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.)

Little Pullip Swan

She is my first (and probably only) Pullip. Got her through Joan. It's really great to have fellow doll collectors willing to help you to get the doll you fancy! I was checking ebay for some but the shipping fee instantly doubles the cost so I don't buy online unless I'm "highly motivated".

Dressed in a ballerina outfit with a feathered headdress, Swan Lake has got to be the inspiration for this doll. Unlike regular sized Pullip dolls, little Pullip dolls have limited articulation but that is not gonna stop me from posing her as if she's really dancing ballet, is it?

I mentioned in earlier entries that, to me, these big headed dolls, with their eyes wide open, have a sense of child-like innocence not common in Barbie dolls. That's their appeal to me. Although regular Pullip has a big head and wide eyes, I don't think she's that innocent (by that I mean young or child-like) with her womanly curves.  (That is why I'm only interested in the mini version.) The curves are also reflected in the little version (as shown in the photo below) but it is easy to hide those with loose fitting clothes (it's quite difficult to make fitted clothes for their size).

One good thing about little Pullip is that she can be re-wigged and the eye chips can be replaced. I already like her purple eyes. Once I figure how to carefully remove her glued wig, I'm gonna make her another wig in either black or dark brown.

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.