Of Winter Storms and BJD wigs

 So this has been quite a week for the bulk of the country. First we had Winter Storm Uri come through and tear things up. Then we had Winter Storm Viola come through and wreak further hell on us. (And here I was blaming it all on Uri.) Luckily for me, my area survived just fine. We had our ice storm. Nothing really came of it except a thick coating of ice on the trees and other surfaces. The roads were fine pretty quickly after the initial ice storm.

 Then we had the snow come through with more cold temperatures. The morning after some snow came along the previous night with the threat of more coming, the humble space heater that single handedly heats the space where I spend 90% of my time died. Wanna talk about some fantastic timing, geez. We raced off to town on borderline sketchy roads before lunch with the hopes of finding a replacement before the weather got worse. And wouldn't you know it, not a single freaking store had one in stock in the entire town!! Where did they all go?? As a last ditch effort we went by our storage building hoping we had one stored away in there and lo and behold, we did. Whew! No freezing until the one I ordered finally made its way here or they restocked in town!

That was the extent of any real drama for me during this rotten stretch of weather. It's been cold, but nothing that bad. We never lost power. We never had the roads completely shut down. They weren't always perfect for driving, but I was surprised to see that finally, FINALLY, the local government figured out how to prep the roads for the incoming weather AND take care of them during it all! I feel really fortunate as it seems like all of the surrounding areas were hit pretty hard. Though nothing can compare to the horror going on in TX right now. Those poor people. 

Speaking of TX, I had some wonderful luck this last week. I am in desperate need of wigs for my BJDs. Desperate. I don't want to buy anything from China right now. Domestic shipping can be challenging enough. No way I want to gamble with any potential drama with overseas shipping. And that, of course limits my choices by quite a bit. Especially now the Monique is going out of business. So, I decided to check Den of Angels MP like I periodically do and I found a really nice looking fur wig for really cheap! So I messaged the seller ( who, you might have guessed is in TX) and lucky, lucky me! She had a bunch of wigs that she had been meaning to list that she said she would give me a deal on if I wanted any! Yes, please, don't mind if I do! I picked out 6 fantastic fiber wigs (one is a gift for a family member) and she let me have them all plus the fur wig I had originally inquired after for $45! OMG! What a fantastic deal! It might be awhile until she can get them in the mail but it's totally fine with me. Thankfully she is doing okay as I heard from her today. That's the most important part. My dolls can just wait until everything is safe for trips to the post office. :) I'm just so thrilled to have been given such a wonderful deal. All of my big dolls will have a wig! It's like winning the BJD wig lottery!

Once my wigs get here I will attempt to do a proper photo shoot showcasing each wig. Eep! Exciting stuff!

Going through my BJDs

I decided to take my Sunday and spend some time going through my BJD collection. Quite a few of them had been put in the "Rehome" box, and they have been there for quite awhile. Some of my dolls when I got them, due to being busy with other things and a lack of clear direction, have pretty much been stored safely away waiting for that creative click. (I'm afraid some dolls have been waiting a long time to have me come up with an idea for them!) I've added several more anthros lately. It'll be fun to see just where my doll family is right now. (I'll be dodging a sleeping Mansfield in my lap, so I might not move too quickly!)

Fast forward a few hours later, and all dolls have been sorted. I am keeping everything I had put up for sale. The ones I did part with earlier in the year, I am very glad that I did. I'm also very glad that I did not sell any more. It's nice when things work out that way!

With the lack of creative click, I concluded that for whatever reason, I was trying to achieve too much variety in the styles I dress my dolls in. Not sure why, but there you have it. I favor gothic, whimsy, circus, lolita and Victorian. I should just stick to what I like and not worry about some of my dolls being dressed too similarly! And with that conclusion, I suddenly went on a design kick and have plotted out 3 outfits, and got the first rough pattern draft for Grinsen's clown inspired outfit. (More like the latest IT clown inspired outfit.) Then I got a nice Jester outfit drawn out for Punch, and a Victorian inspired suit for Grim.

