Introducing Olive

Dear Jill

I'm loving Coral and Zooey's new chips! I am so excited for you! I hope you have lots of fun with them, and remember - be brave!!

Talking of customs, late last week I completed my own custom on Katies Basaak. I give you... Olive!

I had loads of fun customising her! There were a few firsts with this doll, like painting freckles and swaping the Basaak body for a Licca Chan one. I really like the new Licca Chan body - it is so much more flexible than the original, and even the Blythe.

Katie requested I keep all the original eyechips, and I think they really suit her...


Things I have learnt whilst doing this customisation:

1. Always leave the hair longer than you really want it. It's much easier to trim it than reroot it.

2. Paint on the faceplate can be removed, even when MSC has been applied. You just need some sandpaper.

3. MSC stains garden furniture!

4. Don't add fabric medium to the paint you use on the eyelids. Just apply paint straight from the bottle.

5. A wobbly head can look really cute!

6. Kit11670 on Ebay deliver really quickly! Thank you for the great outfit!

I took the doll round to Katies on Saturday and she loved her! I have emailed her some links to sites that sell Blythe clothes - I think I have created a new Blythe-a-holic!

Sarah
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PS - Yay for FBL love! I don't know why they get a bad rap - they're so cute!

Custom FBLS

Custom FBLS, a photo by sglahe on Flickr.

FBL love!

Chippies!

Dear Sarah,

I got my chippies from CoolCat Monday! Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some customizations this weekend between all the reading I have for school.

Coral's chippies! She'll have left facing yellows, forward facing pink/orange and floral, and right facing greens.

 

And Zooey's. She has a more naturalistic theme. She'll have left facing pinks, forward facing browns and grays, and right facing greens.

Both girls will have right facing greens. They'll also get sleep eyes (so they can finally sleep!) as well as a slight matting/makeup removal. I'm thinking they'll look like THIS girl. And a quick hair wash and they'll be ready for photo shoots with their Wubba Chikens!

 ♥ Jillie

 P.S. I love how Katie's doll is looking!

Carving

Dear Jill,

I love the headband you made, that button is perfect for it! And the skirts are soooo cute! Your girls are very lucky! I'm sorry that you didn't win the Prima Dolly Violet. I'm sure you will find an even better girl in time :)

Today I carved Katies dolls nose, lips and philtrum. I love this stage of customising - it's when you really start to see the dolls personality! Here is the face before the final sanding...



I'm pretty happy with it, although I can see the nose is a little wonky. I will try to fix that tomorrow :)

BTW - Did your CoolCat chips arrive? Can't wait to see them!

Sarah
-x-

Dear Sarah,

I'm really excited to see the Blybe for Katie! Especially her hair. It looks divine, like a green cloud. I can't wait to see her all put together. I really like those pink chippies, nice and vibrant, unlike those creepy pink chippies that came with my Simplys. It's funny how the Blybe and Bleh's stock chippies are nicer! Didn't Nicky have nice grey ones? 

And I'm so excited about your Nicky Lad and body! The body and the hands are going to be a blast for photoshoots. Do standard Blythe clothes fit Pure Neemo bodies? 

I was on eBay the other day, which is badbadbad for my wallet, and happened upon a nude Prima Dolly Violet for only $50! 

But I was outbid a few hours before and she ended up going for $101. Not too bad, but I don't have money right now. I think I'll have to wait until December like you, and cross my fingers Santa Claus brings me one!

My girls got some new skirts in the mail from a swap, but they only have one shirt so we had to improvise.

Coral loves the hat!

The woman I swapped with has a shop, Good Sewing. She has some great fabrics for cheap, but use GoogleTranslate as I don't know if you speak Hebrew! 

I'm almost finished the Zombie Bunny hat; just have to stitch it all together, and I made a headband for Coral as well:

Very simple, two rows of single crochet, with the flower button. It goes perfectly with her stock dress.

Aside from that, things are quiet over here, [trying] to wait patiently for our chippies from CoolCat!

♥ Jillie

Fastest Reroot In Town...

Dear Jill,

As you know I have been bitten by the customising bug, but the problem I have is that I can't keep all the girls I want to customise as I don't even have enough space for the ones I have now! So a little while ago I offered to make my cousins Daughter, Katie, her own doll. She said she would like...

Green, shoulder length yarn hair with a fringe

Original Chips

Freckles!

Lilac Eyeshadow

I am also going to add...

Lip, Nose and Philtrum carving

New Clothes

New Licca Chan Body

I started work on her last week. First I took the whole doll apart...


