Christmas Eve

As you probably know, we start celebrating on Christmas Eve here in Germany and it's also the day of gift giving.
I have written about that and about the Christ Child as the gift bringer in my part of the world before.
Things may have changed in the last 50 years 😉, but in my time it was tradition in my and my friends' families to put up the tree on the morning of Christmas Eve.
Seems the Christ Child did too!

Christ Child is a Dawn doll with an outfit beaded by me.
The Christmas trees are Steiff.

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.
Steiff is a registered trademark. I am not affiliated with Steiff in any way.

Christ Child Dawn - The twenty-fourth door

Happy Christmas Eve!

In last year's advent calendar I told you about the tradition of the Christkind (Christ Child) who is the gift bringer in my area of Germany - an angelic figure with wings and golden locks, sometimes with a halo, sometimes with a crown.
The idea to turn a Topper Dawn into an angel eventually, obsessed with making wings as I am, just had to come to mind when I first thought about projects for this year's calendar, but not before I finally started working on her in November, it came to me that she wouldn't just be an angel, she would be the Christ Child on Christmas Eve which of course is the gift bringing day here in Germany.

P.S. I know that I usually talk a little about how I made an outfit, but it's Christmas and it doesn't seem the time for detailed descriptions.
If you have questions, let me know in the comments!

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

Autumn Dawn

A small tin with old bead soup in autumn colors called to me this weekend. When the beads call, you have to listen and I did.
I happened to have a doll in my beading box - because who doesn't - and could start right away, then one thing led to the other.
Let me introduce Autumn Dawn. I think it's quite obvious how she got her name wearing those colors although it's probably more like late summer, walking around sleeveless, in crop top and sandals like she does!

Actually, the name is a little misleading. Just the head is from a Topper Dawn, the body is from a Dawn clone marked "Hongkong B & G" about which I couldn't find out anything. The doll came to me like that, I don't know what fate brought those two parts together.

I think I have mentioned before that I often start with the bottom part of an outfit, in this case with the skirt that I made from the bead soup. As the beads not only had different colors and finishes, but also differed in size, I opted for a colorful  tiered skirt with wide folds to hide the irregularities a bit.

Next were the sandals. As the bead soup had not been enough for a floor length skirt, they were much easier to do than the shoes usually are when I have once again forgotten to bead them first and don't have much space for working.
Autumn Dawn's one foot is a little straighter than the other one, so to make sure the sandals would stay on, I beaded the wide straps at the ankles (my first odd count peyote, by the way).

The top is a new design. Usually I start working from the waist, either directly on the doll working my way up, or I make a front and a back part working from the bottom up and then join the seams at the sides.
This time, however, I made the peyote back part sideways and then extended it on both sides, finally joining them in the front which resulted in a crop top. Two straps on both sides made it sit really well.
To give it a little extra, I added the bronze drop beads at the front and sides.

Dawn likes accessories, but a necklace would have been too much, so she only got two little bracelets from different beads.

The hat. I can't resist a hat and my excuse is that Dawn's hair refuses to stay in place. This hat from gold lined and amber AB beads was mostly inspired by the amber beads' limited number, but also by one of my favorite Murphy Brown episodes. I was so tempted to add a tassel, follow the link and you'll know what I mean.

Last but not least, the purse. For someone who only carries around her beloved shopper, I am definitely obsessed with beading purses, totes, etc. for my dolls.
I chose the color to resemble linen, with matte "leather" for the strap, and embellished the purse with small golden spacer "flowers".

There you go - Autumn Dawn :-)

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

Dawn is going boho

Usually I need a break after completing a doll outfit. I take a while relishing the feeling and admiring my own work - yes, I know that doesn't sound very humble, but it mostly is a very interesting path from the first row of beads to the completed doll and I'm always amazed myself that it has actually happened!
This time my bead mojo was strong enough for me to start on a new doll only a few days after finishing the wedding outfit and once again there were experiments, failures, and a complete change of plan.
You see, my first plan had been pink, but I had problems getting the same pink in both size 11 and 15 seed beads, so I checked the colors I had on hand and went for a favorite opaque luster red instead.
Luckily red with some golden accents looks stunning on this girl with her long blond hair and luckily she's not as afraid of color as I often seem to be myself or this dress would be black now ;-)

My second plan had been a kind of evening gown which I'm not going to say more about in case I'll do a variation of it eventually after all (how often have I said that about things?). The reason I didn't follow that plan were the gloves.
Did you know that Dawn has really small hands? Bead gloves simply looked too bulky, even with 15s, and of course there wasn't a chance I could have made a thumb with beads.
So the gloves turned into sleeves instead, 3/4 long which is a preferred length of my own.
When I was still a knitter, I hated sleeves. It was my old problem of having to make the same thing twice, boooooring. This time I made the sleeves first, that's definitely a new one for me.

