Casual Fridays: Big Hair Don't Care--#Hairdorables, Sk8r Noah and the Hairdorables Crew, and Crafting Creatively To Break Down the Box

Big Hair, Don't Care. Especially on a Friday.

Why yes, I haven't done a Casual Friday here since we were in the Year of the Horse. Now we're in the Year of the Dog. Well, that and the continued Year of Blind Boxing All the Toys. I've been sitting on several non-AG items for some time, wanting to Casual Friday them, but have had enough trouble just keeping up with AG releases and my own brain.

Let's make a step in the blog direction. Let's bring back Casual Fridays in a big way. A big hair way.

Since it's also Flashback Friday, let's take it way back first. Remember being a kid in the 80s and begging your parents for quarters to put into the vending machines at the front of stores, outside banks, and inside the now-dead Toys R Us? You got lured in by the shiny stuff on the front or the fact that machine said it had Spider-man, popped in your change--anywhere from a single quarter to four of them lined up back to back--turned the crank, and got a little plastic capsule with some kind of Cracker-Jack level toy.¹ You got just a sticker or a temporary tattoo, if you had bad luck. You may have lucked into a bouncy ball, or got the one you wanted if the machine specialized in those. Sometimes you got a plastic ring or necklace for kiddie swag, or a little plastic figurine. Some had the same amount of quarters you'd spent back, which was like a second chance to spend your funds. You probably never got what they showed on the front of the machine that lured you in the first place, but you still had something tiny and plastic to amuse you for a few minutes and your parents could finish paying for the groceries. It was baby's first slot machine, only you actually got something at the end. I'm sure I put way too much loose change in those as a kid and every little bitty thing I got is either trashed or hiding in a bin somewhere in my mom's stuff. My fave were the little plastic charms that were all the hype in the 80s. I had so many tiny plastic mirrors with jingle bells on them, fam. If you've ever played anything with a Japanese influence or are just a bloody nerd like me, then you've also had the same feel if you've gone after gachapon, which are capsule toys but of nicer quality.

So this blind box shit's not new in the slightest. It's just taking off at higher price points than the loose change in your mom's purse.

Nowadays, blind box, mystery open, or blind bag toys are everywhere. Some have codes that'll hint at what's inside. Most times they come in boxes that are sealed, and you have no idea what was in the box till you open it. No refunds if you get doubles, kids. Hope you've got someone to trade with. I've been known to chase down things like this. In the 80s it was C.U.T.I.E.s, the distaff counterpart to M.U.S.C.L.Es. Recently it's been Funko Mystery Mini Disney Princesses, Mini Barbies, Steven Universe figures, Tokidoki brands, and blind bag/blind box My Little Ponies back when ponies didn't piss me off. My local comic book store² has a few variations once in a while, often has a trade box if you get one and want to trade brand for brand, and I'll grab one when picking up my nerd books with the caveat that I have to like over 75% of what I'll get before I pick one out and drop funds, and I generally don't gotta try to catch em all. I also try to stop once I've reached the point where there's only a few I want to find and the chance of finds are low, then decide to hunt down those I want on eBay. eBay, where people will try to make you pay through the nose for the one that only comes one in every thirty-six boxes.

The two major lines that have been in the toy aisles at Fred Meyer and Target³ in the past couple of years taking up good space are Shopkins and L.O.L Surprise. I haven't gone for either. Shopkins don't thrill me as Things, But With Eyes, plus Bae hates anthropomorphized food. The dolls have weird expressions as well--plus by the time they came along, I had already written off the line. LOLs have been popular among my feed buddies, but the dolls have plastic clothes and hair and for me, that's a big nooooooope. LOL has expanded greatly with little sisters, pets, and other such bits. Still a noooope.

So when I heard about the Hairdorables, my interest was piqued. Hairdorables, if you either don't know or enjoy being a bridge troll and living under a rock, are chibi-style mystery package dolls released by Just Play that are made for today's go-go YouTube vlogging and camera unboxing toy kidfluencer. Basically, all those unboxing videos on the 'Tube? Just Play's trying to tap into people who do that and people who enjoy watching people open boxes on camera for your amusement. The price point of Hairdorables is noticeably higher than other brands at thirteen bucks, but the hair isn't plastic--in fact, their hair is their big selling point--and they're focused on specific characters instead of like, forty different ones on a spread sheet. Except there's a spreadsheet.

Okay, let me back up again and give you a summary of their whole shtick. The backstory goes that the Hairdorables started when main character Noah, while doing a vlog about her putting in a side braid, accidentally smushed the words "hair" and "adorable" into the word Hairdorable. The hashtag and the video went viral, she launched her own channel with her buddies, and now they get on the internet and share all their quirky traits. The Youtube channel just launched today--perfect timing--and the official Instagram is adorable. They also have a Twitter and a Facebook but really, this is an IG kind of line. 

The line launched at the start of August and the first wave, or Series One, is introducing us to the twelve characters. Right now Hairdorables are only at Target, WalDeMart, and Amazon. I saw them on the shelf during one of my 35th Anniversary MLP Runs⁴ and decided hey, if I hate them after the first one I open then I'll sell it off and consider it not my thing. This is literally how I got into Harry Potter. I should have known.

Guys. Gals. Enby pals. Hairdorables are my thing. Well, it's a thing that I like and that makes it mine.

Also on Monday, when I was not asleep but should have been, my brain went "hey, I wonder if there's a Hairdorables wiki?" One Google search later and. Um. There were two, in the sense two had parked on Wikia/Fandom, the same place that's been hosting the AG Wiki for the past ten years. But they were not up to even minimal snuff. One hadn't done anything but URL park--they literally only had the main page. And the other? There were fourteen pages, and one was a fan character. A fan character. Noooooooooooooope. Do not allow or do this when you are trying to inform, especially if you haven't even gotten good data pages up. 

So, having run a successful wiki for ten years, I decided that if you want the thing done right you gotta be the one to do it yourself. One creation, four hours of sleep, and several hours later, the Absolute Hairdorables Wiki was born. Just like the AG wiki, I run a neat ship and will not buck nonsense. I've already turned off the "add a pic to the gallery" button site wide, all the comments under articles because no one needs that, and anon editing. And when I wasn't putting my braids back in the past two days, I coded. All the characters and each of their doll pages made nearly fifty pages. And that's before I started defining things and noting anatomy and all that. You want a good wiki, you make a good wiki and you treat it right.