These are a pair of the original chippies she would like left in...


And last night I completed my fastest reroot EVER! It took me 2 days! Yay! Here she is in the middle of the reroot...


And here it is all finished...




I am having a bit of a problem with the hair though. Katie wanted it shoulder length and it comes up a little short. So I might take the bottom 2 rows of plugs out and re-do them. My hair dressing skills are obviously not as good as I thought they were lol!

Today I carved a new neck hole, sanded down the neck of the new Licca Chan body, and started on the nose. It's going well! More pics to follow!

Sarah
-x-

A New Girl

Dear Jill,

I totally agree - they are very cute indeed! Have you found anywhere that sells them? I found a couple on Ebay.com but they were so expensive :(

I have great news! I have ordered a new Blythe! My Mum and Dad knew I was after a new girl, so they said they would get me one for my birthday! It was between Punkaholic People or Nicky Lad, and I chose...

Nicky Lad!

I've wanted a Nicky Lad for a long time - it was between her and Zoe (STT) back in April, but the one thing I wasn't keen on with Nicky Lad is the yellow eyeshadow. But now I have dabbled in a few customs I know I can easily change that :)

On top of that, I also got an Azone 1/6 Pure Neemo Flection S Natural Body and the Azone 1/6 Pure Neemo Advance Option Hands Set B - both from Mimi Collection on Ebay!




I have big plans for this girl, but the sad thing is I have to wait until my birthday in December to get my hands on her. It will be worth the wait though, I'm sure!

Sarah
-x-

Middie Bug

Dear Sarah,

I think I've been bitten by the Middie Bug. They're just so cute and dainty! Look at them!

 

They have such sweet expressions! I also had a dream a few days ago that I got a purple haired one. I don't know much about them, but maybe my next girl will be a Middie!

♥ Jillie

P.S. Love the picture of Zoe and the cactus. I know how much you love cactuses....cacti. (?)

Deadly Cactus

Dear Jill,

First off - that furniture is soooo cute! I think I'm definitely going to have to get the sofa pattern! And the Bubbly Sofa one. And the guitar. AHHHH!! XD Thanks for the links!!

I love the Blythe Photo Chalenge group on Flickr too! I thought for ages about what I could submit, and came up with this...


Yay! It's my most deadly cactus - seriously, some of the spikes are about 5cm's long! I was very careful not to let Zoe touch it. Can't wait to see what you submit!

Sarah
-x-

Furniture!

Dear Sarah,

I know we both have limited monies to spend on our Girls, spend a lot of time surfing eBay and Etsy for deals. I surfing Etsy yesterday, and came across some great finds! Now usually I know the majority of our Blythe allotted funds go to clothes and shoes, but I've been wanting a place for my girls to sit and/or sleep. I haven't really looked for furniture, though I do need to stop by Toys 'R Us and see if I can get a cheapy Barbie wardrobe. I have seen some chairs on eBay, but these two really caught my eye: crocheted amigurumi furniture! "Why not!?" thought I. This combines two things we love: crochet and Blythe, to create some kick-@$$ accessories, because the girls always need accessories, no? Of course!

First I found a pink armchair with an adorable little pillow:

It doesn't say made especially for Blythe, but I'm sure it'll work, even if we have to go up a hook size. This shop also has guitars, a bubbly sofa, cake couches, and a wide pink armchair.

But I think my favorite sofa is this one:

   

Isn't it darling? I like the simplicity of it, and the colored pillows on white. It seems retro in these primary colors. That seems to be the only Blythe pattern from that shop, but she does have some cute items.

Now to just give my girls a little nook or shelf, and they'll get some furniture! It'll be a nice change from standing up all the time.

♥ Jillie

NB: Clicking the picture will take you to the respective shops.

Photo Challenge

Dear Sarah,

Good Lord, Nicky's scalp is jankity! No wonder her hair looked so odd at first! That scalp still looks like melted plastic goop, or Silly Putty. Hopefully the yarn hair will work better. And since it's thicker, the big holes won't be that bad, correct?

I found a group on Flickr that has monthly photo challenges! They're currently on Challenge #18: Danger. I haven't submitted any, but I have a few ideas in mind for this one, especially since heads may be coming apart soon!

Since I can't post the picture, which can be found HERE, I'll tell you/everyone the details:

• The deadline is Thursday, September 29 at midnight.
• The top 3 will be posted for voting Friday the 30th.
• A new challenge will be posted October 1st, 
• the winner will be announced October 2nd. 

