Showing posts with label doll fashions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doll fashions. Show all posts

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Big Clothing Haul for Our Dolls!

       This past weekend I made a trip to resale to see if I could purchase used doll clothing. I was very pleased with what I found there! Take a peek below to see if you can recognize some of the clothing your doll may have been originally sold with. 
       Much of what I was able to purchase was intended for Bratz dolls, baby dolls and American Girl Dolls. I discarded very little of it; so I imagine you will see some of these clothing separates worked over for our dolls on this blog in the near future.
Bag number one, full of Bratz Doll clothes.
       Take a look into the first bag of doll clothing above and see if you can see what I see? Why do you think this may be a good bag to purchase? You can turn the bags over and move some of the clothes around a bit through the plastic, however, shopkeepers do not allow anyone to open the bags before purchasing them. In order to save your cash, it is very important to become a discerning customer!
      What I see are clothes that are well made. The brown doll slacks are made from some kind of swede fabric and these have fancy top stitching as well. The clothes are small but I have many sizes of dolls that need dressing so I am unconcerned with the sizes for now. I think this is a good buy, how about you? Now look below to see what was in bag number one.
The contents of bag one impressed.
Bag number two mostly full of Bratz Doll clothes, there are few Barbie things, plus what I call "filler."
        Now bag number two has a bit of "filler." This is a word I've made up to refer to the things that resale companies try to get rid of by concealing them inside grab bags. This filler usually serves little purpose other than to make the bag heavier or make the items in the bag look colorful to the eyes of a child. The hot pink filler in this bag turned out to be just random fabric scraps that had no relation to the rest of the doll clothes. Sometimes I can make use of filler but in this case I threw it away.
       As you can see below, the quality of the clothing below was excellent, so I was quite unconcerned with the filler.
Bag number two had many valuable clothing items for tiny Bratz dolls.
Bag number three is full of doll clothes and crochet filler.
        Bag number three was more expensive but not necessarily more valuable. However, there are two items made by American Girl Doll company included and one piece of Build-a-Bear workshop clothing. Build-a-Bear clothing is easy to alter to fit 18inch dolls and I love the details included on it.
        I tossed the old crochet. In leaner years I would have unraveled it all for the yarn but I no longer knit and my hands have grown old and tired.
I tossed the knit items and plastic cording. This bag would not have tempted me but it just so happened,
I needed pink  18inch doll shirts.
Bag number four contains some difficult to find items. Little girls frequently loose fashionable handbags long
before their dolls are broken or doll body parts go missing. I was lucky that this bag contained several.
          I spied the doll shoulder bags, a pink fur coat, a silk ball gown and tiny skirts. This bag was all good before I even bothered to open it up.
Ha! there is even a tiny camouflage canteen!
Bag number 5 stuffed with the doll clothes little girls dream of from American Girl Doll company.
        Bag number five had just the items I was looking for, so I snatched it up without a second glance. What do you think I saw? American Girl Doll labels and I spied a set of matching shoes! I knew that the items inside would exceed $3.99 if purchased new.
       I also felt the dog food bowl and a kitchen item through the plastic bag and the horse saddle bags were in excellent condition as well. 
I was pleased as punch with the American Girl Doll riding hat and the additional baby doll things too!
The Build-a-Bear shorts will alter easily for our 18inch boy dolls and thankfully the stains in the hot pink,
peace sign shirt washed right out!
Bag number 6 stuffed with filler mostly and 18inch doll clothes.
       Although there was much filler in this bag, I noticed there were also 18inch doll clothes so I decided to take a chance on the bag anyway, plus I can usually find a craft or two to use the flannel for. The bonnet at the top is a real infant bonnet. I'll probably cut it down for a baby doll. The pajamas are for a baby doll not an 18inch. Fortunately, I have so many undressed dolls that anything will come in handy at this time.
The pink doll corduroy pants, purple footed pajamas and hot pink, long sleeved tee made this purchase worthwhile.
Bag number 7 stuffed with American Girl Doll clothes and Build-a-Bear workshop clothing.
       Bag number seven was by far one of the nicest collections of doll clothes to be discovered on this outing! It contained a lovely Bitty Baby dress with pink ruffles and grey slippers to match it. The penguin night gown and additional pants/shorts were also very nice. Two of the shorts on the lower left hand corner are from Build-a-Bear workshop.
       There were four shoes without matching pairs! I never purchase these bags for shoes unless I can clearly see a set. Most children toss doll shoes because they do not have matching pairs. The plastic diapers and mangled faux fur, I tossed.
I will need to alter the glittery shorts and the jeans shorts because they were designed for teddy bears.
Each have a whole in the backside for a furry little tail to stick through and the hips are too generous
 for our 18inch dolls.
Bag number 8 filled with Build-a-Bear clothing and American Girl Doll Clothes.
       This bag contained some strange filler, a very large velvet-like pirate's hat of some sort. I could see some nicely made American Girl Doll clothes through the plastic bag so I took a chance.
In this package, I found a very nice 18inch doll trench coat. You can see it, upper right corner. It's blue.
The black and white checkered blouse is American Girl Doll. The Build-a-Bear shirts will alter nicely for the
18inch dolls. The baby toy will be relegated to a doll cradle in the nursery; I'm sure.
Bag number 9 packed with Bratz Doll clothes and accessories.
       You are probably wondering by now why I chose to purchase yet another bag of Bratz doll clothing. The reasoning is simple really.
        I began to suspect that these doll clothes were not from a child's collection but from a shop where the packages had been opened, therefore making them difficult to sale. I noticed that so many of the pieces actually had transparent packaging still attached to them. "Like new" doll clothes are better than used. 
      I also thought that sets or outfits might be found divided into different bags given the circumstances and after opening the bags I found this to be true as well.
"Like new" doll clothing, still very clean and perfect for our photo shoots.
       After everything was laundered and pressed with an iron, I counted 17 pieces of American Girl Doll clothes for the entire purchase of $27 that included a discount at the register.  I paid less than two dollars for each item made for American Girl Dolls. . . what a deal. Of course, the other pieces of doll clothing are a big bonus, given their excellent condition.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Doll Clothing Purchased from Resale

