Little Sister, Pepper

Well after much experimentation I've made my second head for a Makie body. This is Parsley's little sister Pepper...

I did things a little differently than I did with Parsley. I wanted to make her head lighter so instead of using a coil of polymer in the center I used a ball of foil. I made Pepper's head in stages. I sculpted her face first and then after curing it, I added the ball of foil to the center and sculpted more clay around the back to finish forming the head. Her head is lighter than Parsley's, not as light as I'm used to with Beatrix of course, but a bit lighter. I left a hole in the base to add the neck joint and I think I did a much better job of it this time as Pepper's head has just as much mobility as Beatrix, whereas I still need to remove a little of the hardened epoxy for Parsley to move as much. A tip: if you're ever baking a face and you want to avoid scorching of the nose and lips, surround it with baking powder. Since Pepper's face was going back in for a second go, I placed the head face down in an oven safe bowl full of baking powder, worked like a charm :)

Couldn't resist a little photo shoot with all the girls...

 Once again a big thank you to Lisa Sheppard without whom Pepper would not have been possible. Much Love :D

Jeans for B...

Just a quick little post, I've been experimenting with "jeans' for Beatrix. I used the Makie jeans pattern but changed out the top elastic waist for a regular one. I think she looks pretty good :)

She needed a little something up top to go with her new jeans so I made her a little empire waist blouse (I have these tops on my Etsy as well I was so pleased with them). We did a mini photo shoot for fun.... it's nice that the sun has returned (for a little while anyway)

I also have returned to making the Hawaiian shirts for my Blythe babes, and this one particular fabric made lovely shirts, but when I tried it n dress form...

I'm loving the look of this, I wish I had more of this stuff it's just brilliant. I grabbed what I could knowing it would make some great stuff for my Etsy shop, but now I'm wanting more. If anyone knows where I could find more of this pattern (even in other colors - I would love that) please PM me. I would be forever grateful.

And lastly...

Pajamas for Parsley... I dislike working with flannels. Don't get me wrong, I love the feel of them for wear, but when sewing, meh, just not my thing. This however was well worth it. I love how cute she is in these. They wont be appearing in my shop anytime soon (this was just for fun) but I do love the look. Oddly, I'm sure there must have been times as a child that I climbed trees in my pajamas because this image really resonates. Anyway, lots of fun sewing. :D

Xmass Makie Snuggle...

My two Makie girls Beatrix and Parsley found my coffee this morning.

"Mmmmm warm..."

I think they want some of their own, it's a bit chilly outside. Excuse the bad lighting, again, as I said chilly. Strictly indoor pics today. 

Of course cold days mean warm snuggles...

Happy Holidays!

For Christmas... mini Blythes!

Decided to fool around with some Click Chicks (those little puzzle dolls you get from gumball machines for about 50 cents) and created some mini Blythes for my girls, I tried to give them that Junie Moon flair, I think they are rather cute. They were pretty time consuming to make (so... so tiny...) but well worth it. I think they are awfully cute, and my gals seem to enjoy them too :D If anyone is wanting to make there own...

A single piece of scrap booking paper (about 79 cents at Joann's) Made about 4 little Blythe like boxes and backer paper for the little dolls. The pattern is from Dr Blythenstien and can be found HERE I did a bit of adjusting so that they would be a good fit for the Click Chicks, use your own best judgement there.

I baked them in the oven with new hair (I got rid of the hair back plate on one, and covered it over with polymer on the other two) and baked a bit of hair and clothing on them. When done, I did a bit of sanding, a little more embellishment, sealed the little girls, and viola!

And yes, the eyes are intentionally a bit Junie Moon (love those little release drawings). Just remember to bake them at low temp (you don't want a melted doll) and have fun.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - Ugly X-mas Sweater!!!

I've heard many stories of people making doll clothes from Christmas socks... this sounded like fun and I of course wanted to experiment making ugly Christmas sweaters :D

So I went and picked up some Christmas socks that looked suitably obnoxious. I tried to freehand the pattern based on some youtube videos I'd seen... the results? We shall not speak of them... very disappointing, all I can say is those guys in the videos are better at freehand cutting than I am. Anyway, I got smart and used a long sleeved shirt pattern for knits and a bit of single fold bias tape and here are the results...

The bias tape made it quite easy to finish the edges neatly. And for anyone who is hesitant in working with knits, I had little problems with stretching while doing the underarms, but if it does become an issue, adjusting the tension on your machine -or- (if you hate changing the settings on your machine when you have them just the way you like) using the paper trick seems to help keep things from warping out of shape.

The paper trick (for those unfamiliar) consists of running a strip of paper along your seam as you sew the knit fabric sections, it acts as a stabilizer and after you've finished you simply tear the paper away from the inside and outside of the garment like perforated paper (because after you've sewn it that's pretty much what it is). It comes away easily enough and you have a nice unwarped seam. Of course you don't need to do this where the bias tape is used because it has pretty much the same effect.

For anyone wanting to use the pattern I found this on on the internet long ago and can't seem to find a proper link to it anywhere so here's a pic with a ruler for size...

I've long since lost the instructions to go with it but I pretty much just put bias tape on the ends of the sleeves and then folded the fabric along the dotted lines, matching up A to A and C to C. Then you just sew the underarm and the sides of the torso together (you can finish with a bit of a zig zag to prevent raveling if you're worried about that). Then you can finish the remaining edges: neck, back, and the bottom of the torso, with bias tape as you choose. You can have the back overlap and close with snaps (as I did) or perhaps sew the bottom half way up and leave the top of the back open, finishing it with some surging or zig zag to keep it from unraveling.

This has been a fun little project and it went pretty fast. I may make some more for my other Blythes.

Edit: Ha! Found it! The pattern is HERE. It's the one for the boat neck T shirt.

Finished Faceup

Parsley now has her face up finished and sealed. I may make changes to it later but for now I think she's looking pretty good :)

A Whole New Bod...

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail! The fantastic Lisa Sheppard (who I know from the official Makies fan group on Facebook) offered to send me the dress I'd picked for my Parsley if I'd been able to make her, and in the package was another body and wig so that she can have a "sister" I was just so flabbergasted, she's just been so wonderfully sweet and generous I don't know how to put it into words! Thank you so much Lisa, now I need to think of what this new girl should look like. Very excited!