Sewing for the J-Doll

While looking around for possible sewing patterns for the J-Doll, I found one for Blythe. Since everybody was home today because of the cold weather, I decided it was a great time to putz around with it. It's modified from a Skipper pattern, and at least some Skipper clothes work with J-Dolls. I learned a lot from this dress, but it's not really wearable, so I didn't make an effort to take fantastic pictures. But this is how it turned out:

The biggest issue is that it doesn't close completely in the back. J-Dolls seem to have bigger hips than Blythe, and I also had problems dealing with the seam allowances. They were slightly smaller than 1/4", which is about as narrow a seam allowance as my machine works best with. Still, J-Dolls bigger hips were probably the main issue. Which means she probably wouldn't rock the A-line dress like Blythe does, anyway. Oh well. Overall, it was a great learning experience, and an enjoyable way to spend a cold winter afternoon. Next time I hope to make something she can really wear.

Oh, and this is the new J-Doll I got for Christmas! Her review will probably be the next thing coming up here.

Tonner 16" Vintage Basic Doll

At last, the Vintage Basic doll from Tonner's Re-Imagination line has arrived, and I have added one to my collection! After playing with J-Dolls for so long, poor Daphne felt big and also not very flexible. Yes, she really doesn't have the range of motion that a lot of doll collectors seem to be currently looking for, but she's going to be great in my own collection. My J-Dolls and my Tonners fill two completely different niches in my doll world. But it certainly was different to hold this new Tonner doll after so much time with a smaller, lighter doll. Time was when the Tonner 16" dolls were the centerpiece of my collection. Maybe I'm getting back to them.

So let's get to the pictures! There's only one photo with any kind of doll nudity. There are so many Tonner dolls with this body type out there, that I was more interested in giving you the details of this doll's face and clothing. If you have any questions, please ask!

So when you open up the box and pull the tissue back, this is what you see. She is being held in with the cardboard inserts and the foam pieces.

Pull those out, and the doll is free! She had a net over her head, which is hard to see in these pictures, and plastic around her hands.

Calico Critter's Britney's Ballet Recital

Although neither of my daughters collects dolls as I do, my youngest still does appreciate little sets that go with some of the toys she has received over the years. One of her most cherished toy sets is her Calico Critters collection. She has a house, a family, some furniture and a Christmas set. When I wandered into a small store that carries Calico Critters and saw this set, I knew I had to get it for my daughter. Her Calico Critters family is the Cottontail Rabbit family (because she loves bunnies) and as I mentioned previously she loves her ballet classes. Which is why her name on my blog is the Dancer. This was one of her Christmas presents.

Anyway, back to this set. It is called Britney's Ballet Recital.

Although the box tells you to create your very own story, the story that I found online with this set says that Britney has been practicing hard for a year for the big recital. (Presumably she used the mirror and the barre in her practice.) Now that the day is coming up, she can't decide what dress to wear!

The dresses are identical, except for color, but of course color is very important! The Dancer has kept her bunny in the original dress, and Britney is currently posing on the Dancer's desk, since her other Calico Critters items are packed away.

The main problem I have with this set is that the barre is just not the right proportion to our bunny ballerina. Surprisingly, it's far too tall, instead of being too short. There's also the fact that Britney's paws won't really hold the barre, but that's not a big issue for me. If the barre was the right height, she could just rest her paw on the top anyway.

Imagine how funny a rabbits big hind paws would look in pointe shoes!

Thoughts on American Girl Isabelle

Honestly, I think the ballet idea for Girl of the Year is great. My youngest daughter studies several kinds of dance, but a lot of what she does is helped by a good foundation in ballet. She's been studying ballet the longest, and she's been doing pointe for almost a year now as well. She also does conditioning work once a week and has even started using Pilates bands like Isabelle does, although my daughter uses them with her legs, not her arms. If my daughter was younger, she would probably want all or most of this set. Sadly for me, my daughter still cherishes her dolls, but has outgrown wanting to own any more, or collect more pieces.

The one thing that I dislike the most about Isabelle's collection is the name of her dance academy on her exercise mat, her barre, and even her sewing cupboard. Is that strange? To me, that ties all these pieces to Isabelle's story, instead of being something that a girl (or adult) can relate to a story of her own making.

I'm not sure why people can't picture Isabelle the doll using her ballet barre. She is pictured in a pose with one leg up on the front page of the AG website, as one of the rotating pictures. She could also do tendu, and kicks, and rond de jambe, and possibly even grand port de bras a la ronde. To me, the bigger problem is that she can't point her toes, more than that she has no elbow or knee joints. There are times when my daughter's arms and legs are very stiff, but those toes had better be pointed!

