Sasha Festival 2013 - post 8

One final post showing items I brought back from the festival. These are the table hostess gifts that Boo and I received -- well gift, as I hosted a table on Friday and there were no hostesses on Sunday. Sheila was the Hostess with the Mostest, and stuck with the Childhood theme like I did ... toys, games, tote bag, toy box, and a red "superhero" cape (modeled by Adeline).

Sorry for the very belated post. I forgot to click the "publish" button back in August and didn't notice. I've been busy with my job (started in fall of 2012, with a long daily commute), kids, menagerie, and too much volunteering. ;-) Hopefully I'll be able to carve out more time for blogging in the not-so-distant future.

Happy Easter!

Adeline is all dressed up for Easter in an adorable rabbit outfit by Nikita (ebay seller eseascaper7) and shoes/socks by Ruthsdolls. I love the placement of the rabbit trio on the bodice and how it makes her blueberry eyes look almost blue-grey.

She has an Easter basket full of yummy treats from the Etsy shop USA Girl Dolls. I bought these last year, but due to a shipping snafu they didn't arrive until a few days after Easter. No worries - my Sashas didn't mind and the "candy" is still fresh for this year (and next year, and the year after that ...).

I think she looks rather sullen for a girl with such a large basket of yummy treats. Maybe its because she'd rather be eating candy than posing for pictures.

Happy Easter everyone!

London 2012

I recently wrote an article about the 2012 Sasha Festival for the Sasha Friends newsletter and wanted to include a picture of the festival outfit. I'd taken a few quick photos of the entire outfit while I was still at the hotel (so that I wouldn't have to wait to return to the US before posting pictures), but knew I could do a better job than those. I dressed my '68 waif Adeline in the full outfit with the red warmup suit (which is Boo's but I though it would make for nicer contrast than my white warmup), and took her to the outdoor track at my kids' school for a photo session. It seems appropriate to share some of those pictures now, while the Track and Field events are still in full swing at the Olympics.

If you aren't already a Sasha Friends subscriber, consider becoming one. There are currently two issues a year at a cost of $10 in the US (slightly higher elsewhere to cover the additional postage). You can email Shari Sams for payment information. I know the upcoming issue is going to contain lots of information about the recent Sasha Festival, including an article by me and a little something from Boo too.

1968 Blonde Quartet

While I was taking pictures of my fringe girls for the last post, I decided to take a few pictures of ALL my 1968 blondes. Here is Audrey with Allegra and Alison. She also has a wide cord dress, but hers is quite faded.

Audrey's bangs are several rows deep, starting higher up on her head than those of the fringe girls.

And lastly, a picture with my waif Adeline. She seems to have a wider face than the other three. Another wide dress, but not corduroy; this one was made by me last summer from the Migros pattern.

Merry Christmas

I wish I had the time and energy to set up a small tree for the dolls this year. Instead I made do with posing Adeline by our big tree for a Christmas picture. She is wearing a new dress that Marti Murphy made from a vintage baby dress. C'est Magnifique!

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 6

I finally found time to take pictures of all the official festival souvenirs. Hopefully I didn't miss anything; searching my bags and my memory, I came up with the following:

Registration -- tote bag, festival booklet, auction booklet, auction paddle, and nametag
Friday Workshops -- quilted pillow and fishing pole
Friday Luncheon: "An Afternoon at the Sangamon River" -- overalls and straw hat
Saturday Dinner: "An Edwardian Garden Party" -- dress, dress stand, and pinwheel
Sunday Brunch: "A Farewell to Springfield" -- gingham bag, Lincoln Logs, tights and shoes

Here are Desiree and Adeline wearing the outfits Boo and I received, which consist of a dress, white tights, and black shoes.

The dresses were on wooden stands, with a different fabric at each table and alternating colored ribbon sashes. Thus each dress was five-of-a-kind, with 18 different combinations. Boo and I sat side by side, so we have the same fabric but different sashes. The other 16 combinations are pictured below (click on a picture to see a larger version).

Here's a close-up of the bodice, showing the pintucks and buttons at the throat. I'm not sure if each button was different or if there were duplicates, but I saw a wide variety. I guess taking the buttons into account, that really makes each dress one-of-a-kind.

There were no table hostess gifts this year, but Boo and I did get a nice surprise from another mother/daughter pair: a floral headband for Boo, and Sasha notecards for me. I couldn't resist including them in this picture with the dresses and pinwheels, since they go so well with the "garden party" dinner theme.

