Springtime for dollies

I've said in the past that seasons begin when they begin and they end when they end, but for me it's not spring until 

A)  I see a butterfly, and 

B)  the television commercials shift their focus from colds to allergies. 

For me, March 18th has to come and go as well.  March 18th is kinda notorious for tornado buffs, so it's an easy date for me to remember.  This year was the centennial of the Tri-State Tornado, and the affected towns held remembrance ceremonies all week, which I thought was nice.  Heckuva coincidence, considering the weather last week.  As for me, I've yet to see a butterfly, but my jonquils have bloomed and faded, the trees have little green buds, the weather is growing warmer and stormier, and thus it's time to start putting my dolls in springtime gear.  Straight outta Etsy (and from my mama) comes another Cabbie outfit, modelled by Allie Kathleen.

West Virginia colors!  When I saw the blue in that skirt I knew it would make Allie's eyes pop, and it does!  I don't know how Mama keeps finding these cute little outfits for Cabbage Patch Kids, by the way...unless she gets stuff that I just glanced at before bouncing on to something else.

I have an outfit for Gillian Ida too!  I actually had another different outfit, but my disorganized rear end misplaced it so poor Gilly was stuck in her Christmas wear until this new dress came in. 

As is often the case with me, I love how nineties this getup is with its loud, clashing colors and layers.

But this isn't a post just for Cabbage Patch Kids, not today.  Whaaaaaat, did y'all think I was gonna leave the Queen of the Dolls out of springtime wear?  These Barbie dresses are simple little dresses that came in two batches from MelsOzarkCreations, and they're perfect for spring...maybe a little later on in spring, but still, spring.  The models are Theta and Iota.  Dress pair one.

Spoilers, all of the dresses from this shop follow the same basic pattern.  Hey, you gotta start somewhere, and the fabrics are nice.  In this case Theta is wearing a dress with spots that compliment her skin, while Iota has a dress that brings out the gray tones in her eyes (her eyes look both blue and gray).

Dress pair two.  I don't know if I picked the right dolls for these two dresses.

Okay, Theta looks fine, or she will after I add some blue accessories to make her lips pop.  Iota, though...I dunno, I like the dark color and the subtle print on that dress, but maybe it's a smidge dark for Iota.  A doll with a gothic or punk edge would probably wear it better.

Now these last dresses are my favorites, largely for their quirky, goofy prints.

Avocados for Theta, fun-size Butterfinger bars for Iota.  Again, I thought the avocado dress was too dark for Iota, but dang, I wanna put that Butterfinger dress on Theta!  The logo matches her lipstick.  While the dresses from MelsOzarkCreations are pretty simple, they're also easy to dress up or dress down.  Those solid and print dresses can be worn with almost any shoes and accessories. 

But I'm not done yet.  I like finding things that are specially designed for curvy Barbies, and this outrageous little number is just that.  Etsy shop is fashondollMX001, and Andra is my model.

I'm a moderately big fan of Andy Warhol's art, so when I saw this...well, y'know.  <elaborate>  By the way, this shop also has a Piet Mondrian-themed dress.  I'm very fond of Piet Mondrian paintings.

For a change of pace, Lagoona Blue also has something new to wear this spring.  Mama thought it was cute, and now one of my dolls has it.  Etsy shop is RabbitinthemoonThai, and I'm only now noticing that Andra and Lagoona are in the same pose.

Lagoona may be sticky and yellow, but she was my first and I'll always love her.  It's been a minute since she got something new, and this matches her stock shoes.

Zooey Electric also has an outfit, one supplied by Mama.

toocuteclub offers clothes for Rainbow High and for Smart Dolls (spoilers, I'm sizing up a Smart Doll).  The clothes are pricey, but I love the pastel outfits that the shop offers.  In this particular case Zooey seemed like the perfect choice for this outfit, but looking at the trim...there's some purple in there so Monique Verbena could've pulled it off too.  Indeed, the only one I have that would clash is Ruby Anderson (she's red).  Sunny Madison would've looked adorable.

Camille, my little Wellie Wisher, has something new to wear too.

New to her, anyway.  I've had this in storage since the end of last summer.

