon pink flats fit the J-Doll so well. It's hard to explain, but these shoes also need a little "push" to go on, which means they don't fall off easily. It's almost like they clip on.

These flip-flops work with the J-Doll, but they're very loose, so they're probably just best for picture taking. They don't really stay on Teresa any better. They do look a little better because Teresa's toes are not as well defined. And oh yeah, I'm calling her Teresa, and not "Bambi." Hopefully I will find another name for her in the future. But it won't be Bambi.

The silver flats with ankle straps are not too bad. Again, they're a little loose, but passable. I also posted another picture of Teresa's feet, just so you can see how well they fit her. Obviously, they do fit her better, because the upper part of her foot is thicker, and so is her ankle joint.

Last, a pair of heels. I really love the roses on the heels. In addition to making great shoes for MH and EAH, Mattel seems to have stepped up its shoe game with Barbie as well. Since they are made for Barbies, the arch is just right for Teresa's foot.

Since my J-Doll's foot does not have as deep of an arch, the shoe does not fit her as well. On the other hand, it fits her as well as the pink pair of shoes below, which came with a J-Doll. So it depends on whether or not you're okay with the look. At least they won't fall off as easily as the pink flowered pair does. I'm going to have to crawl under my cutting table to find one of those pink shoes, actually.

Lastly, yesterday I bought a Mattel-made dress for Barbie. The bottom is a thin knit fabric. The yoke is a little strange. It feels almost rubbery, although it's not as unpleasant to touch as that description might imply. I suppose if the yoke was real lace, it would be much more likely to rip, or get caught in the Velcro. Anyway, I tried it on Holly, and she wants to keep it. She thinks she totally rocks this as a summer look.

I also bought a Mattel skirt recently, and that was too big around Holly's waist. I'd say items like the dress above, that don't have much structure, would work the best on the J-Dolls. Even if they only fit Barbie, I love this idea of a line of separates, shoes and accessories. I'm interested to see what else we'll get.

Thoughts on 2016 Toy Fair

First, let me say that this Toy Fair brought home to me how bad the economy is now. I think that's a big reason why some of my favorite doll manufacturers had very weak offerings. It may also explain why toy lines are focusing on old, proven stuff like Marvel, DC, Disney and Star Wars.

I'm also wondering why I got the best, and fastest, coverage of Jakks Pacific, Mattel, Hasbro and Tonner, from sites that generally focus on comic books and action figures the rest of the year. I definitely appreciated their coverage.

So, Ever After High was apparently not represented at Toy Fair at all. I've seen some pictures elsewhere of new dolls that are supposed to come out in 2016, including some with a new, "friendlier" face mold like Monster High is getting. But if the dolls weren't in the Mattel booth at Toy Fair, there's no guarantees. I can be happy with the Ever After High dolls I have, although there are a few more dolls I want to get, that have already been produced. I'm just sad that the line is not doing well. I don't really like monsters.

Tonner is driving me crazy. I'm interested in a new doll named Miette. There is even an exclusive Miette doll for sale on the Tonner/Wilde Imagination website. But I can't find out any information about her, like how tall she is, or what body type she has. What little I've found out came from eBay auctions selling off the exclusive doll after the Wilde Imagination event in January where she debuted. And I don't trust an eBay auction to be accurate. I feel like her size and body type should at least be included on the page where the one Miette doll is for sale. And it's not. See for yourself. Also, since Miette is in the Wilde Imagination line, I'm thinking the doll won't be at the Tonner convention. Maybe I'll be wrong.

I guess the Madame Alexander Travel Friend doll line is officially dead. I wish MA could have tried to deal with some of the issues, like the strange elbow joint, but that might not have been worth it in the long run.

Lastly, and this is not directly related to Toy Fair, I'm wondering when I'm going to get my Petite Barbie from Mattel. The ordering website still says the doll is slated to be released on 02/01/16. Obviously that hasn't happened, so could I have a more accurate date, Mattel?

Giveaway -- Barbie Accessories!

I've bought a few Mattel accessory sets for Barbie recently, but there were a few things in the sets that I didn't want. Instead of dropping the items off at the local thrift store, I decided to have a little giveaway. *Only* what is in the picture below will be in the giveaway. I will open the giveaway to anyone, as long as I'm not held responsible if the package gets lost between here and whatever country you live in. Simply:
1. Follow my blog
2. Leave me a comment in this post that you want to be part of the giveaway. I will hold a random drawing on Wednesday.

Happy Valentine's Day!