Out From The Bowels Of The Storage Room

I wonder if they all took a great big gulp of fresh air when I opened up their boxes last night.  I know I did.  I can't believe I've gone so long without working with these dolls of mine.  I miss sewing and knitting for them.  I miss the community that I was a part of when I sold clothing for them. 

I've decided to start making and selling clothing again when I have time.  I went through my bin of unsold clothing.  I found some new things that I had made prior to moving that I never got the chance to put up for sale.  I also found a lot of funky very old stuff that I either never posted for sale or just never sold for one reason or another.  Those items I'll be placing in lots at super cheap prices.  If your at all interested they will be in my Etsy store or on Den of Angels. 

Here are some pics of some of my crew.  Lousy pictures.  I did them last night with an overhead kitchen light and flash.  My good lights are still somewhere in storage.

I made room in my desk for my favorite dolls and their clothes, shoes and wigs.  And, I've pulled out my patterns.  I can't wait to pick something easy to sew up.  Maybe a simple dress?  My girl doesn't have a one of her own.  For Shame!!!

 Latidoll Rucus - Lucas.  He's wearing a prototype for a jacket that I'm working on.

 Dollzone BB - Persephone - She is wearing some overalls that I made before we moved.  She is sooo cute!

 Dolfie Dream V1 Body / Luts Nanuri head - Vena - She is wearing a prototype wool jacket.  She was my first doll.  She's changed so much over the years.   I splurged a few years ago and got her a lovely faceup.  You couldn't tell by this pic though.  I'll be taking more of her later!

 And, lastly my sweet Narae - Inara - She is wearing a Tonner knit dress in the first picture and in the rest she is wearing a shawl I knit for her.  It's the Far Away So Close pattern.  I love love love that pattern.  This was my 4th one.  I knit it exactly as written using thin fingering yarn and size 1 needles.  Unfortunately my Inara needs a new faceup. This one is getting worn after all these years.  She is from 2007 and I think her faceup is from then too. She is still my favorite all time BJD.  I'm so glad that Bimgon is now selling his work again.  Hopefully sometime in the future I can get another girl from him.

My Pie Fashions Has Re-Opened!

 I've taken a two year break from commissions and dollies in general.  Lately though I've felt like I needed something of my own again.  I decided to open up for commissions again on the Den Of Angels forum and I've been very pleased and tickled with the response. I've had 2 commissions so far and am working out details for two more.  All in just 19 days! 

Here are pictures of a set I made for Lati doll Rucus.  It included a pair of black slacks, jeans and a black shirt.

 I've closed down my old My Pie Fashions website and have decided to just use my old blog.  My hubby made me a new banner and some great icons and such. I'll keep this one for family stuff and all other artisticness that I'm doing.  Including the 3 quilts that I need to finish and a heap of kids summer clothing to make.

For now I just wanted to say... Yeah!!!  I do so love to sew for dolls.

Bonus picture of the Hero Of Canton.  Just cause he makes me smile.

A Test Dress For Kaylee

I'm working on a commission for a satiny little girls Christmas dress. I wanted to test out my pattern before cutting into the satin. This dress looks nothing like the commissioned dress. It started out like it, then it evolved into something else. I still need to hem it. And, I'm thinking of adding some black tulle underneath maybe. Or, maybe just some black capri leggings. I think that next time I'll change the neckline a bit... maybe even try using jersey for the top part of the dress.

The belt is something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time. It's a obi inspired belt. I've been seeing these around in fashion a lot lately. I'll be making many many more of these for my shop. I just love how it gives this simple dress a whole new look.

Did I mention that I love love love this belt?

Kaylee: "Look At The Pretties!!!"

There was a new dollie arrival in the house today. She is a MSD Souldoll Tiffee. As Soon as I saw her little face in the box I knew that her name was Kaylee. It's hard to see Kaylee with the blond wig on and the "normal" clothing. I'll need to get her a shortish brown wig and make her some Asian print shirts and an awesome pair of coveralls. Maybe even some big ol' combat boots. But, even without all those things, she is a very pretty doll.
I love her body shape and her face. She is fuller than my Narae so she will be a fantastic model for me to have around. Her hands are pretty and her little face is just to cute. The pale face-up gives her a childlike innocence. I'm thinking that in the future it will need to be redone in less pinks and more natural tones. This doll makes me itch to create something new. I'm going to be thinking about those coveralls all night long. I might have to save some time this weekend or next week to draft up a pattern and get started.
For those of you who don't know who Kaylee is..... She is a character on the show Firefly and the movie Serenity. If you haven't seen either, I highly recommend you do. Most of my dolls have names after characters from the show.

