It’s the middle of September and there’s a definite chill in the air where I am! The leaves have started to change colour already and I’m wearing sweaters on a daily basis. With the lower temperatures and the brisk winds, it’s nice to get to wear things made of cushy, warm yarn!

Now I know that the dolls don’t actually feel warm or cold and they could be wear a bikini in the middle of a blizzard or five coats in a beach during the peak of summer and not even complain. Whenever a doll wears weather appropriate clothing photos, it just makes it that much better.

Crocheted hats are actually one of the very first things that I ever created for Blythe! I’ve made so any over the years in an assortment of colours – they’re really fun to do and a nice quick project to do. Plus, sometimes it’s just nice to pop a cozy hat onto a dolly just to make them look warmer. Toque weather is sweater weather!

What’s your favourite autumn accessory for dolls? Mine is warm hats!

Originally when I started the challenge of hand crafting a Middie-sized wardrobe, I only had one Middie – a stock Jackie Ramone by the name of Kitty Brighton. (For those curious, Kitty is for the Pride and Prejudice sister, Brighton for the town that I’ve never been to). And then a darling Yellow Marshmallow came into my life with a flair – she also came into my life naked – and I named her Lydia Melbourne (Lydia for yet another Bennet sister, and Melbourne for yet another place that I have never been to).

But I have been making things lately! I recently made two cute little empire-waisted knit dresses (still a bit short, I really need to learn to carry a doll around to measure to make sure it isn’t too short before I finish it off!) and a knit top (that was meant to be a dress but was definitely too short!).

I’m still crafting away when I can. I’m thinking of making some little Middie-sized knitted rompers next, just in time for the summer weather. Hopefully the next time I will have many more new additions to share!

So this going to be an incredibly embarrassing post. You remember way back when I challenged myself to work on a wardrobe for my Middie Blythe doll, Kitty Brighton? (If you don’t, it was back in April…) Back then, this is all Brighton had for clothes (and shoes):

Jogging some memories now, I bet! I told myself that I would make her wardrobe by myself. So no buying things, except for shoes. And what have I managed to get done from April until now?

Two nearly identical dresses. Both knitted.

I’m a bad dolly owner, poor thing should really go into Dolly Protective Services. Hopefully the next update will be better, and she’ll have more than dresses to wear. Or at least another dress to wear. I’m so bad at this! Hopefully the next update in a couple of months will be a lot more fruitful for her.

When it comes to crafting for dolls, I like things that are cute and easy. When it comes to this tutu, there could be nothing easier! You can be creative as you want with combinations of colours, the sky is the limit when it comes to these little tutus. They can be worn as a skirt, or a petticoat to add some volume under your favourite doll dress. Bonus: if you had longer strips of tulle, you could make a tutu for yourself and match with your doll!

You will need:

• Tulle, or fabric
• Scissors
• Ruler (optional)
• Elastic band/hair tie/ribbon – the elastic band or hair tie will need to fit around a Blythe’s waist

Directions:

Cut off a piece of tulle, I measured out two full ruler’s length  – approximately 60cm (or 30″). If you need more, or you’re making a tutu for a larger/smaller doll, adjust the length as needed.

Fold up the tulle so it’s easier to cut it straight (if you’re challenged like me!)

Cut it in 1″ increments, all the way down. You can eyeball this, if you’re confident.

Fold each piece in half. Is it too long for your doll? Cut it in half again!

Fold each piece in half, put the ‘loop’ into the elastic (or along the ribbon), pull the ends through the loop and pull it snug. If you’re using ribbon, you want the length to be long enough that you can tie a bow around your doll’s waist.

Repeat all the way down the elastic or along the ribbon until you have enough to go around your doll’s waist.

Put it on your doll! Take photos and have fun!

I never really understood the appeal of struggling to put tights and leggings and socks onto the legs of Blythes. To me, it’s a chore. I mean, they’re nice to look at, but they’re just a challenge to put on the dolls. I have a hard enough time with putting tights on me because I don’t like pantyhose. But it’s not like there’s a way for me to find thigh-highs for Blythes with accompanying garter belts (unless you happen to know of someone who does make them, in which case please leave a comment below with a link to their store!). And while I am capable of sewing tiny doll clothing, I occasionally have a feverish case of the Lazy and I just can’t be bothered. Which is probably why I don’t sew as much of my dolls’ wardrobe as I’d like.

But I’m rambling.

My local Blythe group (an absolutely wonderful group of ladies from British Columbia) had a great person who took on the task of organizing a group order on some popular site (you may have heard of them, they sell eye chips and tights and things like t-bars and scalps and may have the name of an animal in their site name). This was a fantastic idea. And a bad idea. Fantastic because group shipping is cheaper than all of us paying for our own shipping costs and bad because it made me go “Ohhh, I could buy X, Y and Z and save on shipping? SOLD!”. I’m weak, I really am.

Of my little bag full of goodies, I bought some nude fishnet tights. Nude because I didn’t really want them being obvious. To me, the nude fishnets would be the tights that remain on the doll for a long, long, long time. Only to be removed when they start getting dingy.

But then I went and tried to put socks onto my doll’s leg after having put on the fishnets (that fought me the entire way – I had to see a little bit of baby powder on her legs first). And they [the socks] slid up the legs without fighting me. It was like a lightbulb moment where I realized that there was an actual benefit to leaving fishnets on my dolls. It makes putting socks on so much easier.

Fantastic, isn’t it? I finally get it.

Now if I could just remember to put shoes on my dolls when they leave the house.

And jackets. It’s cold here and it looks funny when there’s snow on the ground and my dolls are out and about without a jacket on.