Photo from sxc.hu user thea0211

A great way to save a little money is to make your own doll clothing. Of course, if you buy expensive materials, it may end up more expensive compared to already made frocks… I like to get the most bang for my buck, and I’ve compiled a little list of things that I do to keep the sewing part of my Blythe hobby as inexpensive as humanly possible.

• I use primarily clear, white or black thread and I tend to save the coloured thread for when I really need it. If the stitches aren’t going to show, I usually just use white thread. I’ve found that white thread is more likely to go on sale or be cheaper and it also comes in larger spools. You don’t need to buy matching thread for all your projects, especially if the thread isn’t showing. This also means that I always have three bobbins reserved for clear, white or black thread. The rest of the bobbins often have remnants of other colours that I don’t use as often.
• Thrift bedsheets. Two weeks ago I picked up a white king-sized flat bedsheet for the grand total of $3 plus tax. It’s 100% cotton and you could not get that big of a piece of fabric at a fabric store for that price. The only flaw with it was that there was an orange stain the size of a quarter. It went through the wash with a bit of bleach and it came out completely white. Now I have enough white fabric to use as lining forever (given my pace of sewing…).
• Buttons! I snip buttons off of clothes that I’m about to throw out or utilize the fabric somewhere else. Even if I don’t have a project right that moment, I’ll probably have a project for it in the future. This also applies to thrifted clothes that I get for their fabrics (I like looking in the children’s section for clothing with small prints that would fit well for Blythe).
• Transferring patterns. I don’t like cutting patterns out of books or out of the big pattern sheets (Simplicity, I’m looking at you!). What I like to do is use tracing paper. Tracing paper is inexpensive (even more so if you use a 40% or 50% off coupon from one of the big box arts & crafts stores!) and a pad is usually pretty thick (at least 50 sheets). It’s easy to use and is thinner than regular paper so it also lies flatter when you’re pinning it against fabric.

What great money-saving sewing tips do you have? Share below!

The local Blythe group where I live has a meet once a month since we’ve started, which has been very fun. We try to make the meets fun and put as little stress as possible on the hostess who’s volunteering up their house. So I’ve made a list of some of the things that my local group has done to make meets budget friendly:

1. Food – Bring food when/if you can to the meet so that the host isn’t required to come up with food for everyone. While not all group members bring food every meet, members have brought items to meets as they can.
2. Workshops – We’ve had fun group activities with workshops that have involved sewing and decorating hats. It’s a great way to be taught new skills and to also see how everyone makes the same starting item look completely different at the end.
3. Photo ops – I always find it fun to put together groups of Blythe dolls into big photo opportunities. We’ve done a ‘class photo’ of 1972 dolls. We’ve done a fairy ring of Blythes. It’s always fun to take big photos and to also share photos online for others to see as well.
4. Locations – We’ve had meets at people’s houses, in public parks. It’s a great idea to find places that are easy to get to via transit, easy to find nearby parking spots and low-cost or free locations.
5. Themes – It’s a fun idea to give the meet a theme! The most recent one I attended was St. Patrick’s Day and a lot of the dolls that had attended wore green, which was neat. We’ve also done a Hallowe’en-themed meet where there was a costume party (for the dolls!). Not only does it make for a great reason for your dolls to wear fun animal suits that you’ve kept for whatever reason, but it means that all your other clothes can have a reason to come out to meets.

My first Kenner love, Emmalynn, came with no visible blush. What I really wanted to do was to add some colour back to her chubby plastic cheeks and I thought I’d share how I did that. This is a temporary method, there’s no permanent change to the plastic of the faceplate and it is reversible.

You will need:

• A doll in need of blush
• Pink chalk pastels
• Cotton ball or cotton pad
• Water

I bought my chalk pastels at my local dollar store. You can also find chalk pastels at art stores or online. I’ll be using the colour in the upper right hand corner.

I first cleaned my doll’s cheeks with some water, I wanted to make sure that the surface was clean before adding chalk pastels. You can also use soap, but I just use plain water on a tissue paper and give it a nice swipe.

I then used the cotton pad and pressed it to the chalk pastel and make sure that I get some colour on it. Then I dab the pastel to where I want her to have blush on her face plate.

I don’t rub the chalk pastel, I just dab. And I repeat until I’m satisfied with how her blush looks. There will be excess chalk dust, I blew this off. And then I have a blushy looking Kenner that’s ready for a photo or two.

To remove the chalk pastels, you can wipe it off with water. It will also come off with rubbing alcohol.

This was the results of my chalk pastel-ing. I was going for a slightly blushy look and I didn’t want it overwhelming, I think I got some nice results. I may try for more blush later, but for now I’m happy with it:

The ever so popular photo editing online program Picnik (which you’ve probably heard of through Flickr) is closing as of April 19, 2012. For a lot of people, this means a sudden loss in a photo editing program. Not everyone can afford Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, so I’ve come up with a list of a few free photo editing programs that you may want to consider as an alternative to Picnik after it goes away for good. I’ve also listed a few pros and cons to each option to hopefully help you consider which program you’d like to try.

GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Pros:

• Comparable to Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro
• Compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems
• Great for both light and more advanced photo manipulation work

Cons:

• Contains a lot more features than most people would need (can be overwhelming)

Paint.NET

Pros:

• Comparable with Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and GIMP
• Super small file size for the program (fast loading)

Cons:

• Compatible with Windows only, not Mac operating systems
• Contains a lot more features than most people would need (can be overwhelming)

Picasa (Google)

Pros:

• Picasa can be used to edit and upload images onto the web
• Linked to Picasa albums (via your Google account), Google+
• Contains most regularly used features for light manipulation

Cons:

• Newest version available is for Windows only, no Linux or Mac

PhotoScape

Pros:

• Has a lot of familiar features from Picnik (eg. frames, speech bubbles) that are easy to add
• Batch editing

Cons:

• Compatible with Windows only

Image from stock.xhng user przybysz.

Valentine’s Day is in a very short two weeks! Why not show your Blythes that you love them by helping them celebrate it? After all, you should show your appreciation for your dolls as well as other loved ones in your life. Some great things about Valentine’s is that there are a lot of inexpensive options out there and I checked out my local dollar store to see what was available:

• Fine sand paper ($1 per package) – perfect for reducing that shine
• Red, pink and white felt ($1/3 sheets) – nothing says “I love you” like a new coat
• Lace ribbon ($1/spool) – good for trims or even has a hair ribbon for your favourite doll
• Pink and white yarn ($1/ball) – it’s time to show you care with a new sweater for your plastic love
• White, water soluble glue ($1/bottle) – might not be Aleene’s, but it’ll still work for eye chips
• Hair elastics, hair barrettes ($1/package) – shiny little baubles for your favourite doll’s hair
• Boxed Valentine cards ($1/box) – show that you love, with something that says that you do

There are a lot of things that you can find at your local dollar store that can be used for your dolls, above are just some examples. As for me? I opted for buying a few sheets of felt for some craft projects, and picked up a sheet of baby pink felt for Blythe projects.