The original Kenner Blythe from 1972 was designed as a children’s toy for little girls. Blythe was meant to be in the hands of children, kind of like the basic Barbies of today. Blythe was a fashion doll who came with 70’s style clothing, funky coloured wigs and sunglasses and one of those plastic clothing cases that looks so much like something I had for my own dolls when I was younger (of course, that was for a Barbie doll).

I don’t have children, so I can’t really answer this week’s questinon, but my question this week is:

For those of you with children, do you let your kids play with your Blythes (Kenners, Takaras or ADGs)? Do they get to play with your dolls with or without constant supervision? At what age do you think you would get your child their own Blythe (if they wished to have one)?

One of the nicest things about the summer season is the good weather. Good weather means little rain, little rain means less chances of eyelashes coming out from our favourite dolls. And to challenge myself (and others!), I’ve come up with a list of potential good photo locations to take advantage of this summer:

1. Local botanical gardens
2. Aquarium
3. Parks (local, national, provincial or other)
4. From the car window during a road trip
5. Beach (be careful of water!)
6. On a ferry
7. From a plane window
8. At BlytheCon in Portland (!)
9. A neighbour’s garden (if it looks better than yours, if you get permission first)
10. Playground for all those little-girl Blythes around

When I was younger, my parents refused to go out and buy clothes for my Barbie dolls beyond what came with the doll herself. But I still wanted new clothes for my dolls so my dad used to sew some for me, just to placate me long enough for me to stop from whining more. One of the things he used to make for me was little sweaters and dresses from socks, so with his help I wrote this tutorial.

Pretty much all of the directions are his, minus the use of stabilizer (I have no clue how he was patient enough to sew doll clothes for me with socks without stabilizer, I had a hard enough time with it!).

You will need:

• 1 sock (I bought mine from a local dollar store, kids sizes at 3 pairs for $2 CAD)
• scissors
• stabilizer (makes your life so much easier)
• thread (either the same colour as your sock or similar)
• pencil (or something else to mark fabric with)
• pins
• sewing machine

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We all have a life before Blythe. We had different priorities, we didn’t have small dresses and tiny shoes everywhere. It can really make you think about how much has changed since you entered the hobby.

What was your life like before you discovered (or were forcefully introduced) to those lovely big-headed dolls?

Perhaps you had more fun money back then. Maybe you didn’t sew or knit or crochet. Maybe you even bought more clothes for yourself (oh, those were the days!). What kinds of things did you do?

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As many of you in the Blythe community are aware, a group of us have been working a project called 4alissia in our efforts to raise money to help pay for Alissia’s medical expenses (you can read more about Alissia at her parents’ blog or on the 4alissia.com website).

The first auction took place in April with a Mo’Betta Custom (Simply Vanilla base) with a whole load of goodies. This second auction features a Bud <3 Sissy (Soni) custom with a BlytheFairy (Sadi) reroot and also comes with a lot of fantastic little things like hand crafted accessories and clothes.

You can check out this fantastic auction over at eBay, where you can bid until May 26th (Thursday).

All of the items for these auctions were donated by wonderful members of the Blythe community and the gorgeous custom needs a home! Please remember that the money raised goes towards a very special little girl as she fights cancer, so every little bit helps!

For more information on how you can donate to 4alissia, please click here.