Merida's New Outfit

I thought I'd show you what Merida's outfit looks like on her before her re-paint. I doubt if she will look much different when she's finished as I love her expression and only want her eyes to be slightly smaller.

I used the Bloomer Buddies "Oh Sew Kat!" pattern which is available from Pixie Faire to make the dress, though I wish I had added more fullness to the dress below the yoke, as it falls too straight for my liking . . . which of course means I will probably make her another dress to wear before too long.

The beret, scarf, fingerless gloves and leg warmers were adaptions I made from a Kiltie Combo Accessories knitting pattern to fit 18 inch American Girl Dolls by Jacqueline Gibb on Ravelry.

As Merida is a 16 inch doll, I simply used size 2.75mm needles instead of the 3.25mm and knitted it in one colour throughout. The scarf was knitted horizontally in garter stitch, rather than vertically like the pattern suggested.

The brooch on the side of the hat I made myself and the Joyce Nicholson boots she is wearing I had in my stash. These soft real leather boots were originally purchased at a bargain price from a doll fair long ago . . . always knew they would come in handy some day. :)

Animator Madness

After finding myself in the mood to play around with face-ups and re-styling dolls, I went a little crazy last month and purchased these four 16" Disney Animator dolls.

I have great plans for Anna, she will be dressed in a nautical outfit, not unlike Sailor Moon, but not the exactly the same either . . . she just doesn't have the figure or the long legs that SM has. I shall keep her red hair, as it's quite cute tied in pony tails, and simply repaint her face.

I can easily see Elsa dressed elegantly in black and white, with long blond tresses, wide brim hat and black sunglasses . . . a little like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, but with a slight twist. Her hair was really fine, so it has already been replaced with a wig. Elsa's face will be completely repainted and her eyes given a cheeky wink.

Mulan's still in limbo and I'm not sure where she is headed, as she hasn't "spoken" to me yet and is still cosy in her box. Perhaps she will keep her Asian heritage, or maybe she will undergo a complete transformation, only time will tell . . . I'm waiting for some inspiration.

Merida on the other hand, is well on her way to being finished. I have knitted her a pair of fingerless gloves, hat, scarf and leg warmers and sewn her a dress. I have kept her gorgeous red curls, but the face will be repainted. She was the only doll that was pre-loved, and came without a box, though in very good condition. The other three were all mint . . . NRFB.

Upgraded shoes were a slight problem for all of them, as these dolls have a rather unusual foot size, however, the shoes have finally been ordered and should be arriving soon.

Make Over: Step 3

I've been working on My Pretty Topsy Tail and decided to open her head up so I could remove all the hair that was still protruding through her scalp. Unlike many of the recent vinyl dolls who have tensioned hair, this doll had looped/stitched hair so it was difficult to remove the stubble any other way. 

You can see there was quite a bit to remove and it took me hours and by the time I had finished, my poor fingers were so sore from using the haemostats.

Having opened up her head, I figured rather than painting her eyes, I could now insert acrylic eyes. I would have preferred glass eyes, but I think they will be far too heavy to hold in place.

It took some doing cutting through the vinyl, it was quite thick, but eventually it was done.

I also gave her head a final wipe over with the acetone to remove the paint residue that didn't come off before because of the remaining stubble. Next step will be doing her face up.