Making Ghostface American Girl Doll Edition

 Sydney is my favorite - in some ways - of my 3 American Girl dolls. It's funny, because I originally wasn't too keen on the dolls, and got her (and her twin, who I gifted to a family member) on a late night spur of the moment the year that they came out. 

As soon as I opened her up, Sydney began to form. She's a very pretty doll. And I have a lot of fun with her personality. She is my football fan, loves horror and Halloween. Her best friends (aside from her twin, Amber) are my Woof pups - I can't remember the brand, but I got them from Walmart this Spring. They are soft, but jointed and posable upright pups. I did a "monster" glow up on 3 of them, and therefor, the WoofMunsters were born. So Syd hangs with her 4 Woofmunsters. 

The first year that I had her, I made her a Jason mask out of felt. I loved the way it turned, and Sydney lived in it for weeks, refusing to take it off. (That's Sydney for you.) While the Jason mask was cool, it was only the mask. I dreamed of making her a Ghost face costume, but it seemed pretty impossible.

The next year came and went, and I barely even put her Jason mask on her. Now this year, I actually managed to make Sydney the costume of her dreams! 

How this came into being was an odd path there. Here's how it came together: First off, I had bought a BJD skull head back in the Summer on Etsy. Well, a long story short, due to all the problems the seller was having with casting the head cap for the head, I ended up just getting a refund for the head. (I have no ill feelings for the seller - she is very nice, and the problems were just beyond her control.) So, this put me on the path of trying to sculpt my own bird skull head. That didn't turn out - I loved what I was doing, and it was actually turning out looking like I wanted, but unfortunately, I didn't get back to working on for about 3 weeks, and somehow in that amount of time, the darn thing molded, so in the trash it went.

This experience, though, gave me some confidence that I could actually do some sculpting. I have made plenty of polymer clay food in the past, but sculpting heads and faces isn't something I have much experience with, if any at all. Then, the next thing that led me to making Sydney's costume, was the antique doll broken eye. I'll do a blog post simply on this project later, but again, long story short, I bought some Hearty Air Dry clay because it adheres to glass. I didn't need much of it for the above mentioned project, which meant that I had a lot of clay left over to use for other things.

I got to thinking, hey, maybe I could sculpt the Ghostface mask for Sydney after all! The Hearty Clay is different from the regular paper clay type air dry clay, in the sense that it is light weight and also dries like foam. Not exactly like foam, but if you ever have used it, you'll see why I am comparing it to that. The problem here was finding the time to do it. I expected time to - as usual - get away from me, and I would once again find myself filing away this project for next Halloween. On Thursday night a few weeks ago, I decided if I wanted to do it, I might as well do it now. So I turned on what was left of the Thursday Night Football game, and got to work.

I used a floating wigless AG head that was rolling around here to be rehomed to sculpt it on. I covered the head in plastic wrap, and started slapping the clay on it. I got the basic shape to where I was fairly happy with it that first night. It probably took 2 hours, maybe? I let it dry and then tried to fill in any rough parts and fleshed out any of the features that I felt were lacking a day or 2 later. 

Then it sat in my room for a good while, maybe 2 weeks or so. The other night - again, during a football game (I think this one was a college game) I worked on sanding down the face to smooth it out, and trimming the excess around the edges. This clay doesn't sand down great. I did see that it was a little smoother, but not like I had planned on. Once I figured it was as good as it was going to get, I painted it. Filling in the black of the eyes, nose and mouth wasn't as simple as I expected it to be. I had to do it as neatly as possible, and naturally, I had a few spot to patch with the white paint. A day or 2 later, I painted the final layers. I had I tiny edge of the mouth that I needed to fill in, so on this last Sunday (yesterday, as of the time I am posting this blog) I touched that up, and then mod podged over it to seal the whole thing.

After the glue sealer was dry, I turned my attention to gluing the white felt on the inside of the mask to cushion it for my doll's face. That went simply enough, once I switched to a paint brush and mod podge. The squeeze bottle Aileen's Tacky glue wasn't holding. I am sure it was because I wasn't able to squeeze enough glue onto the mask, but there was no getting that lid off to just dip a brush into it. The mod podge did the trick. I first glued down the middle part, let it dry, the shaped around the inside of the mask with the felt, making the necessary cuts to get it to fit inside neatly within the curves of the mask. I let that dry overnight. 

Making her costume was simple, and it isn't done with much detail. I just laid Sydney out on the no sew cheap, low quality costume fabric, pinned the shape I wanted around her, leaving the neck hole to be cut later. After I cut the front and back out, I held it up to Sydney and cut the neck hole where I wanted it, keeping in mind that it could stretch and make the hole too wide if I wasn't careful. Thankfully, I got it how I wanted it, the first cut. Then, I cut a several inch line down the back so it could slip on over her clothes. I didn't cut it long enough at first, which resulted in unsightly pulls in the fabric at the neck line. Like I said, poor quality! But no big deal. It's a costume and she runs around in it. I lengthened the cut in the back, and it goes on and off easily.

