DON'T GO ON EBAY TO RELAX!!!

Normally when Momma Cat gets home from work she is too fried to do much of anything, until after she's had a little rest.  The best way to rest is to stay away from the computer, and especially eBay!

Last week, after a hard day, Momma Cat was just looking at Madame Alexander dolls on eBay, when she spied a nice-looking doll for sale for $9.99!  Well, that's almost unheard of, unless there's something seriously wrong with the doll. But, after looking at the pictures and reading the description, it sounded like a really good deal, and the doll was going off sale in 4 minutes!  So Momma Cat bid, and she won!  

The thing is,Momma Cat didn't really need or want a new doll at that particular moment in time. So, Momma Cat can't stress this too much, you shouldn't go on eBay when you're in a weakened condition!  Especially if you've got a doll addiction, which Momma Cat does.  Also, especially if you're tired, hungry, or have little money in your bank account!

Anyway, Momma Cat's little temptation arrived in the mail today. 

Bathing Beauty

  
The little sweetie is in pretty good shape, although she could use a little cleaning!  She has gorgeous curly hair and brown eyes.  I think her clothes are rather unattractive.  But, that's a personal opinion, and she will be getting a new outfit from me very soon!

The person who sold and shipped her to me obviously doesn't have much respect for dolls from what I can see.  She came in a flat rate box, she was bent in half at the waist, and was wrapped in a garbage bag!  OMG!!!
  
Although I am happy with my purchase, I know that eBay is a dangerous place to browse.  So keep that in mind the next time you want to relax!!!  Try reading a book instead.  It's safer!

- Momma Cat

MOMMA CAT IS BACK, AND SHE'S GOT SOME MORE DOLLS!!

Boy, it's been quite a while since Momma Cat has posted anything!  She's embarrassed, but she's been very, very busy!  

She's been working, but she's also been buying dolls, and making outfits for them.  That means buying patterns, fabric, notions, stockings and shoes. 

Here are the dolls that Momma Cat has purchased recently.

Madame Alexander (Baby Cat's birthday present)

Corolle Les Cheries

Two Madame Alexander 18 inch dolls

Blonde Madame Alexander 18 inch doll

8 inch Madame Alexander doll

 Momma Cat makes each doll a pair of panties first thing, because, oddly enough, they don't come with a pair of panties!  Not even the new dolls!

Panties

 

 Then she makes clothes specific to each doll! But, she also makes some extras, so that the dolls may have more than one outfit, or some may be purchased for other dolls.

Pj's, hoodies, dresses, pants and tops

Here are two of the dolls with their new outfits!

Ready for school to start

Pink romper with crocheted sweater

Momma Cat still has a few dolls to clothe, and she's working hard at it!  So, she'll be back online with another blog post when she gets them finished!

-  Momma Cat

MOMMA CAT SCORES BIG ON EBAY!!!

It may have been mentioned before that Momma Cat loves dolls, and likes to collect them.  Lately she has been trying to find new or gently used dolls to make clothes for, and eventually resell.  

Well, this week she scored big on eBay!  Her first purchase was a little 12 inch Corolle doll.  She looks exactly like one Momma bought for Baby Cat when she was about 2 years old.  Her name is now Piccolina.  Piccolina will not be resold.  But Momma Cat plans to make her some awesome doll clothes in the near future!!

Piccolina

Today Momma Cat got her two newest beauties in the mail. She was so happy when got home from work, saw her box, and then opened it.  These two gorgeous 18 inch Madame Alexander dolls were inside.  The one on the left has the most beautiful, long, wavy, dark brown hair.  Her clothes are not original.  But who cares?  That's what Momma Cat loves to do, make new clothes for these wonderful creatures.  

The doll on the right is simply beautiful.  She has a few small marks on her body, but that just shows that she was loved by someone else in her previous life!  Now it's Momma Cat's turn to love her and make her some new and nifty duds!  

Little Piccolina insisted in being in the photo with her two new "big sisters"!
 

Piccolina and her two big sisters

It is very hard for Momma Cat to sell any doll she falls in love with, so we'll see how this experiment goes.  Hopefully she will have one to sell as soon as she learns how to make doll shoes.  Until then these girls are hers!!!! Na ha ha!!!

- Momma Cat

DOLL CLOTHES FOR MADAME ALEXANDER DOLLS

Momma Cat was a lucky girl and received these two crochet books from Daddy Cat for Christmas!  

You can see they both have a lot of different kinds of clothing you can crochet for your dolls. Momma Cat picked a pattern from the first book (the Teddy Suit pattern) and went to work!

She decided right away that She didn't want to make a Teddy Suit, She wanted to make a Cat Suit instead!  Go figure! So she bought some black yarn and went to work.  

She doesn't remember how long it took her to complete the outfit, but she was shocked when she went to put it on her doll!  It was way tooooooooo small!  It was probably her own fault for not checking the gauge when she first started (a very important step!), but she was not very happy with the outcome!  So Momma Cat tore it apart and started completely over again!  

She made the second Cat Suit and tried it on her doll.  This time it fit, but it was so very difficult to get on, that she decided it needed to be redesigned.  This caused no end of problems with the pattern, but she was able to re-make it with a back opening, including buttonholes and buttons.  This is pretty essential when making doll clothes, as doll arms and torsos do not bend and twist the same way a human's can!  