My BJD Family

Ok... so I got distracted. After that last post I noticed that I rarely write about my BJD dolls that I sew for. They are a large part of my hobby/art life and I'm surprised at myself. These dolls are used as models for my clothing, inspiration, and just general enjoyment. I've always loved dolls. But it wasn't until my mid 20's that I truly got back into the doll hobby. All clothing and a few of the wigs were made by me.

Anywho.... Here are lots and lots of pictures of some of the dolls that I currently have in my home.
Inara - Inara is my favorite . She is a Narae from the Narindoll company. 43cm tall and sooooo pretty. She is a dream to dress and sew for. She can wear pretty much any wig and her sculpt is perfection.
Lucas - Lucas is a Latidoll Blue Rucus. He is taller than most MSD males and has mature body sculpt. Boy do I need to get some better pictures of the two of them. He has facial hair now and I couldn't find a single current photo of him.
Persephone - She is my smallest bjd. She's a Dollzone BB Ani and is about 27cm tall. I've had 4 other tiny bjd's all smaller than her. But the were just to small. I call her a "petite" bjd because she's to big to be a tiny and to small to be a msd. I love her little face with her freckles. And, I love making little girl clothes for her.
Saphron - She is the newest to my collection. She is also a Narae from the Narindoll company. But, she is 58cm tall. She came to me second (maybe even third) hand. But, I love her. Narindoll makes such pretty dolls.
Simon - He is an Bobobie Apollo. I have to admit that I only really have him to serve as a male model for me. To spice him up, my very talented mother painted him some facial hair, chest hair and um.... other hair. He's been a great model, but someday he will be switched out for another SD male.
Vena - Ah... Vena..... She was my first ever BJD and has undergone more transformations than any other doll that I own. She started out as a Obitsu. Then I traded her for a Dolfie dream who's body she still has today. Eventually I got a Luts Nanuri head and painted her up to the doll that she is today. I don't think I'll ever sell this doll. To many memories. She really started my sewing business.

100 Degrees And Counting!

The title and this photo really says it all. For the Washingtonian that I am this weather is just stifling. It's been in the 90's for over a week and today the thermometer reached 104! It's hard to think about cleaning, sewing, knitting, spinning, or playing with the kids in this kind of weather. But, I have managed to get a few things done in the one cool room of the house. I dyed up some rovings (no pic of those yet) and I finished two commissions. Monday all I did was sew pants...3 pairs to be exact. And, today I made a pair of shorts, a denim skirt, and a Lara Croft gun holster. Pictured below is the Lara Croft gun holster and shorts....please note that these were made for a larger doll.
I did do a little spinning last night while watching a movie with Ray. Tonight I think I'll ply it up. Isn't this roving just ugggo! It was a dye pot boo-boo. I decided to spin it up anyways, as it weighs only 1.5 oz. I was sooo surprised with how it spun up. It's actually looking kinda pretty. And, my hubby told me that it was the nicest dye job that I've done yet..... Go figure!
The girls have been busy in this nice weather. They have been playing outside with friends and we've gone swimming. We also made some play dough and today they made log cabins out of popsicle sticks.

The Regency Bug

I've had inspiration lately to make Regency style clothing for my dolls. I've done so much research about the construction, materials, styles, etc. I blogged about my first attempt at a Regency gown back in March. Since then I have knit a shawl and taken better pics of that dress. And, I just finished a new dress in white for my 43cm Narae.