Next, I made her long white gloves as I don't want this to stain her. I just pinned white knit around one arm and hand, pinned in where I wanted it, slipped it off, sewed it, then cut out the second one, using the first one as my pattern. I also secured a strip of white neck over her neck, just in case any of the costume fabric got against her.

With all that done, it just left me finishing the mask. I went back and forth and back and forth over how I wanted to finish the mask. I had planned to stitch elastic to the white felt on the inside of the mask to secure it to her head, and then just drape the black fabric over her head to create the hood effect of the Scream mask.

What I ended up doing was cutting a small close fitting hood out of white knit to secure it to her head by sewing the white knit onto the felt on the inside and trimming it down to the right size once it was sewn in. That probably doesn't make much sense, but it worked well. No elastic needed. That also gave me something to sew the  black hood onto, as i was regretting my decision to not glue it onto the mask, which I would have needed to have before I glued in the white felt, to keep the fabric away from Sydney's face. 

Now, her costume is complete, and I am so proud of it and of myself that I actually did it! It isn't perfect - there's flaws here and there, but I absolutely love what I did. I doubt I'll do much more of a photo shoot than these quick few pictures that I took when there was a pause in the rain this afternoon. But its done, and Sydney can live in it for the next few months, and she will be happy to do just that. 

Here's some of my progress photos of the project, from beginning to end.

I wish I had gotten pics of the mask before I started sanding it, but in the first photo, you can see the sanding process being under way. The third picture here is after the first round of paint, before the second and the sealer.

                                    

Summertime Sewing for the American Girl Dolls Part 1

 I've had a goal this year to slowly - or quickly, as time and energy permit - start to burn through some of my stash of fabrics. My dolls would be thrilled, as they are kind of like the shoemakers children - they never have any shoes, or clothes, in their case! I've tried to make myself not buy any more fabric until I use up a lot of what I already have. It is HARD. I love buying fabric. It's not really that I just want to buy something. Fabric shopping is an experience. It always smells so good around bolts of fresh clean fabric. There's so much inspiration being surrounded by bolts of fabric. And that's where my problem lies. I have many, many plans, and just not time to actually bring many of them to life!

Last year I had a goal to make all of my AG dolls Christmas dresses. That didn't really work out as I didn't give myself enough time to take much of a dent out of my goal. This year I plan to start much, much earlier. But not during the Summertime. No, no! Summer is the time to FINALLY get into my 4th of July fabrics. My fruity fabrics. Fabrics that just scream SUMMER before I can start to relish the soothing tones of Autumn. 

During the early part of the Summer, I used the Keepers Dolly Duds 1920's pattern to make 3 dresses. I made 2 in the blue floral - once for myself and one to give to a family plus one in purple and pink for the same family member. I adore Keepers patterns. These turned out looking so nice! They are not a quick sew - it can take a couple, or 3 - hours to complete one. But it is well worth the effort! I need to make one more for my other 1920s doll. I just need to pick the color scheme that I want for Eddie Mae. 

Next, I used this pattern - I believe from American Heritage - to use up the scraps of the purple and pink. Something went horribly wrong. I must have used the wrong pattern piece to cut the waistband as once I finished the dress and put it on the doll, it is 2 inches too narrow to fit the doll! This is why you should always have a model on hand while sewing. It's something that I know full well, but neglected to do. I know it isn't the pattern. I used it many years ago for several dresses and it turned out very nice. (I only lengthened the skirt 1/4" to roll the hem.) Unfortunately, I have zero fabric left. So I'll have to figure out how to fix it. But, I figure that is a job for a much later time. 

My next project was getting into my stash of 4th of July fabrics that I had bought a couple of years ago. No, most of this isn't historically accurate, but I do think the country look of it will make for fun outfits for my historical dolls. I didn't get very far into this particular project. I still have 2 prairie dresses to make as well as 3 or 4 colonial dresses. (Only 2 of the dresses will be for my own dolls.) Whether I get to them or not this Summer, we shall see. The remaining fabrics might go back into the stash for next year.

What I did do, was finally get into this wonderful red, white and blue stripe that DOES work perfectly for MaryEllen. I bought it several years ago and just hoarded it protectively, so it didn't get wasted on the wrong project. Instead of using any of the patterns that I bought - none were suiting me for MaryEllen's dress, I decided to just try making my own. I don't make my own patterns as often as I used to, and I'm truthfully out of practice sewing and drafting for AGs. Thankfully, it turned out great! The dress has 2 looks to it, and fits my doll's personality perfectly!

