In Progress Customization Pictures are Creepy

Dear Sarah,

I've really been wanting to customize, but have been scared about messing up an expensive Blythe, and a little wary after reading how hard it was to get the chippies out of Blybe and CCEs. So I decided to practice on a staple of every American girl's childhood, a beloved Barbie doll. I've had this one lying around for a while, and I haven't used her for much, only to swipe her shoes, socks, and skirt for Coral. So instead of studying for a final, I decided to start as much as I could at 1 AM and without buying anything. I need to get Christmas gifts done and rearrange my terribly messy craft room before I start customizing, but just a start.

So, this is Barbie in all her plastic, 1990s/early 2000s glory:

I took her face off with acetone nail polish remover. I plan on redoing her eyes and eyebrows in a less creepy Barbie-ish way, and giving her lighter lipstick. I also cut the majority of her hair off because it was gross, and to see how it was rooted into her scalp. I can't decide if I want to give her a yarn reroot, or get a cheap wig and use the acrylic from that. But here she is in her horrific state:

Yeah, she looks completely different and completely terrifying. I really need to hurry up and start work on her, because she's just so damn scary! But Christmas gifts come first.

Also, I'm looking for a Licca body for Zooey, so if you see a cheap one, do let me know! Nice tutorial, buy the way. I saw one for fixing a Kenner body, I believe, and they used a screw for the neck. A little unnerving, but apparently it worked fine.

♥ Jillie

P.S. Happy birthday!!

Attaching A Licca Body Tutorial

Dear Jill,

Adalind is beautiful! Congrats!! Lol she looks like she could be a handful!! And well done you for taking Coral out - I wish it was something I felt comfortable doing, but alas, I am a coward. Maybe someday!

Today I have for you the long awaited Licca to CCE body swap tutorial. I had totally forgotten I had the pictures for this, when I was reminded by Meester X on Flickr. Thank you for jogging my memory!

This is a tutorial about attaching a Licca Chan body to a CCE head, but it also works for attaching any body to a head where the neck hole is too big for the actual neck - including Pure Neemo body to Blythe head :)

Firstly...


This is the inside of a CCE dolls head. It's pretty similar to the Basaak/Blybes really - it has the same eye mech and spring. The thing that is very different is the neck hole. As you can see, it is very wide. That is because the neck of the CCE body...


... is also very wide. It's strange - the body is tiny but the neck's massive! Here is it compared with a Basaak/Blybe body...


Note the different neck shapes. If you tried attaching a Basaak/Blybe body, or even a Licca Chan (which has a similar neck to Basaak/Blybes) is will simply fall out of the head. The way round this...


Rubber bands! You just need to keep wrapping the bands around the part of the neck that has the little groove in it. This is how it fits onto the CCE head...


Keep adding bands until you get the sturdyness you want. The fewer bands, the wobblier the head will be. This can be a good thing, if you wanted to pose your dolls with their head slightly tipped.

When all's done, you can reattach the head, and you're done!



Pretty simple really :)

I hope this was of some help!

Sarah
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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

New Arrival: The Opening

Dear Sarah,

The girls had a new arrival over here as well! I didn't think she would arrive so soon, but I'm glad she did.

The girls were really excited!

Zooey was especially thrilled, since when Lola came Zooey was in pieces. Zooey was quite dismayed when she was put back together and Coral had made fast friends with Lola. 

The Domos are familiar with boxes, since they order so many of themselves, but they were a little confused as to why this box was so big, and what that big headed thing was inside.

...so the Domos tried to make off with her accessories. They're like little kids, I swear. (But she did come with some neat accessories. Sunglasses and an awesome leather jacket, as well as a necklace that I'm having trouble joining round her neck because it's so tiny, and some kick ass boot that I want in my size!)

She was a little miffed I was taking so many pictures rather than taking her out.

The Domos thought they could take her out of the plastic, but she was not having it! She's quite vain about her hair.

Here she is, fresh and clean from cardboard and plastic. Meet Adalind! We had a mini photoshoot the other day, pictures are HERE in her set. She's already gone through the girl's wardrobe and decided that none are really her style, so she needs me to make her something real quick.

