My "first" attempt at a OOAK Barbie

Okay, so the "first" in quotations means that this is not actually the first one-of-a-kind Barbie that I've tried to re-paint. There is one very sad attempt that is hidden deep in a drawer somewhere in my my house. You will never see a picture of her and we will never speak of her again.

Now that that's cleared up, here are the before & after shots of the first OOAK Barbie that I'm not ashamed to share pictures of. She began as a "Celebrate, Disco Doll!" Barbie (2008) with an afro of short, sausage curls & glitter eye shadow. Cute in her own way, but ready for a different look.

Photo shoot with Soom Rosette

FDR editor, Alison, recently acquired this Rosette BJD, made by Soom. I was drawn to her dramatic curves and her sweet little face (that reminds me of my 5-year-old niece, Emma), so Alison let me borrow her for a photo shoot in some of my new 16" fashion doll clothing. Enjoy the photos, and feel free to check out all of the clothes in my Etsy shop!

Just kicking back.

Sydney as Anne Boleyn

Sydney as Anne Boleyn, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Sydney on the Rocks (Tonner Doll) is dressed in a one-of-a-kind silk historical outfit, created by Jennygrey. Just lovely.

Sock Tutorial: Cardigan & knee-highs for SD13 ball-jointed dolls

Materials:

2 ladies crew socks or 1 ladies knee sock (I recommend pre-washing socks to set colors and pre-shrink the fabric before sewing)

Pattern (scaled from the image included at the end of this post)


Scissors

Pins

Needle and thread

Miniature books - an easy & inexpensive project

These little books are so easy, quick & inexpensive that you’ll probably end up with stacks of them all around your house after this! I like making them as table gifts at doll conventions because you can customize them with each of your tablemates’ favorite book titles!

The size & shape of the wood pieces will determine the type of book (novel, textbook, coffee-table book) and scale (12” doll, 16” doll, etc.).

Materials:

• Pre-cut wooden rectangles or squares (about $3 for a bag of 130)
• Tacky glue or hot glue gun
• White acrylic craft paint (often on sale for less than $1)
• Scraps of leather or vinyl (about $6 for a package that will make several books – or cut up an old purse!)
• Ultra fine-tip Sharpie (about $1-2)

Some photo eye candy of my newest Ellowyne

Okay, a quick post on three new things I have to share with you:


#1: My newest Ellowyne Wilde, "Nothing Springs to Mind" from the Spring 2010 line. I acquired her in a trade, nude, from my friend and fellow FDR writer, Carolyn and she's so pretty! (I meant Ellowyne, but Carolyn's pretty, too.) She's only my second Ellowyne (the first being Essential Ellowyne, Too Wigged Out, from Fall 2009), and my first with painted eyes. Carolyn, our resident hair expert, trimmed the long chunk of hair the hangs down in the front and I think it looks much better short.

White Nights in St. Petersburg

White Nights in St. Petersburg, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Sassy Tarina, my travel doll, all ready for the White Nights in St. Petersburg dinner event and charity auction on Friday evening at Barbie convention 2012.

She is dressed in a Jennygrey fashion, Barbie Basics belt, and Facets by Marcia jewelry.

Momoko & J-Dolls are always there to save the day!

"Groovy Baby" Momoko

As someone who sews for Barbie, Fashion Royalty, Poppy Parker and all of those other tiny gals, I am always making mistakes that lead to outfits being too small for even them. However, because these "too small" outfits usually fit Momoko and J-Dolls, I can still add them to my Etsy shop, instead of writing them off!

New line of OOAK dresses inspired by Peak's Woods' Shaia

A few months ago, Peak's Woods released a new Fairy of Color BJD by the name of Shaia, with a radiant suntan skintone. In her promo pics, Shaia wore this gorgeous strapless, red chiffon gown that we all fell in love with, but couldn't buy because the outfit wasn't being produced or sold. Such a teaser!

