Dollieh Sanctuary

Been obsessing over Howl's Moving Castle again lately, brain wants dolls, dolls don't exist, brain insists we make them. Guess I know what I'm doing this winter, and it involves reroots and drafting patterns . . .

Pray for me.

I've been sewing pajamas and bathrobes for my dollies. Well, I've started with a nightgown, but I have a long ass list. Gonna make cozy pajamas for everyone, with cute prints painted on them. Yes, I have around 75 dolls... But most of them don't have pajamas. I have no idea how far I'll get, we'll see. I have 1 nightgown sewn and a two piece pajama set cut out so far.

So my grandfather cleaned out his workshop and found a box that we hadn't seen for almost 20 years. It had a TON of dolls inside that are now in desperate need of TLC. So yeah, I have a lot of work today this winter.

I demand you share pictures of TLC dolls!

I need to literally hose out the baby buggy, which was only supposed to be outside for a little while when we first moved in but has been out there the whole time ~angry~. It'll clean and I want to put doll fabric on it. It's one of those box pram ones I got at a junk store but it's modern. Eventually the bigger dolls will hang out in it.

The box apparently had either a mouse or chipmunk living in it at some point, but thankfully nobody has been chewed on, from what I can tell. I'll try to get some pictures when I'm off again, if it's not too cold.

The two dolly pj sets I was working on are painted and done. Next, they get bathrobes and fuzzy socks. Will post pics when everything's done.

This is how the PJs I was working on came out. No bathrobes yet, since I lost the pattern for a few days, but I found it today, so the project will resume tomorrow. Thought I'd share my progress. I drafted the pattern, cut and sewed the fabric, and painted on the designs all by hand. It doesn't look very professional, but I think it looks personal, and that makes me very happy.

Started the process of cleaning up these poor forgotten souls. I did do SOME minor clean up prior to this picture. Like removing a DEAD LIZARD from one poor girl's hair. Also, yes, for anybody wondering, I am 99% sure that brush is the one I probably used on these dolls' hair. Most of them are from the 90s and early 2000s, so there's a LOT of kanekalon in this box. I am so sorry, ladies, child me didn't know any better . . .



A look at some of the worst stains to see how well a few hours in oxiclean works



I only noticed after taking this picture that this dress has a hole in it. I think I can make some more flowers and cover it up, though. Of course my favorite thing in the box is one of the only two things that got chewed.




Cinderella has a gimmick where you press a button on her back and her skirt changes between three different designs. The mechanism means part of her skirt is attached to her body, so she has to take a bath in the oxiclean. Ariel is one of those soft bodied dolls that was meant for kids to snuggle and sleep with, as evidenced by her excellent impersonation of cooked pasta. I haven't tested to see if her eyes still work. She might actually be dead. Cindy might be bathing with a dead body. Please pray for Cindy.

Is 90s Barbie kanekalon the hair that gets dried out and frizzy even if it's strait? A better part of my girls from the late 80s-90s have bad hair even tho I treated them well. Anyone with crimping is a nightmare.

Yep, it's the soft, "fluffy" hair that feels completely different than nylon or saran. Pray for these girls, y'all. And these clothes. Some of the stains are coming out, but I'm not holding out hope for some of them.