A busy sewing week....

I've been very busy sewing this week and have just finished a commission of three outfits for the Zwergnase Juniors.  The buyer has seen and approved the outfits so now I can show them on here.  I have enjoyed sewing these, not just because it's been a while since I sewed anything for them but because they are such characterful dolls that I can go the tiniest bit 'wild' with them.....they seem to suit "a bit zany" because they are just that themselves!

I was asked to make a pink set, a purple set and a blue set of ra-ra skirts with long sleeved tops and appliques, so here are the finished results, I hope you will all like them! 

My model is Marlee, my only Zwergnase Junior, who is Marlene from 2014.  She's not the best model for the pink set with her abundance of red hair, but she is all I have, so here goes:

The Pink Set

I sewed individual seed beads to each of the polkadots on the applique!

A polkadot bow and wooden flower painted bead decorates the wide headband

The Purple Set

I have since shortened the tulle underlayer by about a centimetre and added a purple tie dye bow to the hairband

The Blue Set

I really enjoyed making this set because of the applique that I did on the front.  I thought I'd go 'all out' with the owls and the tree and it proved to be a lot of fun.  Then because it had a 'certain' look, I decided that long over knee striped stockings and a matching beanie hat would work well with it.  I think the Broiderie Anglais underlayer on the skirt keeps it girlie...

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my latest sewing and hope everyone has a great weekend ahead!

Vinyl doll comparisons....

A couple of people showed some interest in comparisons between my vinyl dolls, so today I stripped off their outfits and took some photos.  The dolls who participated are Tanya from Maru & Friends, Zwergnase Junior Marlene, Anke by Sylvia Natterer from the Gotz Limited Edition Anniversary set (50 sets worldwide, released in the year 2000), 1968 Sasha Redhead and finally Little Darling #1 sculpt by Dianna Effner.

The first photo shows a height comparison: (left to right, Sasha, Anke, Marlene and Tanya, with little Ellie in front)

Next up we have the bigger of the dolls, I love the different skin tones.  Two of them are wigged (Anke and Tanya) and two of them are rooted (Sasha and Marlene):

 Side view of the four bigger girls:

Little Darling Ellie joins the big girls again for another sideways view (Ellie of course, is wigged):

Four of the five girls have handpainted eyes:

Here are closeups of their handpainted eyes:

First we have Ellie.  Her eyes are handpainted by Dianna Effner herself, I'm very lucky to have this girl!  Her eyes are just so beautiful that people are often fooled into thinking they're actually glass eyes!!!  Even her lashes are painted on.

Next we have Sasha by Sasha Morgenthaler, she is a redhead from 1968 and I believe her eyes, if not entirely handpainted at that time, would have had a lot of hand finishing:

Next we have Anke, she represents a member of the Gotz family and came as a set with her family of Ewe, Jakob and Ana.  Her eyes are handpainted by Sylvia Natterer.

Then of course we have Marlee, who is a Zwergnase Junior Marlene, her eyes are handpainted by Nicole Marschollek-Menzer....thanks very much Jenni!!! 

Finally, of the five girls I'm showing here, Tanya by Maru & Friends.  She has lovely inset acrylic eyes.  I'm not usually a great lover of acrylic eyes but have to say that these eyes are particularly nice with a lot of detail to the irises.

Kendal was surprised to learn that Tanya can wear shoes made for Sasha seeing as she is so much taller than Sasha.  So here is a comparison of the two girls' feet, Sasha on the left and Tanya right.  Tanya has a lot more detail to her feet than Sasha, who has a higher instep.

I thought that having smaller feet, Tanya would be difficult to stand on her own, but so far she has proved me wrong!!  Here she is modelling Boneka sandals in Sasha size:

And here Tanya and Nuria, my Redhead 1968 Sasha, are modelling lovely T Bar sandals by the late Jean Jensen.  Obviously Tanya on the left and Sasha on the right:

Now a few photos of the two Dianna Effner dolls.  Tanya, along with the other Maru & Friends girls, was designed by Dianna Effner, and Ellie is my 14 inch Little Darling #1 sculpt, designed and painted by Dianna.

Both girls have very similar body shape with one main exception.  The Little Darlings have their neck/head joint at the head and the bigger girl, Tanya, has hers at the bottom of her neck.  I prefer the look of the Little Darlings because the joint can't be seen, but both girls pose their heads really nicely and can hold the poses well.   They even have the same, quite steeply, sloping shoulders, and their leg joint at the hips is very similar.

A side view of both girls:

"Hello! Are you my new big sister?"  Both girls have such cute profiles too!

"Yes!  That would be me!" says Tanya!

I hope, despite their size differences, the two girls will become firm friends!!

I hope that this comparison of vinyl dolls will prove useful or helpful to someone!! :)

It's NOT just Sashas that can wear Ra-Ra's!!!!

I made a ra-ra skirt outfit for Marlee, my Zwergnase Junior but I'm not sure she's exactly happy with it!  I had to laugh, she looks almost 'punky' in it, instead of sweet and girly as the Sashas do!....Which got me to thinking and gave me more ideas for outfits for her!  Of course she still kept her boots on, and her funky knitted beany, as she couldn't be seen without those!!!

Marlee and Skye....other vinyl dolls

I've been sewing for two of my other vinyl dolls because neither of them had anything but their 'default' outfits to wear.  I had to make new patterns as both of them are bigger than the Sashas and Natterers, and of course, as luck would have it, both are different to each other!  So two new patterns had to be made before I could even start sewing.  Luckily though, I think both bodices worked out quite well on first attempt, so here are a few photos.

The first girl is Marlee, she is a Zwergnase Junior Marlene and is approx 19 inches tall.  She is all vinyl and made in Germany.  She has handpainted eyes and very unusual, but endearing (to me!) features.  Her hair is lovely, very thick and wavy and a gorgeous red colour.  The first two photos are of her in her default outfit which is far too warm, being velvet, for the hot weather here.

Here she is in her new summer dress, made from beige linen and striped socks.  She is still wearing her heavy black boots....they really are her 'trademark'!!

Next to get a new outfit is Skye.  Skye is a Classic Kidz Luisa by Gotz and is all vinyl with rooted silky blond hair and inset acrylic eyes.  She is 48cm tall and is the biggest of all my vinyl dolls.  She also has extra joints in her legs and elbows, allowing her to do a number of extra poses.  I made her new dress from knit fabric and it fits her perfectly.  I will have to now try making it with woven cotton and hope that the fit will still be good, as knit can be very 'forgiving'!!!  Skye only got a dress, she didn't need socks as she prefers to go barefoot!