I'm excited for this one! Find the group HERE.

Here's one of my favorites: 

Oh noes, Jurassic Park!

And now I'm going to go make Coral a Zombie Bunny Hat! Zooey said she just wants a regular white bunny. *rolls eyes*


♥ Jillie

Zombie Bunny Hat

Dear Jill,

When I'm bored and want something little to crochet, I usually make Blythe hats. They are so quick and the patterns just write themselves. I was in one of them bored states of mind the other evening and made up this weird Zombie Bunny Hat..


I think I call it a Zombie Bunny Hat because it's green and it has an eye missing. Maybe it should have some blood dripping from it's mouth?! *Idea!*

Anyways, I thought I'd share the pattern for it on here, seeing as it's a Blythe pattern. It calls for 3 different hook sizes (3.25mm [D], 3.5mm [E] and 4.5mm [H]) and 2 different weight yarns (I used Aran and Double Knit, but you could use Worsted Weight and Sport and it would work just as well) :)

It hasn't been tested, so if you find any errors let me know in the comments below. Enjoy!



Zombie Bunny Hat

You Will Need:
· Crochet Hooks (3.25mm (D), 3.5mm (E), 4.5mm (H))
· Aran/WW yarn in Green and Double Knit yarn in Cream/White
· Stitch Markers Or Piece Of Scrap Yarn
· Curved Needle or Yarn Needle
. Embroidery Thread
· Buttons

Abbreviations
. St/Sts – Stitch/Stitches
. Ch - Chain Stitch
. Sc - Single Crochet
. Hdc - Half Double Crochet
. Dc - Double Crochet
. BSC - Backwards Single Crochet
. Slst - Slip Stitch
. Inc (Increase) - 2 Sc into 1 St
. ** - Marks a group of stitches to be repeated until the round is completed

Gauge
No gauge, just keep your stitches nice and tight to avoid gaps in your work


Finished Size
Made to fit all Neo Blythes


Other Info
· Work in continuous rounds; in a spiral, unless otherwise stated. Don’t join at the end of a row; just keep going
· Use stitch markers or a piece of scrap yarn to mark the start of every round. Replace at the start of the next round as you go along. This will help you keep track of where you started, and saves a lot of time if things go wrong!
· I write my patterns in American terms, so Sc means Single Crochet; Dc means Double Crochet etc
· The number at the end of each round is the number of stitches you should now have
· This pattern calls for 2 different weights of yarn and 3 different hook sizes. Using a different weight and/or hook size to that stated could cause the finished product to be a different size to that shown.


Hat

In Green Aran/WW Yarn and 4.5mm (H) hook
1. Ch 2, Sc 8 into 2nd Ch from hook, or Magic Ring 8 (8)
2. Inc around (16)
3. *Sc, Inc* around (24)
4. Sc around (24)
5. *Sc 2, Inc* around (32)
6. Sc around (32)
7. *Sc 3, Inc* around (40)
8 - 12. Sc around (40)
13. *Sc 19, Inc* around (42)
14 - 15. Sc around (42)
16. Backwards Sc around (42)
*Finish Off, Weave In End*

Bunny Muzzle

In White Double Knit Yarn and 3.5mm (E) hook
1. Ch 2, Sc 6 into 2nd Ch from hook, or Magic Ring 6 (6)
2. Inc around (12)
3. *Sc, Inc* around (18)
4. *Sc 2, Inc* around (24)
5 - 6. Sc around (24)
*Finish Off, Leave Long Tail For Sewing*

Outer Bunny Ears (Make 2)

In Green Aran/WW Yarn and 4.5mm (H) hook
1. Ch 12. Turn
2. Sc in 2nd Ch from hook and next 5 Ch, Hdc 3, Dc 1. in last Ch Dc 8. Working on the back of the Ch - Dc 1, Hdc 3, Sc 6 (28 Stitches)
*Finish Off, Leave Long Tail For Sewing*

Inner Bunny Ears (Make 2)

In White Double Knit Yarn and 3.25mm (D) hook
1. Ch 14
2. Sc into 2nd Ch from hook and next 7 Ch, Hdc 3, Dc 1. In last Ch Dc 8. Working on the back of the Ch, Dc 1, Hdc 1, Sc 1, SlSt to Ch.
*Finish Off, Leave Long Tail For Sewing*

Assembly
. Lightly stuff the muzzle and stitch to the front of the hat
. Take one of the inner ear pieces and sew it on over the top of one of the outer ear pieces. To avoid seeing your stitches on the opposite side of the ear, just ‘nick’ the outer ear piece with the needle - don’t go all the way through to the back
. Sew each completed ear to the top of the head
. Sew on button eye, and use embroidery thread or a piece of scrap black yarn to embroider the missing eye

DONE!

