Clearance Shopping at Hancock Fabrics

I'd actually never heard of Hancock Fabrics (a US fabric and craft chain) until someone on the American Girl Collector's forum mentioned that they were going out of business - a quick search told me there was one not too far from me, so I decided to check them out.

The place was in chaos, so I actually didn't realize how reduced some of the items were - as it turns out, all of their pattern packets were selling for $1.25.  Not realizing that was the final price I only picked up a couple of things, but now I'll definitely need to go back - and if you live near one, it might be worth checking out!

Two of my purchases: patterns for outfits for AG-size dolls,
and for plush mermaid and pirate rag dolls.

May the Fourth Be With You (opening up the Star Wars crochet kit)

My sad attempt at crochet from 2008: Yoda is not impressed

It's May the fourth, which means you can expect a day filled with Star Wars puns!  Rather than inflict more of them upon you, how about we take a closer look at the Star Wars crochet kit that I mentioned in last month's project post? Nothing wrong with two days in a row of project updates, right?

Back in 2008, I actually found a free crochet Yoda pattern online and gave it a try. Unfortunately (probably since I'd never crocheted anything before) I didn't manage to complete it (as I recall, the end result looked more like a tangled blob than anything else).  But since then I've taken a class (although to be honest, the blanket I made for the class assignment was no work of art either), and this time around I have a book that promises step-by-step instructions.

I haven't gotten very far with it yet, but let's take a closer look at the kit itself, shall we?

Project Update: Sew Your Own My Best Friend

The final product.

As I mentioned in last month's Projects for Lazy People post I picked up a deeply discounted children's doll-making kit from Studio Girl called "Sew Your Own My Best Friend" a few weeks back.

Last weekend my husband went out of town, so I decided to settle in to a marathon viewing of Black Sails (if you're looking for a solid action series and aren't easily offended, I recommend it!) and wanted an easy and brainless project to do as I watched. Since this kit is recommended for kids 3 and older, I figured it wouldn't be too challenging for an adult devoting less than 10% attention to it.

Projects for Lazy People (and general project updates)

I already have quite a few projects on the go: I've only finished one of the three Ginny dolls that I bought with plans to restore, and my Jade Empire custom still isn't past the planning stage. But that's not stopping me from being tempted by other projects.

First up are two projects aimed at kids that I think would also be fun for lazy adults (like myself!): The Sew Your Own Friend doll-making kit (which includes pre-cut fabric) and the Create Your Own Action Figure set:

Create your best friend or your comic book hero.

Project Update: The Sew-Dolling/American Girl Hybrid

American Girl Josefina head on SewDolling's SewAble body

Back in April, when I reviewed SewDolling's Madison, I mentioned that while I loved many things about the doll, I wasn't a fan of the face.  At the time, I wasn't certain about whether is was the paint or the sculpt that bothered me, and mentioned the possibility of repainting her. 

Since then, I decided that it was actually the proportions of the face itself that weren't my style, and I decided to go the hybridization route and give her a new American Girl head. 

As a side note on hybridizing these two dolls, I've talked to a few people who have wanted to put one of the SewDolling legs on an AG body - unfortunately, I don't think that would work as easily as the head swap, due to the longer length of the SewDolling body's legs (in addition, while the basic construction is identical, the torso is shorter and the stance broader on the SewDolling body), so that would be a significantly larger challenge that this simple head swap.

The Josefina head

It's not difficult to find AG "head only" or TLC listings on ebay, so I knew I could find one fairly
easily, but my biggest dilemma was which head to choose - the SewDolling dolls are darker than AG's light skin, but lighter than medium skin, so there wasn't going to be a perfect match there.  Eventually I ended up choosing a Josefina head, primarily because it was the best priced non-classic mold I found (I have Samantha and didn't want a duplicate face shape). 

Once it arrived, the head actually turned out to be in better condition that the seller's description had suggested, so I was delighted to find out that the basic recovery work would be minimal.

Th Josefina head on arrival.
I cut the hair by about 33%.

Post-Haircut

Drying after a quick wash.
You might want to warn your friends and family before
setting this up - my husband shrieked when he saw this
in the bath without warning. ;)

The two heads together.  You can see the difference in facial proportions here.
Interestingly, because the vinyl SewDolling uses is harder than AG's, it reflects
more light, which makes the dolls look like a poorer colour match than
they do in real life.

The decapitation.
Aside from having a ziptie rather than a string, the method of attaching the head on
both types of doll is identical.

The AG head (left) has a longer neck and wider inner section than the
SewDolling (right) one, but the style is still the same.
This photo was taking with a flash, so the difference in light reflection
is even more obvious here.

New head/new body!

Dressed up and ready to go!

Amusingly, the reason it took me more than a month to share this project is because I'm still unsatisfied with her hairstyle.  But knowing me, that may take another year, so I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and  just put this up!