What I really like about making these doll outfits is how one thing influences the other, often unexpectedly. After the sleeves I made the top and when I was at the top of the top - I often start from the waist because the beads don't try to run away there - and joined it with the sleeves, it hit me. A Carmen neckline!
And the Carmen neckline called for a wider, flowing skirt.
You may think at first that this dress doesn't look that different from that of the Fairy Queen, but actually there are several things I did like this for the first time.
There's the neckline and my first long sleeves, there are tiny crystal embellishments (you have to trust me on this, it's hard to see here), and not only is the waist a bit higher up which accentuates Dawn's lovely figure, but the skirt also flares out higher up, and after increasing always in the same spots for some rows, the skirt then falls down straight while the Fairy Queen's skirt is increased all around and all the way down to the bottom.
That's the fun about making these dresses, even though you are limited by the beads not being flexible, you can still play with designs.
I think Dawn likes it, too, judging from the way she's showing off her new dress.

The dress didn't seem to need many accessories, so Dawn is just wearing some simple gold sandals - I'm sure she would also have liked to go barefoot - a classic two-toned coated hematite ball chain and a cute little daisy chain. Maybe she has just made that herself before going to the market?
Yes, she has been to the market with her netted cotton tote that she has also made herself, no doubt, and she has brought home a huge ear of corn which actually fills up the tote. Hopefully it's organic, but I'm sure Dawn knows what she does! ;-)

I already have at least two new designs in mind, one of them will take more planning because of the technique I think I'll have to use, however, so I can't promise when there will be more to see.

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

The Bride

It has been almost a year since I made my last beaded doll outfit which was Miss Francie Bennet, but this weekend I felt the sudden urge to grab one of my Topper Dawns and give her a new outfit.
This particular Dawn has several problems, mostly with her legs, so the only plan I had at that point was some kind of a slim skirt to hide them.

When I got my very first Dawn, I had begun to make her a wedding dress which I didn't like anymore when I was halfway through the project which is why she finally got an evening gown instead.
How about revisiting this idea?
There were several reasons to go for it. With a wedding dress you can go overboard if you like and your doll won't be able to complain. I knew I had plenty of pearly white seed beads in both size 11 and 15. A wedding dress has always been part of fashion shows. It's almost May, the bridal season is upon us. I'll use any excuse I can find.
Of course I don't have a husband for Dawn, but she'll have to live with that.

As the dress became more elaborate this time, I refrained from making many accessories - less to read for you!
Dawn is wearing a simple silver necklace and a "pearl" headband (which looks classy, but also helps to hide that some child in the past seems to have tried to cut her hair into bangs). At first I started making a short veil flowing down from the headband, but it wasn't heavy enough to fall over Dawn's hair in a pretty way, so I took it back off.
I also didn't bead shoes this time, but happened to have a pair of what I think are clone shoes in white which worked better for her little problem feet (I can so relate even if mine are not little!).

Now to the dress.

As planned, the skirt part is slim and long enough to hide most of the shoes because I didn't like the look of them with the dress much, both for the material and the tone of white. I promised Dawn she won't have to walk long distances ;-)
The front part of the skirt is embellished with lines of tiny silver lined crystal seed beads for a reason. There are tiny gaps in the "fabric" due to the Herringbone technique, and is it because I know Dawn's problems or because I think I can actually see them, at any rate I felt the need to distract from them a little. Also, I like a bit of silver sparkle!

The top part is a mix of Herringbone and Peyote and has off shoulder straps. They do hide an imperfection on Dawn's arm, but actually I made them because I liked them with this top.

I also wanted the dress to have a train, that had even been a plan for my attempt at that first wedding dress years ago.
The decision fell on this tapered train that begins like an overskirt at the waist (I have loved overskirts since I was a child, my drawn ladies always wore an open one). Not making it straighter at the edges is not because of the Herringbone technique that is worked in bead pairs, by the way, I just liked the different look.
For a second, I thought about embellishing it as well, but then I decided against it. Instead I added the little bead "chains" at the front.