Rounding out the spring wear is River Song, who is uncharacteristically girly.  Y'all have gotten a peep at this getup, but now Riv has her shoes.

Justine-Marie and Zoe are my girly girls, but River Song is the one who got the dress, and she loves getting new things so she didn't make a peep of complaint.

Bright, splashy clothes for a...decidedly dreary beginning to March.  In the first few days after the tornadoes last weekend the weather was beautiful, and then on Tuesday the clouds moved in and the wind picked up a lot.  Normally I'd have taken Camille and River Song outside, but it was too windy and too dusty.  Yeah, it's nothing but sand here in the Bootheel.  I think it's a miracle that our crops grow as well as they do, but so far they do, thank God.

Veronal love,
RagingMoon1987

She might look clean, but...

...yeah.  I rooted my first-wave Lagoona Blue out of storage today.  At first glance she looks alright, with all her ghoulish glam attitude still intact.

But y'all can probably see the yellowed mess on her forehead, caused by the problem that everyone and their dog griped about during Monster High's heyday:  glue.  Here's how Lagoona looks after I cleaned her with a wet wipe.  She looks better, but that stain is there.  Mama couldn't see it, but I can.

I wonder what bright-flight egghead thought it would be a good idea to fill these dolls' heads with glue???  Did they not think that that could be deleterious to the doll's looks and value over time?  I mean, I'm not looking to resell Lagoona, but my point still stands.  I hope the brain child behind the glue steps on goatheads in their bare feet. 

Venting over.

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

Dolly Dress Discussion: Etsy finds for Monster High

It's been a busy, crazy week at that library.  Coworker B has been gone all week on a well-deserved vacation, and Coworker A and I have been hopping.  I've dealt with a persnickety fax machine, multiple large families with piles of books, several broods of unruly children, and the irate mother of one of the aforementioned broods.  God forbid that I ever tell her hyperactive little spawn to stop yelling!  Other than that it's been reasonably organized, but I still am ecstatic that it's time for the weekend.

What better way to unwind than with a post about doll clothes?  If it's one thing I've learned from being an adult doll collector, it's the importance of clothes.  Some dolls are easy to dress and some are not, so if one is going to be a serious collector one should find multiple sources of clothing for any dolls with unusual bodies.  There's absolutely no guarantee that the holding company will create a large wardrobe for their products, and if the doll in question has a very specialized body shape clothes can be a problem.  So it is for Monster High dolls.  Mattel did create a wide wardrobe for these dolls originally, but clothes for the freaky-fabulous crew appear to be...well, NOT a priority for Mattel.  Luckily, Monster High's popularity has meant an explosion of handmade items on Etsy, and that's what I've got for y'all today.  Our models are 13 Wishes Lagoona Blue, and the mummy and gorgon girls from a Create-a-Monster pack.  We'll call them "Wadjet" and "Kali" so they won't have to go by silly names like "mummy."  I think Kali is feeling less than fierce today, LOL!

Lagoona is wearing pieces from two different shops.  Her yellow dress came from a shop called Dollheimr.  Dollheimr offers things for Pullips and ball-jointed dolls in addition to Monster High threads, but for now all I've got from there is this dress.

The dress is made out of thick, mustard-gold fabric that has a little bit of stretch.  The neckline is fairly low cut, but not low enough that it shows off Lagoona's charms.  It fits nicely under her cute little turtle necklace.

The sleeves are three-quarter length and catch on Lagoona's arm fins.  Good thing her arms can detach!

Truth be told, I actually like these sleeves bunched up like that, because people wear sleeves like that quite often.  My sister did when she was in high school, and it looked darn good!

The skirt is quite short, falling to upper hip length on Lagoona.

Monster High dolls are not known for their uber-conservative fashions, but I've noticed that they do try to keep things fairly classy while still being fashionable.  Still, my opinions on such a short skirt are not the same as they once were; owning multiple Bratz dolls has softened my opinion towards shorter skirts.  At least the skirt is hemmed!

The hems are done in brown thread and are a little choppy in places, nothing serious for a handmade item.  They hold the dress together and being dark, they also make a nice contrast to the bright yellow fabric.  The sleeves are even hemmed, which can't have been easy to do on such a small sleeve.