She's an RBL and I can't really tell the difference until I put her up against Coral and Zooey. There's slight differences, but not as much as say an SBL and FBL. She doesn't have the same "cuteness;" she looks more sophisticated.  She's my first doll with extra long hair, (I cut Lola's to mid thigh length) so I'm having a ball being able to braid it and have more freedom to give her updos. It's a bit staticy, so I think all three girls (poor Lola) are going to be in for a Spa Day.

♥ Jillie

P.S. Your family is looking lovely!

Elise & Evelyn

Dear Jill,

Wow, so many links! Fab! The boil perm tute is especially handy - I might try that on one of my girls!

Talking of, last week I was very lucky to greet 2 new girls to my Blythe family. First, there is my Birdie Blue, Elise, seen here being met by Umi, Lilith and Zoe...


I originally didn't go much on BB - the yellow blush is kind of creepy. But she grew on me, until I couldn't say no anymore! Here she is after her Spa day...


Secondly, I bid on and won a Kenner Blythe! Yay! Here she is in her original condition...


She was in great condition really - all I had to do was detangle and even out the hair, fix the pull string and give her a good bath. Here are a few of her spa day pics...






I originally bathed her and washed her hair in Johnsons Baby Shampoo, then applied human conditioner to her hair. I set it in rollers...


... then wahsed her hair a second time. This time, after the johnsons Baby Shampoo, I applied Comfort (Fabric Softener). I only put it on the ends of her hair, as the roots were fine. I set in rollers again, let it dry over night, and this was the result!


Very glam! Her hair stayed like that for a total of 24 hours before going flat lol I decided to call her Evelyn :)

I am very happy with my new girls!

Sarah
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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

Blybe Vs CCE

Dear Jill,

Wow, looks like you and Lola had a great time! I'm so glad she's fitting in well! And I like Zooeys dress actually - very pretty colour combo!

Blybes and CCE's. Yep, they do seem to be the most Blythe like of the clones. Here is a comparion picture...


I found there to be a slightly wider nose bridge on the CCE than the Blybe. You can also see a slight difference in the eye shape - the CCE's are more oval. When I took the face apart I found the inner edge of the eye (where your tear ducts are) to be almost pointed.

The CCE also has extra plastic around the mouth - if you look closely you can see the mouth is actually shaped into a smile. I had to sand this away when I customised Lilith, as I didn't want her to be smiling.

The body's are totally different...


NSFW!! XD

The Blybe body is very much like Takara. Blythe clothes and shoes fit perfectly, but there is a stark colour difference. The Blybe is much more pink.

The CCE body is a tiny bit shorted than Takara, but as you can see it is very thin. Blythe clothes fit, but are very baggy. If you were customising a CCE and wanted her to wear Blythe clothes, I would change the body to a Licca Chan or Azone. Plus if you notice the top of the neck - it is completely different to Blybe and Blythe, which are pretty similar. For a Takara/Blybe/Azone/Licca body to fit a CCE head you need to make adjustments (tutorial to follow!)

Other notes:

. Blybe eyechips are a right pain to remove. You will need a Dremmel. And patience.

. Don't bank on Coolcat and Brainworm chips fitting Blybe/CCE. On all occasions I have had to make the eyechip wells bigger with the help of a dremmel.

. The face colour are both very similar, but both are more pink than Takara.

. My CCE's scalp was floppy. It is made of very thin plastic. It's easier to reroot than Blybe, but you will be left with a spongy head.

. There is a big margin from where the bottom of the scalp starts and the hair begins on the Blybe. I got over this by adding an extra row of plugs. You will also need to stick the Blybe scalp and dome down when you're finished - it lifts off very easily.

. Both eye mechs are the same, though the inside of the CCE's head has some extra bits of plastic where the screws hold the plates together. This doesn't get in the way of any customising though :)

In conclusion, I would say that the Blybe is more like a Takara. I have never customised a Blythe, so I am basing this mainly on what the dolls look like. But the difference is minimal, apart from the body, obviously :S

I hope this has helped!

Sarah
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