I don't think I am going to keep the cyber goth bondage pants I had made for the LTF Juri (at present named Hazard.) I don't really like that style on the little guys. I'll have to think about what to do with him as he has a sort of hot pink and green streaked wig and watermelon colored eyes. (I love those eyes.) And I like the wig a lot. I just have no idea at present what style of clothing would work with the colors.

I don't have names for everyone yet. The above mentioned Hazard might have a name change. My Volks doll is now Grinsen, which is German for grin. (Thought that was appropriate given my fun plans for him.) My Pipos Pang is Grim. My Delf Elf Yder is now settled in as Tenebris. I still don't have a name for my Soom red Trachy. He's a tough one, but I am getting some ideas for his clothing, wig and eyes.

Speaking of wigs, I am short a few. Thankfully I learned from my last wig buying experience not to buy another wig until everything was definitely set. (Those 2 wigs luckily ended up having a use for my soon to be customized MH Frightfully tall Gooliope.) Trachy has no wig. Hazard's wig is up in the air. Lucian (5star Jesse) had a lavender fur wig I was not completely happy with that unfortunately ended up going to the laundry mat. :/ It's a little worse for wear now, and I am not sure if he can even still fit in it. Tenebris stole Coal's (Elf Chiwoo) black and silver wig, and Grinsen has nothing but the ill fated hope that I will make him a yarn wig. So, I got on DoA to see if I could find anything perfect. I know I want Coal's wig to be long, but not too long, and plain black. I found a seller who has one that fits the bill. She has another I think would be perfect for Grinsen. I am eagerly awaiting her response, as I made on offer for the 2. (It's as exciting as getting a new doll! :D)

I'm not sure if I will try to do any sewing today. I might just see how far I can go with designing and  just plan on getting some stuff sewn for mine next weekend.

Progress with the Pumpkin Costumes!

Here's how it is coming along. I think I put in my last post about this project that I had finished the costume for my white mouse, so I won't go over that again. So, this post will be short and sweet! Here's the 2 mice together.

The plum colored pumpkin still needs to be stuffed, and I am seriously debating about re-making the bottom. It just hangs funny, and kind of bugs me. I really want to work on the green one I started 2 weekends ago. So maybe tonight I can do that. Good thing I started this in August, ha ha.

On another happy note, I think I have settled on a name for my white mouse! Rudolph, but he goes by Rudy. Rudy goes with Harold quite well. So, fingers crossing it sticks!

My Angell-Studio Pumpkin Head is here!

This was quite an ordeal. I had put the final one Mint on Card had in stock on a 6 month layaway along with some hooks for my Dollshes (I can't believe they didn't come with hooks originally! I need more string for Ambrose, who is, at the moment, in pieces. At least I still have Draven together.) I had  - the same week - gotten a shipping notification for my Luts Pumpkin head that I bought on preorder back in October. This one as going out Priority mail. My layaway order was sent out Fed Ex. I was excited to get the shipping notification and then BAM! I realized it was heading to my old Utah address. Cue panicky email to MoC. I didn't hear back from them the next day - which is odd because the'r customer service is really good, so I figured I had sent it to the wrong email, and re-emailed them the same message to their other one. I got a response early the next day saying that they had contacted Fed Ex and had the address corrected. So, yay! I saw it leave Michigan and head to Ohio. Everything was going correctly. I checked it the next day and it was leaving WY! WTF??? Cue another panicky email to MoC. After my package reached North Salt Lake, they once again contacted Fed Ex and corrected the address, and of course, weren't given any explanation how the package was once again incorrectly routed. In a few days, it came rolling in. All was well. My package didn't get opened until last night.