Flowers had been on my mind, too. A flower on the headband or one at the neckline, at the waist maybe, but it all seemed too much.
Maybe I will give her a single flower to hold eventually.

I already have the next project on my mind, but it will probably have to involve the loom, and so far I have been hesitating to get the loom out around den Dekan (my kitten).
We will just have to wait and see what happens.

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

Miss Francie Bennet - Part 1, The doll and the dress

Some projects take a little longer than others. In this case, little means more than five years. That's how long Francie had to wait for her beaded outfit.
I think it was worth the wait. My first try at looming her a particular style of outfit went completely wrong, but now I knew how to use different techniques to give her her (or rather my ;-)) dream outfit.

Let's talk about Francie first, however, because this one is special.
"Colored Francie" (#1100) came in two issues in 1967 and 1968. She had a twist waist, bendable knees, and rooted eyelashes. The difference between the two issues were the hair and eyes. The first one had red hair and reddish-brown eyes, the second one had dark brown hair and eyes and a darker skin tone.
There was just one problem. "Black Francie" as she is known among collectors may have had the skin, but she didn't have the features of a true African American doll because the mold of the Caucasian doll had been used. The doll didn't sell well and so wasn't produced in large numbers. Probably African American children just couldn't identify with her which is understandable. It's why Christie is often regarded as the first real African American doll.
That makes her one of the most sought after Francie dolls (after the Japanese specials).

My girl (Francie is supposed to be a teenager) is the first issue. She has a few problems - so do I and after all she's just two years younger than me! She has some nicks on her foot, some light scratches here and there, and not only has she lost some of her hair over the years, but some of it looks like it has become burnt and has shriveled up and some of it is kind of orangey.

I was not brave enough to risk the hair she does have, so she didn't get a new hairstyle. I didn't touch her bangs and for the ponytail didn't dare playing with beads, but used just a bit of string because even light combing cost her more hair. Re-rooting was not an option, though, I would only have done that if she had been mostly bald, also I had planned a hat for her.
It's not as if the outfit is historically correct 100 %, anyway. There are things that are hard to recreate in beads, but I have done my best.

Now why do I call her Francie Bennet?
I'm a fan of Georgette Heyer's books, especially the ones set in the Regency period (1811 - 1820), and I love Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From the start I wanted this special doll to wear something special although I knew it would be a bit of a challenge. Her name is of course inspired by Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of "Pride and Prejudice".

Today I'll show you her dress.
My original choice of color had been pink and grey. Although I'm not necessarily a big fan of pink, pink and grey has been a favorite color combination of mine ever since I had to crochet my very first chain stitch string bag in elementary school.
Like I said, I had already tried a loomed version with Delicas, but although I had measured more than once, it just didn't work out. I took the parts of the loom and left them in a drawer to die. Yes, I was mad. Eventually I gave myself a good kick, cut the parts up and used the beads in both my Flapper Dawn's and 80s Barbie's outfits.
For the next attempt, I chose seed beads instead of Delicas because they look nicer in Herringbone. Don't look for the grey beads, in the end I decided the contrast was too much and I'd rather play with colors in the accessories (as a matter of fact, however, the grey beads are hidden under the dress in some kind of underpants, shhh).

Miss Bennet's dress is made from pink lined crystal beads. I love them, in the light the crystal parts sparkle so beautifully! Unfortunately I didn't quite manage to catch that in pictures.
For a very subtle contrast I chose sparkly rose colored 15/0 seed beads for the ruffles around the neckline, the lace at the bottom of the dress and the ribbon that is sitting right under the bust and ends in a bow at the back which is hidden by the shawl, though, which you will see tomorrow.
I couldn't believe how long it took me to make the dress, but Mattel dolls do have long legs and here it seemed even longer because of the high waistline!

