Adios Amigos

These pictures of "The Five Amigos" (formerly three, then four) were taken at the same time as the pictures in my previous post. 

I wanted to document these five as a group one last time. Unfortunately I needed to sell a few dolls, since I'd decided to fund all new Sasha purchases through the sale of other Sashas. Hard to say goodbye, but two of these five are gone now, along with two babies (Cleo and an unnamed nightdress boy). Adios my lovelies, and best of luck in your new homes.

Happy New Year

My posts have been sporadic lately, but I came close to meeting last year's goal of blogging weekly -- I almost averaged once a week, with 49 posts for the year. I also succeeded in sewing a bit, making 10 tote bags and three pinafores, as well as starting (but not finishing) a Swiss dress. I still have about a dozen dolls to introduce, and lots more clothing, props, and display ideas to share. With a new job keeping me busy, I'm going to try and maintain the status quo rather than make new blogging goals for this year.

In addition to the pale blue tutu, I received two other boxes with Sasha goodies in the mail the week before Christmas. The first box contained a baby walker that I'd won from Shelly on eBay. I'm so glad that I won this because it is the perfect size for Cleo (who's wearing a Dollydoodles sleepsuit here). She's hard to photograph, but oh so adorable.

The second box contained eight pairs of DollyBlue boots (plus a surprise pair of bright pink shoes!). Here is Chloe wearing a pair of pink boots that I won on eBay, along with a Sharon Clancy outfit that deserves it's own backstory. I'd seen this outfit for sale on eBay back in the spring of 2009, and thought it was really cute. I noticed the dress and bits for sale this past fall, but decided against buying it without the cape. Then a few weeks later the cape was offered for sale. Oh how I wished I'd bought the dress when I had a chance. Fortunately I knew the seller, and was able to contact the new owner of the dress to see if she would be willing to sell it to me. As a reader of my blog she offered to give me the dress; I felt awkward being given something that I'd asked for, so we agreed on a trade: a pair of purple DollyBlue boots that I'd bought with the cape. Thank you Chris, and Nikita too -- I love this outfit!

And thank you Carrol, for making me all those boots. After winning the pink pair on eBay, I contacted her about buying purple boots to replace those I'd traded, plus boots to match my three folk outfits (blogged about here and here). My original thoughts were black for the central European, brown for the Bavarian, and white for the Swedish, but with custom boots I wasn't limited by those colors. Unable to decide, I bought multiple pairs; these are great boots and I know they could/would be worn with lots of other outfits. I also have a fourth folk outfit now, which needed no boots since it came with wooden shoes. I was made by Helena in Canada, AKA the eBay seller dolliepatch, and modeled after an old picture that I believe is of Dutch girls. Don't these four look stunning?!

Any thoughts on which color boots look best: red or white with the Swedish outfit, green or brown with the Bavarian outfit? Here's a close up of the five boot colors being worn by the dolls in the photo above.

Village Blocks

I took many of the pictures for today's festival post yesterday afternoon. I was putting them on my computer after dinner, when my nine-year old son noticed the picture with the village blocks and asked what they were. I told him they were doll-sized blocks that I'd won at the festival, and that they were on the dining room table (where I'd been taking pictures) if he wanted to check them out. He set up a village scene to show me, then shifted it around to create another scene. Ah, boys and blocks. Then he surprised me by asking if he could make the baby play with the blocks (Cleo was still in the stroller, also on the table). I helped him get her out of the stroller and sitting among the blocks. According to my son, "The baby is eyeing the purple man."

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 6

This will probably be my last post about the festival, though I'm sure many of the clothes and props pictured here will show up in future posts. After four days at the festival and almost a week organizing my pictures and documenting the festival online, it's time for me to focus my energy on non-Sasha stuff for a while. Here are the remaining items that I brought home, things I purchased directly or indirectly. How did I get everything home (including three dolls) without checking a bag?

I went shopping by myself in San Francisco on Thursday. I bought some fabrics and notions, a crafter's iron, a little Chinese doll, and three doll-size parasols (two are for Boo's dolls, Calla and Rose).

The gift exchange was Friday afternoon. I brought a gift bag containing a smocked dress (like this) made by Patty at The Sasha Wardrobe, velvet hair ribbons, and a little Chinese doll. I wound up with this cute outfit, a green Scottie sweater and cap with white corduroy pants, made by Beverly Schacht.

The Children's Fund Auction was Saturday afternoon, and raised a total of $6874 for two charities: Child Help and Save the Children. I was the high bidder for two items, a purple and white sweater and cap from Switzerland (made and donated by Amei Walder) and a Boneka smocked dress (donated by Bonnie Jean Kennedy).