The first half of this post is me opening my first one, way back when on that far flung day of August 12th. At the time I hadn't figured out my aspects on my phone, so the pics are long and wide at a 16:9 Ratio. Live with it, I wasn't cropping. Then there's some blog shots of my collection so far. Finally, I'll have a craft for all those people who want to keep the backgrounds but don't want or can't deal with huge boxes in their living space.

Jump under the cut and start living your best Hairdorable Life. 

Crafting Creatively: Things I've Made: Kendalls's Wafrican-Loli Dress and Underdress

The grace of Japan, the beauty of Africa, and the cuteness of lolita all in one outfit.

So there I was on the IG like ya do. Checking my feed full of friends, yarn, dolls, more yarn, more dolls, random stuffs, cosplay, nerd shit, and the lifestyles of the cool and Hamilton.¹ As I was scrolling and waiting for my morning meds to kick in, I saw that Requiem Art Designs had released a new pattern. That wasn't unusual--she releases patterns practically weekly, on a schedule that I could only hope to wish to maintain even if I could get my brain together. I started following her on Etsy and Instagram because I wanted to start looking into buying patterns for my BJD. I've personally yet to make the leap to sewing for anything slimmer than my Iplehouse Benny Nikki, and even then I've been nervous, but hey, support your local art faves and crafty peeps. Most of what she's released has been for Barbie, Monster High/Ever After High--what she's labeled the Petite Slimline--and various sizes of BJD. I kinda want to get into making some customs of the dolls now that they're plentiful at second hand shops and I have several drawers of the teens.²

That week was an alternate week--something off her usual release schedule. And she had released---wait for it--a WellieWishers pattern. Okay, the top image gave it away, but that day I got flappy hands.  And one that wasn't historical based, frilly frou-frou aprons and ruffles and bows like a doily and a ruffle foot had gone off the rails and both eaten the doll halfway and met in the middle, generidress (but now with bow!), or something that a person whose aesthetics for a seven year old's dressing fashion had stopped somewhere around 1958 had made? Sign me, as they say, the fuck up.

Her first Wellies-sized pattern, the Wa-Loli Dress For 14 inch Kid Dolls, came out in August. She's calling the size 14" Kid Dolls, so this covers Wellies, Heart4Hearts Girls like Rahel, Mosi, and Shola³ and those Glitter Girls I saw at Target for a blip before they went to get retooled and haven't shown back up yet near me. That covers quite a few dolls of the style.

But it got better. She wanted to promote the new size she was trying--because she didn't want the size to fail and her to commit designing for a a size people weren't interested in. So she offered a new promotion. If you buy the first pattern, make a version of it, and message her on Etsy with an image of the completed test of the pattern, then she would add you to a list to get her next 14" Kid pattern absolutely free! And if you make the second one before the third's release, then you got the third free. And so on and so on and as it goes. If you get the pattern, can make it in a month, and then keep it up, then you would stay on the list to keep getting free patterns as long as she made patterns.

Conditions apply, read the fine print. You have to buy the first pattern--the one she had just released, the Wa-Loli Dress. No getting in on pattern #2. And you have to make it and show her you made it before the next one comes out--in about a month. And the moment you don't make the next month's, you're off the list and you don't get back on. Well, it was a month at the release, now it's less than a week. So if you can buy this and make it by the 21st of September and show Requiem, she'll send you the next one free. Yeah, I should have blogged about this sooner. You should have been following me on IG because I told everyone there on day one. Bllpth. Also if the size didn't sell at least 15 in a year, the pattern would be considered a failure size and she'd stop making patterns. Well, it sold more than that in the first week. I'd like to hope I added to the buying with some IG and posting on AGC.

I did as I was offered, bought the pattern, and went out to get some fabric to make a doll dress the next weekend. I had initially decided that, since Ashlyn and Zeblyn are my two half-Japanese Wellie twins, I was going to make a dress for each of them--or at least one for Ashlyn. But in Joann Fabrics, I came across kente cloth and the plans instantly changed to making a set for Kendall. The gods are capricious, knew I was being too ambitious, and wanted to remind me that Kendall was first one to arrive and like Addy, deserves the best. The pattern includes pieces and steps for a dress, underdress, and faux obi-style sash with optional center and bow.

Note that if you're a person who needs a pattern to give a total walkthrough from layout to closure, full color step by step images of every seam and how to sew it, and everything on every pattern marked so you get your hands held, then you're going to need to work around that for Requiem's patterns. Requiem's patterns have the patterns to proper scale, some basic data on the pattern pieces so you know what goes on the folds and all that, and then all the steps in text of how many pieces to cut out (and if you need long rectangles, their dimensions) and how they go together. No pics walking you through every seam, press, and step. They get to the heart of a pattern and expect you to know what you're doing. This to me is kind of refreshing. The pattern tells me what to do, gives me some details, and then expects me to know what I'm up to and how a thing goes together. I like that, especially with how long I've been sewing now. I don't need to be told how to gather, press, run a straight seam--just tell me how the thing runs together and let me do it. The guidance is slim and if you can't tell a seam ripper from a zipper foot, you might be in trouble. Time to jump that hurdle!

Go under the cut for deets on Wafrica, Lolita dress, wa-loli, and how I made one damn cute outfit for Kendall. Also guess who found the aspect ratios on her phone? Yeah, buddy.

Crafting Creatively: Things I've Made: Nanea’s Purple Chevron Dress

Because not everything for the Hawaii Girl has to be super tropical.

Hey, this post didn't take four months! Moving up in the world, Neth. Good job, keep it up.

In This Year of Our Trash Fire 2018, AGC has once again had a successful Secret Snarker gift swap. This makes Year Four and again, no one was shorted or sent unpleasant items. All the packages--even the ones to Sweden and Australia--got to their giftees. That's several years in a row, gang, it's now tradition. Don't disappoint me in the future. I'm counting on you in a way I never count on white men.

This year I got to gift tsunamisue, who is not only one of the best people in the fandom but has a Nanea in Hawaii, because she is cool and good. I just have Nanea in the PNW. And like normal, I will veer hard towards making historical two-of-a-kind outfits.

