MADAME ALEXANDER 18 INCH DOLLS VS. AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS!

All of you American Girl Doll lovers cover your eyes and plug your ears.  I know you won't want to hear what Momma Cat is going to say.  

Momma Cat is looking at her collection of 18 inch Madame Alexander dolls, and she thinks they are far more attractive than American Girl dolls!  The American Girl dolls do have a lot of great clothes and accessories that are very well made!  But, Momma Cat has to say, the dolls are not that pretty! 

Take for example Momma Cat's Asian doll, Misumi (meaning pure, beautiful, in Japanese). She has been featured on Momma Cat's blog a few times, because she is so exquisite, and she's Momma Cat's favorite! Look at how beautiful her face is!  She has shiny long black hair too! 

Misumi-Momma Cat's Madame Alexander 18 inch doll.

In addition, Madame Alexander dolls have vinyl heads, arms, legs, and breastplates, and they are poseable!  American Girl dolls only have vinyl heads, arms, and legs.  So a lot of the cute clothing styles reveal the cloth body parts! Not too attractive! The American Girl dolls are not poseable either.



Below is a picture of Misumi in her brand new clothes. Momma Cat made Misumi's underwear, corduroy dress, and hair accessory. She also designed and crocheted Misumi's shoes.  The only thing she didn't make are Misumi's tights.  Momma Cat bought the tights from Doll Secrets

Misumi in her new corduroy dress.

Momma Cat thought that Misumi should probably have a coat to wear on those cold, blustery, wet days that we so often have in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  So she created this coat for her.  Notice the coat is fully lined.

 

The coat's lining

Misumi in her new lined coat.

Momma Cat designed and created a bag to complete Misumi's ensemble, using materials recycled from an old bag that she had.  The heart shape insignia on the front of the bag is one of Momma Cat's old earrings!  The other earring has been lost for a couple of years!

Misumi's purple bag.

   
Madame Alexander 18 inch dolls are infinitely more affordable than American Girl dolls too!  So, if you're on a budget (who isn't?), you can buy a very nice new doll for about $35-$85, as opposed to $115,  and have some money left over to buy more doll clothes, or shoes, or whatever you want!  You can find some very nice used dolls on eBay too, if you're willing to do a little work!

Momma Cat has bought several used Madame Alexander 18 inch dolls off of eBay and has had very good results!
    
Every year Momma Cat creates a few items to enter into the Multnomah County Fair.  She does this mainly because it's fun, but also because she likes winning those luscious blue ribbons!

This year Misumi will be one of her entries.  Wish Momma Cat and Misumi luck! 

 
Wish Momma Cat luck!

DOLL DOPPELGANGER

Momma Cat and Baby Cat have a very sweet friend, who we will call Catcat.  Baby Cat met her while she was away at College, and she's become a very good friend of the Cat family.  

This is a picture of Catcat holding her doll doppelganger. 

Merry Christmas Catcat!!

Momma Cat bought this doll and made her an entirely new outfit, complete with shoes.  Momma had intended to sell her.  But, she and Baby Cat both thought this Madame Alexander doll looked so much like Catcat, that she just had to have her for her Christmas present!  Catcat also likes dolls!  

We probably all have doll doppelgangers out there somewhere.  Hopefully we get a chance to meet them someday! It's fun to think about anyway!

- Momma Cat

 

HELLO KITTY x 2 = FUN!!

Momma Cat just finished another adorable Hello Kitty dress and here's her little model showing it off.

Pastel Hello Kitty dress on 18" Madame Alexander doll

It's a pastel version of an earlier dress that I made for my other doll, Misumi, pictured below with my little model.


 

Misumi, also Madame Alexander,  in Neon Hello Kitty

Momma Cat loves both of her little dolls and thinks they both look adorable in their little dresses.  What do you think?

Also, Momma Cat needs to name her little model.  So, if you have any name suggestions, please let her know!  The sooner the better! It's getting tiresome referring to her as her little model. 


- Momma Cat

OMG! MELISSA AND DOUG!!

Momma Cat has found some more dolls on the internet that she thinks are pretty cute.  They are called Playmates, by Melissa and Doug.  

 The first one is a little blond ballerina, called Alexa.  She is so cute. She came with clothes, but she has no shoes!  Momma Cat is going to make her a completely new outfit, and new shoes too!