Both gowns are made of cotton. The grey one is a wrap front dress and closes at the waist with a snap. Totally not period, but I saw a lot of wrap front dresses that closed with drawstrings and such. It has wine colored trim and I knit up a triangle scarf with some white reclaimed wool and cashmere yarn. I do love this dress. With a few modifications the next one will be even better.
This white dress has been making me drool all week. I'm sooo sooo pleased with how it came out. As an artist I rarely look at something that I've done and said "perfect!". I always see something that could be improved upon next time. Not with this dress. I love everything about it. It's made with white cotton. (actually it's a 300 thread count Ralph Lauren sheet) The dress started as a test pattern for a commission that I have. I loved the fit so much I decided to add a skirt to it. And, then I decided to add a white cotton gauze type fabric as an outer skirt. The outer skirt has a silver thread woven through it. It's so pretty. The top of the bodice has a drawstring so it can be gathered and then it laces down the back. The shawl is a white embroidered hankie.
Also I wanted to mention that neither of my girls are wearing the proper undergarments. A proper corset is in the making.

A Bag For Calily

Yesterday I was suddenly inspired to make a padded bag for my new tiny BJD. She's 5" tall and is a Tinybear BonBon Fat Fairy. I've named her Calily. She will be getting nicer bright blue eyes and a better wig soon. I just love this doll. I'll post better pics of her another time. The lighting today is really harsh.
I know that I will be taking her with my to my parents house in a 2 weeks, and I want her to be safe inside my backpack. I didn't use a pattern. I just layed her out on some graph paper and drew a rectangle around her that looked to be the right size. The exterior of the bag is wool felt and for the lining I used some cotton quilting fabric that I got at Anna Lena's on my last trip to Long Beach. Because her name is Calily, I decided to embellish the bag with Cala Lillies. I found a drawing of Cala Lillies that I liked and traced out the basic shapes and appliqued it onto the bag using white and deep green felt. I made padded sleeping bag for Calily to slip into for extra padding and I also made a drawstring bag to put some of her accessories in. I love this bag.

All In A Weeks Work

Over the past week or so I kept feeling like I just wasn't getting anything done. I was browsing crafster and found the new “Fiber Friday” thread and decided that I should take pictures of the yarns that I made this week and the fibers that I dyed. Upon doing so I realized that I did manage to spin 5 bobbin fulls of yarn and dyed 4 different mill ends. Actually, the purple yarn I spun up almost 2 weeks ago, but I took it off the bobbin (not easy at all) and measured how much of it there is the other day. And, I did finish 5 pairs of jeans for commissions.







I had to smile to myself... I did do something this week. And, I'm going to do more tonight. I'm planning on plying the two brown yarns still on the bobbin together and possible start spinning up the fibers that I dyed.

I just wanted to add one more thing. I was totally weak and bought some gorgeous handdyed rovings and a surprise batt from etsy seller artclub that I have been drooling over for months. It's in the mail and should be here by Monday. I can't wait.

Sewing Up A Storm

This last week I've been busy working up commissions for my BJD clothing. It was getting late, I was getting tired, my back was hurting, and my eyes were going cross looking at my sewing machine, when I looked over and saw this:
The pants looked like they still had a body in them! So, I grabbed my camera and decided to take it as a sign to stop sewing for the night.

Over the holidays I didn't have time to do any sewing for my dollies. I'm glad to be back at it. This week it was jeans, jeans and more jeans. I hope I never tire of sewing jeans. It seams to be my "thing". I'll be finishing up my 5th pair today. By monday I'm hoping to have all my commissions done and my website updated. It's been poorly left unattended.

I'll leave with a few head shots of my favorite dolls. First is my 43cm Narae. Her name is Inara. Next is my 60cm Narae, I've named her Saphrim. And, last is my 46cm Latiblue Rucus. I haven't named this guy yet.

Washed And Cleaned... Well... Almost

So last night I gave my new doll a good scrubbin. The baking soda in the water did a world of good to her smell. I can't smell smoke on her anymore. The bath also cleaned up all the dirt and grim. It did take most of the blushing away as well. Which led to yet another problem. I see now why she was blushed all over to begin with. It looks as though someone began to sand her seam lines only to find that she had yellowed. (meaning that the sanded areas are a beautiful pinky white and the non-sanded areas are yellower) But, they didn't stop at the one place. They "tested" other parts of her as well. So, she is now officially labeled my "Project Girl". This weekend my hubby and I are going to sand her all over and remove all yellowing and such. She is going to be so pretty when we are done. Though... her fingers have some weird coloring between them that I couldn't get off. I'm sure hoping that sanding will take care of that. If not, I can always get replacement hands.. but the resin match won't be perfect because she is so old.

