Carmilla: Let Her Bite

"...think me not cruel because I obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness..."
-Carmilla

Before Dracula, there was Carmilla. She was a vampire from the novella written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. She often preys on young women in their sleep. She was the inspiration for the character of this doll.

This Carmilla continues to 'live' in the 21st century by faking her deaths at the hands of the vampire hunters. She glamoured people into believing she has been killed so that she can 'live' a peaceful life. Through the centuries, she has amassed wealth, from stocks to real estate and multi-billion businesses. Her wealth is under a number of alternate identities so she can stay out of the limelight of being the richest person in the world. She maintains her sources of wealth because staying incognito is financially demanding for the likes of her.

Carmilla indirectly runs a number of modelling agencies, cosmetics, jewelries and fashion labels plus a number of hotel chains. Her models get discounted rates on her hotels and dormitories (if they are still studying in her modelling school), all of which are specially designed with secret passages so she can come in and out of any room unnoticed. She takes care of her models because she needs them to survive.

She drinks their blood but not to the point of killing them. That may mean drinking from a number of girls every night. She has evolved into a vampire with restraint so don't be scared now. Let her bite.

(This is not really a start of a story but merely a character profile, a way of enjoying my older dolls.)

Therese Von Furstenberg

I just love the wrap dress on the Diane Von Furstenberg Barbie. Knowing how low my chances are of getting one so I decided to just make one for myself. All I need is a fabric with an interesting print. I had the fabric for some time now but I've been putting off the work since I wasn't as comfortable making the sleeves and collar.

I was getting my groove, so to speak, when I made the rainbow dresses specially the rainbow blouse. After I finished that, I felt more competent in doing this little wrap dress. This dress has no hooks or snaps. It is closed by tying the sash around the waist.

On the side, I was also practicing repainting again. I went through my box of Barbie heads to check if I'm inspired to give one a make-over. That's when I saw the head from the Native American Barbie, a Teresa mold.

I have always wanted a Teresa head with a sophisticated make-up like the 1st Barbie Basics model 11 but I wanted one with long black hair so both versions Teresa from the Basic line wasn't that appealing to me. After finishing repainting I already knew who is going to wear the new wrap dress.

I untied her braids and retained the waves on her hair. I felt she's more sultry that way. I was lucky to have a fashion pack from Liv dolls having an interesting necklace with a peacock motif and I thought it matches her dress. The bag is also from the same Liv fashion pack. The shoes is from a Barbie Basics fashion pack.

I named the doll as Therese Tulis. She's just pretending she's a Von Furstenberg. Come to think of it, she is probably the only doll I have that has a surname!

Want to see more dolly fashion? Visit here:

http://dolldelusions.blogspot.com/search/label/fashion

As simple as black and white

The white prints on the black dress are hand-painted. I don't know if it would last long. At least its not rubbing off. The dress has some simplicity to it but I wanted to emphasize the small waist more so I added a modern obi belt.

I finished two more dresses, now in black and white. If you're wondering why I keep doing dresses one after the other, it is because I'm trying to control my temptation in buying more dolls. I have beautiful dolls and their beauty would go to waste if I don't play with them. Plus, most of the newer dolls are just another version of older ones. I try not to be redundant unless I'm emphasizing a point.

The white dress was inspired by the black and white gown Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie Sabrina. I cannot do embroidery so I resorted to appliques. I cut out some designs from a black lace and sewed it on the white dress.

(The dolls in the photo are repainted and restyled clone Barbie heads on Dynamite Girls body.)

Rainbow's End

I thought I had completed my Rainbow Collection but after the last dress, I had this urge to do another piece but this time having all the colors of the rainbow. I initially planned to make a tiered short skirt but upon checking my fabric stash, I seemed to misplace my yellow fabric. Lucky I found another way:  I could dye/draw/paint the design on a white fabric! I did this with the help of Pentel's Fabricfun dye stick.

I first copied the pattern lines to the fabric. I didn't want to waste the dye stick so I only colored the parts that's going to end up on the outfit. Another detail that I labored in is the french seam. It's silly to have this kind of blouse to be lined so I'd better treat the edges. I don't have an edging machine. I could burn the edge to keep it from fraying but the (oil in the) dye made the fabric to burn easily. I had no choice but to make a french seam if I wanted this blouse to look clean inside-out.