AG, I love you and hate you and put up with your shit. Nanea has, from you, no casual dresses with casual shoes. She kind of has something a little day-to-day in her school dress. But that has espadrilles and a floral print, and otherwise she either has no shoes or has sandals. Always sandals. Always. Hawaii does have a lot of the beachy feel, and the Hawaii residents enjoy their culture. But people also have and had outfits not surrounded by flowers, pineapples, exotics, and the constant screams of "LOOK HAWAII" on them.

If you won't do it, I'll do it myself.

Nanea’s Purple Chevron Dress

Nanea’s spending a day in town with her best friends Lily and Donna in a fine chevron-striped dress Mama picked out for her. The scalloped front bodice is accented with six smart decorative buttons down the front, and a neat peter pan white collar; there’s also short puffy sleeves and a sash in the back. She puts on her white ankle socks and black Mary Janes shoes, and Mary Lou offers to tie a matching grosgrain ribbon in her hair. What a way to feel a touch more mature!

The usual make two sets, keep the worst set applies. Also if you notice that the shoes are different in the header pic than the rest of the pics, that's because I started this post and then found out I had somehow not gotten a solo picture of the outfit several months later. One quick set up outdoors and a face plant later,¹ I had one. The shoes in this and one other shot are some generic basics from Joann Fabrics; in the rest I swiped Ellie's black Mary Janes.  The socks on my girl I'm pretty sure are from a Molly set. I think. I try to keep my socks sorted best I can. but do you know how many plain white ankle socks there are in the AG world? For tsunamisue I added in her own set of basic black shoes and white ankle socks, along with some mini stationery and a Tamagochi because she likes those. I think she liked it.

Cut for the usual craft details.

Rambled Opinions, General Snarkiness, and Crafting Creatively: Two Kids of Mid 20th Century Release, A Smackering of Books, and the 1952 Walk-Away Dress for 18" Dolls

A fancy striped dress was not one of the things released. It's one of the things I made.

Me, Jan 2018: 2018 will get me back up on the proverbial AG horse! I'm gonna get back on that blogging wagon! Luciana exists, I will get to do cool things, I will be seeing HAMIL--

Depression: siddown bitch, be humble *kicks me in the solar plexus of my brain*

Me: yes brai--*does not finish sentence because she just puked, curls up, can't move*

And that's where I went for four months, because the brain weasels are shitgibbons and resolve to ruin my world like so many mansplainers going "well actually--" and the very existence of election manipulation because white people were primed to vote stupid or throw shit away because they fell for racist, self-centered bullshit.¹

Have I done stuff since then? Well, yeah. I just haven't been blogging. Which I feel bad about. Let's start over again and don't hold my problems against me. As the song by Rag 'N Bone Man goes, "I'm only human, after all." It's okay to be a sad Neth.

What's happened in four months?  Um, well, a quick gloss. 

Gabbi's still hanging in there, even unto May, even if her bed is gone. Tenney-Sue still stinks. Logan is a No-gan. There was a short leak of the nu!Molly which was then instantly yanked down, but not so quick that I didn't put it on the Wiki. Luciana became part of my gang,² known colloquially as Space Girl Lucci, and enjoys things such as knit sweaters, Houston Town Pride (mine moved, I know more about Houston than Virginia), and Sailor Moon. The end of January had a purple moon--when a blue moon gets eclipsed.

There's the books listed for the GotY for 2019. Toys R Us is shutting down--and it's not dying from WalMart or Amazon or millennials not having enough babies, but because people like Mitt Romney murdered it and are looting the corpse to fund the rich-poor divide.³ And it's ruining the world of toys--AG sales dropped badly last quarter, but I try not to freak out about AG dying. MCM is coming up this year but I have family stuff to attend to at that weekend so I shan't be going. HAMILTON.⁴

I continue to spin yarn. I actually used some and now I'm not scared to use my own yarn. I saw Black Panther, added to the destruction of Titanic in high rankings, and now Wakanda Forever. (Infinity War what now? Nah.) My local AG store no longer has a cafe, because the economy is crap and AG picked the Seattle and Scottsdale stores to get kicked from having a cafe. We had a successful Secret Snarker, but I didn't post about my outfit because of brain weasels so I'll get on that soon. I went to Emerald City Comic Con and I loved it and I want to get a full pass for next year, like three days if I can dig it. I now have four of the AG Craft sets from the 90s. Janelle Monae came out as queer and I am a Dirty Computer but I do not consent to be cleaned.⁵

And such and such. 

Oh, and the part that's in this post: I released a pattern and there was a short AG release that consisted of a handful of Historical stuff and the Bitty stuff I tend to ignore. I did get to get pics in February. February. Ugh, my stupid brain. So this is a short post, since there's not much to yammer about. And at the end of this post, I'm going to be a little more proactive about my Etsy shop. If I can't pimp me, who can?

But on the real, I'm sorry that I made y'all worry about me. I try to let people know I'm alive--if struggling--on Instagram by posting fairly regularly. But these past four months, every time I went to go work on any blog post, my brain screamed "shut up, no one wants to read your garbage words about toys aimed at little girls,⁶ you're an adult, this is stupid, you're stupid, you care too hard, no one cares this hard when they're normal. You're weird and ugly and boring and garbage for being damn near forty and being so ass to the wall about girls' toys. You should be an adult and into things such as homeowner's fees, shot glasses, babies, long form stories about soup on recipe blogs, eating at Applebees and the stock market--you know, things that might matter to people. Or nothing, because caring about things isn't cool, South Park and Family Guy said it so it must be true." And as the span got longer since my last post, I kept feeling more and more like I should just like, give it up and pack it in and stick to silence because no one really cared.

But you know what? No. No, I can talk about what I want on this space of the internet I've chunked out for myself. And what I want to talk about in this chunk is American Girl Dolls and race and gender and sexuality and intersection as a person who lives the intersectional life by the nature of who I am--black, queer, female, and into dolls. At least one person cares, I know they do.

And if there are in fact people who don't like me doing this and wait for every post online I make to go spend their time reading all that I blog and 'gram and tweet, and hover around my e-presence in order to see me say something they think is dumb and run over to their own e-space to go "ah ha ha what a freak" and talk shit about me?