The sales room was open on Saturday evening. I bought some clothes, a stroller, and ... a doll. Clockwise from upper left: a Boneka dress that was a gift from Nancy Miller when I purchased my doll, Boneka shoes that I bought from Nancy to go with my auction dress, pink and yellow wool sweaters knit by Erica McLeod, a pink commercial babygro resized by Sheila Foery, a red check smocked baby dress and panties tagged Millie Dingham, a blue floral smocked dress and panties tagged Laura Lindberg, and a swing-top and plaid capris made by Sheila.

Dawn Law had strollers and baby carriers for sale, made by the Spanish company Diset. As Chloe and Cleo demonstrate, the stroller is small enough to be pushed and large enough to be ridden in. And it even folds for storage or travel, which made it easier to pack in my carry-on bag.

The helper item tickets were drawn on Sunday. There were lots of lovely items, and I wound up winning two of them: a set of wooden village blocks made in Germany, and a lace collar knit by Erica McLeod. The lace collar came on a card that reads: "Lace collar for Sasha knitted in fine merino wool. The original of this pattern was inspired by one seen in the Swiss Village Museum in Wisconsin. The pin represents the edelweiss flower."

Here's a picture of my new doll, taken as the festivities were winding down on Sunday. She's wearing the dress I won in the auction, and the lace collar I won in the helper item drawings. She still hasn't told me her name yet, though perhaps I haven't been listening closely enough.

UPDATE: After lots of contemplation, she and I have settled on the name Juliette.

Baby Clothes

Like many baby girls, Cleo has quite a wardrobe. Unlike a real baby though, she won't outgrow her clothes. It would take me weeks to find enough free time to photograph her in everything, so I'm going to start with just a few of my favorites.

This shiny red satin outfit is by Käthe Kruse, and fits perfectly. I think it's a nice change from all of Cleo's pastel-colored clothes, which make photography hard since they look washed out when I have enough light to see her features clearly. I found this wicker chair for her on eBay, and she usually sits in it when she's not having her picture taken (and sometimes when she is).


I bought this pink and white dress and lace-trimmed bonnet (and the unseen shoes and diaper she's wearing) at The Sasha Wardrobe, along with several other baby items. The dress was part of the 2009 Summer Collection. Cleo has four teddy bears, but I'm keeping my eyes open for other suitably-sized baby toys.


I couldn't resist these frilly baby pants from The Doll Works. My daughter Boo had several similar pairs when she was young. The doll quilt Cleo is sitting on is from my childhood.


This white smocked dress and matching bonnet is also from The Doll Works. It is so sweet, that I'm tempted to buy the pink version too. I bought these shoes there as well, though I had a hard time keeping them on her feet as you can see. Too bad they don't make those snap-on shoelace covers (you know, the ones with the bells on top) small enough for dolls.


This three piece layette is from eBay seller misspatau, who sells "Knits by Trish". The sock monkey is Boo's (a baby for the two full-sized sock monkeys my Mom made for the kids), but she let Cleo borrow it for a photo session.


UPDATE: I meant to include another photo when I created this post. Here's Cleo wearing a cute pink babygro from Ruths Dolls. My daughter wore very similar outfits when she was a baby (only much larger of course). Very sweet!


That's definitely all for now, but I'm sure I'll be taking pictures of more baby clothes sometime in the future.

Sasha Festival 2009 - post 6

I said that post 5 was my last post about the festival, but I've decided to add one more. Now that I have a Sasha baby to model them, I can share the two baby outfits that I won.

The first outfit was made by Geraldine Brodt for the Children's Fund Auction. It's a sweet pastel plaid dress with tights ...


... and a pale pink coat and bonnet. The coat/bonnet fabric reminds me of my childhood blanket.


Geraldine donated several handmade outfits to the auction, and had a table in the sales room as well. I especially admired her ethnic African outfits and jewelry (they were modeled after the clothing of a certain country, which I can't recall right now). She has a website in progress SASHA Couture by Geraldine, or can be reached via email.

I won the second outfit in the Helper Raffle. I'm not sure who donated it, but it has a tag from The Doll Carriage (a now-defunct doll shop in New Hampshire).


I think Cleo needs a different hair ribbon (or perhaps ribbons) for when she wears pastels. I guess I need to sort through my sewing supplies and see what I can come up with.

Meet Cleo

After seeing all the lovely dolls at the Sasha Festival, I added two new dolls to my wish list. One was a dark black baby girl. Not long afterward, I managed to find what I was looking for on Ruby Lane. She came in her original box with a styrofoam cradle; using Susanna Lewis' charts, I was able to date it/her as being from March 1972-1974 (a type II-A box). Her arms don't want to stay up, but I know that's easy to have fixed. Otherwise she is just perfect!




I have lots of clothes for her, and will take more pictures when the weather cooperates. She needs good sunlight or her features get lost (I have similar problems when taking pictures of Chloe). I followed the same naming tradition as my other "dressing" dolls (who are from the 1980's) -- starting with C, Greek origin -- but she has four letters rather than five since she's smaller.