This one is one that I had no idea about! Sew Able is still in existence, so this can't be a Throwback Thursday review, but I had to have one of these dolls! Differently-abled dolls are not common in stores; the only ones I can name are the My Life gymnasts that came with a prosthetic leg, and the occasional Barbie. Oh yes, and good ol' Joss. I own a couple of other dolls who have disabilities or minor handicaps, but Joss and Leide are the only ones I have who were made differently abled by their company. Two of my dolls, Xenia and Amanda, are also differently abled (Xenia is legally blind and Amanda wears a back brace), but they were my own doing, and Amanda's back brace does little more than slow her down a bit. Anyway, as far as I know Sew Able hasn't gained a huge following, possibly because not many folks know about their existence...or possibly because little kids (or their parents) don't like the idea of someone their age being sick or injured or in pain. But unfortunately we live in the real world, a fallen world where children get sick, children get injured, children have to go to the hospital, and sometimes they are left missing pieces. The Sew Able dolls are specifically for those children. Most of the Sew Able dolls have prosthetic legs, but a handful of them are missing their hair from cancer treatment instead, and a couple don't have anything visibly wrong, suggesting to me that they're also undergoing treatment for cancer or some other chronic illness. Kristiana here has prosthetic legs.
I love all the hearts on the box, LOL. Valentine's Day has never been my holiday, but I do love hearts. All of these dolls come fully dressed, and they have crutches whether they have prosthetic legs or not. The bald dolls also come with wigs, and even if they didn't they'd be easy to rewig since the dolls are American Girl-sized. But we'll get to that. I wanna look at this box first...and what it's covered in.
Ugh...packing peanuts. If you look closely at Kristiana in her box it's possible to see a few packing peanuts INSIDE her box! I crudely highlighted the peanuts with blue dots.
Killecrankie, I wonder how that happened! The plastic panel on the box has come loose from the cardboard, but the gap isn't THAT big. Anyway, the Sew Dolling logo is visible on the front of the box, along with the attestation that Sew Able dolls are "The first vinyl doll of its kind!" Also present is the admonishment "THIS IS NOT A TOY." Well, what is she, then??? She's certainly not for decoration!
See in the left hand corner...or right, rather? The doll's left, our right. Either way the doll is not a toy, the box proclaims...so if she's not a toy then why are there accessories? Yeah, one side of the box show these accessories, some of which accompany all the dolls. The other side shows the other dolls in the Sew Able lineup.
Not all the dolls are present, however. Sew Able has one little boy, a blue-eyed, tow-headed chap named
, but he apparently was a latecomer to the party and thus does not appear on Kristiana's box. Matthew insists that he's not the only boy, by the way; all the other boys are out playing while he poses for a picture. The girl dolls come in a limited number of outfits, just a plaid jumper and white blouse, a teddy bear sweater and khaki slacks, or a hospital gown with teddy bears. Matthew, being a boy, is drably clad in a white T-shirt and khaki shorts. Drab, yes, but his entry on the website also says his outfit can vary, and both outfits are perfect for physical therapy so I won't gripe too much. In addition to the teddy bear motifs on the girls' clothes, all of the dolls carry teddy bears of their own. The back of the box has a slightly sappy poem...
...and some inspirational comments that are probably meant to perk up the young recipient of the doll.
Oh, finding your very special purpose on Earth...that's hard. I'm thirty-five now, and I still don't know what my very special purpose on Earth is. There has to be more to life than blogging about dolls, cuddling pets, and chatting up patrons while checking out their books. But then again...Mama, Coworker A, and I have all been told at least once by a patron that we're the only human contact they have, so maybe I have a more significant impact than I know. Soul-searching aside, this next blurb makes me smile. In an increasingly secular world the references to God are a breath of fresh air.
Lots of hugs...I like hugs too. The last blurb on the box says "Can I come live with you?" This surprises me a little, since several of these dolls make references to parents and families.