After a couple requests from doll collectors who also fell in love with the dress, I created a line of  one-of-a-kind SD-sized dresses inspired by the first, but with several variations on color, print, fabric, shape & trim. My own Peak's Woods Yulli was gracious enough to model for me.

A new dress for Isha's accessories

My good friend (and fellow FDR contributor) Kathie is always coming up with interesting projects for me. The latest was taking the accessories from the Hello Bolly! luxury wear accessory set, released in 2005 by Integrity Toys, and creating a new outfit to go with them.

At first, I thought I'd go with a dark chocolate brown dress to match the color of the leather in the accessories, but decided it would be much to dark to dress her all in brown. So, I decided to go completely the opposite and created her a dress out of some vintage, ivory lace that I pieced together to create the "fabric" of her dress. I did give her just a little brown satin bow at the neckline to tie the accessories to the dress.

Honey, I shrunk Abby!

I recently created a mini wardrobe for a Peak's Woods Cue, at the request of friend, and fellow FDR blogger, Kathie. The doll was a Christmas present for Kathie's daughter, Sarah, who loves the show NCIS, and especially the character Abby Sciuto. As soon as a wig and boots were found by Kathie, it was up to me to dress her in clothes that Abby would wear.

JennyGrey Designs shows at the Strawberry Festival in Vista, CA!

On Sunday, one of our contributors, Jen, presented both human- and coordinating doll-sized fashions from her fashion line, JennyGrey Designs, in a real-life fashion show at the Strawberry Festival in Vista, CA.  You can see the runway show above, and find out more at her shop on Etsy.

I'm hoping she will be posting large-sized photos of each of the doll's fashions (and hopefully the people's fashions, too) on the Fashion Doll Review within the next few days! The show turned out perfectly. Congratulations, Jen!

Wake Up Lottie

Wake Up Lottie, originally uploaded by alington.

Little Miss Wake-Up Lottie (by Peak's Woods) isn't getting much more cheery at our house. But we love her anyway. She's doing just fine.

Please check out the sisters' photo shoot on Flickr. They are modeling two adorable dresses by JennyGrey Designs, designed for MSD girls.

Remaking an iconic Dior gown for a lucky 16" doll

Here is the completed dress, pictured on Tonner Doll's "Euphemia," from Tonner Doll's Cinderella Collection.

This was a labor of love for my wonderful friend (and fellow Fashion Doll Review writer), Carolyn, who asked if I could recreate this iconic dress for her small-bust Tyler. I'm always up for a challenge (especially when it involves fashion!), so of course I agreed!

I made sure to take photos throughout the creative process so that you could see how it all came together.

Growing, growing, growing...

Scary shelf #2, originally uploaded by alington.

One of my two Peak's Woods shelves. Maybe I have a small "problem." For sizes, the purple-haired girl is as tall as a Tonner Doll, or about 16" high.

From the left: normal skin Segi, white skin Wake-Up Cue, white skin Sky (in DollHeart), normal skin Mintie (Sky and Mints both have older-style stock face-ups), LE tan Briana (in Val Zeitler's Under the Boardwalk outfit), normal skin Lottie Real on FOB body, normal skin Mintie with current style face-up (yes, I had two when this photo was taken), Yeru the Soul with current style face-up, and normal skin Naomi (I just love her with lighter eyes!).

All outfits not mentioned above are nighties and pajama sets by the talented JennyGrey, and are for sale on her Etsy page, as of this post. (She's graciously let me borrow them for a photoshoot.) This is assuming I don't buy them before you, and you can get me to take them off my dolls, LOL!

But seriously, if you're interested:

Segi is wearing Georgiana, Wake-Up Cue is in the white cotton and lace two-piece, raven-haired Mintie is in Lydia, Lottie is wearing an MSD-sized two-piece, Mintie #2 is wearing Kitty, Yeru is in Mary, and little Naomi's isn't listed yet, but you could ask Jen about it. All pieces range from $35-$55, with most in the $40 category. They are really well made, lined, with snap closures, and very highly detailed.