Okay. Fine. Let them. If these people really do enjoy spending their precious free time looking at me or anyone else doing shit openly and complaining that people are living, when they themselves could be using that time to do literally anything else in this span of life they have to themselves? I hope it's fulfilling to them. I'm too old for that shit. I been too old for that shit since the days of Cloak Girl and Barefoot Jimmy. Dolls and race and being queer and shipping characters and social justice are fulfilling to me, and I'm gonna do what I can to be a happy person.

Are you hate reading me? Did you stumble across my space, sneer, and decide this is fucking stupid? Okay. "Enjoy" this post and all the posts I've made and will make after it. You could spent that time watching Netflix, reading a book, editing TV Tropes, playing D&D, carving swords, spending time with people in your life that love you, or doing anything in the world to add to your skillset as a human, but instead you're spending it with me in my room in the internet for some reason I don't understand and frankly don't want to. You do you, boo-boo. It's your life to do with as you will. I'm going to keep blogging.

Are you reading me for joy? Did you stumble across my space, smile, and decide you want more? Are you one of the people who, for whatever reason, like and enjoy reading what I have to say or think or anything about dolls made for 8-12 year old girls? Do you understand that just because a toy is aimed at preteen girls, the company has been around thirty-plus years and like anything it has people who have grown up with them, found love or peace in them, and who have made bonds with others over doll collecting? Do you like seeing people find affection for things instead of only derision? Am I kinda cool? Did you miss me? Then hey. I'm back, and I'll do what I can to get back to the rhythm.

Go under the cut and read on.

Crafting Creatively: Things I've Made: Addy’s Cream Lace Dress and Pinafore

Addy remains clothed in the finest of clothings.

It's that time again! (To floss our tongues?) No, it's time to learn today's lesson, and for that we turn to the Wheel of Morality--wait this isn't Animaniacs--

It's time for the Third Annual American Girl Collectors Secret Snarker Gift Swap! Well, the wrapping up thereof.¹ This year was quite successful, and I'll post about what I got later this week, because it's super cute and I wanna give it a full review--as well as the outfit I got last year.² But first, let's talk about what I made, because a gift swap is an excuse to sew, and there's never a bad excuse to sew. This year I got The Edwardian Girl as my giftee, who not only is one of the members of AGC, but runs an Etsy shop you should so get in on because she makes some damn fine outfits. (Do you not have Addy's Cape Island Dress? Do you like reproductions? She makes em! Get on that.) Sewing for another good seamstress can always be a touch intimidating, because I undercut how good I am at everything because who needs self esteem? (I'm getting better at it). But as I flipped through her survey, she mentioned Addy. We all knew where this was going the moment I saw Addy's name. Make another outfit for Addy Walker? Don't mind if I do!

Addy’s Cream Lace Dress and Pinafore

Addy is ready for another year of school at the ICY with her new outfit: a cream and flower print dress that Ruth just finished for her. It has fine cream crochet lace at sleeves, bodice, and hem; off-white cuffs and collar; side sashes, and three fine pink buttons down the front. Underneath she has matching lace-trimmed pin-tucked pantaloons, and when she wants to keep her clothes clean during chores there’s a matching lace pinafore. Tie her pink ribbon in her hair and send her off to school! 

And like usual, I made two, kept the weaker set, and am ready to talk about what I did, how, and why.

But before I do, a little bit of American Girl collection personal squeal. I have lamented muchly about how, through a mix of crafting, cheap purchases, secondhand, the occasional splurge, and gift, I had a nearly complete Addy collection. Nearly. Because the one authentic thing I was missing was the whistle from Addy's Church Fair Fun Set, and the costs people ask for a whistle were ridic, and I was never sure I'd ever get one.

Well, Miss Tae of AGC got one and sent it to me. As a gift. To finish my collection.

it is sitting in her lap and it makes tweet noises and so did I~

I am sure that y'all heard the squealing and the tweeting on the whistle (yo it is loud) and the flappy hand screeches I made all the way on the other side of the globe when I opened this package. And then I went and cleaned up Addy's trunk³ and sorted her clothes, and set it with the rest of her church fair set and plan to put a little cord on it so it can hang around her neck too.

I, for all intents and purposes, have a complete Addy Walker collection.⁴ All her old stuff, all her new stuff, all her BeForever stuff. My first girl has everything I've ever wanted for her from AG. Thank you, Miss Tae, thank you, thank you.

Now let's cut and talk about her new dress set.

Crafting Creatively: Things I've Made: Kit’s Lavender Scallop-Edged Dress

Everyone looks good in lavender. Everyone.

I like to sew. 

I get bored and sew things. I get angry and I sew things. I get excited and I sew things. I get depressed and I sew things to feel better. I get sleepy and I don't sew things because I would rather not sew through my fingers, but I dream about sewing things. It's a cool ass hobby that, when I'm done, has something to show for it. My mom started me sewing when I was four years old at the basics, I started putting together doll clothes when I was five or six with my own scrap bags and children's books on dolls, and I've never stopped. I would sew more outfits for myself but I have yet to obtain either a dressmakers double or the space to set one up. I plan to do some things like casual lounge pants--a t-shirt and lounge pants are my home uniform--but pretty historical simulated outfits are a lot more work. Also sewing for me takes like, five or six yards of fabric and laying things out and lots of lace and lining and invisible zippers and buttonholes and modifying nearly every single top or dress pattern to fit around my huge rack o' tatas¹ and oh my gods. I'm going to need more space for that.

But doll clothes sewing? Super easy and satisfying for me. It takes a yard or two--and that's more because I overpurchase; if the pattern calls for 3/4 a yard I buy a yard and a quarter to give me space to layout. The trims are generally on the smaller side, and I need fewer of them. And rather than having to set in zippers or, Athene Save Me, make buttonholes, I can mostly get away with velcro and the occasional snaps. Plus, if I want to do a historical look, I have so many people to model my creations. I have stacks of doll clothes and doll craft books in my house (some of which are older than me in both the technical and actual sense) and a whole comic book storage box of just AG sized patterns alone--and that doesn't count the ones I've purchased digitally.

I've got a lot of AG patterns, is what I'm saying, and I like to and want use them. The most recent use has Kit in a new outfit that's very springtime.

Kit’s Lavender Scallop-Edged Dress

Kit is not a flouncy girl, but dresses were de rigueur in the 1930s. So it helps that this dress suits her tastes just right. The light lavender print is complimented by scalloped short sleeves which are mimicked at the overbodice and the plain white collar has double topstitching and a neat button flower accent. She also has a matching button-flower hairclip to pull her hair aside.