All of the characters have birthdays listed on their website, with Kristiana's being October 19th (yay, a fellow October baby!). The characters also have backstories, some vague and some more specific. Kristiana's is one of the more vague ones, but as I noted above it includes a reference to her mother. It reads:
"I am in the hospital for a little while until I get better. Momma said I packed my entire closet with me in my suitcase. But I know that's not true because I left some hangers at home. :) I met a lot of great friends at the hospital who have made my stay much better."Kristiana makes no comments about why she is a double amputee, but since this whole hospital stay was planned long enuff for her to pack I figure Kristiana's condition is an illness of some stripe. Could be cancer or some trippy infection (staph or meningitis, maybe?). Or maybe she's an inpatient at a rehab center, like polio patients were back in the day. Either way it doesn't say why Kristiana is missing her legs, one below the knee and the other above, but that allows some little kid to invent their own explanation. She could be the victim of an illness, a car accident, a fire,
a terror attack, or maybe she was just born without, though I doubt that last one since children who are born without learn how to get around without much physical therapy. Or at least the ones I knew did.
Taylor's bio is more blunt, mentioning that her legs were irreparably mangled in a car accident. The bios vary in detail, but they all have a positive tone, suggesting that each character is grateful to be alive and on the road to recovery. Sounds like Mama's attitude last summer! Once her infection cleared up she was upbeat and would tell everyone "I'm just glad to be alive and recovering!" Some of the characters also mention friends, family, goals, and hobbies, and three of the dolls (Kristiana,
Katie, and
Leah) even know each other. Leah learned to do wheelies in Kristiana's wheelchair, for example! LOL, I know popping wheelies is dangerous in wheelchairs, but I love watching people do it! In her book Z Yang mentions her paraplegic friend Becka doing 360s in her wheelchair, so maybe Kristiana can learn to do that and pass the info along. Interestingly, the book and the wiki both list
Becka as a blonde, just like Kristiana.
Right! Let's get this review started, shall we? Here's what Kristiana looks like out of her box.
Kristiana is yet another eighteen-incher, just like
Julia,
Kat, and the American Girls (since I brought Z up I selected her). Sure enuff, Z has taken a shine to Kristiana.
"You remind me of a friend I have back in Seattle!"
Trying to fit more than three dolls of that size into a group picture is a pain in the posterior, y'all, especially when it's as cold as it was outside at the time! Yep, when I have this many in a group the outside wall is usually the best place to go for pictures. Kat and Z were toasty, but Julia, Kristiana, and I were all freezing. Note that Kat and Kristiana are both blue-eyed blondes, of which I have too dang many. I already like Kristiana's face better than I like Kat's. Speaking of blue-eyed blondes, here's how Kristiana and So Surprised Suzie look together. Their coloring is similar, and they're both "dolls with comical expressions," as the Eleventh Doctor would put it.
Looks like Suzie has a new big sister! Anyway, Sew Able dolls are all wigged, and even the bald ones come with wigs to wear when they're not wearing bandannas or hats or going bare-headed. Kristiana is no exception, though her wig is glued in place. As I noted above, and as is often the case, I ended up with a blue-eyed blonde, because that's what eBay had. Indeed, I've had a hard time finding ANY of these dolls on eBay or Etsy. At the time of writing eBay does have another of these dolls, but she's Katie, better known as Kristiana in a different outfit. Anyway, here's Kristiana's hair.
Since Kristiana came in her box her hair is in reasonably good shape. The quality isn't great, or at least, not like Julia's or Kat's. Both Julia and Kat have kanekalon like American Girls do (I think), while Kristiana's hair looks and feels like saran. The style is minimal, just two side braids that were sewn together. I took the stitches out because they were messing the braids up, but I think they were supposed to be left that way. Oh well, I can always rubber band them back together if need be. The ends of the braids are fastened with two (two?) bows, one white and the other blue.
The rest of Kristiana's hair falls in loose, waist-length waves. It tangles easily, unfortunately; indeed, when I deboxed Kristiana her necklace was snarled up in her hair. I know from personal experience that that's no fun. Up front Kristiana has bangs that obscure her eyebrows but don't fall in her eyes.