But it didn't look clean as I wanted. Even though the dye have been properly set by ironing, some dye rubbed off on the white parts of the blouse especially the collar. The lighting didn't make it visible but the stain is there. Hmmm... maybe I could color it white again! I'll try that later.

For now, here are a couple of pics of the final dress for the rainbow collection. I was thinking of something one can wear to work when I made this blouse and skirt. The tandem looks too costume-y but fun nonetheless which rainbows are supposed to be. Maybe they would look "normal" if mixed and matched with a neutral pants or shirt. 

When I Think of Rainbows

...I think of hope

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14Sep2011 Update:

I haven't done any doll projects lately but I have been enjoying taking pictures of this collection of dresses which I recently finished. Instead of posting the new pictures in my blog I'd rather update this entry to describe the picture above for those who can't see it.

In this picture there are 7 dolls having different face molds wearing 7 different dresses. Each dress represents a color of the rainbow. I have limited fabric options so the closest color was chosen. The dolls are arranged in a circle lying down on a white background. The heads of the dolls are in the center with their bodies are aligned radially outward.

Let's start with the doll with the red dress. She is a repainted Kira head on a skinny model muse body. Although her torso is completely covered by her red dress, her dress is short, higher that the middle of her leg but lower than her crotch, of course. Hehehe. One thing I find interesting about the dress is her sleeve which is only one. It has a peek-a-boo cut-out showing parts of her arms. The sleeves are long (as long as the bodice) and are almost shaped like rectangles somewhat similar to Japanese kimonos.

The orange dress is worn by another hybrid doll, a Gabriella head (High School Musical) on a model muse body. What I find interesting in this dress is it's texture. Strips of fabric with fraying edges were used to embellish the dress. It has a turtle neck collar. A pink belt with flower shaped buckle is used as an accessory.

The yellow dress is worn by a Barbie Basics doll, model 4, if I remember correctly, the darkest skin tone in the Basic black series. I really like the yellow dress on her. What I find interesting on the yellow dress is the neckline. It has this inverted V-shape. A strap of fabric, is sewn on the top corner of the neckline and the other end of the strap is sewn at the back of the dress. I also added a belt with a peplum detail made from the same fabric as the dress.

The green halter dress is worn by Monte Carlo Barbie. The green dress is all about showing some skin. It has a deep V-neck line (almost down to the belly button) showing lots of cleavage and the skirt part has a thigh-high slit.

The blue dress is worn by another Barbie Basics doll with the Midge/Diva head mold. It is actually a blouse and skirt made from the same fabric. The blouse is a simple loose fit top. It was intentionally made simple to create a contrast to the heavily ruffled skirt. One thing I find interesting about the blue dress is the contrast of the texture of the top which is smooth and the skirt which is ruffled.

The indigo (which I think is really just dark blue because I don't have the right fabric) is worn by another Barbie Basics doll with the Mbili face mold. It started out a a simple tube dress which is a little short (mid-leg) and tight fitting. It is embellished by the same fabric shaped into a large leaf covering the bust area. This fabric extends below to the right side of the dress forming a flap on the right portion of the skirt.

The violet dress is worn by another OOAK doll. It is actually a Generation Girl Barbie with bright red hair on a model muse body. She was repainted and her smile was closed using the dental extraction method. She also has a blouse and skirt. Her blouse has slightly puffy short sleeves and a V-neckline. Her sheath skirt has a ruching or gathering detail at the center to give it some texture.


random thought:
Was that a thousand words? Nope. Just a little over 600. I did a word count. Hehehe. But I left out describing the jewelries. Oh well, it's about the dresses.

Return to Innocence

Age indeterminate, they can look like kids and they can look like young adults, definitely not a one-trick pony. That is just one of the things I like about my CCE Blythe clone. Rebodying them in highly sexual-ized Barbie or Obitsu bodies is not an option for me. The Licca body is just fine with enough curves which one can flaunt or down play. I also didn't seal their face paint so I can change them when I feel like it.

There are times when I get fed up with too much play on sexuality from dolls. (It makes me think, are they the new sex toys? Maybe. I personally use them to act out my sex fantasies. Lol.) My other dolls can serve as a breather. After making dresses for model muse bodies I felt I have to do something childlike.

I decided to create dresses for Potpot and Chichi. I think they love it.