I will start by saying the head is adorable, and since I am such a fan of pumpkin heads, I am happy I have it. But....I do have some complaints. First off, its PLASTIC. Not resin. I thought I was ordering a WS resin head with a face up, per description. The head is in fact, an orange plastic, and not of the highest quality.

There are some cool things happening here. The stem at the top is removable. Its an even thinner plastic, not thrilling, but oh well. It snaps together at the sides, and one of the magnets has already come loose. Not a big deal. Then they have provided you with this handy little neck piece in case you don't want to snap it over your Yo's head (an MSD sized head doesn't work for that configuration. At least not with the doll I tried. His head was too big.) This is really a good idea for the neck piece - more in theory at this point though than actual work-ability. I'll show you in pics. **Dishonorable mention - they also sent a LOUSY cheap plastic battery operated tea light, which was such pathetic quality it barely, barely had any light to it at all. Into the trash it goes**

Here is the head over Lucian's head. (5star Jesse boy) Don't mind the test dress he is wearing. (He's been helping me with a commission project.)

See how cute it is? It totally works, and I think this was probably the idea they had when they created the head to begin with. I just don't really want to use it as a costume piece for one of my other dolls. I want him to be his own character. Now, here the head is using the neck piece on a YoSD body. (5star Aiden body.)

The neck piece is too large for the little neck's circumference. It just doesn't work. It is more correctly sized for an MSD neck, but then we run into this:

The MSD neck is waaaaaay too long for it to work. It looks like E.T. merged with a pumpkin head. It's even weirder in person. But the proportioning is really good. So, my plan at present is to get a cheap MSD boy body and mod the neck down at least a cm, and then it'll work really well. This will definitely be a future project.

Question - if I had known before what I know now, would I still buy the head? Not for the $76 I spent on it. I feel it was a serious over charge, especially considering the one from Luts was closer to $40 (or maybe it was $40. Something like that.) Here is a comparison of those 2 heads. Luts is wonderful quality resin, and has a cool flashing light feature in the head that will last for who knows how long, though the head truly stands on its own. I wish I had bought 2.

Am I happy that I have it? Ummmm....yeah. I reckon so. I intend to enjoy it since I have it. I really do love pumpkin heads. Really, really, love them. So yes, I think I will greatly enjoy the head once I can get him a proper body.

Waiting, waiting for that shipping notice! Iplehouse JID

So, I went and put an Iplehouse JID on layaway a few weeks back. He was kind of a surprise buy. You know how that can happen? I hadn't payed a great amount of attention to these dolls in the past, but I suddenly got seized with the desire to get one. So, I did the money calculations we all do when considering buying a new doll, the numbers worked, and WS Owen was put on layaway! I paid him off in full 2 weeks ago tomorrow. I cannot wait for him to arrive. It seems like FOREVER since I paid him off, but I know it hasn't been. :P I'm so impatient, my coping with the wait is total denial that I have him to "OMG, how am I gonna survive until he is HOOOOOOME!" The drama, the drama.

I have no idea really what I am going to do with him. I fell in love with this picture of Owen:

I found this while looking for inspiration pics of men's mori clothing to make for my Dollshe Hound. I ended up ordering the doll a few weeks later. I am thinking I might dress him in a similar style, but I know not to settle on anything until he is here. Which *hopefully* will be soon. IH has been shipping pretty quickly lately, so I am crossing my fingers I will be one of the lucky people who gets their dolls within 2-3 weeks.

Asylum Chic and Halloween Industrial...for the mice??? *Picture heavy*

Yep! For the Cheese mice. :) Instead of working on the Dark Mori outfit I intend to make for my Hound for the Project Journal Round on DoA (my plans, my plans, I never stick to them) I got my critters out yesterday, wanting to come up with some sort of idea that I like, will continue to like, and that will give them each a defined style and presence. I have tried different things for them - more like have come up with different plans for them, but nothing really has ever stuck. Yesterday after doing some sketching that went nowhere, an idea clicked in my head.

