Updates All Around!

Howdy y'all!

FIRST: I won NaNoWriMo (yay!) with "The Abyss Gazes Also", but it's not over yet. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can right here. We're on Chapter 53 right now, heading into the climax, and it's getting good reviews, so come along for the ride!

SECOND: Look at these fine-ass ladies who recently came to stay.

Picture Day Operetta and Music Festival Abbey.

Our local Walmart is moving out all its old stock, and both these lines are on sale for $10 each. Check your local Walmart for end-of-season deals too! Spring 2014 dolls are coming!

Here's Abbey with just the front piece of the box removed, still attached.

Here you can see everything the doll comes with. The Music Festival line is a budget, or minor, line, but I think you get a good amount of quality accessories for the lower price. She wears a 1960s style blouse with one dropped shoulder, gathered waist and elbows, and ragged-edge three-quarter sleeves and waistline. She has a blue-and-purple faux denim mini with frayed edges. Her melting ice belt in blue translucent plastic is re-used, and I usually despise belts, but in this case it helps to keep the edges of the blouse from curling up.

The one stand-out piece of this outfit, for me, is the boots. Translucent blue melting ice boots, knee-high, with removable bright pink spiked shackles. You can't tell me that's not awesome. (Her blouse and adorable headband also prompted me to get her. I just love the style!)

I mean LOOK at those boots! You can also see her VIM pass and her earrings in the shape of one blue snowflake and one purple crystal. I wonder how many other Abbey dolls don't include her signature "ice crystal" choker?

Now on to that lovely lady from the catacombs...

Picture Day Operetta! I'd been looking EVERYWHERE for her, and B wound up running into her at Walmart, which was unexpected. She was on my must-have list for the following reasons:

- One, she's Operetta.

- Two, the Picture Day sets are fairly cheap ($10 - $15 in most stores right now, $19.99 on release) yet come with some of the greatest accessories and design for their price point. The clothes in this line are consistently well-made and gorgeous. The Fearbook is worth it if only for the sheet of stickers within.

- That jacket! Finally, an MH letterman jacket for a ghoul!

- Those shoes! .. OK, basically the fact that she's 1950s ghoul cool reincarnated. Spectacular.

However, as you might guess, that cute little "hairdo gone astray" image of her on the Picture Day boxes translates to "glue-stiffened unmanageable coil of hair" in 3D, which also left her face spattered with glue; and the back of her head has been pressed so firmly against the box that any shape her carefully crafted ponytail and pompadour might have had, has been destroyed. So, yes. She's on my "imminent boil and re-do" list.

I noticed also that her left hand is deformed and will require some careful trimming with an Xacto before it can bend as normal. Other than that, she's flawless.

The coat is cut just under the bust with three-quarter sleeves. The main body is purple pleather, with an MH logo printed on the upper left breast. The sleeves are white faux leather. The coat has knit acrylic trim at the cuffs, hem, and neck. It's well-made, though I worry about the longevity of the pleather, and it looks absolutely fantastic.

The corset is a removable piece with thin velcro closure and printed white stringing. It is structured just as a small corset should be, in panels, and it fits just right.

Operetta has a handbag shaped like a red and black dripping heart, with a music-note "tail" detail on one side. The bag is small, just big enough for a ghoul's iCoffin, but I do appreciate the nifty curve in its strap, designed to help its weight balance on a doll's arm.

On her left wrist she wears a simple black bracelet, common to the dolls released in this line and around this same time. On the right wrist she wears a bead-detailed red bracelet, a recolor of Lagoona's Dot Dead Gorgeous white bracelet.

Here are her amazing shoes, with molded and painted buttons and a red seam along the inside of the ankle. I can't get over these. They're gorgeous.

Her facemask is still heart-and-cobweb shaped, but this time the spider at its edge is bright red, adding some visual punch. On her right ear she wears a long earring of black vinyl records.

This is the full complement of accessories with this doll: jacket, corset, dress, fishnet stockings, bag, bracelets, facemask, earring, and shoes, not to mention folder with spiderweb patterns and closure, stand, and brush.

The jacket, shoes, socks, and corset could easily be added to other Operetta outfits, without disrupting her basic style themes.

