Hey--Who's that New Girl?

After going to a lot of effort to plan and prepare a lovely Thanksgiving dinner for my family, I decided to reward myself with a new doll! Here she is, front and center: introducing Calliope, a Can Can Cat Blythe Neo.

Can Can Cat has been on my short list of dolls that I want for quite a while...I finally found her on ebay, used in perfect condition, at a good price, and already in the U.S., so I grabbed her!

Her hair is lovely--straight and long and "swingy", so I didn't need to wash it; but I did lightly sand-matt her face, and I made her a Christmas dress. Now she doesn't feel like a stranger any more. Welcome dear Calliope! I know we will have lots of fun together.

Christmas Preparations

It's a flurry of activity in the Doll House today, as the girls get ready for Christmas!

Upstairs, Penelope and Grace are trimming the tree while Heidi hangs the stockings. Wendy has just announced that the Christmas cookies are ready!

Downstairs, Daphne, Claire and Faith are busy wrapping gifts that they will donate to the children's party at the rec center.

Meanwhile, across town, Bonnie has been tasked with delivering gifts to Patience, a reclusive writer who lives deep in the woods.

Everyone is full of Christmas spirit--it really is the most wonderful time of the year! Merry Christmas to all!

Special Orders

I'm always happy when I get a special order in my Etsy shop! Read on to see what my customers have requested.

Most recently, a customer ordered this pair of panties for a custom librarian doll. I hope I will get to see her when she is finished, even though the panties will be hidden under her clothes! The embroidery on these was simple, so they came together quickly.

A couple of months ago, I made the panties in the next two pictures for two friends; they all have some special meaning for the dolls they are intended for. I was expecially happy with the way the embroidered numbers turned out.

 Another time, a customer saw these cherry panties and wanted a top to go with them. This is the basic t-shirt I like to make, so I enlarged the cherry pattern slightly and embroidered it on the front. It is more difficult to embroider on the knit fabric, which is the reason I haven't offered the t-shirts in my store--yet--!

Each special order is a challenge that I find both exciting and scary--there is always a little part of me that worries it won't come out just right, and the customer won't like it! So far that hasn't happened, but I think the worry keeps me on my toes, so I continue to welcome and look forward to special orders.

Is it Christmas Yet?

Candy and Penny gaze in wonder at their Christmas tree. I need to get busy and sew them each a Christmas dress!

Christmas is Coming!

I had taken a break from craft swapping for a few months, but when I saw that sign-ups were open for the Christmas swap on the Facebook group called Blythe Swappin', I decided to jump in again! It was my first swap with this group, but I am familiar with many of the members from other Blythe groups on Facebook.

When I found out that my partner, wheatpennyjenny, lives in Hawaii, my first thought of making a holiday hat and sweater set for her Blythe doll didn't seem appropriate. Instead I made the goodies pictured below: two red and green sleeveless dresses, a rainbow Christmas tree (because she loves rainbows), and two pairs of panties--one with a rainbow and one with Christmas candy--which are not pictured because I forgot to include them when I took the picture! I also made the three wrapped gifts as props to go with the tree.

The dress on the left has a print of Christmas lights on the skirt, so I made the matching lightbulb necklace to go with it. I think next time I will actually sew the necklace to the dress, for two reasons: first, it wouldn't get separated from the dress and lost, and second, the fastener would not slide around to the front, which it always does, and it is somewhat maddening to have to constantly re-arrange the necklace.

The dress on the right has a separate underskirt of red tulle. Because I am always worried about staining my dolls, I made it by sewing the tulle to a white band at the top. The band is the only part that would touch the doll, so there is no danger of staining.

I am really in the Christmas spirit now, and I am eagerly awaiting the package from my partner!

Embroidered Flowers

My embroidered Blythe panties have been selling very well on Etsy! I try to come up with new embroidery designs frequently, so my shop will always have something new an interesting in it. The one pattern that I keep repeating, however, is a trio of flowers; I consider it my signature design, because it is the only one that I do free-hand (for all the others, I trace the image onto the fabric and then embroider over the marked lines).

I've been offering the flower trio in blue, purple, and pink and this week I had a special order for yellow and cream (she also ordered a blue). Here's the special order:

...and the pink:

...and the purple:

I love embroidery, so making these tiny panties is really a pleasure!

Pull Rings and Wubba Chikins

For the past couple of months I've been sewing panties for Blythe, and embroidering them with fun/cute/pretty designs. So why did it take me so long to realize that two images that really scream "Blythe!" to collectors are pull rings and wubba chikins?? This week I stitched those designs onto some panties and I'm offering them in my Etsy shop as a "made to order" item, so they will never be out of stock. All the other designs I make will be listed as I make them--that gives me freedom to sew whatever I feel like sewing!