Like I do with all doll wigs I parted this hair to see if it would make good pigtails...and to my surprise, it would. The wig cap is visible, but not glaringly obvious like it is with some of my other dolls.
I don't know about y'all, but if I had long hair (which I do) and were on crutches I'd either have my hair tied back or cut. One can't maneuver crutches and be constantly pushing hair out of one's face at the same time, after all. Most of these Sew Able dolls seem to have the same philosophy, as they wear their hair short or in braids. Heide, Kristiana, and Katie are the three holdouts (LOL), and they're also essentially the same doll in different outfits, so...yeah. So I'm not in love with Kristiana's hair because of its length (and to a lesser extent the color). If I'd been able to hand-pick one of these dolls I would've selected one with short hair. I do think I can rewig Kristiana if need be, but I try to avoid rewigging unless it's absolutely necessary.
Kristiana's face might be considered a little divisive to some folks. I think she looks a little fish-lipped, and Mama thinks she's pretty.
Eyes first, as always. Also as always, Kristiana has gathered a fair amount of dust in the time that she's lived with me. Par for the course when you live in an area that has very sandy soil. Anyway, Kristiana's eyes are aqua, with sandy, multistroke eyebrows. I love it when eyebrows match the hair!
These eyes...
these eyes have seen a lot of loves...LOL, there's a reason why my college friends called me a walking MP3 player. Anyway, Kristiana's eyes are an unusual shade of blue with a fair amount of iris detail. They're the teensiest bit metallic, kinda like
Famosa Nancy's eyes, and they're set unevenly, like Amelia Gotz's eyes. In Kristiana's case her right eyewell is higher than the left (Amelia's was the opposite).
Brown and blue are the only eye colors available for these dolls at the moment (bummeroo, I like green eyes), and for some reason only Brooke and Hayley have brown eyes. I find that surprising since brown eyes are far more common than blue. Anyway, I criticized poor Kat for having enlarged detail in her irises, so to be fair I'll do that with Kristiana too. Instead of criticizing, I could say that Kat and Kristiana have flecked eyes rather than eyes with unrealistic detail; humans have flecks of darker or lighter colors in their eyes too, after all. Kristiana's eyes sleep, though the movement isn't as smooth as an American Girl's eye. Her lower eyelids have faint painted lashes that match her hair, and her upper eyelids have rooted lashes that don't match her hair.
I guess it makes sense to have dark eyelashes since even blondes can have them, but it still looks weird to me.
Now here's the mouth. The lips have a vaguely hand painted look.
When's the last time y'all saw a doll with sculpted dimples? Some Barbie dolls have them, but they're not quite this prominent. The lip color is a little harsh for my tastes, but I love the sculpting of both the mouth and the overall face. The head is asymmetrical here and there, just like our own heads, and I like the coloring. In real life this head looks like it's made of porcelain. It doesn't feel like it, though; it's very hard. I make note of this because the oldest American Girls have softer vinyl, as does the older of my two Precious Day dolls. Julia is a little nicer to the touch than Kristiana is.
While I was putting the finishing touches on this review, Heather over at PennilessCaucasianRubbish saw a new Our Generation head that has...guess what?
Molded dimples, just like Kristiana's. And yet despite the dimples, Our Generation expressions remain a little on the serious side. Usually when you've got dimples on your cheeks you're grinning from ear to ear. While the new Our Generation dolls do smile, it's...well, kind of a Mona Lisa smile, like Julia's. Heather wishes that there were some teeth showing and I have to agree, though in Kristiana's case an open smile still makes her look puckered, especially from the side.
Kristiana is soft-bodied like Julia and the American Girls. Obviously her shape will be a bit different from the other dolls because of her hardware, but we'll get to that. Here's the basic shape, front, back, and sideways.
Kristiana's body is the same width from side to side as Julia's, but from back to front she's considerably slimmer.
Kristiana's balance is horrid. For some reason her left leg (with the longer prosthesis) wants to angle inwards, and her right leg wants to angle out, like so.