They are just adorable. Yeru's headband is included with her outfit, too. Aren't they cute?

Close-up of Naomi, a YoSD size. This will also fit Fairyland dolls and other
similarly sized BJDs. See the working pockets and real pin tucks?

Turning a silk scarf into some new wardrobe pieces

I recently found some silk scarf panels of fabric at my local swap meet (my favorite place to find cheap fabric!) and decided to see what I could make with them.

From the circular design in the center of the scarf, I was able to make 2 half-circle skirts. I added a waistband and 2 rectangular strips to one to create a halter dress. (My vintage brunette bubble cut models this one.)

The second half of the circle I folded over at the top to make an elastic casing, then made a seam at the center back. (I supplemented this outfit with a navy t-shirt knit bodysuit - also made from cheap swap meet fabric!) The 2 corners cut from the panel I used as the front and back of a tunic, with a pair of knit leggings to round out her outfit. (These are pictured on the 2 Fashion Royalty dolls.)

Sky in Regency era costume

Sky in Regency era costume, originally uploaded by alington.

Here is Peak's Woods Sky, white skin, large bust with an older style factory face-up, wearing acrylic brown eyes and a wig by Kemper Dolls.

Her lovely gown and lace hooded cape are a creation by Jen of JennyGrey designs. She made this outfit based on one of my lame sketches--I was so surprised when I saw it. It was just what I wanted, but I still couldn't believe she could gather this from my drawing. The dress is silk, and she added a cape, made of antique lace curtains, as well.

See more photos on Flickr.

Below, my kitty Lily is "helping" during the photo shoot. Notice the ever subtle ears.

MetroDolls Tyler in Jen

February Doll Meet, originally uploaded by alington.

This is MetroDolls Tyler Wentworth, dressed in an outfit designed and created by Jen Eugley of JennyGrey. You can check out her Etsy shop and purchase this dress from her for just $15. It also will fit MSD-sized dolls (such as Goodreau Dolls) as well.

The dress is made from silk and has delicate lace trim. Currently, there is only one of these in stock at her shop, but I bet when she sells out, she would gladly make you another.

The quality of Jen's items are really amazing--I have a lot of her items. I highly recommend her professional service, as well!

Julia as Stacy

Julia as Stacy, originally uploaded by alington.

This is a resin Goodreau ball-jointed doll Julia, who has been redressed and styled as my friend Stacy, who got married in December.

My friend Jen Eugley made the gown, gloves and jewelry, according to Stacy's wedding dress (from David's bridal). She made the "embroidery" on the bodice with a sparkly fabric pen.

I had the bouquet commissioned by Erika from Canada, who has an store on Ebay for floral and other miniatures. It looks just like her original bouquet.

The wig is by Monique Gold (Roxie in burgundy), and Julia is wearing Glib acrylic eyes in deep brown.

We presented her with the doll on Sunday, and Stacy was thrilled. It was so much fun! You can see more photos, including full-size ones of the gown, and the grommet lacing detail of the back, on my Flickr photostream.

Whisper as OOAK Alice

Whisper as OOAK Alice, originally uploaded by alington.

This is Goodreau Whisper, dressed in a one-of-a-kind outfit created by Jen Eugley for my birthday, as a Dark Alice. I really love how the outfit came out.

Jen used cotton fabrics for the strapless zip-up strapless dress, which is made from patchwork denim. The apron is black tulle with cream cotton eyelet and black ribbon trim. The fingerless gloves are made (with a thumbhole) out of gray rib knit. The hat is a tulle piece with pearl trim, and she even made matching ballet shoes with pearl trim. And Alice even gets her own pocket watch, created from a charm.

You can see Jen's Etsy store for more OOAK fashions for dolls.

My model is the lovely Goodreau Doll resin Whisper (about MSD sized--17"), wearing a Goodreau tapered auburn wig. See the rest of her photoshoot on Flickr.