On the chest are these two cute...things, I'll call them.  I have no idea what they are, though they look like a cross between a jellyfish and a ghost.  One's yellow with a top hat and shades, and the other is blue with pink spectacles.

The dress closes in back with two black snaps.

I can see no loose threads or foibles in stitching, which is impressive for a handmade dress this small.  Sewing for dolls as skinny as Monster High is bound to be tricky, and doing it well is even more dodgy.  This is a simple but well-executed dress, one that I'm pleased to have for Lagoona.

Before moving on I want to talk briefly about color.  Monster High dolls come in just about every color imaginable, so some colors look better on certain dolls.  Dollheimr modeled this yellow dress on Jane Boolittle, who is purple, and the yellow looked striking on her.  In addition to purple, dolls of gray, green, blue, white, silver, and brown can wear this without many problems.  Catty Noir and Wynona Spyder (both black) would look good too, though they might look a little like bumblebees.  I'd stay away from pink and orange because they look too garish with this dress, and yellow and gold are too monochromatic.

Lagoona's leggings, Wadjet's dress and skirt, and Kali's bodysuit came in a set from a second shop called HauntCoutureAtelier.  This shop specializes in Monster High and other small fashion dolls, and it offers little dresses like the one Wadjet is wearing, but in a wide array of colors and themes.  Also available are five-piece sets in various colors like silver or gold or blue, and since green is my favorite color I chose that set.  The blue set is very nice too though, in a lovely metallic royal blue fabric.  With prices being what they are one can afford to go a little nuts at this shop, but I promised Mama I wouldn't buy any more crap this month so I'm just going to show off what I've got.  Since Lagoona is already partially disrobed let's take a look at those leggings.

Originally these leggings just lay in the bottom of my MH box, but it eventually occurred to me that they would look great with Lagoona's new dress and render the short skirt nonproblematic.  If you grew up in Malden, Missouri like I did then you'll know that green and yellow make a fabulous combo.  The leggings are made of a tough, semi-stretchy material that feels and looks like pleather...but isn't.

They're simple little leggings; since the fabric is stretchy there wasn't a lot of need for shaping.  The waistband is hemmed partially...

...but the cuffs of the legs are not.

I figure that this was to keep the cuffs stretchable, but it presents a bit of a quandary since this material CAN ravel.  I doubt it will if I treat it gently, but it can get scruffy-looking.  I'm also concerned about the longevity of the green finish on the fabric; this kind of fabric is bad about showing wear after it's been around awhile.  I try my best to touch it as little as possible, and I try not to strain it either.  The fabric isn't stretchy enough to fit around Lagoona's leg fins, nor is it roomy enough to slide up over Lagoona's knees like the sleeves of her dress do, so I have to detach the leg fins and put them away for safekeeping.  I'd once thought that it was dumb to make those fins detachable, but now I realize that Mattel was using their heads there.

That takes care of Lagoona, so now I turn to Wadjet.  She wears two pieces of the green set, a minidress and a skirt.

The minidress is made of green pleather like Lagoona's leggings are, and it is about the same length as Lagoona's dress.

None of these pleather items have any sort of fastener, by the way.  Their own stretch keeps them in place.  All this dress has are seams running up the sides...

...and a gather in the bodice to create a bust area.

The hemline is again only partially stitched.

Wadjet's skirt looks elaborate, but it's not really.

The waistband is made of some sort of stiff, glittery material...

...and the skirt itself is made out of two layers of sparkly tulle.

The back closes with a silver snap.

Finally, Kali.  Kali is wearing a...bodysuit?  Pantsuit?  Either way, it covers her from collarbone to ankle.

It's made of the same fabric as Lagoona's leggings and Wadjet's minidress, the same emerald green stretch pleather that clings to every curve.  Like the minidress, the bodysuit is gathered at the breast to make a sweetheart neckline of sorts.

The bodice is hemmed, but once again, the leg cuffs are not.

If you look close, you can see Kali's scales poking through.  I think that's neat, as it gives the material a reptilian look and fits Kali's gorgon persona.

