HEARTS FOR HEARTS, DELL

Momma Cat bought this cute little doll named Dell from Ebay. Dell is what is known as a Playmates, Hearts for Hearts Doll.  Dell is from America, and she lives in Kentucky.   She very interestingly has one blue eye and one blue/green eye, which adds to her charm, Momma Cat thinks!

Dell from Kentucky

 Momma Cat was accidentally introduced to Hearts for Hearts Dolls when she was trying to find clothing patterns for smaller dolls.  She went onto a website called Pixie Faire
This website has patterns for all different kinds of doll clothes and shoes.  Momma Cat was hooked! But, she also saw pictures of Hearts for Hearts Dolls, and decided she needed to find one to add to her collection.  

Hearts for Hearts Dolls aren't being produced anymore, so they're not that easy to find, and they're not cheap, unless you find them in used condition, usually without their original clothing.  Which, is right up Momma Cat's alley, since she is making doll clothes for sale!  She wants dolls to dress!

Dell has new earrings!

Dell came with a dress, (not original), shoes, and that's about it.  Momma Cat found these little earrings for her down at Hiron's Drugstore in Eugene.  Then she made Dell a pair of underwear, since she was missing those also.  

Finally Momma Cat made Dell a dress out of (you guessed it!) the same pattern she used for her other two small dolls. Even though these dolls are different sizes and have slightly different body types, the dress pattern fits them all equally well!  Who'd have thought that would work?

Here they all are together showing off! Three little beauties!

Dell's dress is cotton, the other two are cotton knit

The poor little things all still need shoes, which Momma Cat will probably end up making herself since shoes for dolls of this size are hard to come by, and they're expensive!!!  But, that's a job for another day!  Momma Cat is tired and needs to sleep!

Goodnight all!  Let me know what you think of my little Dell.

- Momma Cat

COROLLE AND MELISSA AND DOUG SHARE A DRESS PATTERN

Momma Cat has been buying patterns from a website called Pixie Faire
which sells patterns for a lot of different types of dolls.  Momma Cat has recently purchased two Corolle Les Cheries dolls and several Melissa and Doug dolls. These dolls are 13 and 14 inches tall, respectively, and it's difficult to find patterns to fit them.  But Pixie Faire came to the rescue!

It turns out that the one pattern Momma Cat bought that's supposed to fit Les Cheries dolls, and Hearts for Hearts dolls, also fits the Melissa and Doug dolls (with a couple of minor adjustments).  The fit is a little tighter on the Melissa and Doug dolls, and Momma Cat lengthened the skirt by an inch so she'd have a decent hem to work with.  

Here are her two models wearing dresses made from the Baby Doll dress pattern.  

Melissa and Doug, Les Cheries

As you can see, the Melissa and Doug doll is slightly taller, she is also a little bit wider across her chest and hips.  But, since Momma Cat made these dresses out of knit fabric, there is a lot of give to them, and they fit both dolls!  The Les Cheries doll's dress is a bit looser, but still fits well.  

These dolls have very different feet too, although they are pretty close in size.  Finding ready-made shoes for them is difficult, there tends to be few choices, plus, they're expensive!  But Pixie Faire has patterns for dolls shoes too!  So, Momma Cat will be trying her hand at making some for all her new little dolls!  

Momma Cat's had to create a pattern for underwear for her little dolls too, since almost all the dolls she's bought come to her with a bare bum, and no shoes!  What's up with that?  Baby Cat says it's because shoes and underwear are the first things that little girls lose when they play with their dolls and change their clothes!  Momma Cat thinks she's right!

When you get a chance you should check out Pixie Faire and see what you think!

- Momma Cat

WOODEN JAPANESE KOKESHI DOLL

You might be thinking to yourself, what is a Japanese Kokeshi doll?  Well, Momma Cat found out accidentally while she was looking for something else online.  It turns out that a Kokeshi doll is made out of one piece of wood, turned on a lathe, then it's carved (it's arms and legs are not separate, they are suggested by the carving), and painted.  

Momma Cat looked at a lot of them on the internet.  Some are very tiny, some are large, some are very old, and some are very new.  Some are made in China.  Those Kokeshi dolls are not authentic, so don't be fooled!  

Here's the one Momma Cat bought.  She doesn't think it's very old, but she fell in love with the shape, the carving, and the colors.

This doll is about 6 inches tall, and except for the carving details, she is perfectly smooth and beautiful!  Momma Cat loves her!

What do you think?  

- Momma Cat

HOLIDAY DRESSES FOR 18 INCH MADAME ALEXANDER DOLLS

If you didn't already know, all of the Halloween and Christmas fabrics have made their way into the fabric stores already!  Momma Cat loves Halloween!  A trait she passed on to Baby Cat, by the way.

Momma Cat made this sweet little Halloween Dress and paired it with some cute little black boots that she found at JoAnn's.  Here's her little model, Wren, wearing the dress.

Wren wairing Jack Skellington print dress

 The dress is a Jack Skellington print complimented by an orange print with tiny spiders.  Momma Cat knows Baby Cat would really love this dress!  The only thing that would make it cuter is Momma Cat could find some little spider clips for Wren's hair!  

Next we have Wren wearing a beautiful red Christmas dress.  The fabric is red satin with an embroidered rose pattern.  Momma Cat made a dress for herself out of the same fabric a couple of years ago, and won a "Best Of Show" ribbon at the Multnomah County Fair!
  
In this first photo, Wren is wearing her red dress with a hand crocheted cropped red-sparkle sweater, red shoes, with a red ribbon in her hair.  Doesn't she look festive?

Wren, all in red!

In this next photo, Wren is wearing the same dress, this time paired with silver, shoes, a hand crocheted silver-sparkle sweater, and a silver ribbon in her hair.  
 

Wren, in red with silver accents.

It's amazing how a couple of small things can completely change the way an outfit looks.  Momma Cat thinks Wren looks smashing in both ensembles.  But, she wants to know what you think.  Which outfit would you choose as your favorite?

 
 Momma Cat

OLD PORTLAND HARDWARE & ARCHITECTURAL

Just last week Momma and Daddy Cat were walking on SE Tacoma Street, and came across a business that had just opened it's doors!

 They went in because there were a lot of strange and interesting things in the window, and because it was a brand new business they'd never seen before.  

Well, they weren't disappointed!  If you like old hardware, doorknobs, switchplates, and lighting fixtures, then you'd really like this place!  They have all kinds of great things, and since they're new, they're still getting in more stock.  There's a nice little parking lot too, so you don't have to try to find parking on the street.  

The address is: 1667 SE Tacoma Street, Portland, Oregon.  Their phone number is 503-234-7380.  Here's a link to their web-site.  Old Portland Hardware & Architectural  

Momma Cat found a bin of old radio and TV tubes and suddenly flashed on some cute Christmas ornaments she might be able to make from them.  So, she bought 13 of them! 

She bought some cord end jewelry findings and glued one on the top of each tube with some jewelry glue.

 She only painted three so far, because she wanted to see how they'd turn out.  Here they are.

Three Robot Ornaments

Momma cat found some very thin silver cord and she's going to use that to hang them up on the Christmas tree!

If you get a chance to visit the store you will be charmed by all the old fashioned things and their beauty.  The people that work there are very nice too!

- Momma Cat