A real problem were the shoes.
Had Francie stayed inside, she would have worn shoes with a very pointy tip, a side seam, a rounded kitten heel ... all things that I couldn't recreate in beads or things that wouldn't stay on Francie's feet, and of course there were still her foot problems.
So I settled for some boots instead, in honor of the scene in the famous 1995 mini series "Pride and Prejudice" in which Lizzy Bennet is walking across the fields through the mud to visit her sick sister in Netherfield Park.
I was even a little tempted to add brown beads for mud to the seam of Francie's dress *lol*
Of course these boots are by no means perfect, but they were the best I could do, and believe me, I tried. I think I made at least six shoe versions once again and there was massive cursing. I tried 15/0 beads to make the "leather" look thinner, I tried slippers that went high up to hide the feet, to no avail.
If Francie wants to wear brown basketball boots, so be it. I wear comfy shoes myself. Maybe I'll have an amazing idea one day, but actually you can hardly see them under the dress, anyway. For this picture I pulled the dress up.

Okay then, that's it for today.
Tomorrow I'd like to show you the accessories I made - besides the pompadour that already sneaked in with the second picture.
I hope to see you then!


Francie is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc. I am not affiliated with Mattel in any way.

Ms Dawn is going out

Ms Dawn is going out and she's not wearing a mask. Dawn is in the 20s - the previous century's decade, that is, not her 20s and not the 20s of our century.
Dawn may be born in the 70s, but she doesn't care. She's a Flapper at heart and she demanded that I took her golden and hot pink dress off and gave her something a little more elegant. She became my "Mini Flapper" (compared to Flapper Barbie and Flapper Christie) and this is the story how.
If you please, you may imagine the following read to you in the manner of an announcer at a fashion show.

Ms Dawn's sleeveless dress is worked in the peyote technique in a subtle combination of dusty pink and grey with a hint of silver shimmer in both. It goes up all the way in the back and features a rectangular neckline in the front.
At the bottom seam it is finished with a small fringe.
Pink blossoms accented with a small center bead are generously scattered all over the dress except in the upper part of the back.

For jewelry she has chosen a classic and unobtrusive long necklace from clear beads that she is wearing sideways. She has refrained from adding any more jewelry on this occasion so as to not take attention off her outfit at all.

The headband that picks up the flower embellishment of the dress is perfect with the slightly windswept look of Ms Dawn's bob. Unfortunately she wouldn't share the secret with us how she manages to tame her full hair, but we suspect that the lovely grey headband makes up a big part of it.

A night out is impossible without wearing an elegant evening cloak. Ms Dawn's choice is this custom made model matching the color of her dress perfectly. It is bead loomed and has a high peyote collar. The hems are embellished with small clear accent beads for a sophisticated look.

These fashionable sandals too are designed to match the colors of the outfit. For a better fit on the foot they have small pink straps. With sandals as comfortable as these Ms Dawn will have no problems to dance the night through if she so desires.

An accessory that can't be missed is a purse, big enough to hold the most important things for a night in the city. At the last minute Ms Dawn has chosen this cute little drawstring pouch that matches her outfit instead of a silver clutch that her friend suggested because she can just hang it from her wrist.

And here's our Flapper now, waiting for her friends at the big cat sculpture.
Thank you for joining us and we hope to welcome you again to our next fashion show at La Maison Cat!
Enjoy your night as our Ms Dawn no doubt will, too.

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am not affiliated with Topper in any way.

The Fairy Queen

Do you remember Dawn, my little Topper doll? After having her lying around without clothes for years because 1. I didn't even know back then what or who she was, 2. I had no idea where to get clothes for her, I had finally made a fancy little dress and accessories for her out of seed beads.
As Dawn is only 6 1/2 inch - compared to the 11 1/2 inch of a Barbie and 11 1/4 inch of a Francie - it may not be instant gratification to make something for her, but it's definitely quicker. I couldn't help myself and had to get more Topper dolls, two more, to be exact.
After making the dragonfly pin, I knew what I wanted to do with one of them.
Dawn was to become a fairy!
Only she's not really Dawn, but one of her friends as the head mark 11C as opposed to 11A told me. She's Jessica who used to be a stewardess (yes, that's what it was called back then). It's kind of funny because last time I had thought that Dawn was a Jessica, and now I fell for it the other way round. I should have noticed that her hair was not as full, but I'm so used to different Bubble Cut hairstyles on vintage Barbies that I simply didn't think about it.

As usually, I made the dress first.
What do you think of when thinking of a fairy? Tinkerbelle? Flora, Fauna and Merry-weather from Sleeping Beauty? Cinderella's fairy godmother? Oh, no Disney fairy at all? Maybe one from a fairy tale book you read as a child? From a fantasy movie?
Do you imagine a long dress, a colorful hat that reminds of a witch's hat? Something short and green? A cloak with a big bow? Something glittery? Something colorful like flowers? That's the fun part about it, your imagination is the limit.
My imagination sent me to a combination of reds and browns with some gold mixed in. I made the dress using the Herringbone technique which has proven to be the most versatile so far, at least for me who's not that much of an off loom beader (yet?). I like the "pleats" in the skirt and hope to be able to reproduce this in a bigger dress eventually.
This time I forgot to take a picture of Jessica just with the dress on, but I'll get to the accessories again later.

Next were the wings. It's two sets of wings which I made in the bead embroidery technique with golden seed and bugle beads. Instead of enhancing the golden look as I did in the dragonfly wings, I used tiny clear AB seed beads with the sequins here.
Sewing the wings on was quite a fiddly thing to do, especially with the arms constantly getting in the way. The hard part was also to sew them on in a way that wouldn't make them move too much, after all I don't want them to fold up in the back, so you won't be able to see them.
I would say this part challenged my patience the most, and yes, there was swearing!
Here's a close-up of the wings.

My first thought had been to give my fairy a wand, but the typical wand with the little star on top seemed a little stereotypical. Instead, I decided on giving her a long staff, something sturdy, something to emphasize her power as a queen even more than the little golden crown of seed beads and coated hematite.
After thinking for a while, I remembered having wood skewers left over from my polymer clay days. I used size 15 seed beads to cover one of them in peyote, going from coated clear beads at the bottom to golden ones at the top.
The Swarovski crystal came in very handy although the story goes that it's really a citrine found by the dwarves and gifted to the Queen of the Fairies ;-) I could have used the same one in a smaller size, but the Queen made very clear that she didn't think small.
For the connection between staff and crystal I glued on a thick layer of golden seed beads to strengthen the thread connection. It was one of the rare times when glue and I made up a good team!
The staff is attached to the hand by means of a little bracelet and I can even move it into different directions without it falling off.

Last but not least came the everlasting struggle with the shoes. As I had already mentioned in my post about Dawn, the Topper dolls have tiny feet thanks to their size. Once again I tried slippers like I made them for Francie before, I tried to make the soles in different sizes and use differently sized beads, but to no avail. Even when I admitted defeat and got back to the sandal design, I still had to experiment with that.
This is attempt #6, I think, the one that finally made me happy. They stay on her feet and they fit the outfit. I didn't have a golden thread, but I have a gold metallic pen coming to cover it and even like this the "golden yellow" was still the best choice.

Thank you if you have made it to here. I'll end this post with a picture that is giving you a better idea of the Queen's size. This is an ordinary step on my stairs, so you see that our fairy is indeed one of the "small folk".
Don't let it deceive you, though, I'm sure she knows how to use that staff, for magic or to hit you with it! ;-)

Dawn was a registered trademark of the Topper Company. I am also not affiliated with Topper in any way.

A new outfit for Francie

This is the story of Francie who came over as a gift from the US months ago (warning: it's going to be a long post). I don't have that many Francie outfits that are not already worn by the other dolls, and on top of that this girl has a major problem with her knees as you can see.

This particular doll is a Bendable Leg Francie, but you won't be surprised to hear that she is not able to hold that bend anymore. It rather looks like she had had to bend her legs too often, in fact one leg also has splits in the back, and I was a little afraid it would break off while working on her.
Usually you would use a doll like her for a body part donor or try to find a donor for her, but I thought for everything she obviously had to go through - children can be so tough on their dolls, I should know looking at my own Stacey - I'd give her an outfit to hide her knees instead.
First of all I washed off the grime of years, mostly off her legs. It was a surprise that the rest of her body and the head still looked quite good in comparison, and her face was beautiful with the rooted eyelashes still being perfectly full.

I started the jumpsuit in the same way as the last dress I made, with a bodice beaded in the Herringbone technique. The original plan had been to make the bodice completely in a gunmetal color, but I wasn't sure if I had enough beads, so there's a gunmetal strip at the waist now to separate the bodice from the legs.
So the bodice is now made from size 11 seed beads in a rich dark blue mix combined with size 15s in a very light shimmering blue.
Since I didn't want this to be an evening outfit, it's neither strapless nor does it have thin straps. In fact I even contemplated a turtle neck for a bit, but it was so hot when I worked on this part that I couldn't get myself to do it! I am weird that way, I do imagine what an outfit would feel like if I wore it. Beading all the way to the top gave me one or the other problem with the armholes, also because - as mentioned before - it's not easy to work having to hold the whole doll. It's amazing how limbs tend to get in the way!

The real problem, however, would be the pant legs. I had worked it all out in my mind ... how to work down to a particular point and then increase the pattern between the legs and bead down from there on both sides. I figured it would be hard to get started, but I really underestimated the task completely. The gap between the legs simply wasn't big enough to add the row of beads from which I wanted to work down, at least not to make it look good. I tried several times, but in the end I had to give up on it.
The new plan was a mini skirt and overknee boots. For decency I did add a small strip of beads between the legs which later proved to be completely needless. At the skirt bottom I added some gunmetal beads, like a little trim. These few beads will be important later.

Then I began beading the boots. In the end I had made them three times and ripped them up in parts or completely every time because they were kind of okay, but kind of okay simply wasn't good enough. I was so glad, though, that the legs survived that ordeal because I kept taking the boots off and putting them back on in my futile attempt to fit them perfectly to the legs. In the third attempt I added the part for the feet and that's when my scissors went crazy for good. It's strange how frustrating yet relieving it can be to cut up something you are not completely happy with!
Now if Francie didn't get boots, it had to be a long skirt or pants after all. The thought of making yet another tight skirt - after all the top part was already tight and I wasn't prepared to cut that up again as well - didn't appeal to me, though, and I had already failed with the pants. What to do?
That's when I had the idea of the bead tubes for pant legs which I would attach to the skirt part. I only wished I hadn't put "the trim" on, but how about turning that into a fun detail, maybe a hint of lace?
I also ripped the first tube up twice because I had to try out if I liked bell bottoms better, but in the end I found I needed the width of the tubes at the top to be able to sew them to the trim and to fit them around Francie's thighs. Also I didn't want to take more chances with her knees in an attempt to make the tubes fit tightly around them, so they were wide all the way to the bottom (which gave this project the working title "Francie Dietrich" ;-)).

Next I sewed the two tubes together for the seam between the legs, added two more rows of Herringbone, so they would sit right, and the same trim as on the skirt. Then I pulled the tubes over Francie's legs very carefully and sewed trim to trim with some more beads for the "lace" (that's another idea I may keep in mind for future projects).

Of course my mind is already bustling with ideas to improve the pants design, like making the "skirt" part as short as possible - although it can't be too short as it's not as easy to pull up those tubes with the small gap between the legs AND maybe I'll have to use a little powder the next time because the beads tend to stick on the vinyl - or wider or try a skinny jeans fit after all, but there are other things on my list first.

The next big challenge were the shoes, they always are, not so much in this case because it is impossible to get shoes for Francie, but because it seems right to try and make beaded ones to go with the outfit.
Luckily she has flat feet which called for some kind of slippers and to my surprise it worked out at the first try - with ladder stitch and Herringbone and brick stitch.
The biggest surprise, however, was that you can actually remove the shoes and put them back on. They sit on the feet nicely and won't fall right off. I'll definitely have to keep this design in mind and maybe I'll be able to develop it into a boot design and even adapt it a little for Barbie feet which are made for high heels.

By now I was very relaxed because the most difficult things lay behind me.
All Francie needed was a bracelet because she couldn't go completely without jewelry, a purse and a hat.
The bracelet was quick and easy, just a little peyote strip from the size 15s.

The purse is done in peyote as well. It's sewn up on the sides only, so Francie can open it and put something in there, tissues, a few coins, probably a cell phone. It doesn't have a flap because I started running out of the blue beads. Inspired by genuine vintage Francie purses it has a little strap going through a loop to close it, though.

Last but not least I wanted to give Francie a hat. She has very full hair, but on one side the plugs seem to be filled a little strangely, so the strands of hair keep separating and showing the plugs, even after shampooing and brushing them thoroughly (not to mention that Gundel almost took off with her head that I had left on a shelf while the hair was drying, that would have been very awkward).
I figured a hat would take care of that, but also compliment the outfit. That too is done in peyote technique and picks up the outfit's colors.
Can you believe that I have exactly five beads left over from the blue mix now?

After putting the hat on, I had a vaguely familiar vibe coming from this outfit, and it came to me. While the style is not the same, the purse and hat and pants do remind of a vintage outfit called "Bells" (#1275 from the 1200 series fashions, 1967).