I decided to start with Blueberry. I had already made some simple little black twill pants back several months ago. So for this guy, all he needed to have was a shirt. I decided to try and make the mummy, asylum chic style of shirt (no, this isn't original) similar to one I started making for SD size (and consequently, have never finished in the last couple of year - yikes.) I thought it would be pretty simple, and while it was, I had no idea it would take me as long as it did. O.o

Basic pieces in white cotton. I sewed the shoulder seams together before I should have.

Next step, the tiny little strips. There were 18 on one sleeve, 17 on the other.

I tried to figure out a way to make more blind stitches, but do to the size, and the fraying tendency of the fabric, I just took small running stitches. At first I was disappointed, but the more rows I did, the more I decided it was perfect, and added to the effect. Below is the finished right sleeve.

And now the front and one back. As you see, I did take the shoulder seams apart in order to better sew on the strips.

And just a cute pic of Blueberry holding his finished sleeves in excitement...(Lovely background, eh?)

4 hours later, it is finished. My regret is not taking the time to fray check the strips before sewing them on. I love the shredded effect, which got  more shredded in my struggle to turn those loooong sleeves inside out. (It wouldn't have hurt to have made them a wee bit wider for that reason.) I luckily only managed to pull off one strip which is some sort of miracle. I was having visions of having to toss out the whole thing at that point while I tried - as gently as I could - to pull those sleeves through. What a relief when I finally did!) I had put a slit in either sleeve so he could get his paws through to use his hands, which not only looks cool, but helped greatly in the turning-the-sleeves-inside-out drama.

It will have a chain sewn onto the shirt, and also the pants. I *know* I have one around here somewhere, but I have no idea where it is. I really don't think I used it for something else, unless it was Ambrose' bondage pants....I'll just have to get another one. And then it will be perfect! :D 

I do intend to try and go in there with a tooth pick or something to maybe add some fray check to it. I'll update later if I did, what I did, and if it worked. Even if I don't, it is technically fine. I'll just handle it with care.

And here he is with his twin, Grape Jelly. I'll do a separate post for his outfit, as I have WIP and the story to tell for that one too. :) 

Pants for tinies - Pipos PI, Delf Zuzu, and of course, 5star YoSD...

I intended to spend my weekend working on an outfit for my 5star tony Aiden Dante. I have plans for a suit for him - red blouse, black slacks, maybe a black vest, a suit coat and for sure a tie. I hadn't really gotten out many of my BJDs since moving back to KY, so I pretty soon found myself distracted just a little, hauling all of my anthros out of their container. The ones who did have clothes had cold weather stuff, and in the summer heat (with no a/c at the time - we have since gotten one as of last night, and I am one happy duck) it looked miserable. So, I decided to spend a little bit of time making them something that didn't look like they would melt in.

First, I sketched out some summer dress ideas for Honeysuckle (Baha girl.) Then, I settled on cargo shorts for the boys (Pipos PI Heero - he's not mine, but I sew for him like he is - PI Bao, and Delf Zuzu Wolffy) each in different colors. Hamilton (Heero) would have black, Percy (Bao) would have khaki, and Vlady (Zuzu) would be most unhappily stuck with denim. He's normally my romantic white vampy goth, so sticking him in something normal is cruel and unusual punishment for him. I do sympathize, so I am working on an idea for something cool and in his style, but until then, he has shorts.

I started with Vlady's, went onto Ham's, and then started working on a raglan tee for Vlady. I'm presently not happy with it, but I am pleased with the shorts. I had cut out Percy's, but didn't get to them until Sunday.

On Sunday I made Percy's shorts, and then began working on basic pants for Aiden, and finished them relatively fast. I do have an Etsy commission for 3 pairs of pants for this size, so not only was I making something for Dante to wear, but I was also working on stuff for my store. I am pleased with how everything except the raglan tee have turned out. I'll edit this post when I finish getting pics of everything.

Pictures!

