New fabric store and a shirt for Lottie

Good news: I found a fabric store that sells thin cotton fabric with cute prints by the decimeter! Not only that, but they had the exact red-and-black striped fabric I've been looking for for years. I don't know anything about the fabric business, but it's a pretty generic striped fabric so maybe it's just been continuously in production for decades? I only had a tiny square, probably from one of those discount scrap bags, and thought it would make a good Ken shirt, but I messed up when I cut it and didn't have enough for a second attempt. Well, now I know where to find it. For now I just got some cheap white cotton fabric, the thinnest I could find. It really makes a lot of difference when sewing in 1/6 scale.

While I was out and about, I took the chance to go look at the newest Lottie dolls in the flesh plastic. I'm afraid I have to report that Finn looks even more like a troll IRL, and the shoes in his fishing accessory set don't look as good as in the photos. Oh well. The Lottie doll I was mostly interested in is School Days Lottie, who comes with big black glasses and - surprise! - some kind of school uniform. The outfit looks a bit cheap unfortunately, although the backpack with the cat on it is really cute. The doll itself looks pretty much identical to the one I already have (Pandora's Box Lottie, dark brown hair and brown eyes) so I think I'll go with the Robot Girl instead if I get another one.

(Also, there's a hair care set for Lottie now. I don't know what they were thinking, since the brush has what looks like thick bunches of bristles set really far apart - it doesn't look like it would be at all suitable for doll hair. Just give the kid a comb instead!)

When I got home, I decided to take some inspiration from the less-than-inspired Lottie school uniform and use my new fabric to make a simple shirt for Lottie. I was too lazy to make a proper pattern, so it took a few failed attempts, and I never got the collar quite right. Most of the mistakes are cleverly hidden in the back though, so it's all good. The skirt is just a scrap held on with pins, and a decorative safety pin like on the dress I had when I was a kid.

Cheating with pins!

Also, here's the Dora the Explorer kitchen section from last week! The clear plastic in the oven was missing, so I just cut a replacement piece from some packaging material. Like I mentioned, the ...burners? light up when you press them, but they require those weird AAA batteries so I don't know if they're working or not. (Come to think of it, isn't it kind of weird to have a toy that actively encourages children to touch a hot stove top?)

NOOO Lottie don't touch that