bjdonabudget

As I was sorting out my wardrobe the other day, I noticed that the shirt I was wondering if the goodwill would like back looked like it may have a doll skirt for a sleeve.  A moved button and added snap to hold the excess cuff in place and ~POOF~  Loolu has a new skirt.  Look for a lightweight blouse, mine was made of a lightweight nylon type knit cloth popular in the 70’s, and it had full, flowy sleeves pleated and sewn into an inch wide cuff.  The best part?  It had TWO sleeves, meaning two skirts, without touching the main body of the blouse.  Many dolls’ seamstresses prefer to use pre-hemmed fabric from ready-made garments, it’s an economical and environmentally friendly way to fill up your sewing basket, and you get a clean closet as your added bonus.  In this case, I used a cuff to form a waistband, but the fabric isn’t prone to fraying so I have as of yet to hem it, haven’t deicided if it needs a ruffle or not.
Another quick and easy one uses the armwarmers found in Hot Topic or Claires, the glove-like tubes of cloth can be ready-made one shouldered gowns for a slim mini, depending on the fabric’s stretch and the doll’s er… um… physical attributes.  The fishnet mesh gloves with a hole for the thumb and pinky are awesome little fishnet shirts on minis, they tend to come from Hot Topic, but your locally based goth shop may carry them as well.

A big part of the fun when I first recieved my first ball-jointed doll was trying to find any and all the weird bits of this and that around my collection that MIGHT be her size.  As a lifelong doll collector, I had quite a sizable stash of doll clothes, shoes, and whatnots, almost none of which ended up being suitable for a mature mini sized doll.  Oddly, what I’d thought of as a Barbie coat fit Loolu like it was a custom tailored asian style evening blouse, modeled in the above photo.  A couple of Ken’s looser fitting shirts were servicable ‘camp shirt’ styles, one Hawaaiin printed shirt being particularly adorable.

While the modern doll market offers Friends 2 B Made by Build A Bear, most styles of which fit reasonable well on most MSD size dolls, the vintage size charts are lacking.  In my childhood toys I found a few pieces from a Mattel line called Hot Looks, from the mid to late eighties, which while very dated are fairly close in size.  The dolls story had it that they were fashion models, so the plethora of fabulous stetch pants and tunic tops in all the greated shades of bedazzaled are out there.  Clothing from the Ideal’s Chrissy family is supposed to be fairly close on SD size dolls, though her little cousin Velvet’s dresses are rather tent-like on a mature mini.  Alterartions could be made, but it’s hard for me to cut into a piece of vintage anything, let alone doll clothes.  I’ve seen a good number of people admit to stripping the porcelin dolls they find in thrift shops, a cheaper way to have the ornate Victorian gowns for your resin girls.  I wouldn’t be shocked if sometimes the shoes fit as well!

Until next time, happy dolling

Both of these doll-sized bags, modeled by Loolu, my Dream of Doll Petsha from the Dream of Child line, were made by me in under an evening.  Using the same basic idea for both styles, I began with a small hook and thinner yarn by making a chain a little narrower than the bottom of the finished bag.  Crochet in single of half double, your choice, around both sides of the starting chain, and continue to work in rounds, adding an increase at the turn, until the hopefully flat bottom is roughly the size that you’d like.  Stop increasing, and work your stitches round and round until the bag is a good height, deep enough to hold whatever your doll might need to tote.  If your row changes are somewhere near the turn in the corner, perfect; if not, tie off and reattach to make the strap.  I like to chain across, make sure your strap will be long enough, but not too long, and attach it to the opposite side of the bag with a slip stitch.  Turn the work, and single crochet into each chain, slip stitching to the bag edge at the end of the row and tie off, tuck in the ends and enjoy!

To add a flap like the multicolor bag (worked in single crochet), start working across between handles, skipping one stitch on either side to provide space for ease of closure, and on alternate rows thereafter begin tapering it down by decreasing, easily done in single crochet by inserting the hook in the first stitch, pull up a loop, put the hook in the next stitch and pull a loop, then yarn over and pull through all three of the loops on your hook.