Also, the prosthetics like to fall off, no matter how tightly I cinch their attachment straps. I'm fond of dark humor, and every time this happens to Kristiana I picture Nana from Elfen Lied, trying to get her prosthetic limbs to cooperate. Elfen Lied is NOT an anime for the faint of heart, by the way; if you don't like blood or violence, stick to Sailor Moon. But anyway, I'll treat these limbs like any other doll limbs. Kristiana's arms are a similar shape to Julia's, but a mite slimmer.
Same is true of hands; similar shape, slightly different sizing. Notice that the tops of Kristiana's hands are blushed. None of my other dolls in this size have that. It's hard to tell in the picture, but Kristiana has more defined fingernails than Julia does...and a bit more sand between her fingers, LOL. Again, that's par for the course when one lives in an area with a lot of sand.
In a similar manner Kristiana's feet are ever so slightly different from Julia's, blushing and all.
As with the hands it's easy to see the difference in molding. Both dolls have toenails and creases on their toes, but Kristiana's toes are more rounded and realistic in shape. I think Kristiana may also have slimmer feet, but I can't tell just by looking. I do know that Kristiana can wear American Girl shoes, but we'll get to that. For the sake of completion, here's what Kristiana's points of amputation look like. They're smooth and natural looking.
When stumps are fresh they can look pretty gnarly, with scars and stitches galore, and even as they heal they can develop the same problems that our feet do when they're crammed into a tight space. Kristiana wears these little stockings between her stumps and her prosthetics, I presume to avoid blisters and to improve comfort overall. If any of y'all have prosthetic limbs, please let me know how accurate/inaccurate I am.
Kristiana's joints are encapsulated and strung like Julia's and Z's are, but since Kristiana was in her box she hasn't been played with much, and thus her joints are tight as the belly of an engorged tick. Theoretically she could hold her arms out to the side, but she's not great at that.
As soon as I let go of her arm it springs back up. Touchdown! The Chiefs win!!!
In a similar manner, side splits aren't great, though in Kristiana's defense mine are no better.
Usually when I force a side split Kristiana's left leg pops off, like so.
Front-to-back splits are better, but again they're not the easiest things to attain.
Heck, it's even hard to get Kristiana to sit! It can be done, but again it's not easy.
Since she's strung I predict that Kristiana will loosen up with time, just as Z and Luciana and particularly Rita Cheryl have done. The other part of the problem lies in the straps that hold Kristiana's prosthetics in place. I have to pull them tight to make sure the limbs stay on (they still frequently slip off), but they're pulled so tight that it's hard to seat the doll! Sort of a catch-22 thing. These straps go around Kristiana's waist like a girdle, and they're lettered so that the owner knows where they go. Strap A goes around the doll's waist, and strap B holds the left leg in place.
Strap C also holds the left leg in place, but on the back.
As for strap D, it runs down the back and side of Kristiana's right thigh and holds the right prosthesis in place. A leather strap tightens the connection just below Kristiana's knee.
There's
a nice set of instructions online to help folks remember what strap goes where. It also further explains the use of the socks (they are indeed used for comfort). As to the prosthetics themselves, they connect to their straps by virtue of...brads? Studs? Bolts? Whaddya call these things??? Either way they feel strong, but I don't advise pulling on them a lot.
The legs are completely hollow on the inside, explaining why they feel so cotton-pickin' lightweight.
For what it's worth, Kristiana has a big tag sticking out of the small of her back.
I'm not sure where else to throw this bit in, but I talk often about how these dolls' necks are fastened. Kristiana's head is held in place with a zip tie, just like Z's is.
Kristiana's head and limbs are lightweight, and I think that may contribute at least somewhat to her instability on her feet. The American Girls and the Gotz girls have heavier vinyl parts, and thus their legs are rock solid. Even Rita Cheryl, who is getting quite loose in the joints, can stand up if I balance her properly.