Double the dresses, double the fun!

Also, if you've seen this dress on one of Gwen's girls from A Peek Into the Pantry, that's not because she broke into my place and swiped my dress after I finished it. I made two and sent one to her. Just because I like to sew and I like to sew for others and send them gifts when they're my friends. =3

Under the cut for crafting deets.

Crafting Creatively: Things I've Made: Cécile’s Turkey Red Dress, Fawn Jacket, and Trimmed Cottage Bonnet

Two sets at once!

Mwahah, Leap Day! I just have to make a blog post today. C'mon, it only comes once every four years, and I'll have to wait another four years to do anything on that day again. Gods bless St. Tib's Day and celebrate Eris, Goddess of Discord and Order!¹

The 2016 Secret Snarker is wrapping up, and my gift has arrived to me and will be documented on Instagram later. And mine has gotten to and been the recipient--one of the two sets I made. As I explained when I made "Samantha's" Pink Dress and Pinafore, I generally when making a gift go ahead and make two sets of things. This in part helps me craft better--not only do I make them simultaneously and thus can figure out the steps all together, I make sure to give the better put together set to my giftee. This time I was gifting kaleb92 and she has among her gang members Colette, who is Cécile with a name change. Guess which Historical Gang Member didn't have a Miss Nethie's Original Outfit? Okay, more than one. I've have the brain issues. But Cécile was the one that matched a member of her gang, and it was a chance for me to design something sweet for her Colette and my Cécile.

I even wrote a description like the old catalogs did. (I actually did for the dress and pinafore, which I've retroactively put in.)

Cécile’s Turkey Red Dress, Fawn Jacket, and Trimmed Cottage Bonnet

Cécile is ready for a bright spring day in her new ensemble. Her turkey red vine print dress has short sleeves, a faux vest with a bow accent, and a scalloped overskirt—all edged with cotton lace trim. (Turkey red is a highly fashionable, colorfast red—and is so named from the method of dying, not the bird!) The fawn colored jacket is fully lined with six smart buttons down the front and a flared shape, and the matching cottage bonnet has runched ribbon trim, a flower accent, and gathered lace trim on the lining. With her full ensemble—including matching hair bows--she’ll look her best!

There's only one major difference between my set and the set I sent, which I'll point out. Hop under the cut for details of the sets.

Also--because this doesn't need a whole post--I've released my first cross stitch pattern in my Etsy shop, which I've restarted. It's to make a 1900's Style Cross Stitch Sampler, with bonus instructions to turn said sampler into a pillow. Take a gander. I hope to get more cross stitch patterns out over the month, once I've crafted them into something. It's always a task to know what to do with a cross stitch once you've finished it sometimes.

*~*~*

Crafting Creatively: $15 PVC Photo Background Stand for Dolls

Tara's getting her picture taken. But she's not the topic.

Ladies, gentlemen, both and neither, you probably wonder where I take such plain backdrop shots of my girls. Well, it was my photo corner, which was basically three storage drawers with green non-pill fleece hanging from them. But that is a bit of a mess right now, hence a lack of reviews. Plus, I couldn't really move it around. Pictures had to be taken there, or they were taken nowhere. Okay, occasionally outside, but not with my green fleece. Well, that has changed. This pic of Tara--with Grace Brand clothing and earrings--was taken outside on my new PVC backdrop stand.

I've been spinning yarn, and one of the things I found a design plan for online was a niddy noddy--it's a way to wrap yarn to see how much you have--out of basic PVC pipes. I got it put together with all the sizes I'd want, and it's worked great and allows me to take it apart and store it as needed. So why not do the same with a backdrop stand? 

I can't take 100% credit for it, since I found a similar design on Dandelions on the Wall, for a $20 PVC backdrop stand. But I did--with the Bae's help because I can't measure for butts--work out the math for a short doll one. When put together it's a little over three feet tall. And well, this is something that I would like to share with other doll photographers. So as long as you point back here to show where you got the design, that would be sweet. Also don't make these to see on Etsy or eBay. This isn't for profit, it's for assistance.¹

Below the cut for instructionables!

Crafting Creatively - Things I've Made: Samantha/Nellie's Pink Dress and Pinafore

The perfect dress for keeping clean and neat. Maybe.

Huzzah! My photocorner has been set back up, and in such a way that I can potentially get a lot of natural sunlight to drape and not have to use the flash every time I want to take pictures of things. I took a backlog of review shots in giddiness, including a craft project I did this winter. And it has been some time since I showed off what I can do. (And why people can and often do listen to me when I say things about crafting.) Let's fix that. I'm an awesome craft guru.

This time on Crafting Creatively, let's look into the fine details and designing of what I've titled Samantha/Nellie's Pink Dress and Pinafore. I say it with the slash like that because I made two sets like I do for gifts. The gift set went to Brazil¹ for Bea (thedollrookie)'s Samantha, and the set here is for Nellie. AGC did a gift swap, and when I was selected with Bea and saw her Samantha didn't have much in the way of wardrobe, I jumped at the chance to make her a Neth's Original Outfit. Me and Samantha don't get along re: Pretty Pink Princess, but designing Edwardian clothing is awesome. I love making historical outfits more than modern stuff, because I feel like I can be a lot more creative with it even in restrictions. Modern stuff is okay, don't get me wrong, but historical clothing design has become one of my passions over the many years I've existed.

ETA, 2/29/16: Retroactive description!

"Samantha"’s Pink Dress and Pinafore

Samantha can’t wait to see Gardner and Cornelia after their honeymoon! She has a brand new white dotted pinafore to wear over her best pink floral print dress. There’s even a big pink grosgrain hairbow to wear in her brown curls!
Hop under the cut for background and details.

Crafting Creatively: Picking Perfect Prints and Fabric

Kit's dress looks good because I started with good fabrics.¹

So there you are, doing your first AG sewing project! You've already decided to avoid the Generidress profile--or if you're working with it (because it's a great starter project), you're tweaking it to look like more than that. Maybe you bought a pattern or two from Etsy, or are doing a basic gathered skirt, or something. Either way, you're all ready to cut and sew and make something neat for your doll wardrobe. It's go time!

