Meet Kelly

Boo got Madden at the 2012 Sasha Festival and was hoping to get another baby at the 2013 festival. I had a baby that I'd bought for myself but not even named ... and so I gifted her to Boo before the festival (that way no worries about finding the perfect baby there). Thus Kelly was born, another sexed little girl to be a twin for Kitty. Its easy to tell them apart since Kitty has "poofy" hair. I think Kelly may have replaced Kitty as favorite baby. Here is how I found her today when I went to take pictures, apparently recovering from some sort of serious accident. Still a little princess though.

Baby Kitty and Puppy Friends

Such a cute pair of babies - a boy and a girl, a blonde and a brunette, puppy and kitty ... 

 ... and yet Boo longed for another baby, a second brunette girl to be a "twin" for Kitty.

Meet Madden

Here is another of Boo's babies who has been shown on the blog but not formally introduced, a sexed boy from the 70's. Madden was won in the Childrens' Fund Auction at the 2012 Sasha festival. Boo was a bit miffed to discover that while he was all in pink, he was actually male. I offered to sell him and buy a genderless blonde baby, but she was too attached to part with him. His subtle genitals aren't visible when dressed, so she decided to view him as a girl. S/he was dubbed "Puppy" to go with Kitty. I suggested Madden, which is an Irish name meaning "little dog" - technically a male name, but sometimes used for females as well. Perfect! 

Meet Kitty

You met Kitty when she was purchased at Boo's first festival in 2011, but she hasn't had a proper introduction post. Here is Boo's beloved baby Kitty, a sexed girl from the 70's.  She is wearing her Sashapotamus onesie, a special request to match Boo's (and Calla's).

Baby Play Mat / Floor Gym

I was intrigued a while ago when Carol posted a picture on Facebook of a doll-sized play mat that she found on eBay. I did a bit of searching and found the seller -- and the fact that she also has an etsy shop, SewCute4U2 (coincidentally the shop owner's first name is also Carol). One of the joys of etsy is that you can request a custom order. The mat in Carol's picture looks to be the standard size available which is listed as sized for 7"-10" dolls. Its dimension are about 11"x11". 

photo credit Carol Bell Mitchell

Given that my Sasha babies are about 11" tall (closer to 11-1/2" to the tip of their toes), I wanted something a bit larger. I requested a custom order: we discussed it, she made a sample and showed me pictures, I picked fabric then waited for it to arrive. Easy peasy. It is here and I love it! As you can see, Madden loves it too; he's the first Sasha baby to play on it. The end result is roughly 13-1/2"x13-1/2". I like this little bit of extra room, which cost me $3 more than the standard size.

Carol posted another picture on Facebook last week, and I mentioned that I had a larger custom order in the works and would be blogging about it. She kindly allowed me to include her pictures in this post so that people can see the size comparison. She also noted that her mat fits nicely on a shelf, and that's something to consider if you have a display space that's 11" or 12" deep. I highly recommend this etsy shop and think you will be happy with either size if you choose to purchase one for yourself.

photo credit Carol Bell Mitchell

Early Baby Duo

Unlike squirmy live babies, Erik and Elin were easy to photograph. He did take a bit of coaxing to look at the camera though.

Her hair is a bit longer than his and her face appears wider - subtle differences that I think make than an even more appealing pair than if they were simply clones with different hair color.

They look sweet in white, but I think they're going to look even sweeter in some of the coordinating outfits I've found for them. I'm sure I'll be sharing more pictures of these two at some point in the future.

Meet Erik

As promised in my last post ...
Erik is my most-recent Sasha doll, arriving here from England two weeks ago. He is a (sexed) Baby Woolly, which were only made in 1970. He is wearing his full original outfit as well as his gold wrist tag. He'd been described as "in gently played with condition with plenty of sand falling from his joints", and I was surprised by just how much sand when I took these pictures. I don't think his clothes have ever been changed.

So much to love about this sweet little guy, and his hair has a similar shape to baby Elin. While her eyes are greening slightly and her lips have whitened, his face paint is nice and vibrant.

They make a nice pair, but I'll save showing them together for my next post. Gotta spread out the pictures from last weekend's photo session, since who knows when I'll find time (and cooperative weather - today is rainy and dark) to take more.