I hope your girls like their new hat! I know Umi is a fan...



Sarah
-x-

PS - I registered the pattern on Ravelry. We now have our own designer/pattern page! Yay!

Bumpy Head

Dear Jill,

Thank you for the pointers on the tiny scalps, it was really useful! I checked the full tutorial out and it makes me want to customise a Petite Blythe now!

I managed, with some difficulty, to scalp Nicky on Sunday night. It was so fiddley getting to the roots on the inside of the head, and it was parted all weird too (you remember what her fringe looked like!). This is what the scalp looks like without hair...

Look at all the massive holes! That line, unbelievably, was her parting!


Note the odd bump at the top of the scalp. Weird...


And I did similar to what the tutorial said - I clipped off alot of the manky plastic to make a bigger hole, whilst not taking it too far.

I have so far plugged the parting and the bottom 2 rows of hair. More pictures to come when I have finished!

Sarah
-x-

PS - I love the Rosie Apple and Friends blog! What a great idea to have your Blythe write for it sometimes!

Scalps

Dear Sarah,

I'm really excited to see what Nicky is going to look like when she's finished! I think the Plummy is going to be great, and I think an updo will be good as well, seeing has she has such a large forehead! Wonder what they did that for. (?)

If you haven't started already, I found a tutorial on customizing petites and the scalp opening looks similar:

She uses the Xacto knife to cut that part of the scalp off, being careful not to cut all the way through:

Hope it helps, at least for next time!

I also found a great new Blythe blog, Rosie Apples and Friends. Sometimes her girl Parkin blogs! Definitely check it out!


♥ Jillie

Reroot Weekend

Dear Jill,

I am loving Corals new Milky Way Blythe eyechips! They really do go well with her hair, and also her personality! Can't wait to see them on her!

I also really like your choice of CoolCat Chips, such lovely colours! When I've ordered from CoolCat before it hasn't taken too long for my items to arrive, so hopefully you should get them soon and have your Customization Weekend!

I'm having a bit of a customization weekend of my own - tonight I am going to scalp Nicky, my Basaak Blyh! She came to me looking like this...


...and now looks like this...


I plan on taking her hair out (which will be tricky - look at the scalp opening!!) and reroot her with some Sirdar Supersoft Aran yarn, in Plummy. I think I am going to cut it long, and put it in an up-do. Wish me luck!

Sarah
-x-

Eye chips

Dear Sarah,

Coral's beautiful butterfly and floral eyechips came from Milky Way Blythe! They are perfect for her, and go amazingly with her hair.

I'd love to put them in now, but I want to wait until the rest of the chippies get here from CoolCat. I'd prefer to just take their heads apart once. (!!! I'm scared!)

I decided since their heads will be open for sleep eyes, and I'm going to change at least one pair (I hate that deep orange!) I would change them all. And $3.50 isn't too expensive. For Coral, I bought:

• yellow and pink Plum Blossom BG-D11
• yellow Actinoid BH-19-1
• bright green 20 Line BF-22

For Zooey I bought:

• pale grey Plum Blossom BG-42
• dark green 20 Line BF-16
• dark brown Plum Blossom BG-15
• dark pink Actinoid BH-02

I'm excited! The plan for customizing is:

• sleep eyes
• new chippies
• hair washing (Zooey's hair is still greasy from the box. Bleh.)
• slight matting with the Magic Sponge

Hopefully I get my chippies from CoolCat real soon and can have a Blythe Customization Weekend.

♥ Jillie

P.S. I added some sites to our database!

Dear followers,

Hello all and welcome to EssHippo Blythes! This blog is going to be run similarly to Mason Dixon Knitting where Kay lives in Manhattan and Anne lives in Nashville. EssHaych/Sarah lives in England, and OnePinkHippo/Jillie lives in the United States. We both have jumped on the Blythe train, and have decided to chronicle our journeys into Blytheland here. Please see our information pages at the top, and check out the Blythe database! Feel free to comment, and let us know if you have a site to feature!

♥ Jillie

Also Testing

Dear Jill,

This is a great idea! How exciting!! We should put together all our collected Blythe knowledge and site links asap :)

Love,
Sarah
-x-

Testing

Test post!