I captured some pics of her this morning in the morning sun. She's so pretty. I had fun dressing her last night. She seamed so at home in these undies and bomber jacket. She reminds me of something out of the 1950's. I have changed her eyes from the dark blue she came with the these pale blue ones. I love them on her. And, I have decided to call her Jane. This weekend I will be sewing up some jeans, tops, and hopefully a trench coat for her. We'll see how productive I really am... I still have some commissions to work on. Anyways.... here she is.

New Dollie In The House!!

Today my Narae (60cm) arrived. I got her second hand. Actually I'm her third owner. I was told before I bought her that she had all over yellowing. (common with resin dolls) I also knew from the pics that she was in need of a bath. From the pics it looked like she had been blushed all over. I asked the owner about the blushing and she said that to her knowledge, the doll had never been blushed and that she just had her finger and toe nails painted. To me so looked blushed.... either that or she was really dirty. But, she was an amazing deal, so I went for it and bought her.

After opeing the box, the first thing I noticed was a smoky smell. Yuck!! I'm slightly allergic to cigarette smoke... well, it makes my eyes water and scratch and my nose drip like crazy. Once she was un-wrapped I noticed that she was indeed fully blushed. After the thrill of opening up a new doll, I began a really good inspection of the doll. Here is my rundown of my new girl.
Good Things:

- She has an amazing face-up by an amazing artist. Staci Carpenter. The face has less yellowing than the rest of her body. Which is a great thing.

- She poses great. She stood like a rock right out of the box.

- She wears clothes great. So far, everything that I have put on her has hung beautifully. She will make a great model for me.

- Her body sculpt is gorgeous!! Gotta love the Narindoll company for their ability to sculpt such life like bodies. Her curves are flowey and nothing about her has the look of an animated pin up girl.

- Her ears are pierced.... Not mentioned by the former owner. I don't mind the earing holes. In fact the will be great to have. I just wish I had been told about it.
Not Great Things:

- The smell..... I'm planning on throwing the pillows that came with her in one of those dry cleaning bags to rid them of the smoky smell. And, I will be tossing all the bubble wrap and other loose packaging in the garbage. I'm not sure what to do about the box. Maybe I should leave it in the garage to air out for a while.

- The dirtiness of her body. She is a mess. Sooo much crud between fingers, toes, and joints. And, I think that some of her "Blushing" is just overall dirt. And, if she was in a smoking enviroment, then some of the yellowing and dirt could be just from that.

- The previous owner. I'm not mad at her by any means. The doll was a great deal and she arrived very quickly. But, when asked about the smoky smell she said that she didn't smoke. Not to mention the fact that she didn't mention the earing holes, or the blushing. Which the doll is clearly blushed. I'm not sure how hard core she is about collecting BJD's. Someone who has been around for a while would have mentioned all the "little" things about this doll that are not perfect. I'm not saying that this was a bag purchase or even one that I regret. I LOVE this doll. But... For the amount of money that this beauty cost me, I would have liked a bit more discloser about her.

Even with the not to great things, I'm very happy with this girl. She is currently soaking in a “bath” of warm water, organic cleaner, and baking soda. I just finished my first scrub of her. She is already looking better. I was nervous unstringing her. I took good pics of her insides before unstringing her so I can get her put back together again. Some of the blushing has already come off. But, I think this is a good thing. I would rather have a clean doll than one with dirty blushing. Her hands just drove me nuts. Ther was scum between the fingers!! I'll post some pics of her after her bath. She is going to be a stunner.

Finally!!!!

My website was finally launched today. It's been in the works for almost 10 months now. Though it seams like it's been much longer than that! Click on the banner and it will take you there! (hopefully I linked it right)

Oh yeah... my hubby did 90% of the design work and all of the html garbly goop. I did all the pics and 90% of the wording. I'm hoping that I can edit it and keep it up on my own, but I'm sure there will be times when I'll be needing his help.