MaryEllen's dress is to blame for my abandoning the 4th of July project. Not only did I finish it on the 3rd (or 4th) but it set me on a 50's kick. I had other fabrics that I had been hoarding for my 50s dolls, just waiting for the perfect idea to come along. Since I made my 50's pattern that I was very happy with, I just decided to use that to make these beautiful lemon dresses for my dolls! 1 of the lemon fabrics I had had for awhile, and the other was a more recent purchase. (Earlier this year, I admit it.) I had forgotten that I already had lemon fabric on hand (it's so easy to do that!) and since I am a sucker for fruit fabrics, I bought a whole yard of it. I'm so glad that I did! This gave me the fun of designing 2 different lemon themed dresses for MaryEllen and my #61, Clara. When the weather turns less scorching, I will make a matching bolero jacket for each. 

And that left me with 1 more 50s MUST MAKE for the Summer. My strawberry and cherry gingham fabrics! I just adjusted that same 50's pattern that I used for the other dresses, and this time, I simply added short sleeves. I had a lot of fun adding the red ribbon to them, as well as the red buttons. Sometimes when a design comes together, it can be really exciting! The only thing that I wish that I had done for these, was to add a sash. I don't enjoy sewing them, but they do add a neat period correct detail. It isn't necessary, so I decided to save myself the trouble.

I do have a couple of other Summer friendly things that I would love to make for my 50s girls. I have some chicken fabric that I plan to make  into blouses with coordinating pedal pushers. And I have 1 more cherry print fabric that I should use for Clara, since she never got a dress when MaryEllen got her 4th of July dress. But, truly, these girls can wait for more clothes as I have other dolls in much more need of clothing!

Hopefully, I will have a Part 2 for Summertime Sewing for my dolls, but we will have to see!

Awesome Market Finds - some of my BEST yet!

I started this post on April 7th, but I just got around to finishing it today. 

We ended up going to the Flea Market today as 2 of my party had a craving for DQ, and the only really good one (out of the 3 we have here) just happens to be by the Flea Market. And so 2 of us decided to take a quick walk around and see if anything jumped out at us. I keep hoping that the Dollhouse booth there will restock some more furniture kits, and before today, she hadn't.

I always like to approach the Flea Market the same way - start all the way to the right and make our way up and down each row. I know where the good spots are, but if you only go there, you might miss out on a randomly placed treasure. 

 I was surprised that we came across a dollhouse in the furthest side of the Market that was really cute. But with a price tag of $125, it just wasn't worth it to me. It wasn't in bad shape, but the inside had wallpaper, carpet, etc. etc. and would have all had to be redone any ways. I found a Moxy girl for a family member who has started collecting them (and her hair was an utter disaster! I'll post before and after pics of her hair repair later.) I was so excited to stumble across 2 of those big 24" craft cows made in the 90's by Wang International. I know, it's an odd thing to love so much, but I have dearly missed my beloved Sorcerer Moo since I regrettably sold him off many years ago. These cows were in dreadful shape. And I mean dreadful! Covered in layers of dirt and grime, with discoloring on the hooves and mildew stains all over the muslin body. The price was a little higher than it needed to be, but I wasn't leaving the Market without him. I picked out the one I deemed in better shape (which really wasn't by much, if any) and was feeling so pleased. I have great confidence in the possibility of cleaning anything up.

And finally, as we made a loop towards the end of the Market, there it was. I, of course initially missed it, as my focus was really on spotting Barbie dolls, so luckily my eagle eyed companion saw it. A dollhouse! This one had most certainly seen better days, and whoever put the house together didn't exactly do a stellar job. But for a price tag of $20? Oh yeah. It was coming home with me. I actually got so excited I just grabbed it and started to take off towards the check out before I even looked at the inside. 

The house was painted on the outside, and the color palette screams mid 90's. (I later found out it is the Brookefield made by Duracraft in 1992. I have no idea how long the kit was available.)  It smelled really musty, and it started to quite literally fall apart on its journey home. Not that anything was all that securely glued into place to begin with. Trim fell off. The inside wall divider fell out (and somehow ended up in a bag - I truly have no idea how!) And upon closer inspection I noticed that the outside wall is also coming apart. I think it was put together with hot glue. Never a good idea. Hot glue should only be used to hold pieces together while the wood glue dries when not even copious amounts of tape do the trick. (I had to do that with my Orchid. Just put a dab of low temp hot glue on a couple of places, and then peal off carefully when it's job is done.) 

I know they say that if a house has been put together like that, you need to take it apart and re-glue it together with wood glue. I am not doing that. I would most certainly destroy the dollhouse in the process. What I will do is go in there and carefully reinforce the pieces with wood glue. 

I'm now officially out of space for dollhouses, and getting this fella to fit is going to be interesting. But I am so thrilled to have it. I didn't have a house for the 2 little resin dragons that I got specifically for my Orchid - which didn't work out. Dollhouses have a mind of their own, after all. So this one is absolutely perfect for the Dragon lair. The dragons are the perfect scale and the plans I have are going to be epic! Now, if I could just feel like working on any of my many, many plans, I'll be a pleased panda.