The Harvard Museum of Natural History

Beetles!

Kana here.  This past weekend was super eventful here.  For one thing, the human finally found the elusive Our Generation sewing set.  And that comes with a real pattern and enough fabric to make a real dress.  We haven't tried that out yet, but that's been added to the to-do list.

And we (Sam and me) went to the Harvard Museum of Natural Science.  It has so many specimens in such a tiny space!

Hello, giant armadillo.

And dinosaur fossils!

What the museum is known for is its collection of GLASS flowers.  Unfortunately, the main exhibit is closed but there were a few small samples out.

The coral and anemones are also glass!

Sam wanted to see the exhibit halls with all the taxidermy animals.  (I found them super creepy....)

It's a margay cat!

Python?  Python.

I hear red pandas are cute.

Yes, that is a real whale skeleton.

The human's favorite place was actually the geology hall.  We have plenty of amethyst at home, but nothing quite this large or this pretty!

Hipster Food Truck

I know, I know, the human posts twice in a week.  The world is ending.

In other news, we got the ice cream truck!  And then the human and I discovered that it makes a much better hipster food truck than an ice cream truck because there was no giant chest freezer to put all the ice cream in.  We foresee a crafting session in the future related to this pressing problem.

It makes a pretty good concession/snack truck with a combination of eraser and OG food pieces.  The space for the ice cream tubs is great for putting individual foods, and the sink can be stocked with ice for drinks.  The back counter is for condiments and the menu.

It also makes an adorable bakery truck.  The little compartments are perfect for all the tiny OG cookies and s'mores and macarons.  The food on the back counter is so precariously balanced...

And this is a different cat the than usual photobomber.  She's the scary black cyber-kitty with laser eyes.  We love her anyways.

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.

Now with lightsabers (Free Star Wars doll clothes patterns)

Lily and Shepard here.  We're evil twins.  Or evil clones.  Or something of that sort.  (Only since Shepard is such a renegade, I think I might be the good twin by definition.)  But we're both persuasive, and in this case, we convinced the human to finally do something with the giant pile of old clothing in her sewing room.

With all the talk about the latest Star Wars movie, and the fact we *already* own a droid, it was only fair that the human should make us Star Wars costumes.  I'm dressed as Rey, and Shepard is dressed as Luke from 'A New Hope' (desert planets are pretty much the same, right?)

 Shepard is wearing a modified Japanese hippari and monpe made from an old gi.  Turns out there's no better way to get the weathered and worn look than actually using weathered and worn fabric.  The leg wraps are a pieces of woven brown ribbon, and the belt is a piece of nylon strapping with a buckle.

And I'm wearing a tunic and a pair of shorter monpe made from the same gi fabric.  It's a lightweight twill.  The sash is a piece of vintage Japanese cotton 3" wide by about 45" long.  The belt is all one piece with two buckles.  The arm wraps are the same woven ribbon as Shepard's leg wraps.

Download the patterns here!

These is a modified and resized version of the Little Darling in Japan patterns offered by JenWrenne.  Her instructions for making a hippari and monpe are here.  The pants have elastic waists.  Rey's tunic closes in the back with velcro.

Also, you can buy the lightsabers at the Museum of Science store here.

And now for some more pictures! (Yes, the lightsabers actually light up when we hold them.)

Dual wielding!

LIGHTSABER DUEL!

This should be a book cover pose.

Doll Cosplay

Nothing much.  Just finishing up a project involving old gi pants and scrap cottons.  New free patterns for doll cosplay coming up when it's not 11pm and I have time to set up lighting.