When it comes to clothes, some of these Sew Able dolls are fully dressed and some aren't, with Kristiana falling in the "aren't" category. Not that her little hospital gown doesn't cover her, of course!
Well, sort of, it does. Hospital gowns come in "one size fits some," as my nurse practitioner once said, and they all tend to gap open in the back, regardless of whether you're a child or a six-foot-two, three hundred-pound adult. Indeed, when my dad would go to the hospital he'd ask for two gowns, one that he wore normally and the other that he wore backwards to cover his rear. Anyway, I'm not sure if hospital gowns ever come in teddy bear print, but Kristiana's does. It feels soft and comfortable, like hospital gowns should feel.
Kristiana's gown also has red and white piping around the neck that looks a bit like candy. Again, I've never seen a hospital gown with a feature like this...or at least, I've never worn one like this.
The sleeves are short and are trimmed with more of this piping. I always hated the length of hospital gown sleeves.
One of the sleeves has the dolls' logo attached.
Of course the back ties closed, and of course there are only two ties, leaving Kristiana's hiney hanging out a bit. The ties are made of red satin ribbon.
Mine have already gotten snagged a couple'a times and thus don't make the prettiest bows, but they hold the gown together and release easily, so I can't gripe too much. As for Kristiana's hiney, she doesn't have to worry about showing too much off, as she's wearing white panties under her straps. That's more than I can say for Julia, as she is missing her panties.
Just simple little white panties to preserve Kristiana's modesty, though modesty isn't something that's too important when one's in the hospital...especially if you're having kidney problems, like I was during my teenage years! Now...footwear is optional in a hospital. Even though it's not the most sanitary I've seen people roam around barefoot or in socks, and I myself got the little blue booties that are meant to go over one's shoes. Kristiana wears white socks and red clogs over her plastic feet.
As is often the case with my dolls, the socks have gotten pretty grubby. I need to do laundry for both Julia and Kristiana. That said, these are plain white socks that come halfway up the calf and fold over.
I really like the shoes. They're simple red velour slip-ons that fit quite well. Slip-on shoes sometimes like to slip off, but these don't and I'm glad. They can be dressy or casual, take your pick.
The only issue I have with these shoes is the soles. They are completely flat and would be a slipping hazard if Kristiana were a real little girl. But she's not, so no biggie!
Finishing off the look is the silver heart necklace that I mentioned earlier. It's quite long and thus is bad to get tangled in Kristiana's ample hair.
The heart at the end looks like it would open, but it doesn't. It's just a plain silver heart...not terribly unlike a necklace that I used to wear, when I was Kristiana's presumed age.
No monograms, no fancy jewels, just a plain silver heart that goes with everything. Several of my dolls wear special necklaces that they rarely/never take off, so Kristiana fits in well with that trend.
Rounding out the hospital look is the hospital bracelet. Again, I've had plenty of these. My stomach always drops when a nurse slaps one on me, as it means I won't be going home for awhile.
In full Kristiana's bracelet reads:
Sew Able
ID# LuvMe4Me
Sew Dolling Hospital
Since Kristiana is slimmer than the American Girls and the Gotz sisters I have my doubts that they can wear the hospital gown. But since one size fits some, I'll try it anyway. Silver Bird will be my guinea pig.
One size fits some, alright! I was able to get the ties done up, but the back hangs open a bit, just as it does on Kristiana.
Silver Bird has a lot of hair, but unfortunately she doesn't have quite enuff to play Lady Godiva. Before I restore Silver Bird's dignity, I know for a fact that Kristiana can wear American Girl clothes, but just to pound a point into the wood I'll show her anyway. On the left is Silver Bird's new spring dress (an Etsy number), and on the right is Julia's stock dress (not an Etsy number). Both are a little big on Kristiana's small frame, but they look alright.
Note the shoes that came with Silver Bird's outfit. They're velour clogs, just like what Kristiana has got. The only difference is color.
I wonder if Sew Dolling and
TheNewVintageToys got their shoes from the same vendor? I'll likely never know, but one can speculate, yes? Since I love Silver Bird, here's how she looks in the full outfit. Both she and Kristiana look adorable in it, but this has Silver Bird's name all over it.