I do have one minor complaint about this bodysuit...well okay, two.  The first one is fixable:  I think it needs a belt or something like that to break up the monotony.  I'll have to dig around in my doll stuff and see what I can find, something brown or gold or lighter green, maybe.  The second gripe is not as easily fixed; the top likes to slip off of Kali's bust, leaving her...exposed, shall we say.

That's happened to Wadjet a couple of times too, in fact.  That's just one of those things that can happen with strapless bodices, whether one is human or doll!

Overall this is a nice set of clothing, but I do recommend some care when handling this pleather-like material.  If rubbed or touched or manipulated too much it might fade, scratch, or tear.  I also recommend patience when dressing the dolls; the fabric stretches a decent amount, but it's still sewn tightly enough to make it tricky to maneuver over a doll's feet and hips.  And lastly, there's those cuffs.  Treat those with respect, and maybe with some Fabri-Tac or something to keep them from fraying.  Otherwise these colored sets are great!  If you get more than one set it's even possible to mix and match!  If HauntCoutureAtelier has caught your eye, I can pass on yet another piece of positivity.  If there's something at that store and you really like it, but it suddenly sells out, don't panic.  The shop apparently believes in making duplicates of sets and outfits; indeed, my green set is...oh, I think it sold out three times and came back up for sale again before I finally bought one, and there's another green set available for sale now.

Time to gripe: Monster High reboot

Let's talk about Barbie's...well, both of these are Mattel lines so I'm not sure if these dollies are Barbie's frenemies or rivals.  But let's talk about the Monster High dolls, those edgy, freaky-fabulous offspring of famous monsters and mythical legends that have been giving Barbie a run for her money lately.  The Monster High dolls remind me more of something that MGA Entertainment would've done, what with their Bratz-like proportions; big eyes, puckered lips, and slim, oddly proportioned bodies.  I absolutely love the Monster High dolls, to the point that they've taken over part of my bedroom.  In the past I've reviewed C.A. Cupid and Skelita Calaveras, shown how the Inner Monster masks looked good on the regular Create-A-Monster sets, lamented Mattel's oversight of new MH clothing sets, gawked at the new big dolls, and I've even cobbled together some knitwear.  Skelita Calaveras remains my favorite character, though River Styxx did give her a run for her money.  Being a mortuary student I feel a certain kinship with the daughter of the Grim Reaper.  Plus, River and Skelita have some of the same aesthetics, especially in the face.

This is where my gripe is going to get hypocritical.  Both River and Skelita are smiling dolls, which is not something one sees every day in the Monster High world.  Most of my other MH dolls have either a neutral expression...

...or they've got their attitude on.

Skelita and River are both smilers, as are Bonita Femur, Honey Swamps, and Clawdia Wolf.  In fact, I suspect that Bonita may be Skelita's mother's secret love child, since she's supposed to be a cross between a skeleton and the Mothman.  Or maybe the two are cousins.  Go figure.  Anyway, every so often we get a Monster High doll that's smiling.  With the exception of Clawdia, I've liked these happy little dolls.  Unfortunately, Mattel is once again mucking around with something, trying to fix that which isn't broken, and they are apparently revamping the Monster High dolls to where nearly all of them are smiling!  Look what they've done to Frankie and Draculaura!

The new faces are cute, but what on earth is wrong with the old ones???  These dolls are supposed to be freaky fabulous, not generically pretty like Barbie or cute and sweet like the Ever After High dolls.  Don't get me wrong, I like Barbie and EAH, but after growing up in a world full of perpetually happy playline dolls, it's nice to see something different.  Something edgy.  Something with a bit of attitude.  It's my opinion that edge and attitude are what made the Bratz such big sellers, and I believe the same is true of the Monster High dolls.  Heck, the dolls even look a little alike!  Check this out!

Meygan and Lagoona are very different, but they've got a lot of the same attributes.  Their expressions are similar as are their features.  They've both got full, pouty lips and big, made-up eyes that suggest a hint of personality.  Compare that to Barbie, whose wide eyes and wide smile remind me of something you might meet on Sesame Street.

