Journey Girl Dana

Are you scared of dolls? If so, 18 inch dolls should scare you even more. Recently I bought myself a 18 inch Journey Girl from Toys R Us.

Her name is Dana. It was the name given to her by the doll designer. Most doll collectors rename the dolls they buy. For me, it just doesn't work. So Dana it is.

It was quite hard removing Dana from the box. Like breaking out of prison hard. It's almost as if she wanted to stay inside the box forever. I looked her over and only found a tiny amount of stains. Not enough to make me storm down to the store for an exchange.

Her stock outfit include a shawl, long sleeved shirt, skirt, undies, socks and shoes. I'm not crazy about the shawl.

I feel a little pervy showing you her under garment.

Dana stands rather well. Sitting, not so much. She isn't a ball jointed doll after all. She comes with a soft body which I used to dislike a lot but after reading up about play dolls, many of which come with soft bodies, I grew less anal.

Out of all the Journey girls, I picked Dana. You know why? Her glasses.

Her glasses are removable. It's like getting two dolls!

 

The doll comes with a cheap vinyl bag. Dana can't wear it cross body because the strap is too short to go over her head and arms. I guess I'll have to make one for her. Dana makes me want to sew for her. In fact, I've already made a dress for her. Show it to you soon.

The Lammily Doll

In November last year I read in the local papers (here) about a doll released for sale in the US. It's rare for a local paper to cover the release of a doll so of course I got interested. This is no ordinary doll. It is short, brunette with an average body type and can be given cellulite and acne. The doll designer based the proportions of his doll on the measurements published by the CDC. The production of the doll was funded via crowdfunding campaign. You can read all about The Lammily Doll at the doll website here.

Anyway, I thought about it. A doll that is not pretty, with realistic body proportions - so mind boggling. I went to the website to check out the cost of buying the doll. It costs USD25 which is about the selling price of a fashion Barbie in Singapore. (some Barbies cost less but these are less articulated) The shipping cost was not expensive either but I didn't make the purchase because I already have enough dolls. One night, I casually mentioned to hubs I had tried to buy The Lammily Doll but decided against it. He immediately went to the website to check out the doll and all. Again we decided not to buy it. A few days later, he changed his mind and bought it for me. He decided a doll this different was worth buying.

One day, a delivery from China arrived. I was quite puzzled that the China manufacturer declared the doll cost as USD50 instead of USD25. Fortunately, there is no GST (goods & services tax) even on a USD50 package. I was quite pleased with the box. It doesn't have a cheap look.

The Lammily Doll in person. In case you're wondering, the front pockets are pseudo pockets. You can't put anything in them as the pockets aren't closed. The back patch pockets do work.

Unfortunately my Lammily Doll doesn't stand very well unless I let her lean against something. Most of my dolls can't stand very well so that's not anything new.
 

The Lammily Doll is articulated in the neck, arms, wrists, thighs and feet. I'm very happy that the wrists and feet are articulated. I wish the knees were more flexible. I love her hair. It's waaaay better than Barbie's. So smooth and shiny.

Sitting seems to pose the most problems.

I started to realise the restrictions could be due to her denim shorts. It fits perfectly but when she sits, the front velcro splits open and her butt crack is exposed.

The Lammily Doll isn't meant to be anti-Barbie but an alternative body type fashion doll. Nevertheless, I have a curiosity to see the difference between both dolls. If you are used to a Barbie body type, you may think The Lammily Doll look a little Fiona-ogre(ish). Okay, maybe it's just me. But I soon got used to her "average body type" and then started to notice how ridiculously unrealistic Barbie's waist and breasts are. (so high and perky)

I should have paid more attention. Introducing a new doll to my family is never an easy affair. Apparently while I was adjusting my camera setting, Barbie stole Lammily's denim shirt. She says she looks better in it. Poor Lammily had to wear someone else's tank top and a granny panty.

Crap. The hair pulling begins. She's no pushover, this one.

OMG. Doll fight. Fists flew. Ankles kicked. A few joints were dislocated...

It's Time-Out for these two dolls. Look how pissed Lammily is. Melly has kindly lent her dress to Lammily. It is of course too big...

I started to feel a little sorry for Lammily. So I let her try Barbie's crochet hat. It fits! Well, maybe a little loose but it's a hat so it's okay.

I let Lammily try Barbie's clothes. Unfortunately none fit her due to her realistic body proportion. This blue gown is the only one that she could squeeze into. But the back doesn't close properly and if she needs to pee, she has to take off the whole gown. (just look at her face)

Finally I remembered I have a set of Ken outfit. Yay, Lammily can get into the jacket. But the pants are too small.

To compensate Lammily for her loss of her denim shirt to Barbie, I crochet her a big ball to play with. It's a heavy ball as I have stuffed it with scrap fabric.

I made sure Lammily's ball is much bigger than Barbie's.