Wait, no it's not. Don't cut that fabric just yet. Let's make sure that your fabric fits what you're doing. Set the scissors down and listen, cause we can all learn a little something before we get into the cutting. Learn twice, cut once, cause you can't uncut fabric or trims.

There's a lot of good, cute fabrics out there, and a lot of good, cute clothing patterns. I own several patterns and like buying them from Etsy shops. But part of working with an American Girl doll and making clothes for them is working to scale. Like I said with my knitting post, messing up the scale, the print, or the add-ons and not trying to work within some limits for dolls can turn what might have been a nice outfit into a hot, oversized, terrible looking mess. And this is especially true with fabric. I got a lot of my mistakes out as a kid on other doll brands, but I also didn't have the internet to show these failings.² I fucked it up so you don't have to.

This doesn't just include the fabric, it includes the trims. Let's hop below the cut for the things to do, and things not to do.

The Tale of the Cousins of AGC and Introducing Kira Hickman

Look at Kira's imposter in the case. Wait--who's Kira?

This time last year I had a whole series half done on holiday wear, and now it's been over two weeks since I've said anything. What happened? The good and bad, to be honest: new computer, transfer of files, computer wanting to not behave, customer service, and "unrelated to computer" health concerns, personal sads, and all of this winding into a ball of crippling depression. Disability: It's not ever been just physical, people! All caught up? Good.

No post on the GotY, you ask? Nope. Because I've seen next year's girl, and she doesn't excite me one damn bit. Take what I said last year when we saw WonderBread and tack the new girl on the end, because it's Same Shit Different Year. Next Year's Girl makes a Connect Four of Failure. Not only has AG given us another white character (with PoC sidekicks), they have also given us another character that can't have brown eyes with dark hair. She's Chrissa Redux. She's Vanilla Buttercream--something that is good in metered doses, but when there's so many more options out there and many more stories and no stories that have shown a need to be white, it just becomes a terrible taste in your mouth. She will not become part of my gang whatsoever. We need a Doll of Color for Girl of the Year (#DoCGotY)¹, and at this point if AG wants to remain relevant with this LE thing, they need to do a doll of color. And none of this half-white/biracial/a spoon full of whiteness to get the ethnicity to go down we got with Jess and Kanani. Or side characters we've got with Sonali--which won't happen again, given the death of Best Friends. No ifs, ands, buts or becauses, or bullshit lines about how the moderns are diverse. There needs to be a front line Girl of the Year of Color, and preferably she should be black since that hasn't been touched at all by the line.  AG step your fucking game up.

And that's all I have to say on that. Back to my gang. Well, my gang and many others. 

In the past months since summer, I've added two more gang members to the AGGiB. There's been Sameera Al-Rajhi, a 18" MyTwinn (who will get her chattery bits and review later) who arrived this summer, and Kira Hickman who arrived this fall. Kira Hickman is a My AG #21 that came in a group that collectively has been called the Cousins of American Girl Collectors, and the story of how she got to me is definitely not something that could have been pulled off elsewhere. Kira--and the other cousins--comes with a story of ups, downs, roller coaster surges and large boxes.

Step into the parlor to hear the story: The Tale of the Cousins of AGC. This has tons of pics, but you're used to that--and while some of you have likely not only heard this but been part, this is from my view. There's also a moving gif.

Book Blather: Review: Doll Couture by Marsha Greenburg

Doll dresses from vintage fabrics. In its own way.

A few weeks ago, while I was anticipating the arrival of the Cousins and prepping for their arrival,¹ I was contacted by a representative of Running Press who was contacting AG bloggers regarding an upcoming book: Doll Couture by Marsha Greenburg. She asked me to do a review of this book as a prominent AG blogger, and I stepped up to the plate because I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to offer an open review on AG stuff, and that includes AG craft books. The book arrived a few days ago, and I was able to sit down and snap some pictures and get a good feel as I read through the book.

From the writer and crafter of Hankie Couture.

Doll Couture is a book focusing on how to craft 18" doll clothes from vintage fabrics such as handkerchiefs, doilies, hand towels and older fabrics. I actually own a copy of Marsha's first craft book for doll clothes, Hankie Couture, that I purchased after checking a copy out at the library; that one focuses on 11 1/2" fashion dolls such as Barbie. Her website and the book states "it's not just a dress, it's a lifestyle." I'm not the kind of person to subscribe to other's philosophies upfront, mostly because I write my own and it often involves evil grins, cursing, and snarky statements.² My lifestyle does also include crafting doll things, and while my crafting has been semi-delayed by a need to sort a lot out in my life--mostly accessing the sewing machine--I plan to pick it back up wholly. I loved the idea of making doll clothes from old handkerchiefs and fabrics, mostly because I'm often considering doing that from my old clothes to scale down to AG. Nowadays many people have no use for a handkerchief or tea towels, and they are primarily a thing from the past when we didn't have Kleenex tissues or decoration around the house and kept to be the nice things. (Which is better than wicker balls in glass jars, let me tell you internet.) The book retails for $23 and can be purchased from various book places, including Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

Consider this review a craft book review between the upcoming clothes and BeForever/Wonderbread reviews,³  secret craft displays, and ongoing complaints about the American Girl fandom of the past and present. Also, I'm going to be wholly upfront about this: I was sent this book for free to review on behalf of Running Press. That statement on the side isn't just for show: if I get things as gifts or for free to review, I'm going to say so. Because this is a book, and books are meant to be bought, I only snapped a few preview pictures. One does not want to discourage book buying by snapping all the details.

Crafting Creatively - Things I've Made: Elizabeth's Holiday Dress and Historical Accessories Reviews: Elizabeth's Doll

Felicity Merriman and her darling Elizabeth Cole.

I have several self-made historicals, since American Girl can't or won't do a lot of things right, and this has been true since the very first three.¹ There's Edith and Dorothy from 1964 Memphis, Charlotte from 1842 Texas back when it was its own nation briefly, and Kimmy and Tyanna from the later 1980s Seattle, and Addy's best friend Sarah. And there is Elizabeth Cole.

