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! 

Shopping for Dolls: adbarttelt/Rhinnaco for AG

Clothes modelled by AG Cécile and SewDolling Madison

I'd seen photos from Rihanna and Co pop up on Flickr a couple of times, and thought her stuff was cute so when I saw listing a decent-sized lot on eBay for a low(ish) price and thought "Why not?"

The package arrived fairly  quickly and was well-packed for shipment.  The outfits themselves were each individually packaged in clear plastic as well.

The lot included one pair of pyjamas, one skirt/t-shirt set, one skirt-halter set (which I'd actually thought was a dress based on the sales photos), a t-shirt/legging set, and a shirt/tank/legging set.  The first thing I noticed was that the items all mix-and-match well, so that's always nice to see.

Outfit #1 will be the Halter/skirt set:  the material is a light sundress-type fabric with a colourful geometric design.  The skirt is just above knee-length, has three tiers and is well sewn.  It has an elastic waist that is tight enough to allow it to sit in a number of positions on the doll.

The top is the same material (giving the outfit the look of a dress) with the neck-tie being a green ribbon.  The ribbon is a little small for my tastes (I'd have rather seen a slightly thicker one), but it's fully functional, which is the most important thing.  The top is well-sewn, but there are a few ends that needed to be trimmed off (I only noticed them after I'd already taken photos).

This was actually the outfit that I was most uncertain about (I'm not usually a fan of outfits that show the cloth-body/vinyl limb joints, but this one has really been growing on me. 



Outfit #2 is the t-shirt/skirt set.  The top is a white t-shirt with a printed yellow-and-brown animal design.  It's made out of a fairly thin material, so it should work well layered under a jacket or cardigan.  It's solidly constructed and opens completely down the back, which is fantastic for play (although less so if you're wanting to take "realistic" photos from the rear).

The skirt is similar in style (and of a similar material) to the one from Outfit #1, but is slightly shorter and uses a differently patterned fabric.  I quite like the look of this skirt, but the back is less well-finished than any other item in this lot - it's functional, so the dress will hold up to play, but it does look a bit messy when you flip it over.

I actually wish I'd thought to photograph these pieces with other items, because I think that both of these pieces work better with other items than they do together.

Outfit #3 is the t-shirt/capri leggings set.  The t-shirt is constructed exactly like the one in outfit #2, but I found both the light blue colour and the pink and grey print to be quite a bit more appealing (some of that may be the way the colour works with this doll's eyes, of course).  The material also appears to be slightly thicker on this one.


The capri-length leggings are made of what feels like the material used in track (or yoga) pants, and are solidly-constructed and neatly finished.  They have an elastic waistband and are made of a stretchy material, so I expect that they could be worn by dolls of a wider range of sizes than some AG clothes allow.  They're also a nice solid neutral grey, so they're a great mix-and-match piece.



Outfit #4 is the tank/shirt/leggings set.  The tank is basically a plain sleeveless version of the t-shirt from Outfit #2, although it is slightly longer than the t-shirts.  The leggings are similarly a longer, black version of the capri ones - again well constructed and nicely finished.

The highlight of this set for me is the plaid shirt with front ties.  It's brightly coloured, well-finished, a nice thick material and - for me at least - very visually appealing. 


The final set is the pyjamas, which I didn't  open as they're a gift for a friend's daughter, but I'll share them here in case anyone wants to see what they look like (and what the inner packaging looks like).

Overall, I'd happily recommend these items - especially for people looking for basic items, or looking to add to a play collection.

Review: Sew-Dolling's Sew-Able Madison

In the package

The Sew-Able doll line has been around for a good decade now, but somehow reviews are still thin on the ground - I've seen maybe one or two, but that's been it.  And that's also what made me hold off on ordering one of these dolls for a solid 7 years.  So I thought I'd share a more detailed overview of this doll than I usually do, just in case someone is like me and waiting to hear more about these toys.

Sew-Dolling's dolls are 18" play dolls similar in size to the American Girl line (the company also sells outfits that fit dolls of this size).  The Sew-Able dolls come with two options: bald, or with prosthetic legs (one above-knee, one below knee), and Madison (the doll that I have) is one of the latter. 

There are boy and girl versions of the doll, with three hair/eye choices for the girls and one of the boy (the bald dolls obviously only have eye choices).  There is only one skin tone available, a pale colour similar to AG's light skin (there will be additional AG comparisons further along).

The doll's packaging is solid: cardboard with a plastic front panel.  The doll and her accessories were firmly attached to the inner layer (which has a cartoon-y hospital design) but simple enough to remove (not as simple as an AG, but less complicated than most store brand dolls).

Out of the box: doll and accessories

The included accessories include an outfit (this particular one included a dress, turtleneck top, socks and boots), crutches, a backpack and a teddy bear. 

The clothes are a little cheap-ish (you can see that the button on the left overall has come off), but the boots are of a decent quality.  The teddy is cute, well-stuffed and is actually jointed, which I thought was lovely.  And the crutches are fantastic - realistically designed, and solid quality material.  They could easily be used as an accessory with more detailed dolls and not suffer by comparison.

There are two other default outfits available for the girls - a hospital gown, and a khaki pants set - and a khaki shorts set for the boy doll.  The teddy and crutches come with all versions of the doll, while the backpack (functional, although the material is a bit thin) is replaced with a suitcase for the hospital gown version.

With her legs off

Foot blushing

The prosthetics are made of the same material as the dolls regular limbs and are held on with a belting system (which strikes me as a little old school, but does make the doll more versatile if you're looking to make a historical character out of her).  I was surprised to see that she also came with stump socks, and thought that that was a nice additional feature.  Amusingly, the feet are blushed in the same "realistic" style as the hands, which strikes me as a bit of an odd choice.

A better view of the body's construction

This doll's body construction is very similar to an American Girl doll, with a plush body and plastic limbs.  I'm less that thrilled by the seam placement running right down the middle of her chest (on AGs the seam runs down the back), but she's well-stuffed and her limbs are well-attached, so she is a well-constructed doll (although it's hard to get her to sit upright without her prostheses on).

Her head is tied on with a thick zip-tie, rather than the strings that some similar dolls have in order to allow for easier head removal/cleaning/restuffing.  On that note, I have noticed that some of her body stuffing has started to pop out around the neckline.

Another Sew-Dolling outfit

The braids struck me as a little messy, so I took them out and was fairly pleased with what I found. The doll has hair of a good thickness and looks like it would hold up to hair-play.  It's a little dryer than some doll hair, but not to an extent that worries me about breakage.


The photo on the right also shows one of Sew-Dolling's general outfits.  The dress isn't the best material, but it's cute (and better constructed than the default dress).  The necklace and bracelet are a cute touch, but a little tighter than I think they should be (and again, not great material).  The outfit also came with a clutch purse and a pair of black dress shoes.  For the price point (lower than AG outfits, slightly higher than Springfield), I thought the outfit set was a solid value.

In an AG chair, holding an AG mini

One of the main questions I hear about these dolls is how they compare to American Girl, and my general answer is that they're quite similar in terms of construction and size but a bit different stylistically.  The most noticeable difference is the face - the Sew-Able dolls have a face sculpt that's reminiscent of a porcelain doll more-so than a play doll in that they have pursed lips and a heavily blushed face.  Some of that difference could be minimized by customizing the face paint, but these dolls will always clearly look a little different.  I will say, for the people who are turned off by the face, that I've found the doll to be quite a bit cuter in person than I expected from the sales photos.

Since taking my original box opening photos, I've kept this doll on display primarily in American Girl brand clothes, which I would take to be a good indicator of compatibility.  And this week I had the opportunity to compare her to my sister's childhood AG dolls, so I've taken some comparison shots for anyone who is interested (with the caveat that these are AGs from the early '90s, and are thus a bit wider and a slightly different style than the current ones).

In an American Girl outfit.

Next to AG Kirsten

AG Kirsten on the left/S-A Madison on the right

A list of differences: The old AG body is slightly longer and more rectangular than the Sew-Able doll, and the Sew-Able doll's arms and legs are slightly skinnier.  The AG has a narrower neck, while the Sew-Able Doll has a broader stance.

In this photo, the Sew-Able doll appears to have a significantly larger head, and while it is slightly more round, most of that extra width is static in her hair (I'd just taken off the knit cap that she's wearing above).

In low light the two appear to have similarly coloured heads and bodies, but in full light the Sew-Able doll is slightly darker skinned, with more of a red-brown tone, as opposed to the American Girl doll's yellow tone.

From behind, the most obvious difference (aside from the prosthetics, of course) is that the Sew-Able doll has a large tag sticking out of her back seam.

Overall, I'd say that Sew-Dolling has done a fantastic job with these dolls, in that they're well-made and compatible with popular dolls of this same size.

It's a shame they couldn't offer more skin colour options (as the Extra Special Dolls manage to do), and the faces aren't going to be to everyone's taste, but I think they're a wonderful addition to any doll posse, whether your dolls are for play or display.

Back at the ranch...

I'm on the road for the month (currently in Toronto, having just spent a week in Vancouver), so my toy documentation project is on hold for a bit.  That said, there are some new incoming/unpacked dolls in the queue, and I have access to my mother's collection of toy storage cubes, so I may try to dig through some of that.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of the toys who are waiting in line:

A confession about my guilty fondness for the Bratz Boyz line, an unboxing of the Play Arts Commander Shepard, and perhaps an introduction to Ivy, the newest member of my accidental AG mini collection.

I ordered an Aiden from Withdoll back in February, and have been informed that the box arrived yesterday.  Photo source.

A review/overview of Sew-Dolling's Sew-Able line is in the works.  I've had the doll for a while now, but wanted to be able to compare her to the same-sized American Girl dolls in person before posting about her.

If today is a long weekend for you, I hope it's a good one!