December doll stuff pt. 1

Happy new year! I hope you've had/are having a good holiday. 

Instead of making a new fresh start, I'm beginning the year with some old leftover photos from December.  

This cheap doll set caught my eye at the local... well, I sometimes refer to it as a dollar store, but most things cost a lot  more than that even though it's mostly junk, so let's just call it The Cheap Junk Store. I love The Cheap Junk Store. When I moved here six years ago there were several similar shops, but now there's just this one to cater to all my cheap junk needs. They're great for candy and sketchbooks, but sadly their doll selection is mostly limited to the boring kinds of MH clones with tiny feet. The doll in this set is no better: just your regular Barbie clone with stick legs, but her blouse actually looked pretty cute so I decided to buy it. (Also I love pink plastic tea sets.)

As usual I apologize for the dark and grainy photos.

Boring doll with artfully toussled hair. Or maybe it's just messy. I tore her clothes off immediately. 

World on Ice Belle is on the ballerina Barbie body with a broken neck for now, mostly because the skintones matched. Her molded shoes match the outfit!

As expected the clothes are pretty badly made, but can still be made to look pretty good on the right doll. As usual, it's all about the angle! Ballerina Barbie is a bit too skinny for the skirt, and the apron is just the tiniest bit of fabric they could get away with.

It looks better on the smaller dolls, like Sarah Love here. Kindergarten fingerpainting time, anyone?

(Outside of actual ballet poses, the ballerina body is pretty limited in its posing ability. This is the most natural-looking pose I've been able to coax her into. I assume she's exhausted from holiday preparations.)

Kenya wore it best, though. The pastels match her eye shadow, plus she has a bigger choice of footwear (these are my favorites from the Steffi Love shoe pack).

She fills out the skirt a lot better. The velcro still looks a bit lumpy from the side, but like I said: all about the angle. From the front she looks great!

I'm thinking of replacing the velcro here with a couple of snaps before it tears the fabric, but I'm not sure there will be enough room to put them. Maybe some fabric glue or fray-stopping product might help.

I tried to pick the set with the least obvious faults, but there's still a seam on one sleeve that needs mending. It is a cute blouse, though, and if I find a good fabric that's thin enough I'm going to copy the pattern.  

Meanwhile, Belle is about to take a well-deserved nap under the christmas tree.