Be creative, it’s an easy, small project that a novice could work up in an evening, try it in whatever scrap yarns you’ve got for an accessory to match any outfit.

There are literally hundreds of posts on various doll message boards about how hard it can be to save up the several hundred dollars to buy oneself a ball-jointed doll.  First off, my gut reaction is that every little bit counts, it all adds up, patience is part of collecting.  Just wait until you send off that hard-earned money, the waiting is even more difficult then.  It’s all part of the process though, it makes the doll all the much more special to you when they arrive, the hours you’ve spent pining away looking at the stock photos and checking several times a day for a shipping notice are an important time for a new collector, or one with a dozen dolls already.  The waiting is a great unifying force amongst collectors, we hate it, but when it’s over we can rejoice in our new doll.

When asked about budgeting advice, my mother’s voice enters my mind and brings up the envelope method, a beginner’s tool which I’ve advised many friends to try.  A series of envelopes are marked out as different parts of one’s budget, rent, grocery, bills, fun, etc, and one divides cash amongst these envelopes according to what’s required.  Starting with the highest priority, usually rent or a bill, and working down to the ‘fun’ envelope, cash is doled out into the various expenses.  Now take out the ‘fun’ envelope, see how much you’ve got left.  Is it enough for all the fun you’d like to have until next payday?  Could you cut a few corners, say by skipping a latte or going out to lunch rather than a dinner with your friends?  It’s all little stuff, but remember, every little bit counts.

Start tucking away whatever crumbs your budget can spare, and soon enough the end will be in sight.  Bear in mind that shipping from Asia is pricey, add another forty to sixty dollars to your goal to cover EMS shipping on the doll.  As you near the final stretch, it can become even more difficult knowing that only another fifty dollars separate you from a new resin friend, so get creative!  There’s a statistic floating around that the average home has over two thousand dollars worth of things not being used, which could be sold off on ebay or your choice of local options.  Gold values are at quite a high, perhaps that little trinket from an ex beau could find a new home at the local jewelry buy-n-sell shop.  Certain states offer a return on bottle deposits, like the famed episode of Seinfeld that has Kramer carting empties to Michigan for the dime deposit (which MAY be illegal, it’s certainly unethical to return bottles outside their state of origin where the deposit was lower).  Don’t break any laws, but if your area offers a nickel for a can, start picking up the rubbish and do a doubly good deed- less litter and more cash for dolls!

My own doll was purchased to commemorate a special occaision, I’d made it a year in my first full time yet dead-end job which I hated, despite that it paid well; which just so happened to occur around the time that tax refunds and the economic incentive checks were issued.  If you’ve got a major milestone in life coming up, it’s okay to get yourself a little treat sometimes.  It’s just easier when there’s unexpected money to make it possible.

As a friend to a resin darling, I’ve found myself wondering if there’s a way to get around shipping costs from Asia, and I’ve found it!  Trading doll items with another collector is a perfect way to keep the doll-budget in line and to get new stuff without spending much.  For example, my doll came with a white wig, which was lovely, but not at all suited to her persona.  On a message board I found someone selling off some of their dolls’ wigs, who just so happened to be in the market for a white wig.  We swapped wigs, I sent off my white one and a few days later got a fabulously soft red and blue tipped blond mohair wig in the mail.  Be warned, certain message boards aren’t moderated to the extent of others, the board I found the wig on is a heavily moderated on which provides an area for member feedback on transactions.  Sometimes I’ll be talking to someone about a trade and get a queasy warning in my gut that they’re not going to follow through and I’ll politely back away, but that’s only acceptable up until the point that the transaction is finalized, ie addresses have been traded and agreements made.  Overall though, I’ve had great experiences in swapping, and it’s a fun way to get to know other collectors.