The dress, leopard print interspersed with music notes and treble clefs, combines the "strapless" (clear plastic straps) look of the Ghouls Night Out designs with the tulle, patterns, and ruffles of the Dot Dead Gorgeous line. It's elegant, fierce, and adorable, all at once. That's Operetta in a nutshell!

So, in conclusion, I'd say the Picture Day line are worthwhile, for your own collection or for storing as a future investment. This is the second "basic" Operetta doll and in my opinion she's a gem. It's obvious Mattel put a lot of work into her design and the craftsmanship used to put her together.

As for the Music Festval dolls, I feel their costumes make them worth the cost, but they don't offer much else. If you have a favorite character, get them in this budget line if only to have some variety; otherwise, these dolls will soon be on deep discount, so keep your eyes peeled.

Up next: Pattern layouts for common MH outfit pieces!

Super Simple Monster High Clothes, Pt 3

Okay, so we all have socks, right?

Is it just me, or do we also all lose one along the way somehow?

I don't know about you but I have a tendency to lose socks. Especially my favorite ones, or the nifty new novelty ones I only wore once. What to do with all these random unpaired lonesome socks?

I've kept a bag of unmatched socks for over a year now. It's handy when I just need a sock real quick, or when I want to do a craft project but am lacking other supplies. They're clean and wearable. Just mismatched.

Which makes them perfect for Monster High clothes!

Today I'll show y'all how to make a hat and sheath dress out of.. yep.. a sock. There are infinite variations on this theme, and once you learn it you'll never look at socks the same way. I certainly don't!

Materials:

- any random socks you've got laying around, clean and in decent shape

- scissors, needle and thread

- measuring tape - a cloth or flexible plastic one is best

* Some basic sewing skill is required for this project. Don't worry - it's nothing fancy and if you don't succeed at first, just try again until you do!

* This tutorial will work with ANY sock, but I found childrens' socks (size 9 - 11) the most fun to work with. There are many colors and patterns to choose from and the fabric isn't bulky.

Step 1a: The Hat

This is the easiest hat in the world. See that toe section on your sock? Lay the sock flat, measure four to seven centimeters from the toe, and snip it off. That's your hat. You can customize it further by stitching it to a band of elastic (which might be at the top of the sock), a loop of ribbon, or even a ring of cardboad cut from a paper towel tube. You can hem and shape the edges, add a brim, or just let it be - a loose, comfy, beret-style sock cap. The best thing is, it already matches the dress you haven't yet made.

Step 1b: The Dress

Lay the sock flat sideways and cut a straight line through the foot, removing the heel section. You should now have two straight tubes: the foot and the ankle.

Step 2:

Measure the length of each tube. This will be a bit longer than your finished dress. Between eight and ten centimeters is the ideal length. To get a good idea of how this will fit your doll, slip her into the tube and pull it as tight against her body as you'd like it to fit. If it's too short, no problem - set it aside and you can make it into a shirt or a skirt later. If it's too long, snip off as much as you'd like.

Step 3:

Now, if you're like me, you want your doll's clothes to fit well but not too snug. Cutting each tube in half makes four equal pieces, all of which will fit quite tightly. Cutting off about a quarter of each tube makes two equal pieces and two smaller leftover pieces, which you can use later. Your choice. Cut them now.

Step 4:

Turn the fabric inside out, so that the "raw" side with all the seams and loose threads is facing you. Stitch the two open sides together to form a new, smaller tube. This should fit your doll closely. If it's too loose, use a seamripper or the blade of your scissors to tear out the stitches, cut off another strip, and stitch it up again. Keep trying until you've got it just the way you like it.

Socks are one of my favorite items for creating doll clothes, because they're so versatile. The fabric is usually soft and plush without being thick or bulky. They're small and pre-made into a tube, so I only have to cut out the size or shape I want.

You can make almost anything for a doll from an unwanted sock - a skirt, sweater, coat, shorts, leggings, pajama pants. And using them makes me feel good because I'm using up a small fabric stash that mostly gathers dust!

Extra Ideas:

- Trim the neckline and / or base of your sock dress with ribbon in a contrasting color or texture. Shiny satin ribbon sharpens up the fuzziness of cotton, and bright colors jazz up mellow or neutral tones.

- Stiffen the hat or skirt by painting over it with liquid white glue or nail polish.

I bet you have some snippets and scraps left over after this one. That's why Next up: is all about crafting skirts and tops from sock material. See ya!