Sunday, March 20, 2011

New Doll!

So the big doll-related news around here is that: I'm in the process of aquiring a new one! I say "in the process of" because, like was the case with Charlotte, this new lady is in pieces. And lady, she is! She's a reproduction French Fashion Doll. If you're not sure what a French Fashion Doll is, check out some of the lovely ladies over at the Carmel Doll Shop. When I see those dolls, something inside me just explodes. WANT!!!!! However, my budget does not allow, LOL! So, I started hunting for reproductions. I found them to be terribly expensive as well, so I started hunting for just a head, figuring I could always make the body myself.

At long last, I found one!



She came with other parts, and I think I'll use all but the legs.



According to her markings, she is a repro of a Gaultier "4" head. (Still not sure if the number refers to a style, size, or what!) I figured out that she is a Byron mold, (available here), which was really helpful because I was having a hard time making solid decisions about what size things should be for her. For example, I spent forever deciding the body size, but once I found this, I knew she was meant to be 15" tall, and so was able to choose the correct body size accordingly. I was so excited that within 10 minutes of opening the box containing her head, I was already starting a mock-up of the body!



I have some mysteries I have to figure out about this sort of doll. For instance, how do I join the head to the socket so that it is securely connected, but can still swivel? And how will I secure the cork pate that I am about to go order? And once I figure all this out, I think I'd like to make a nice, concise, "pull together your own French Fashion Doll" guide for new folks like me, because there are SO many web sites out there, and it can really just be SO hard to find answers to your questions! And I'd like to think that I've helped others fall as far down the rabbit hole into doll madness as I have. ;)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Doll Family

So the real reason for the new blog is that I'm starting to get into a whole new sort of dolls, and I'm finding new blogs here on blogspot that I'm following, but yet I also have doll friends on LJ, so. . . Now I'll crosspost to the two. Feel free to visit my LJ doll blog to see past entries. But, the basic overview is. . .

I've loved dolls, sewing, and fashion history pretty much all my life, and I like to combine all these interests in having my little doll family that all wear historic clothing.

First, there's the AG crew:



From left to right, and top row to bottom, Ruthie, Mia, Emma, Elizabeth, Felicity, Samantha, Kirsten, Coconut, and Licorice. Of these, the only one that you may go "who?" about is Emma, and she is actually one of the "just like you" dolls (or whatver the heck they're calling them now). Emma fills my need for a Regency era doll. I think of her as c. 1814. All my American Girl dolls dress only in the era they represent, because I'm a little OCD like that. ;)

Next up is my BJD, Charlotte:



She is a Volks F08 (old F05) head on a B&G type 1 body. I am alarmed to find that I don't have a recent "portrait" of her, but rather, just pictures of sewing projects. The horror! I guess I need to have a little photo session with her soon! Anyway. She dresses mostly in 18th century and Regency, but has also been known to do a little 1860s-70s, and even has a 1950s dress (thanks to my fling with taking swing dancing lessons).

There are other dolls lurking in my house that I don't sew for (yet) so I'll just leave the list at this and at to it as I see fit. ;)

Saturday, March 12, 2011