We received overalls and a straw hat at our luncheon for the boys, and the fishing pole made at the workshops is the perfect accessory for an afternoon on the river.  Now that Gregor Hiker has found a new home in Switzerland(!) my lone "male" is Sigmund, who makes a perfect fishing lad. Boo and I made the pillows at the workshops too (fortunately they were  already pieced, though hand quilting was a challenge for both of us). The pastel boxes contained the shoes, while the gingham bags contained the tights and Lincoln Logs.

These tote bags are so large that they are tough to photograph. One side has a picture of a Gotz brunette in farm pants, while the other side is embroidered with "2011 Sasha Festival"; both sides are shown in this picture. Boo and I chose different fabric combinations so we wouldn't get our bags confused -- hers has the pink stripes.

And lastly, the paper goods from registration: the festival journal, auction catalog, auction paddle, and our nametags (there was also some Springfield literature which isn't pictured).

Summer Frocks

Since Adeline and Desiree are for sale at the festival this weekend, this may be my last chance to take pictures of them - and of the dresses I made for them. I love how they look in their new summer frocks, like a couple of schoolgirls headed to a party.

They're both "late 60's blondes", but they are far from identical. Adeline has a wider face than Desiree, and her eyes are smaller and a darker blue. Almost all the paint has rubbed off Adeline's lips leaving them nude, while Desiree's lip paint has whitened. Sisters, cousins, or just friends?

Springfield Or Bust!

I was so pleased with how Desiree looks in her new dress, that I decided to make a new dress for Adeline too. I had some fabric in my stash with just the right shade of blue for her eyes (which are much darker than Desiree's). I also decided to remedy her encounter with a junior hairdresser many years ago, by arranging a visit with a senior hairdresser. Fortunately the woman who cuts my hair is a good sport.

Here's how Adeline looked before, with her hair shorter on her left side.

And here's how she looks after Miss Amira worked her magic, evening up the sides without sacrificing much length.

Now she's just as cute as can be in her new dress and a pair of red cat shoes.

Boo and I fly out tomorrow morning, and we're all packed and ready to go. I'm not bringing a computer, but I will have my iPad, so I may try to do a bit of blogging while we're on the road. Notice I said "may try" not "definitely will", as I have no idea what it will be like traveling with Boo.

Meet Adeline (after)

I finally sent Adeline to Pat's Sasha spa in Florida, and she returned home in December (this is one of the posts I was planning before Christmas but didn't get around to creating). The lighting was bad for her "before" pictures, but even discounting that she looks so much better now. Pat cleaned her inside and out, restrung her, washed and dried her hair, and re-rooted some hair plugs.


She had 11 hair plugs fixed -- there were just nubs here at her hairline.


Her original stringing was thin white in the arms and striped in the legs, so I'm pretty sure she dates from 1968. Knowing that, she would have been dressed as Jeans (which I would call brown corduroy overalls), Brown Cord, or Blue Cord. As planned, I dressed her in a 1960's blue cord outfit with replacement socks. From a distance, she looks almost like new ...


... except that she was the victim of a young hairdresser at some point, so her hair is somewhat uneven. It's slightly shorter on her left side at the front, and has a shorter layer on her right side at the back. It's a bit dry at the ends, but has lovely shade variations.


Up close she has a graze on her nose and her lip color is pretty much gone, but just look at those beautiful blue eyes!


I was planning on keeping Adeline as part of my collection, but have decided to offer her for sale at my bonanzle booth instead (I have plenty of late-60's blondes already, and am saving for a special doll I've found). I should have her listed there sometime this week.

Meet Adeline (before)

Sweet Adeline,
My Adeline,
At night, dear heart,
For you I pine;
In all my dreams,
Your fair face beams.
You're the flower of my heart,
Sweet Adeline.

Adeline is an eBay find. She was a bargain (at least in my opinion) because she has been well-loved and is in need of a little TLC. I believe she is was produced in 1968. I call her my "Mystery" Blonde because I don't know how she was originally dressed: blue cord, brown cord, jeans, perhaps even gingham if she's from 1969 instead. She came to me wearing a cute dress from Dolliepatch which Boo is already begging to put on Calla. I'm going to dress her as a blue cord girl with an outfit I purchased from Sasha Doll UK -- a fabulous website for both shopping and dreaming.


After the Holidays I plan to send Adeline on a trip to the Sasha Spa. She has a nose ding and some scrapes on her face that will probably remain, but a few of her flaws can be easily fixed: she is a bit grubby, her arms no longer hold a pose, and several plugs of the first row of her bangs have been chopped.


On the plus side, her bangs are thick enough to conceal the chopped bit and her hair is quite nice overall. It's a bit dry at the ends, but nicely two-toned with a part on top. Her lip paint is basically non-existent, but her eyes are glorious.


I will post more pictures of Adeline after her R and R.