At the Toy Store

Mr. BTEG and I headed out yesterday to do some after-Christmas shopping. The first place we went was a local store named Recess. It is primarily for adults who play table-top games, but the store also carries some high-end toy lines. I wasn't planning on taking any pictures until I saw this set by Breyer which Emily would love:

It's a horse set, with a surprise element! Foals can be a different color than their parents! I presume the sire and dam are the two horses that we can see. It's a cute idea, and of course you want to buy more than one to see what colors of foals you can find.

A Little Disappointed

I've been wanting a blond Daphne for ages, but I'm particular about which one(s) I would like, and I haven't been able to swing the high prices those Daphnes end up going for on eBay. I was really looking forward to the new Vintage Basic, and hoping she could make her way under my Christmas tree. Unfortunately, she's not even out yet, with no information on when she will be making her appearance. As a stay-at-home mom with two daughters, Christmas is often the best time for me to get the bigger ticket items that I would like, and anything over $100 is a bigger ticket item for me. So that's a disappointment. I'm hoping I will be able to buy this doll when she does come out, and yes, I do know that there are doll stores that offer sales and such that will make her more affordable.

On the other hand, I'm impressed that the Tonner doll page actually wishes its customers a Merry Christmas. And I wish the same to all of you! I probably won't be on here again until after the 25th, unless I can get my dolly Christmas tree set up, and I imagine most of you will be busy too. I hope you all enjoy the Christmas holiday.

Doll Shelves at Target

I've been having some health problems lately, so unfortunately I haven't been getting much done, in real life or on the Internet. But while I was shopping at Target today, I snagged some pictures. Sorry that most of them are blurry.

If you have a larger size young child doll, she might enjoy finding a few toys under her tree at Christmas. These were in the ornaments section. At $8.00 each, though, you might want to try to snag one during the after-Christmas sales.

The Monster High dolls get a crossover car, and a cafe. I guess in Scaris you need a good cafe or deaux. Although I'm not into Monster High, I am interested in seeing what kind of playsets will come out of the Ever After High series. I wonder if we will see a pumpkin carriage instead of a purple convertible?

Speaking of Ever After High, there were only a few of those dolls, and they were wedged in here and there around this MH Once Upon a Time series, a Target exclusive. It seems like Ever After High hasn't really hit its stride yet, at least at this Target's toy display. On the other hand, of course Target would want to feature its exclusive Monster High stuff.

This picture and the one below were it for the Pinkie Cooper line. I'm not even sure what this line offers right now, but these four dolls don't pack much shelf presence displayed as they are. Maybe once all the clearance Winx Club dolls are gone, Pinkie's display will look better. Right now they are just four dolls with dog faces, not its own world to explore and have fun with.

Oh. Oh my. Poor, poor Anna. The animated character's eyes are slightly off in an endearing way. This doll looks like she needs eye surgery. I kept thinking about the Island of Misfit Toys while looking at this doll. This doll wasn't the only stuffed Anna with this issue, either.

I liked the idea of a doll and a matching dress for the child, all in one box. However, when I looked at the picture at home, I realized they should have made more of an effort to make the doll's dress and the child's dress look more alike. Yes? Looking at the Disney Princess stuff reminds me of the year we went to southern California over Thanksgiving for a friend's wedding. Our daughters were not quite six and almost three. We did a lot of Christmas shopping that year at Disneyland and LEGOland. Among other things, our youngest daughter got a Cinderella tiara and a pair of Cinderella dress-up shoes for Christmas. They also each received a doll this size of their favorite Disney princess at some point.

Despite the wonky eyes of this doll (what is it with the wonky eyes?) she has cute accessories. Among other things, there are a "balloon" animal, cotton candy and a candied apple. I wonder if the books help sales, or is it almost just an expected thing anymore with 18" dolls?

Lastly, I know a lot of you like Hearts for Hearts dolls. There were two each of these two on the shelf. That seems about average for this line here, not fully in stock but not sold out.

Honestly, I didn't see much to interest me at all. Of course, I'm not interested in Monster High or Frozen, and I don't have little girl daughters anymore, so those things might be big contributors. Monster High, Frozen and Target's Our Generation line were the winners as far as attention paid to display, with Disney princesses in general coming in next, so if you're interested in any of those dolls, there was lots to choose from. I expect Ever After High to have its own section next Christmas if sales in 2014 go well overall. Otherwise, everything at this Target just seemed kind of packed in here and there. Even Barbie seems to be a mish-mash of themes (Fashion! Sisters! Life in the Dreamhouse!) and nothing stood out as special. Plus as I said above, the quality on some of these lines was a bit disturbing as well. Meh.