That doll is a cute one, no question.  But if she could talk, I'd expect her to sound like a female version of Big Bird.  She'd walk up to whomever she met and go "Hiiiiiiiiiii, everyone!"  No offense meant to either Barbie or Big Bird, whom I'm still quite fond of at my age.  I don't mind the innocence that Barbie projects with her big eyes and her friendly smile, but the problem is that 99% of the Barbie dolls in stores look alike.  They all wear the same smile, and they all look perpetually cheerful.  Compare that to Ghoulia Yelps, who looks slightly perplexed, or Cleo de Nile, who looks slightly put-out, or Lagoona Blue, who always looks innocent and approachable.  These ladies do not wear plastic smiles, and yet they each have their own personality.  The new faces, with their overly large eyes and innocent little smiles, rob each character of much of her personality.  If that weren't bad enough, the new faces make the characters look highly similar to one another.  Mattel made that mistake once with the first wave of Ever After High dolls, and they appear to be doing it again with the Monster High dolls.  Don't believe me?  Check out this post by Kazuya Mishma.  Cleo de Nile still looks like Cleo de Nile, but Frankie, Clawdeen, and Draculaura all look similar.  The new face suits Draculaura, who has always had a bit of a sugar and spice attitude about life, but the same can't be said for she-wolf Clawdeen, who has always been sassy, saucy, and fierce.

I may live to eat my words, but I think this is a dumb move on Mattel's part.  Children seem to like the dolls the way they currently are; every girl I know under a certain age owns at least one Monster High doll, so they're obviously selling.  The new face IS attractive, and it would probably make for some decent NEW characters, but I feel that the OLD ones should be left as is.

Yours always,
RagingMoon1987

Necessity is the mother of invention

Or in this case, necessity is the mother of ingenuity.  I've got Monster High dolls that need duds, but Mattel is too focused on Barbie to make new MH threads, and the proprietor of my former favorite Etsy shop is now damnatio memoriae, so what's a girl to do?  As y'all undoubtedly know, I like to knit, and much of my knitting focuses on duds for dolls that can't get clothing elsewhere.  Unfortunately, free online patterns are few and far between  when it comes to Monster High clothes.  Luckily I've been able to find a few.

Enter This Joy, a blog that has superb knitting patterns for Monster High dolls.  This Mad Science Lagoona Blue came to me sans clothes (and part of one arm), and thus she is my innocent victim model.

All you need are small needles and sock yarn, and I happen to have both, so I went to town.  Lagoona's dress is made from this post, her cape came from here, and her hat is this pattern.  I wanted some continuity in this outfit, so the hat and cape are knitted from a ball of Premier Yarns Wool-Free Sock.  This yarn is wove together in an unusual way, so that a strand of it somewhat resembles a spring.  Thus it has a nice stretch to it.  This particular color is aproprately called "Grapes."  I used the same yarn to make a dress for Ju-hwang last summer.

See how Lagoona and Ju-hwang coordinate!

I've also used this type of yarn in a different dress for Ju-hwang, but it's a more earthy color called "Grand Canyon."

Unfortunately I made the Grand Canyon dress too short.  Ju-hwang will need some leggings before she can wear this one again.

Lagoona's new dress is...well, I had the band once, but it's disappeared into my collection of yarn bands.  I think it's another sock yarn, Red Heart Heart and Sole in "Green Envy."  I also used this yarn last summer, in another dress for Ju-hwang.

Why I wanted to spend last summer knitting, I'll never know.  Our air conditioner died and it was too hot to even think about knitted goods, let alone want to make or wear them.  Yet somehow Ju-hwang ended up with more dresses than I care to count.  Anywho, Lagoona and Ju-hwang again coordinate nicely.

There's also a blue dress that I've been tinkering around with, though it's far from done.  The pattern is a lolita-style pattern from Modern Monstrosities, and the yarn I used is a mecurized cotton called Omega Sinfonia.  The color I used is "Azul Rey," but any of the other colors will do.  It's nice to see a fine-gauge yarn in a bold, solid color, particularly when most of Hobby Lobby's fine yarns are either striped, white, or pastel in color.  Anyway, when I finish the dress I'll share it here!  As an aside, Lagoona's green dress fits the slim bodies of La Dee Da dolls with aplomb.  I'll have to test out the blue dress when it's complete and see if it will fit.

I bought a couple more balls of sock yarn over the weekend, so there will be other dresses in the making.  Stay tuned!

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987