One of three bags containing doll clothes and random adult
sized garments.
       Recently I purchased three bags of doll clothing for $3.99 each from the Kidney Foundation. I didn't really know what to expect. In the past, these kinds of purchases have been unfortunate investments for me; bags filled with tattered things not worthy of the pocket change spent on them. However, I happened to glance at a few of the labels inside the bags and saw American Girl printed on them, so I purchased them at once.
       After opening the bags at home, I was quite surprised with the contents! There were the odds and ends included as predicted. A random glove, old fur collar, and a night cap etc..., all of these items adult size. But twisted between the Velcro tentacles and bits of knotted yarn were doll clothes. So I got to work washing/ironing the lot!
      Afterwards, I decided that my purchases this time were worthy of the cash spent. There were a total of ten outfits in perfect condition. Two are not pictured below but I will link to these when they are posted.
       There are were also a variety of Build A Bear workshop clothing items; these I will take apart and resew them into more doll clothing for my 18" dolls later and post them as they are completed.

Pictured above are two dolls from my collection, the first on the left is a porcelain googly eyed doll that I painted 28 years ago.
 I just love her silly expression. The doll on the right was saved from resale. She is by the Alexander Doll Company.
 The dress on the left, in buff pink with a smocked collar is from an Spanish manufacture called Rosalina?
       Smocked and embroidered nighties from Charleston South Carolina were among the discarded doll clothes. Although there were coffee stains on the garments, I was able to successfully remove them with only a bit of stain remover and detergent. The smocking details are extraordinary and the buff pink colors are by far my favorites!
       I've included a links below to the doll website and also to a lady who makes lovely smocking for dolls and their children here in the United States.
Above are my children's Oh So Beautiful 14" toddler dolls from 1995. I redressed them
 in these classic velvet Bitty Baby dresses from Pleasant Company, now owned by Mattel. (American Girl Dolls)
       Velvet Bitty Baby dresses from the 1990s where also in the bag, although the hat for the purple dress was not included. Both dresses fit our family Oh So Beautiful dolls.  I love the eyes on these dolls; they are so realistic!
       There were also dresses by the new American Girl Doll company, Small Small World Beatrice collection and Dollie & Me.

Left, my red head, 18inch, Heidi Ott doll, Center my blond Best Friends Club Inc, 18inch doll.
Right, my brunette, 18inch Madame Alexander Doll. All of them wearing doll clothes from my local resale shop.
       As for the random additions to my bags that were not intended for dressing dolls? I've decided to take up a personal challenge to sew them into something useful. I can't stand to waste small change on what I do not want, even though I know that the doll clothing I purchased was well worth the few dollars it took for me to buy wanted items. But, such are the marketing tactics of merchants in our area.

Left, a lavender floral dress for Spring. Center, the blue and green striped rugby dress made for Lanie Holland
 by American Girl Doll company. Right, a polka-dot summer frock by Dollie and Me.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

School Uniforms for Dolls

Sophie Xu models the basic school uniform. She wears Trinity
 Church School's tartan plaid skirt and a classic, long sleeved, 
white blouse. On her feet she wears black leather, Mary Jane 
shoes. She also wears a matching white ribbon in her dark hair 
and a gold cross necklace tied with a black velvet ribbon 
around her neck, to complete the look.
       Trinity Church School for Dolls requires it's pupils to wear a school uniform. School uniforms are proven to be both economical and practical. Below are the necessary items that your doll will need to attend a similar private school of your own making. However, if your doll is a Virtual Student at our school, she may wear whatever clothes she has while she works from her own home computer.
  • The tartan doll skirt is the primary piece of clothing used to identify classmates at Trinity Church School. Instructions for making this simple gathered doll skirt will be uploaded soon and linked from this page.
  • The dolls may wear white cotton blouses of any fashion, just as long as these are tucked under their skirts or into their pants.
  • They may also wear knit shirts, short sleeved or long, in the colors of their chosen tartan plaid. At this blog, our doll's school tartan comes with these woven colors: burgundy, navy, white and a brighter red. A pale grey may also be used as an alternative color to mix with the tartan.
  • Soft jackets and sweaters that blend with the tartan plaid can be combined with the white blouses or knit shirts to provide the dolls with extra warmth or comfort.
  • Girl dolls may wear darker navy leggings or shorts beneath their skirts if they so choose. 
  • Flat soled boots or shoes are required. Please wear socks in the winter!
  • Jewelry and headbands are also allowed and encouraged. We love our dolls to look pretty too!
  • Neck ties, scarves, backpacks, lunch bags etc... that come with the school's tartan may be specially ordered through the school office. These items are optional and I will include free patterns for them online at a later date.
Find more doll private school uniforms:
Extra Crafts for School Team Spirit:
More About Tartans: