Tallying Snow Girl weeks, was it worth it?

I really wasn’t sure if my Snow Girl was going to be worth the effort I continued to sink into her.

Once I realized her neck hole was too large for her body I should have just customized a different head. Instead I continued and sourced a different body for her and modified the inside of her neck. It was a learning experience but perhaps not the best use of my time.

Modifications/Extra work:

I liked the proportions of the Comfy Squad body with her head.

Comfy Squad is a very niche line of toys. They are the Disney Princesses as pre-teens/teens who all know each other as depicted in a scene within the movie Ralph Breaks the Internet.

I’ve long thought that Snow and either Pocahantas or Mulan would make great bases for …

Jane need not be a white doll. Her straight full hair and facial shape works easily for Asian/ Native Peoples.

I had an Anna in my stock box, she fell into the category of “I couldn’t get these in Japan without a crazy markup so I pounce when I see one in a thrift store”

I generally snag Anna items because her mold tends to have a smirk that works really well for making doll versions of me. I lived in single and double braids for in the summers the movie was huge in Japan, because heat, but I taught at elementary schools and preschools where EVERYONE commented on how I looked like Anna.

This was the picture I announced I had Covid with, because of the way the Japanese words for Fairy and Positive sound the same.

This is how I had a Comfy Squad girl to behead and test her body with the Dal head.

I liked the proportions of Anna’s body but the skin was a little too tan.
I found a used Elsa and Rapunzel online and ordered them.
And guess what?

Anna; too tan.

Rapunzel: Too orange.

Elsa: too pink

Oh well. I went on the side of pink.

I had fun making her outfit.

I currently work part-time in a made-to-measure suit store measuring and fitting customers for suits.

These aren’t bespoke suits, we’re not making new patterns based on each customer. We’re taking 4 different pants/jacket silhouettes and finding best fit and size customer and then figuring out what changes to that existing pattern need to be made to get it to work for that customer’s body.

There’s a lot of room for human error so there inevitably are items that have to be altered once made or reordered. When an item is re-ordered the suit/jacket/vest that didn’t work gets put into a reject bin. Employees get dibs on the rejects and they are then donated to charities…like one the local public defenders have for clients who don’t have money for court-clothing.

I briefly worked in alterations full-time after moving back to the states.
I got the job in part because I know the seamstress in back and she recommended it for me.

A few months in at the suit place and before I’ve even received the suits I ordered from my employee allowance, I have 3 full suits and many pants and blazers because of the rejects / my own alteration knowledge / being small.

My friend say I now dress like a Time Lord for work.

I’ve also taken to keeping an eye out for rejected vests to use for fabric.

Vests are far less potentially useful for charity than pants and jackets AND using them for fabric has less risk of me having a HUGE stash of extra suiting.

Why am I telling you this?

The item I’m using in this picture is called a Third Hand/Kakihari by Clover. It’s a modern version of what used to be called a sewing bird. When I show pictures of this item folks in the kink scene generally gaffaw because they don’t recognize it as a sewing item. This item is also sold for…um…clamping tiny delicate things. THE MORE YOU KNOW,

The Snow Princess’s jacket is lined in this “stormy sky” lining.

Both the dress pattern and the jacket pattern are from ドール・コーディネイト・レシピ 12 スウィート・フェアリーテイル (Dolly*Dolly BOOKS) Now I realize you probably won’t buy from this link because the mark-up to America is huge BUT the listing should give you the info you need to keep and eye open for Etsy folks who sell digital downloads of such things OR if you’re in Japan you can probably hunt Book-Off used books sewing and/or collection sections until you find it.

Doll Coordinates Recipe 12; Sweet Fairy Tale

With the doll as you see her above…I was still feeling like she was a learning experience but I wasn’t happy with having made the choice to continue.

I didn’t love her until….I found the right accessory.

The right accessory is great when dressing on a human scale but when you’re a 1/6 scale doll it can be THE thing that makes a whole doll work.

I first made a furry headband but the proportions didn’t work. No pics.

Then I made a round hat/fascinator that attaches with a wig clip and ribbons….and I loved her.

And the love I have for her helps me deal with the extra work I put into her.

Truth be told, there really wouldn’t ever be an ideal time to have used that head. Even when doing a hybrid body/head combo the cuts the prior owner made were rough and I’d be better off altering a perfect head for a larger neck.

Week Three finished.

I also finished week four and it’s a beauty that stuns me…but more on that later.

Tallying Snow Girl weeks, was it worth it?

Scraps!

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