Meet Elin

I used some (rare) free time over the weekend to play with my Sasha dolls. I changed clothes on a few of the girls and photographed a couple of the babies. Since I now have pictures, I can make another introduction. This is the second of my Sasha babies, a sexed brunette from the early 1970's who I call Elin. She retains her original nightdress, diaper, and blanket, as well as her large silver wrist tag.

I know I'm biased, but I think she's one of the most adorable Sasha babies I've ever seen. I love her full head of nicely-shaped hair (which is a bit dry/delicate but doesn't seem to be falling) and her wide face.

Up next, her male counterpart ...

Spider Baby

Last year I was sewing dresses before the festival, for a couple of sale dolls to wear. The year before I was sewing tote bags before the festival, for part of the table hostess gifts I worked on with Tina. I thought this year's festival prep would be sewing-free ... but I was wrong. I just finished an outfit for baby Kitty, a special request from Boo for the festival.

My first ever zipper! I used the Baby Snowsuit pattern from Marcy Street Doll Co., minus the ears and plus several extra appendages. I'm so happy with how it turned out, and hope Boo feels the same way when she sees it.

6/15 ETA: She's happy too! My work is done, but now she needs to finish assembling the other pieces of her Dress-A-Sasha entry.

Little Princess

Sometimes I stumble across one of Boo's dolls and have to smile. Here is Princess Kitty perched on her "throne" in the family room. The crown is child-sized (part of Boo's dress-up collection), and was simply wrapped around Kitty's head. Her sweet outfit was made by Norvell Jones, and is one of Boo's favorites.

Happiness is ...

... getting a bed for your Sasha baby. This was the part of the auction we didn't win that made Boo most disappointed about losing.

I have one overjoyed daughter (with one very cozy Sasha baby). Thank you Dawn!

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 7

Since there were no table hostess gifts or gift swap this year, and I didn't win any auctions or buy anything for myself in the sales room, I didn't bring home much new beyond the festival souvenirs shown in my last post. I did buy a copy of Anne, Ann, and Susanna's new book (which is fabulous - everyone needs a copy!) and a set of the bookmarks they are selling to help fund their future books.

And Boo brought home a quite a few additional new things, first and foremost being a baby waif who she's tentatively named Kitty. Kitty is a sexed girl with raised eyelids, from the early-to-mid 70's.

Of course Kitty needed more to wear, so Boo picked a few pieces to start her layette. Notice I said I didn't buy anything for myself in the sales room.

Calla and Rose also have more to wear, thanks to the generosity of Dorisanne and Jackie. Boo was amazed how nice people were to her. Calla is standing with items from a special children's workshop, including a child-sized Sasha wrist tag that Boo made; Rose is standing with items that were given to the kids with helped with the raffle.

This concludes my posts for the 2011 Sasha Festival. Let the countdown to the 2012 Sasha Festival begin ... 10 months and 10 days to go!

Sasha Festival 2011 - post 3

Boo slept in until about 6:45 this morning. I think she would have slept even later if I hadn't been rattling around, but we needed to get breakfast and have my sales table set up by 9:00. I brought 10 dolls from my collection to sell, plus lots of clothes, shoes, and accessories. Only one of my dolls found a new home, but I managed to sell a lot of the smaller items that make less sense to sell online. The sales room was open until 11:30, so that filled most of our morning. Here's a picture of Heidi's table; I was so busy checking out everyone else's tables that I neglected to take a picture of my own.

Boo found herself a baby, which made up for yesterday's auction disappointment. She is a 70's sexed girl, temporarily named Kitty. I also let Boo buy her several outfits, so baby Kitty's layette is well underway.

We were on our own for lunch, with free time for sightseeing built into the afternoon schedule. Boo and I toured the Old State Capitol and also visited the Lincoln home. Lots of walking in the heat with surprisingly little whining.

We had just enough time for ice cream, another trip to the hotel's pool, and some preliminary packing before the special Doll Quilt Display and dinner.

We received festival dresses and pinwheels as table favors, with a different fabric for the dresses at each table. Boo and mine are a pink print, one with a pink sash and one with a navy blue sash (this picture is from a table with a slightly different pink print).

The after dinner program was a slide presentation about the Dana Thomas House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is currently being renovated. I tried to stick around and chat for a while afterward, but Boo was tired and impatient and I was losing my patience too. She has been asleep for over an hour now, while I've tried to do more packing in the near-dark. Hard to believe it will all be over tomorrow after brunch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 

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.