Meet Dante - 5star Aiden (Long story ahead...)

Poor little Dante is a sweet and eager little Demon, ready to get his very first assignment into the human world. In fact, he is so excited that he spends his days - and sometimes his nights when he gets away with is - in the lobby of the Department of Human Assistance. (Basically, they handle those humans who go conjuring demons, selling their souls, etc.) He sits, just waiting until his name is called. His presence is met with a mix of annoyance, anger and pity. Sometimes the receptionists there take some pity on him and provide him with snacks and water, and a blanket for those late nights when he falls asleep on the couch. Sometimes they will run him out. When this happens, Dante will simply bide his time, wait till the coast is clear, and he will sneak back in.

Days come and days go. His name is never called. You see, Hell doesn't exactly want him. He's just....simple and kind hearted. Not attributes a demon summoned t cause trouble in the world of human's possess. Unfortunately, they can't seem to justify shipping him out. Oh, they've thought about. How could they excuse getting rid of the little nuisance?

And then, one day the perfect opportunity fell right into their laps......

Fast forward to the human world for just a moment here.

Meet Ambrose. You see him there - the tall lanky pale fellow with the long white blonde hair in the black pleather. He's hunched over another drink. One he shouldn't be having, just like his last 4. He's angry and fretting. He's furious at someone. Who, it doesn't matter. (Truth be told, I haven't figured out that little detail, so we will just move on.) And being drunk, he's not exactly plotting anything good. The bartender orders him a cab and gently prods him to leave, telling him he has had more than enough.  Ambrose's band plays there often on the weekends, so he is on friendly terms with all the employees there. He knows its true, and doesn't bother putting up any sort of fuss. This isn't his normal thing - he might enjoy a few drinks, but he knows his limits. Normally. But this isn't a normal night for him.

The weather isn't quite normal either. It's been a very humid summer, and the lightening storms have been phenomenal. And on this particular night, a storm was brewing.  (Come on, of course it was! Ambiance, folks, ambiance. :P)

Ambrose lives with his friend Draven at Draven's old creepy Victorian family house. Draven also happened to be out of town, and was due home in 3 days. (Had he been there, I wouldn't be writing this story.)

Ambrose was dropped off at the very edge of the long winding driveway. The cab driver refused to get any closer to the house than he had to. And while he wasn't exactly thrilled to be staggering in the pelting down rain, he just thanked the guy and headed onward to the front door. After struggling to first find the right key, hold on it to it long enough to try inserting into the lock, and then actually getting it in the right way (he was cursing his lack of control at this point) Ambrose was inside.

Surveying the spinning room through blurry eyes for a moment, he got into his plan. Draven's house held a very large library. His family throughout the years had amounted a very vast and odd sort of collection. Things like taxidermy, funeral rites, poisons, torture practices and other oddities made up the majority of it, mixed in with Gothic Victorian novels and other such crime stories. There was a section Ambrose had stumbled onto one day unlike the others. There were 2 books, both ornately bound. They contained some sort of spells - many written in what Ambrose could only guess was latin. Draven told him that his great grandfather had been heavily into Necromancy and other dark arts. He was told firmly to not ever mess with them. Draven, knowing Ambrose would take him seriously never bothered to move them or hide them. Ambrose never intended to mess with them. But....this wasn't a normal night, or a normal situation. (And Ambrose was drunker than a skunk.)

Once in the library he swiftly (not really, he stumbled, stubbed a toe which he would have broke had the alcohol not softened the blow, knocked over a lamp) made his way to the books, and scooped them up. He sat down at the beautiful carved desk, and began to flip through. He was in truth at first disappointed. Perhaps he had a movie moment for himself pictured already in his mind. Flipping through spells to turn people into toads, or some such. The only thing that piqued his interest was finding an incantation to summon a demon to do your will. This, this one might work. He could use some little demon to torment the object of his rage. Well, maybe *torment* was a strong word. More like annoy, bother, disrupt. The more he thought about the less he really wanted to cause this person that many problems.