Back story time! When Felicity's books were first written back in 1991 and best friend characters for Historicals were not a thing, Elizabeth was described as tiny, brunette, and with brown eyes. This stayed the way until about 2005, when Felicity: An American Girl Adventure was released. The actress playing Elizabeth, however, was blond and blue eyed. And through the magic of Photoshop this:

Elizabeth 1: Brown and brown.

became this:

Elizabeth 2: Behold, she's fucking blond!

Along with this, all the books were changed to match in the text along with some really haphazard Photoshop over the illustrations.² AG's official statement was to put more contrast between the girls so they didn't look the same, but redheaded isn't brunette so what-fucking-ever I don't know. The blond version--when I was in fandom--got called Barbie!Elizabeth or Mattel!Elizabeth, because Mattel also owns Barbie and if we can't compare everything to that blond tramp of a doll that we're supposed to hate for her nipped in waist and humongous tatas then we're bad doll collectors or something. (I might have issues with people shitting on skinny fashion dolls.)

I don't care for blond-version Elizabeth for multiple reasons, but that is because there are very few books I don't like over movies.³ So a buddy of mine made a brunette Elizabeth by rewigging and eye swapping a blond!Elizabeth, and I later had her join the gang in 2008 during the holidays as a beautiful surprise to her dear Felicity who had desperately missed her girlfriend. I don't know if the woman who made Elizabeth for me does customs anymore--she has kids and had some board shit go down that led to her getting kicked off AGPT and has eased back from doll collecting some--but she made me Elizabeth and Sarah and for that I'm awesomely grateful.

By necessity, Elizabeth Cole needed her holiday outfit. But not the AG one. I never got it, even when retirement was impending. First, let's show what AG offered us, as an interpretation of the dress from the movie:

Uh, no.

Pathetic, isn't it? [/Ursula] There's no side slits. There's wonky full fabric slippers. There's no separate petticoat. And there's no stockings. Gods, and you expected me to put my pretty Brunette Elizabeth in that? Nope. Fuck that shit. The only AG Approved Elizabeth Outfit I have is the riding outfit and nightclothes. So of course I had to make my own. Armed with Felicity's sewing patterns and a physical example of what I wanted to do for the outfit--Elizabeth's Doll, Charlotte--I took my ass to Joann's, bought some satin, and made something nice.

Pretty dresses are so much prettier.

Maroon and gold, lace and satin, and much more accurate for me. It's a gold dress, maroon stomacher and petticoat, and ribbon choker and hair ribbon. I'll go into the details of wear as I review, but not as intensely as Felicity's since they're based the same way.

Bonus: a mini-review of  Elizabeth's Doll.

Clothes and Accessories Reviews: Kwanzaa Outfit and Kwanzaa Decorations (1996)

Joyous First Day of Kwanzaa from Shanna!

First of all, yes, I know you haven't seen Felicity, Naomi, Otters, or Abbi in their holiday finery--or any of the sets I've crafted, such as for Elizabeth and Charlotte. And you've already seen Shanna. But it hit me, as I was snapping pictures for the next reviews, that December 26th was the first day of Kwanzaa. And that I had the perfect outfit and accessory set to review that day. So I dug it out and the others are willing to wait some on their reviews to give this festival some focus. Because my gang is generous like that.

There's always the running theme that no one knows what the hell Kwanzaa is, or that it's not a "real" holiday because it came into fruition in recent history. Bull to the shit. We live in a world where you can Google who that actress who died after voicing that animated movie back in 1988¹  and people are celebrating Patriot Day on September 11th which hasn't been around long enough to drink. So no. Stop being a brat and learn you a thing.

Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration from December 26th to January 1st among the African diaspora, in particular among African-Americans in the US. It celebrates family, culture, community, and ties back to African culture and its continued influence on black people in a world that tried to stamp the culture out of us with every method possible. The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits of the harvest;" Swahili was one of the major African Languages that got latched on in the 60s for black people since it is very African in a way many languages aren't. I tend to do my first fruits celebration on Lammas, but it made for a nice name for the festival. The holiday was developed by Maulana Karenga as an alternative holiday to Christmas, and first celebrated in 1966-1967 in the rising wake of Black consciousness, the rejection of whiteness and European supremacy, and part of the reaffirmation of blackness as beautiful and worthy of celebration. Many black people, rather than having the festival as a total Giftmas replacement, append it onto the holiday. Part of the purpose of and drive behind this festival is because most of the African diaspora cannot trace their heritage before slavery or the Slave Trade--a nice way to say "that part of history where Europe was full of a bunch of lazy motherfuckers who barged into North America, decided that since it was too hard to enslave the Native Americans to work like fucking animals because they either kept dying or running off and hiding, and thus decided they would just import Africans for the job and keep them enslaved for hundreds of years." Ahem. That's the femmenoir enrageous I have.

I have never really actively celebrated Kwanzaa. My mother would give us small gifts every day of Kwanzaa--things like earrings, nail polish, black heritage books, or my first wine cooler when I was fifteen--and we'd discuss the Nguzu Saba or the seven principles of African Heritage. But we were pretty private about it. (When I was younger, my family and I went to a First Day of Kwanzaa festival, but it was a poorly planned hot mess with no actual community so much as it was "watch the people of our organization talk and do things without integrating anyone else," and my mother doesn't like that, and so we never went back to another one.) We never owned a kinara and I still don't own a functional one, though that will change soon. As I said yesterday, several aspects of pan-Africanism--especially as misinterpreted to result in misogynoir and stereotypes--rubbed me the wrong way for years. I'm a little ashamed to say that several years ago, I was actively against Kwanzaa celebration. Partially due to this being pushed on me as the "Black Hanukkah" or the Black substitute to Christmas or people making fun of me for wanting to do so. And I was told that either I wasn't really black for not giving my all to every aspect of Kwanzaa, including the sexist, abusive, and homophobic aspects--and at the same time I was being "too" black by wanting to do any aspects of it.² But I want to change that and start to celebrate Kwanzaa--I will probably be adding pagan aspects to the celebration--and so I'm starting that this year. Today's principle is Umoja, or Unity: wanting to do one's best to maintain and hold on to unity and connections among family, communities, and the diaspora. So I'm starting that unity with my AG Kwanzaa set. We all gotta pick it back up somewhere.