A quick perusal of TheNewVintageToys' shop will reveal why Silver Bird is wearing this particular outfit, by the way. It was modelled on a JLY #4 that looks almost exactly like Silver Bird, silvered right eye and all! I wonder what her name is?
Fangirling over, Sew Able dolls come with crutches, a suitcase, and a teddy bear, but Kristiana's suitcase and teddy bear have disappeared into storage limbo. I do have the crutches, however; indeed, it's kinda hard to stand Kristiana up without them.
And yet they don't fit precisely under Kristiana's arms. I thought crutches were supposed to. In real life crutches can be adjusted for height, but these don't have that feature. Otherwise they're nice crutches, made of real metal with rubber bobs on the tips.
These are certainly better than the plastic crap that American Girl makes now. At one time AG
did make metal crutches, but now they're plastic. To quote Amazing Maddie, bummeroo.
Other items are available online as well, stuff like wheelchairs and parallel bars that allow a child to match their doll's experiences to their own. Kristiana comes with crutches, for example, but when I broke my ankle I got around better with a walker. I was well out of the target age of these dolls when that happened, but I still would've gotten a kick out of one of my American Girls gimping around on a walker like I was. Still others utilize the wheelchair or a pair of arm crutches; Sew Able has those too.
That's plenty to think about, I do believe!
BAD*Face may be off-putting to some. That's largely a matter of opinion, but some may not like these dolls' faces.
*No racial diversity! All of these dolls are unfortunately white.
*Some of these dolls have long, loose hair, and so far I've had a tough time keeping my doll's hair in check. I recommend getting a doll with short hair or with braids...or one with no hair at all.
*I have a hard time getting my doll to stand, though I think that may be my fault rather than a fault with the doll.
GOOD*I love the concept, hands down.
*The bald dolls can probably swap wigs with the American Girls, though I don't know this for certain.
*Has a unique face. It had to grow on me, but I eventually grew to like it.
*I forgot to notice this during the clothing section, but the hospital gown is well-made and versatile. Any of my dolls in this size can wear it.
*Can share clothes with American Girls, Gotz, the smaller My Twinns, and My Life As.
*Has a wide assortment of accessories for acting out physical therapy. I love those!
I feel a little guilty saying that this doll's strong point is also her weakness...so I don't guess I will. I admit that I have a devil of a time getting Kristiana to stand, but she's got a good excuse for that. In short I love this concept, and I'm pleased to see a doll company filling a niche that needs to be filled. American Girl does make custom dolls with prosthetic limbs or no limbs at all, but I think that's only in exceptional cases. I've also seen a few My Life As dolls with prosthetic limbs, and a handful of Barbie dolls as well, but they're just that: few and far between. So seeing these Sew Able dolls makes me happy. However, I advise caution regarding their hair; Kristiana's hair has gotten tangled in her necklace multiple times already, and it's also hard to keep the hair neat. Based on that I'd recommend one of the dolls with short hair, braided hair, or no hair at all. Managing Kristiana's prosthetic legs is also not easy, and indeed the website notes that getting her to stand properly takes some practice. Despite being a little hard to handle I recommend Kristiana and her Sew Able friends, whether you or your kid has a prosthetic leg or not. They add some nice diversity to a group of eighteen-inch dolls...as long as your collection isn't entirely white! Hopefully Sew Able will expand on their racial diversity in the near future, and maybe add a few boys so Matthew won't be alone.
Much love,
RagingMoon1987
Since the vinyl Gorjuss dolls are from Paola Reina like Abigail they also are scented, and Miss Emily said she didn't like her doll's rosy scent as much as she liked the vanilla that perfumed Marta, Maia, and Amor. Little Song doesn't have a doll in her likeness yet, and I have no idea what her figurine smelled like, so I can't issue my own opinions. I'll just take one more cute picture of Amelia and let that be that. Notice that my jonquils are up already. 