But still. They had to pay. Right?

Ambrose concluded that yes, they deserved it. He dug a candle out of the desk drawer. (Draven always used candles wherever he was at. He preferred them to lamps, often times.) He lit it, cleared his throat and began to read.

To be continued so that this post isn't horribly long.....

Limhwa Limho Mono BJD MSD Commission Project

I saw a WTC thread on DoA and jumped on it pretty much immediately. While I do not have this doll myself, I have sewn for him before, so I was really excited to see this. It also happened to be one of my favorite styles. A medieval/fantasy outfit. I guess it is off a character - Game of Thrones maybe? I looked, but I can't remember. (I'm one of the apparently few people who doesn't watch the show.)

I've gotten most of the pattern drafting done. The pants are done. I just perfected the tunic, and all that leaves me if to iron out the couple of nagging details on the robe, and I can get it finished up for her.

I am sewing her tunic today. I got some very fine high quality cream linen, as per her request. It's beautiful, and I know exactly why I bought it. It was just perfect in weave and color for the tunic. It's also one of those fabrics that when it comes time to working with it you'r like "what was I thinking?" Lol. It's okay though. It'll be worth the extra pain in sewing with it. I am fray checking most of the pieces as linen is suspect for very bad fraying normally, and this lovely fabric is pretty mean.

Here's the design:

(Pardon the bent paper. The sketches and the measurements are on the same page and have been through a lot.)

And here is a picture of the fabric:

I can't wait to see how it turns out. I love the test run, but that's out of cheap white muslin! I wil hopefully have it finished up today.

Glitter Eyes for Cheese Mice....

My difficulties in finding appropriate eyes for my Pipos Cheese Mice has been going on for years. Since they cannot have eyes with stems, finding anything that suits me is really, really hard. Pipos does put random eyes with their dolls, and its a crap shoot if I actually like them or not. I seem to land with mostly pink spectrum eyes, and it doesn't really work with most of my dolls. Harold (my beige basic mouse, and first of them crew) came with these gorgeous cobalt blue eyes. I loved them. Unfortunately, I lost his eyes when I was cleaning out a bunch of my stuff. They didn't end up in the keep or sell pile, and ended up in the trash. I deeply regret that.  I would have never thrown them away on purpose. This was probably 3 or 4 years ago, and trying to find anything that I like for him or any of them for that matter has been mostly a bomb out.

A couple of years ago I bought 3 or 4 pairs of eyes from someone who was selling them on the DoA MP. One pair was a glass stem less pupil-less gold glitter. I love them. They have gone from mouse to mouse to see who gets to keep them while the others fear they will never have anything actually decent for them.

A few weeks ago, my sweet friend sent me some blank 18mm DIY eyes, which was so nice and totally unexpected! I got 3 pair, which was perfect at the time, as I only had 4 mice, and only 3 of them still needed eyes. (I got another mouse shortly thereafter.) I love glitter eyes, and since you can use nail polish as well as paint, stickers, etc, I decided to use some nail polish.

I got some blue glitter polish for this project. I thought it would be the perfect color for Harold. I decided to go with white glitter for the second pair, and silver for the final pair. I compensated the polish with some of my micro glitter. Once I had them how I wanted them, I pushed the clear dome - or at least I attempted to. Now, this could totally be on the operator here, but I could only get the silver ones to actually go down and snap into place. The white ones I got partially put into place, but the blue ones? I have had to keep putting one back into the eye as it has randomly come off. Seems like Harold's bad luck continues. The color I went with didn't end up being as dark as I had thought it would be. It's like every time I try and fix my original mistake of losing Harold's eyes it's like "foiled again!"