In 1996 AG, realizing that maybe a ballet outfit was not an exemplary holiday outfit for a modern historical unless we were all going to be writing stories about ten-year-olds dancing in the school performance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, released three outfits that actually were more holiday focused:  the Hanukkah Outfit (also called the Winter Festival Outfit and thus maintaining some neutrality for non-Jewish people), the Chinese New Year Outfit, and the Kwanzaa Outfit. Each had its own set of accessories and thus the Kwanzaa Outfit had the Kwanzaa Decorations. The Kwanzaa Outfit consisted of a headwrap, West African kaftan dress, beaded necklace, and leather thong sandals for a cost of $22; the accessories consisted of  the kinara (candle holder), seven candles, two ears of corn, a mat, the unity cup, three pieces of fruit, a woven basket, and a doll sized book for $20. Both were retired in 1999 and since then AG has not done anything cultural for Kwanzaa since. (As for Chinese New Year, there's Ivy's set and...that's it. [sarcasm]Wow.[/sarcasm])

My set was gifted to me by a buddy in 2007 with both the outfit and all the items except the kinara and candles at a good time as I was seriously trying to reconnect to the celebration even though I wasn't quite there yet; she found it on eBay and asked if I was okay not having a kinara and I told her I'd make one--which I did out of Sculpy and wire. At the time my nine girl gang only had Addy and Otters as my black girls--Otters having a white grandmother. So Addy chose to wear the set the first time as she agreed that it looks like what her great-grandmother from Nigeria would wear and here she is into pan-Africanism and the celebration of black culture. Edith joined Addy in 2008 but her historical period is literally just shy of the first Kwanzaa--her first book is set late summer 1964³ --and so she didn't quite work to wear it, and by the time Mellie came along I was still in that wobbly period of not sure about celebrating Kwanzaa. But this year, Shanna and I decided to celebrate our heritage and I think this will be her set from now on.

Because people who list things on eBay can often be morons or don't research what they list--a good thing and a bad thing--this often gets labeled as "Addy's Kwanzaa Set" because Addy is the most recognized Black AG.⁴  The outfit generally shows up on eBay near retail with just the kaftan and headwrap, pretty frequently with the shoes and necklace, and often several of the accessories have been stuffed in as well with nearly no change in price or less than the original $42 a full set would have been--but almost never the kinara and candles, and if I didn't have images of it I'd swear it was a fantasy that they ever existed. It doesn't show up a lot because most of the AG collecting community is white or really bad about black things, and I'm actually not too irritated about it. I really hackles up about white people fucking up or messing around in Kwanzaa and being appropriative. It's our celebration. Not everything is for y'all. Some things white people need to just let us have, gods damn it. If we're willing to share with you, that's one thing, but stop looking in our bowl, you already have all the other jellybeans.

You can see white goop around the base of my kinara candles, which will be discussed and add a Crafting Creatively aspect to this post. This is because the kinara was made with non removable candles, I broke three, reglued them and reinforced the base with Tacky Glue, and at the time of my pictures the setting hadn't dried clear.

Crafting Creatively: Get Your Knit Together

Knitting and crochet look good--when you do it right. Sonali says~

There's a nip in the air, there's a talk of apple cider, and the trees are detreeing themselves. Things smell of pumpkin, cinnamon, and my birthday coming up. Mabon and the Autumnal Equinox have hit, and it's time to look towards the darker days of the year and the fact that come November the sun's going to be fucking setting at 5 pm. Long story short: it's fall weather. And fall weather draws in wearing sweaters, and sweaters mean knitting or crocheting, and there is a lot that goes wrong in AG crafting when it comes to making a good sweater or anything in yarn, for that matter.

See, I tied it all back to the fact that this is a doll blog. Mad skills.

Knitting and crocheting are pretty useful skills to have, even when you don't have a doll. And pretty neat too. It's turning yarn into clothes, and yarn into clothes is a pretty kicking rad situation. I've been crocheting for years and knitting for a few less years. And by a few less I mean that I learned crochet at seven and knitting at twelve and a half, so. It feels nice to make things of yarn and needles and hooks. At the same time, I see some things in the doll community that are perfectly good waste of yarn and time, and no one is telling these people no. Well, now I am. Cause some things are just a big old free spun worsted weight ball of NO.

Here are, in my opinion, some of the bad things done with a set of needles, hooks, yarn, and spacers that make your doll yarnwork look utterly terrible and a big old ball of handspun amateurity.¹ There's going to be examples of things done right, and examples that should crash and burn into a twisted, melted knot of WalDeMart² Red Heart Super Saver nightmares and be posted on What Not to Crochet or What Not To Knit.

Kanani showing how it's done right.

Bee-tee-doubs, this post actually covers both crochet and knit work. But "Get Your Crochet Together" doesn't make a pun on a cuss word, and we're not making a crotch joke. We're semi-above that. I am also going to shit all over Red Heart Super Saver. Brace yourself. 

Crafting Creatively - Things I've Made: Addy's Blue Lace-trimmed Dress and Dorothy's Blue Dotted Dress

Let's show off some crafty stuff!

It's time for more Crafting Creatively, where not only do I give tips on doing stuff right, but examples on how to do it right, in my eyes. Since I tend to not babble too much about my crafting, I'll likely do these in bursts of twos and threes--not including going through my backlog of crafts, and even examples where I mucked it up. (There are quite a few things I have made and later ditched in my crafting life, not gonna lie to you.) I tend to lean towards expanding the historical wardrobe, especially because I have so many created ones. Modern stuff is a lot easier to find to expand a wardrobe.

Today, we will cover two historical outfits I've made recently: Addy's Blue Lace-Trimmed Dress and Dorothy's Blue Dotted Dress. Forgive some of my bad pic taking and Addy's hair being flyaway; I was a touch groggy.

Crafting Creatively: Avoiding the GeneriDress

Welcome to Crafting Creatively: the column where I--the woman who has been sewing since she was four, crocheting since she was seven, and knitting since she was twelve, along with other craft skills that keep scaling up--show others the good, the bad, and the ugly of doll crafting. There will be tips, techniques, and snippy commentary (because well, that's I roll) as well as displays of my own crafts.

But a lot of this will be What Not To Do. Because we all have to start somewhere, but not everything we start with needs to be displayed online or sold, and we can always improve on our crafting technique. Trust me on this. I'm still learning new things.

Today's column will be on that plague that runs not just through AG, but through way too many doll crafting communities--what I like to call the GeneriDress.

Meet the GeneriDress.