  
So, here's a picture of the finished Cat Suit from the back, you can see the tail, and the buttons!

Cat Suit with button and buttonhole closure

Cat Suit from the front

 What Momma Cat learned from making this outfit was, (and this is so important!), all 18 inch dolls are not created equally, so clothing will fit the dolls differently.  Pay close attention to gauge and try the garment on the doll periodically as you make it!  That way you can adjust it to fit your doll perfectly!  Also, zipper, velcro, or button openings are essential, or your doll's clothes will be very hard to put on and remove.  So, if your pattern doesn't call for them, you might have to do a little re-designing of your own!

Please learn from Momma Cat's mistakes, so you don't have to make the same outfit three times, and have fun creating some one-of-a-kind doll clothes for your doll, or for a friend's.  

- Momma Cat

DOLL COLLECTING AND COLLECTING, AND COLLECTING.......

It seems that Momma Cat has been collecting dolls her entire life! This is something that she passed on to Baby Cat too.  They've spent many hours looking for, buying, making clothes for, and even designing and creating their own dolls!

Last fall Momma Cat asked Baby Cat if she thought she was too old to get dolls for her birthday, and Baby Cat said, "You can never be too old for that!"  

After talking to Baby Cat, Momma Cat went online to the Disney Store because Baby Cat was talking about the Disney Animator Doll series.  Baby Cat really liked the Aladdin Doll. (Baby Cat's husband once dressed as Aladdin for Halloween, and Baby Cat was Jasmine)! So Momma Cat decided to surprise her!  Momma Cat sent Baby Cat a Baby Aladdin doll!

Baby Cat with baby Aladdin

Doesn't she look happy?


 Now, Momma Cat is an impatient cat and just couldn't wait for her birthday in November, and she saw this doll on eBay and just had to buy her! 

October 20, 2015

She's an 18 inch Madame Alexander doll. These dolls aren't available in stores anymore, so if you want one, you have to go online.  Although, you can by new models on the Madame Alexander website.  I think they are a lot more attractive, and a lot more affordable than the American Girl dolls.  They can wear the same size shoes and clothes though, so there are many patterns available to choose from!   This doll is totally adorable now, but she came with a very silly hairdo, and Momma Cat thinks she needs some better clothes!  So she will be making her some!

Momma Cat liked her first doll so much she kept looking on eBay, and she saw this doll online a few weeks later, and decided to buy her for herself for her own birthday!   

November 16, 2015 - Asian Doll with original outfit

Close up of her beautiful face

This is also an 18 inch Madame Alexander doll.  Momma Cat thinks she is very beautiful.  Her original outfit is not that interesting, so Momma Cat has been making lots of clothes for this doll!  She posted one of the new outfits (crocheted Cat Suit) in her January post, but then she took it apart and completely re-crocheted it because it was extremely difficult to take on and off the doll! 

Hopefully, next time Momma Cat posts, she will have some completed outfits to show you!  Until then, enjoy some of the beautiful spring-like weather we've been having!

- Momma Cat 

NEW LOOK FOR OLD ROCKING CHAIR

In Momma Cat's last post she showed you her new curtains and how nice they made her living room look!  

Well, Momma Cat and Big Sister Cat went shopping at IKEA again (a very dangerous place), and she bought some fabric that matched her curtains!  Then she took her old rocking chair cushion, and matching pillow apart and used them as patterns.  

She made a new seat cushion, new pillow cover, and re-covered the foot stool! Now everything is coordinated! 

Brand New Look For Old Chair

But, the down-side is Midna Cat won't sleep in the chair anymore, even though Momma Cat put a new Cat blanket in there for her!

Little Choco-Cat blanket for napping

  Guess that's just the way it goes!

- Momma Cat

A NEW LOOK FOR MOMMA CAT'S LIVING ROOM

Recently Momma Cat's Big Sister Cat took her and their friend Pam Cat to IKEA for a "girls shopping day".  We had loads of fun and spent hours looking around and had some delicious coffee and lunch! 

While there, Momma Cat had been eyeing some curtains that she wanted for her living room, but didn't quite have enough to buy them, so Big Sister Cat bought them for her for her birthday!!!!

She was so happy, she took them home and began working to shorten them so she could hang them up in her windows.  It took a while, but it was well worth the effort! 

See what you think.

Momma Cat was part way through taking down the lights and the curtains before she remembered to take a "before" photo of one of the front windows.

Front curtain

 This curtain was only a year or two old, but Momma Cat never really liked it.  It was just white on white. It had no pizzazz!











 This curtain is soooooooo old that Momma Cat can't even remember when she made it!  It's at least 20 years old, or more!

Front curtain

 This is what the two side curtains looked like.  They let in a lot of sun, which was nice, except in the summer when it could be a real problem!

Side curtain

The only really nice thing about these old curtains was that it was easy for our Midna Cat to look outside and see the birds!

Side curtain

New front curtain

New side window and front window curtains

 See how much nicer they look!  Now Daddy Cat is going to put up some new decorative holdbacks for the new curtains.  They have tie-backs right now, but the new fixtures will make it much easier to open and close them.  











Thank you, Thank you Big Sister, and Big Brother-In-Law Cat for the new curtains!  They make us smile every time we look at them!!


- Momma Cat