Oh, Lammily gets Barbie's pink convertible too. That is, until the denim shirt is returned.

statistics provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/lammily-average-beautiful-doll-goes-sale-us#sthash.napuo1ZL.dpuf

statistics provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/lammily-average-beautiful-doll-goes-sale-us#sthash.napuo1ZL.dpuf

To make the crochet ball (US):
R1: 2 ch, make 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook - 6 sts
Mark last stitch with safety pin because this is a spiral and you want to know where your round ends.
R2: Make 2 sc in each st around - 12 sts
R3: (Make sc in next st, 2 sc in next st) around -18 sts
R4: (Make sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st) around - 24 sts
R5: (Make sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st) around - 30 sts
R6-R10: Make 1 sc in each st around - 30 sts
R11: Make sc in next 3 st, sc2tog) around - 24 sts
R12: Make sc in next 2 st, sc2tog) around - 18 sts (you can stuff ball here)
R13: Make sc in next st, sc2tog) around - 12 sts
R14: sc2tog around one or 2 round until hole closes.
Fasten off and weave ends of thread into crochet work.
(let me know if you spot any errors)

Linked: Sew Many Ways

New shorts for Melly, Mell-chan doll

Folks,

I complain a lot about Singapore weather. Lately it's been worse. Rain, haze, humidity. My home is mostly not air-conditioned. That means I feel hot all day. Well, we do have air-conditioning in the bedrooms but I spend most of the day in the study room which is also part of the living room. When I was growing up, my home did not have any air-conditioning. My brothers kept cool by going shirtless. They wore a pair of home shorts. I kinda wish I could do that as well. But I'm a woman. And I live with other people. And there are neighbours and laws.

I wanted to make Melly, my Mell-chan doll something to wear and since it's so hot, I thought why not let her lounge around in a pair of home shorts. She is young enough to go shirtless.

After much cursing and swearing, I managed to sew Melly a decent looking pair of shorts using my scraps. I haven't made doll clothing for so long I forgot how difficult it is to sew something so small. I don't know if you are aware, making clothes for dolls was my first love. I did that when my kids were little. I pretended that it was for them. But it was really for me. On the positive side, sewing doll clothing doesn't require much fabric.

Doll clothing is no different from human clothing. They need to fit.

Thank goodness the back of the shorts doesn't go too low to reveal the butt crack. (Melly went commando on account of the heat)

 Melly loves her new shorts. It's comfy too. Wait.

What's that hanging by the side of your shorts, Melly?

What thing?

You mean this? It's my cat.

Melly! Since when did you get a cat?

Oh, never mind. Why am I talking to a doll?

How insane is that? I made pockets for Melly's home shorts. It's one inch wide. I forced Melly to empty her pockets. Thank goodness I found only some hair ribbon.

Just to give you an idea of the scale I am working with, I have posed Melly next to a 600ml bottle of water.

Melly wants to stop posing for photos and play with her friends.

Oh look, Cat gets a friend to play with too.

I didn't try very hard to hide the raw seams. Serging these little pieces of fabric would drive me nuts so I passed. For the elastic, I used an elastic used for tying hair. It is much less bulky than the ones used for human clothing. I'm very happy with this pair of shorts. Next time I will give more allowance at the top so I could hide the raw edges.

Partaying with Sew Many Ways

A doll quilt

Hey guys,

This morning I was busy with hand sewing I thought I'll read me some blogs while I sewed. I went to my feedly and sadly there were only a handful of new blog posts to read. Is it me or have many bloggers stopped blogging? Some do write a post now and then but there are a big number who have completely stopped for a year. As I went through my feed, I noticed those blogs which are run like businesses are most active.

In my mind, there are a few kinds of blogs:
- blogs which I nickname directory blogs ... an example would be a bag tutorials site... this kind of blog survives on advertising
- blogs which are non-monetary, no ads, no sponsored posts, no pushing of products
- blogs which are like mine, small audience , a few ads and yes, pushing of my products
- blogs which became wildly successful and have personal posts as well as sponsored posts which are cleverly written so they don't come across as selling out
- blogs which promote other blogs, products for a fee

Oh, don't get me wrong but I tend to skip the last kind of blog unless I'm looking for something specific. I admire blogs run like businesses. I wish I know how to be that good. Such blogs are popular because they meet the needs of hunger readers.

Admiring is one thing. When it comes to reading blogs, my personal preference is to follow the daily life of whoever the blogger is. What did she make? What did she cook? What are her thoughts? Does she looove the colour turquoise? What made her love the colour turquoise? Stuff like that. And these bloggers aren't celebrities. Just ordinary folks like you and me who have somehow wormed their way into my life. (like I have into yours)

Anyway, what's the point of all these rambling? Well, despite all the signs of a decline in blogging, I've decided to revive an old blog. When I began blogging in 2007, I started out with a bang with 3 blogs. I gave up on the other two because Projects By Jane took over my life. But now that I have 3 new dolls, I've decided to resurrect my dolls blog Dressed Up Dolls. In fact today I wrote one new post for it here.

Remember the Dorset feather stitchery sampler I was making? It's done!

First I want to show you the backside. Some people are really bothered by the untidy stitching on the back. But I find them quite interesting especially against the polka dot backing.

This little quilt will is for my Pullip doll. If I were to make this for sale, I would not use running stitches to hold the binding because that would not survive numerous washing. Since it's for my doll, I thought the running stitches are so cute.

Check out the back.

Very zen.

See how she's barely tolerating the photo session.

She's so pretty she deserves a new bed. That will be my next project!

Linking to: Sew can she, Sew Many Ways and The Inspired Wren