Blythe in Public

Dear Sarah,

I finally got enough courage to take Coral out to somewhere that wasn't my backyard or the playground outside my house. I started small; we just went to our storage unit to pick up a few Christmas decorations. And I ended up not running into anyone anyway, but I suppose it's a good start. Baby steps, right?

She really wanted to drive, but she didn't bring her ID.

"Gee, we sure have a lot of decorations!"

Big space, small girl.

Hurray! Everything fits! 

And a few links:

• Doll Photography Tutorial
• Peasant Blouse Pattern - the tutorial uses a larger doll, but goes by measurements, so I'm sure it can be sized down for Blythe
• Super easy sofa pattern using styrofoam, foam board, batting and fabric! I'll definitely be making one of these soon!
• Vintage Barbie Dress Pattern - I haven't tried, but it might be able to fit a Takara or Licca body. And it uses darts, so it looks like a good intro for those who haven't tried them before, like me. Plus since she reverse-engineered it from a vintage dress it might fit better than the super busty Barbies from the 90s that I had. 
• Poodle skirt! Too cute!
• Crochet shrug
• Basic pair of jeans
• Basic gathered waistband skirt
• And I had to add this: 

Ha, I can't imagine trying to get any of my girls to wear it! But it's kinda cute! 

♥ Jillie

Links and Housekeeping

Dear Sarah,

Wow, CCEs and Blybes are really different, especially since they're the two clones that most resemble a Blythe. I'll link it to our EssHippo Originals page, and I bet soon we'll be having more useful comparisons, like FBL vs RBL and SBL, and even Kenners!

I've been sick the past few days, as I think my stomach has declared mutiny on the rest of my body and is trying to leave. I haven't been able to do much except be on the computer, and I've been hanging around Flickr and BlytheKingdom a lot and have found a lot of useful links. I will be adding these to our Blythe database, but I'll list them here as well as a description.

Onward!

First, some helpful websites:

• Bad Dolly Deals
• a history of Blythe along with information about the owner's custom Birdie Blue (this website is completely dedicated to Liccas, with a small Blythe section)
• Blythe Photography Tips group on Flickr
• Blythe Comparisons group on Flickr
• Blythe Doll - Customs group on Flickr
• Blythe in Progress group on Flickr
• FBL Lovers! group on Flickr (an EssHippo Group!)
• a boil perm tutorial, via Flickr

I found a lot of patterns as well. I just went on a mini shopping spree, and need to save money since I'm planning on going overseas in 2012 so I've decided I'm going to start making all my doll clothes. Sure, I can knit and crochet, but I don't want them to have knit pants, so I'll also be working on my sewing skills and hopefully end up with some cute little pants and blouses, and not too many pins stuck in fingers and mussy fabric.

Knit & Crochet:

• a Baby Doll Top and Cardigan Pattern from BlytheKingdom, for both lace weight and sock weight yarn
• Miniature Knitting group on Flickr, for great inspiration
• Blythe Princess Designs on Ravelry, adorable rompers and wraps all knit in alpaca and every item has a delightful little fluffy alpaca 'halo' 
• Knitting & Crocheting for Blythe! group on Flickr

Sewing:

• Handmade Doll Clothes Galore! group on Flickr
• Mittens! by KerriaRosette
• Index of patterns and images, not sure of source, and I haven't tried any of these so I'm not sure of scale or seam allowance. If you have used them, please let us know!
• T-shirt, flared jeans, and beret
• Smock, from Flickr
• Basic Sheath Dress, from Flickr
• Jumpsuit, from Flickr
• Kimono, from Flickr
• Sewing for Blythe group on Flickr

And a few blogs which I'll be adding to our new sidebar of our favorite blogs.

• Pandora's Dolls
• Blythe Dolls' Bon Voyage: "Lillian and Audrey went on a wonderful journey in France and Belgium this spring and they would like to tell you about it..."
• a post on Blythe Doll Bargain Shopping

Hope this was informative, and hopefully I'll have sun and feel well enough to get some shots of new clothes!

♥ Jillie