As it turned out, Harold isn't even wearing them right now. I had planned also on the white glitter eyes being for my white cheese mouse Coconut Cream, the silver glitter being for Blueberry, and Grape Jelly keeping the gold glass. Right now, Harold is wearing the white, Coconut Cream the silver, Grape Jelly the blue, and Blueberry the gold. I don't have pics of them yet in their new eyes, but this is how the eyes look. I do really like them. :)

Now I just have to figure out what to do for my peach mouse, Peach Cobbler....

Princess Project - Girl #3 Finished! Pic heavy

Third girl is complete! I spent all afternoon sewing up the backs and sewing snaps on all the remaining pieces. I'm so excited!

These dresses are for the Lady Ophelia. She is the most practical of the 3, so I went for more lines for her's in the designs to go with her more serious nature. Her color theme is browns and creams. I believe her dresses ended up being my favorites of the 3, although Annmarie's blue Sunday Best vies for that place as well.

First up, we have her Summer Dress. This one is a mix of cream silk and a lovely brown linen. There is ribbon detailing around the square neckline, the front and back of the over skirt, as well as the sleeves.

Up next is her glorious Sunday Best. The brown silk was hand dyed. The sleeves alone on this dress took me a couple of hours to make, and oh was it worth it! I love this dress very much. :D The belt is made of some pretty gold and white trim.

And last but never least is her Ball Gown. I love this one too! The silk is all hand dyed. There is a lot of bead work on the shoulders, and down the front of this dress. The underskirt is has machine sewn stripes down front. 

All done! I'm going to take it to the PO on Monday to get it weighed. I can't wait to get it all boxed up! I have everything neatly bagged up, ready to be packaged. :)

Princess Project - Girl #2 finished!!! PIC HEAVY

Following the world's most frustrating photo shoot, I have gotten pics of the completed Crown Princess's wardrobe. These belong to AnnMarie - the elegant dreamer, who has a love for embroidery. In designing her dresses, I wanted to include one dress that featured embroidery, and go with an airy more fairy tale look. Her colors were pastel blues and mints/greens.

For some reason, while taking these pics, my doll would NOT stand. I think he might be protesting the many hours he has spent playing princess while helping me with this project. I owe him big time, lol, but he needs to hold out just  a little longer! In reality, I need to restring him. He is the kickiest, falling-est little guy. I have to carefully adjust his legs under the dress to get him to stand, and in adjusting the dresses I would either knock him over, or he would just crumple. For that reason, I don't think these pics turned out quite as good as my last ones, but hopefully, they still show the dresses off well.

Okay, enough complaining, lol! On to the pics!


This girl being the crown princess, needed a crown. I sculpted it out of polymer clay, then painted it. I will seal it before I send it. She wears it with a wimple, which was made out of cotton due to the necessity of providing the right hang. Silk would have been pretty, but too stiff. The veil is a panel lace.

First off, the one I am the most proud of I think out of all the dresses, Annmarie's Sunday Best. This one has the embroidery in 2 places. I went with several different colors for the flowers - a very white blue, a purple, and then for a pop of color, a deep red.

 I initially had designed the sleeves to be sewn onto the dress like some of my other ones, but once I started drafting the pattern, I realized it would hide too much of the dress, so I changed it to these detached sleeves that snap close. This dress has a lovely 3 layers that have an elegant train in the back. The dress silk is hand dyed, the corset was a store bought silk.

Next up, we have her Summer Dress. This one is made out of a mint chiffon. I sewed some white trim on the bottom of the skirt which matches the belt, which is attached to the dress in the front.

Last, but never least, is her beautiful Ball Gown. The silks were both hand dyed. The underskirt is in a spearmint, the over dress is a mix of spearmint and pistachio. I love the shade! I cut out pieces of lace to sew on the front center of the skirt and the bodice. Onto that, I sewed some dark mint colored seed beads. These also line the bottom edge of the underskirt. The sides and back of the skirt feature little puffs created by tiny pin tucks. I don't think I captured it very well....

And that finishes up girl #2! Next up, girl number 3!