A Few Little Crafty Tasks....

Hello and welcome back to my lockdown world!!  Things remain the same here except that the lockdown is now being extended until the end of the month....I suspect it will be extended again after that, but I'm fine with it, as long as it keeps us all safe.

I have spent so much time on the internet and chatting on social media, but I have managed to read a few books on my Kobo and now I've actually done a few dolly things too.

Firstly I finished an outfit for one of my Kaye Wiggs girls that I'd actually cut out back in January.  I put it away when my son was coming to visit and had every intention of actually sewing it when he left on the 7th February.  Well that never happened but finally I started and finished about a week or so ago.  Here it is being modeled by Layla....

The outfit consists of a knit fabric hoodie with separating zip, a cap sleeved striped tee shirt and a skater skirt with attached leggings.

Another job that I've been meaning to do for ages is some partial re-rooting to one of my Sashas.  This girl is called Destin and she has been with me for almost 6 years, she is a Gotz Sasha Slate Eyes made in Germany in the mid 1960s.  She has nice thick hair at the back, although the ends are a little dry, but at the front on top it was a little thin.  I just happen to have here the perfect match in hair for her.  It comes from a modern Gotz doll that I used to have.  I cut off her hair and kept the hair before wigging her.  So the hair has been waiting to be used for this particular Sasha for maybe two years!!!  So I did that a few days ago and the hair really is the perfect match for her existing hair.  I didn't do too much, as I said above, her hair was thick at the back and I didn't want to overdo it, but I filled in some thin hair plugs and added just a few more.  Here she is before:

And here, showing you her new look:

Beautiful spring outfit is by Sarah Williams AKA Vintage Sasha
Orangutan is from IKEA
Socks by me and
Beautiful leather shoes by the late great Jean Jensen.

Finally,  I took some photos of Bailey, my 1971 wider faced brunette (rewigged) as she'd not been in front of the camera for ages.  I used my friend's camera to try it out....I didn't take many photos but thought these show her as she actually is....

Well that's all for now, so I will sign off and hope that you all remain safe and well.  

Big hugs

Sharon in Spain xx

New Year, New Hair...for Emilio!

Today my mum and brother went back to the UK, so I am now able to take the time to reveal Emilio's new hair cut.  As those who read my blog will remember, a couple of weeks ago he visited my hairdressers and she cut it up to his shoulders, but it was all one length and I wanted some layers in it, so I took the bull by the horns....or should that be "the doll by the neck"? and did my best to layer it!  I'm no hairdresser, as I've said many times, but I am quite happy with how it's come out....it's sort of boyish and choppy!  And despite what the photos look like, it is in fact level both sides!!!   I hope you like it!!

Lovely grey cable sweater knitted by my mum!

A trip to the hairdressers...

This morning I had an appointment at the hairdressers so thought I'd take Emilio along with me, just in case Loli, my lovely hairdresser, had time to cut his hair for me.  When she'd finished with mine and there were no other clients there, she made a start on him.  She was really nervous about cutting all his long hair off after all my work rerooting him, but I told her to go ahead.....what's the worse that could happen!!!  Anyway, her scissors wouldn't cut his hair that well, they're made for real human hair after all, but she did cut quite a chunk off.   I think I might try putting some layers in one day, but for now he is wearing his beanie and hoping that his hair will lay flat eventually!!!

A whole lot of hair ... and a little bit of Alfie!

That's Alfie Boe.  I've been listening to him today as I've finished my reroot on Emilio....who might even change his name to Alfie!!  Well, you never know!

Anyway, all the plugs are now filled and I'm finished with the rerooting part!  Now to decide on the style and how it will be cut...oh, and who will cut it!  I'll probably just leave it until after Christmas now though because I have so many other things that I should be doing.

I'm pleased with how the hair looks but because this Gregor doesn't have any parting in his hair, I'm not sure how it will look once it's washed and settled.  I also keep thinking that it almost seems like a shame to cut it....maybe he should be a 'she'!!  Then again, I'd have to suffer the wrath of Dee if I decided to make him a girl!!!! ;)

Here is a rather hazy 'before' photo:

And here is how it looks now, fully rerooted but prior to any styling:

Rerooting...On a roll!

After a very slow start yesterday, today I've been really working well with the rerooting of Emilio's head!  I put a few plugs into the fringe area yesterday but thought better of that, so today I've started at the crown and worked from there.  I'd say that I got about 20% done today, AND never broke any needles after the two I broke last night!!  This time I've been careful not to make the plugs too thick, and I have to say that's coming on nicely!  I hope it won't take me as long as it did last time to finish the other reroot!  The problem I have now is I just want to stop doing anything else and keep going with it, but I have so many other things to do that I'm going to have to be very disciplined with myself! :)  Oh and when he's finally done, the next challenge will be to cut his hair in a boy style.....I only know how to do one style, a bob, and that really isn't going to suit him!!!  I might have to take him to my hairdresser and see if she can work her magic on him for me!!

In the meantime, I found I had an audience whilst I was working!!!  I expect these two are a little worried that they're next, bearing in mind that they're both previously brunette wigged kids! 

Jack and Bailey

Bailey gets a haircut...

A week or so ago, I kept looking at Bailey, the girl I rerooted, and thinking "You're just NOT the girl I fell in love with on Shelly's website, you're now someone else, someone who I'm not sure about!"   Well no-one really wants to feel like that about a doll that they were really happy with but I knew what was making me feel that way, it was the hair.  The reroot that I did was just too much hair and it sort of changed, not only her whole look, but, and here I sound like a nutcase to anyone who isn't into dolls, it changed her personality too.  Before, she was a sweet little girlie and now she was ... well she was a 'doll' with too much long thick hair.  Something had to be done.

I put a message on Facebook asking advice and I got lots of good comments, but still it had to be my decision on what to do.  I almost removed all of the hair, I was cutting it up in stages, but when I got to about chin level or just below, I realised that her sweet personality was returning!!!  So here she is, she now has a very blunt cut bob (I'm going to pretend that the blunt cut was my intention and it wasn't just because I can't do any other style!!!!!) and a wider fringe.  I poured boiling water over her head and it all flattened into place with the help of a sock!  I know that the reroot will never be perfect but  I'm finally pleased with her new look...for now!!! 

Vidal Sassoon? More like Edward Scissor Hands!!!

I have spent the majority of today fiddling with the hair on Bailey, the little once brunette girl, who I've just rerooted.  I looked on You Tube for videos that might help show me how to cut layers into her hair, because the only style I can cut is a 'bob'....and really, what is the point of rooting all that long hair if I'm then going to cut it into a short style straight away?  Well I found loads of videos on how to cut layers but to be honest, I really am too cack handed to do it.....so in the end, I cut about 4 inches off the length of the hair, then I decided to cut in a short wispy fringe.  However, because she has the slightest of side partings, the 'wispy' didn't work, so she now has a somewhat regular, if skewiff, fringe!!!  However, in the photos below her hair is damp because I've been trying to get it to lay flat....

....and the darn hair wouldn't, so now she us sporting a 'nifty' beret in the hope that the band, which is relatively tight, might help her fringe to lay flat as it dries.  Tomorrow I'll trim it level again, if it's sitting flat that is!!