Sunday, January 1, 2012

Meet the girls...

So before I get much further along with a dolly blog, it's only proper to introduce the cast of characters.

My very first girl is a Basaak clone named Miss Charlotte Velvet, also sometimes affectionately known as Char-Char or Lotte.  My other girl who arrived shortly after Miss Charlotte is Minnie Mynte, a Petite Blythe "Feline Fancy".  Here they are just relaxing and hanging out with me while I sew. (Charlotte is wearing the first dress I ever made for her.  It's her lounge-around dress.)

As my first girl, Miss Charlotte will always have a special place in my heart!  She's been a great sport as I explore some very basic customizing.  I sanded her face with a Norton sanding pad to create a matte finish, but I left her makeup alone.  I'm not quite ready for a new faceup... but I am working up my courage for some chalk pastel experimentation one of these days.

Since her scalp comes off so easily, (sometimes it comes off even when I'm just getting her dressed, which is definitely a boon and a pain with the Basaak clone girls) it was also super-easy to give her sleep eyes.  I am still waiting on nice pull rings for both strings - right now she is a little miss-matched, but it's in the works, just waiting on the mail!

While her scalp comes off with almost too much ease, I've hear that Blybe/Basaak eye chips do not come out very well at all.  I was sad to learn that after I ordered her because I wanted to practice that on her and I wasn't too thrilled with the colors of her forward-looking eye chips. I don't want to attack her with a Dremel tool or risk breaking her... so I've decided to make due and do what I can with the eyes she has... more on that later!

Miss Charlotte's hair isn't the thickest and she also has a very high forhead (so the hair on her scalp starts about 1/4" higher than the edge of the scalp so you can see an extra line on her forehead where they join.)  Although I've seen photos of other dolls who have the same line and their parents don't seem phased by it, both Charlotte and I like her look better when we disguise the line by pulling a strand of hair across it and clipping it on the opposite side.  We picked out a couple coolcat wigs that are also on their way to further disguise this. One is her "natural" curly brown, but with bangs & the other is for fun - a creme & lilac straight bob, also with bangs.

I wanted to get a Basaak doll with no bangs because I thought when I ordered her that I would like to get some wigs for her, knowing the clone hair wasn't the greatest.  I thought it would be easier to hide her origianl hair if she didn't have bangs. If I had it to do over, I might actually order a clone with bangs, if I wanted to keep her regular hair, because the bangs cover up that line more naturally.

I am glad I didn't get a CCE clone, although I've heard their eyechips come out even easier than Blythe. I read that the quality of their hair is terrible (so bad that whatever chemical is on the hair when they arrive actually causes some people's nail polish to come off!) Also I read in a lot of ebay descriptions that their joints are very loose and wobbly.

I love sewing for Charlotte.  That's the main reason I couldn't be patient for a brand-name Blythe... I was just dying to get a girl to try clothes on.  Charlotte is my sewing buddy and she is a very patient model. Here are a few of the favorite dresses I made and knitting I've done for her too. 





Before she arrived, I was practicing sewing and I made a bunch of clothes without know her sense of style. Some she likes:

And others she actually really doesn't like, although they fit fine and are well-made.  They just aren't her style!

We're going to give this set to her Simply Peppermint sister when she arrives from Hong Kong in a couple weeks.


We think it will look nice with the Simply Peppermint pastel green hair... and Charlotte can wear this outfit to coordinate, though she's ditching the rose clip next time. 
Charlotte is a cool girl... very Oregon pioneer spirit.  Feminine & bookish, but strong and practical too.  She loves vintage, deep colors, and the darker goth side of Lolita clothing.

I'm getting the vibe from my Peppermint girl (who I want to name Wonder Mynte, unless she presents a different name for herself when she arrives!) that she's more into the pastel & white side of the Lolita look, as well as a sort of Retro/Rockabilly casual look.

I've set aside a few things for her that I think she will like, but other than that, I'm waiting till she arrives to get her true personality and make sure I'm channeling that when I design clothes for her.  It's so fun to get to know these girls!

2 comments:

  1. I love your outfits!!
    The combination of knitting and sewing is awesome. She has great style.
    I wanted a Simply Peppermint and made her 2 peppermint dresses. Then I never got her. Other Blythe wandered into my life. But I did make a doll with green Enchanted petal hair!
    Hey! I have lots of patterns to share too.
    Do you have Flickr?
    please pop by my flickr. Please make me a contact too.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pippaandpom/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete