For Science!

Kana here.

The good news:  the human has a real job and a real paycheck, so we get more toys.  YAY!
The bad news: the human has much less time to actually spend with us...  BOO.

And that is why it's been so quiet over here for the last month or so.  That said, the human is still making things for us.  It just takes longer.

What happened this time was that the human discovered a source of science themed novelty prints  And then inflicted them on us.  (OK, so at least half of that was Lily begging for a Ms. Frizzle cosplay, but that shouldn't involve the rest of us.)  There will be a proper photoshoot as we set up a massive doll-scale science fair in the coming weeks, but for now, the quick and dirty photoshoot in the parlor will do.

Most of us are wearing periodic table applique t-shirts with somewhat coordinating skirts or shorts.  Cauthrien's shorts have contrast cuffs, which are super cute.  I got the nice black-and-white dress, which despite having rather large-and-out-of-scale print, looks pretty darn good on me.  Also, Shep and I match.  Kind of.

Take chances!  Make mistakes!  Get messy!

And of course Lily got what she wanted.  Except the actual frizzy hair.

Because we're feeling super generous (and because misery loves company), we're providing the pattern for what I'm generously calling 'The Frizzle Dress'.

The Frizzle Dress

The pattern has the bodice, collar, and placket pieces.  The waistband is 1.25" wide by however long the waist is (about 12.5", but cut 13" to be sure and trim it back.)  The skirt is a straight skirt 7" long by the width of the fabric.  The human used the sleeve piece from Molly's blouse pattern (here) for Lily's dress and the sleeve from a free BunnyBear pattern (here) for mine.  The cuff is from Samantha's patterns.

I think we're all assuming that if you're using the human's patterns, you kinda-sorta know how to sew already.  The hardest part with this dress is the placket.  Just make a faux one if you want.  Just follow any of the Kirsten or Samantha dress patterns for how this should go together.

See you at the science fair!

A retro science textbook collection

Samantha here.  This is another one of those projects that the human made and then forgot to photograph for a month.  It does get annoying for us after a while because we like to show off our books.  This time, the human decided to finally make us some more modern textbooks from the 1940s and 1950s, with an emphasis on science.

First up is a set of readers at the second and third grade level, give or take.  There's three 'general' readers and two science/nature readers.

And here's a set of six gorgeous reference books on various science topics.

And finally, a set of astronomy textbooks (just in case Maryellen needs a library).  

Two of the books are school textbooks from the late 1930s on general science, but the human just took excerpts of the astronomy sections.

Saving the best for last, 'Guide to the Planets' by Patrick Moore (look him up) published in 1952, with 24 plates of photos and illustrations.  Also 'A Guide to the Heavens', which has the most detailed maps of the moon and what features of the moon are visible during which phase.

Status update

I just started a new job this week, so doll time is going to go down significantly.  I'm hoping to have at least one post a month with a largish project and one post with just a quick project.

The big project right now is an elaborate Hina Matsuri doll display papercraft.  And there will be Valentines Day papercrafts up this weekend, I think.