So here she is ... Francie in her brandnew outfit!

Francie, Barbie, and Stacey are registered trademarks of Mattel, Inc. I am not affiliated with Mattel in any way.

Evening gown Dawn - Part 3, The accessories

Thank you if you are back after reading part 1 - the doll and her history - and part 2 - the dress - of this beading project, if you haven't read them, let me explain that this is about a Dawn doll for whom I beaded a dress.
In this post I will describe the matching accessories that I have made for her.

I started out as a jewelry maker, so of course I had to make some jewelry for her. Given the size I didn't have too many possibilities (also because the holes of my 2mm gemstone beads won't play nicely with my needles) although I have to admit that I had contemplated adding some armbands for her upper arms. One is allowed to dream, but it probably would have been a bit much.
Instead I settled on a golden choker in the peyote technique and a two bead Herringbone spiral bangle in the same color. Yes, I did use the black thread on purpose to give the jewelry some contrast on her skin and a bit of an edge.

Next she needed something to wrap in for stepping outside during a break ... if she goes to the opera, theater or a ball. I was growing up with stoles myself and of course shawls are a huge hit even now.
For that open look that knit or crochet stoles have I chose the netting technique to make little bead stole. The beads weren't completely regular and so the stole depending on how I pull it, but that reminds me of the old days as well, so I'm okay with it. I hope so is Dawn.
This piece has black size 15 beads that are partially coated in blue. Not even Dawn manages to buy all her clothing in the same color, but at least the bigger beads in the net match the dress.
The hardest part is putting the stole on her without it hiding too much or sliding off.

Not everyone carries a big tote all the time like myself. Dawn prefers a tiny pouch which is probably just enough for maybe her pink lipstick, a comb and some money. Who ever knows what's in a lady's purse or pouch or clutch, right?
The pouch is worked in peyote technique and has a little golden strap, so she can hold it or let it hang from her wrist.

So far it was rather easy, but now I came to the last and ultimate challenge - the shoes. I don't have any doll shoes that would fit Dawn. Her feet are too small for Barbie or even Francie shoes.
Heels would have been difficult to do. Then I remembered a scene from the book "An Infamous Army" by Georgette Heyer about a lady in the early 19th century who wore open sandals with golden straps and color on her toe nails, ooooh, the scandal!
Sandals, there was an idea.

It sounded much easier than it actually was, though. The sole was easy enough to make, I used the same black beads as in the stole, in brick stitch technique. Now just a strap and we were good to go, right? Wrong. The sandal kept slipping off her feet.
If you have Barbie dolls, you are used to some shoes falling off feet all the time. Some of the more expensive ones you may not even put on to avoid shoe splits, you just put them next to the doll (yes, Barbie shoes can be expensive because children lost them all the time, I know what I'm talking about, I used to be one of those children). The feet may be a little too wide - on the old hard bodies - or a little too slim or too slippery - older shoes on soft vinyl feet - or or or ...
Of course Dawn will be in a glass cabinet and not walk around much (I hope because the thought is a little scary, also her dress isn't really made for walking! ;-)), but I wanted those sandals to sit right, anyway.

Another try. Two golden straps, one in front, one in the back. No joke, I broke single beads in the first four soles trying to attach the straps safely. I know there's not much room in a size 15 bead, but this was getting ridiculous. Did it work, though? No, the sandal still kept slipping off.
Dawn, you are not Cinderella and there's no prince around the corner, would you please not lose your shoe??
So I tried to make the sole with size 11s instead, and I added one strap in front and two in the back. The sole didn't look quite as nice, though, the attempt at a heel looked kind of cute, but wouldn't hold up the way I wanted it, and in the end ... guess what? The sandal slipped off. Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
New idea, new plan. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Try beads and wire. Nope.
The beads and wire brought me back to one of the early plans, though, with a little adjustment.
Tenth time lucky, right? (I know it's originally third time, but obviously that didn't work for me.)
Here you go, a small strap in front, a cross over strap going around the ankle and attached to the sole in the back finally did the trick.

I don't have pink nail polish, but I'm thinking about getting one that matches her lipstick.
 
So here's Dawn in her complete evening outfit now, ready to go out and have some fun ... at the opening of an exhibition of, erm, giant cat sculptures? ;-)
The last picture is to show you how small Dawn really is, compared to the step.