Little Alexa

About a week later, Momma Cat found this sweet redhead dressed as a princess, named Larissa.  So she bought her too!  She has no shoes either, but Momma Cat will fix that!  

Princess Larissa

 The Melissa and Doug dolls are slightly larger than Corolle, Les Cheries dolls, but a lot smaller than the Madame Alexander dolls, as you can see in the next picture.

Larissa and Alexa, next to a Les Cheries, an 18"  Madame Alexander in the back

What do you think? Do you like them?

 The reason Momma Cat likes these dolls so much is because they have sweet faces, they are all vinyl, they are very affordable, and they have wonderful hair!  The kind of hair a kid can comb!!!


Momma Cat loves all her little dolls so much!  She can't wait to dress them all!

- Momma Cat

RARE FIND FOR MOMMA CAT'S DOLL COLLECTION!!

Momma Cat won another eBay auction this week!  She has been looking for a redheaded doll, with green eyes.  She's seen several come and go, but finally she got really lucky, and one came up for auction, she placed a bid, and she won!!!!!!!

The problem is that this doll is so beautiful it'll be extremely hard for Momma Cat to let her go when it's time to sell her!  

But, the truth is, Momma Cat has the same problem with all of her dolls!

Well, what do you think?

Rare redheaded Madame Alexander Doll

Sweet little Amanda Maureen

Isn't she gorgeous?  Momma Cat named her Amanda Maureen, after two redheads that she loves!

Momma Cat went into her sewing room to look for some fabric to make Amanda Maureen a dress, and she realized this dress she'd already made was perfect.  She even had some shoes to go with it! How lucky was that? 

This dress matches her eyes!

You probably remember this dress being modeled by another of Momma Cat's dolls in a previous blog.  But, Momma Cat thinks this dress is a perfect match for Amanda Maureen.

- Momma Cat

SHE'S AT IT AGAIN!!!

Momma Cat has been busy again this week.  She has made a few new outfits for her dolls using the fabric she got from Bolt, and some she bought from JoAnn Fabrics. Oddly enough, several of these outfits have a cat theme......

This first one is made from a piece of Hello Kitty fabric that Momma Cat bought a year or two ago.  

Momma Cat's own doll with her new Hello Kitty Dress

 Momma Cat ordered her doll some hot pink ballet flats to match the dress, but they have not arrived yet. This doll is so stunning, she looks good in everything! Her name is Misumi, meaning, pure beauty. 

The second dress was made from the adorable fabric Momma Cat bought at Bolt, a small neighborhood  fabric store over on Alberta Street, couple of weeks ago.  

Beautiful Asian doll with cat print dress

 I know this looks like Momma Cat's doll, but she's not! This is another doll that she purchased from eBay.  She's in excellent condition, and she also looks good in everything!

This last cat print dress is worn by another Madame Alexander doll, who is named Catherine, because she reminds Momma Cat of Baby Cat's dear friend.  

Catherine and her cat print dress

 Now, the real Catherine is a lot prettier, but Momma Cat thinks this Catherine is adorable.  What do you think?

This next outfit is worn by Ruby.  Momma Cat took one look at this gorgeous doll and Ruby was the name that popped into her head!

Ruby in her summer outfit with matching sandals

 Naturally Ruby had to have red shoes and a red dress.  She's such a pretty doll, but she has a few marks on her skin that Momma Cat has not been able to get off.  Still, Momma thinks that some little girl may fall in love with her in spite of her flaws.  Momma Cat did!

 This next dress is worn by another of Momma Cat's personal dolls.  It's a simple little dress with a little spring water-color print that Momma Cat bought it in Huntington Beach, California, while visiting Baby Cat, and Baby Cat's husband.

Adorable doll with an adorable dress

 Last, but not least is a cute little dress made with fabric Momma Cat purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  The pattern is a vintage style with a full skirt and fitted bodice.

Momma Cat's little "model" wearing her vintage design dress

 This dress was fun to make and it looks great on Momma Cat's doll.  It was a little hard finding shoes to match, but thankfully there are some turquoise shoes out there!  There are several online sites where shoes can be purchased, and there are even some patterns if you want to make your own!  That's a craft for another day!

Momma Cat's little "model" doll needs a name too, but so far she has not come up with a suitable one.  Any suggestions?

- Momma Cat