Terri Lee

You can read about this doll here:  http://dollreference.com/terri_lee_dolls.html
and the current owners of the business:
Youtube Video about the Terri Lee Doll
the official Website of Terri Lee Dolls today
https://terrilee.com/index.php

Her face grew on me.  I bought this off ebay with the understanding she was reproduction and had a cracked neck. Okay with me...but when I got her it was more then the neck. Seems the new reproductions had problems with the seams not holding. Poor glue job. So she got a GOOD glue job.

This is how she looked when I got her and the stages to her fixed self.

 She looks kind of "short" with no neck at all

 the legs were cracked too and I took them apart as well and reglued them. I didn't want to have to do it all over again.

she is marked 719 of 2000

today 12/30/2105 My #3 daughter brought me another Goodwill find.  ANOTHER TERRI LEE!.
This one I think is meant to be an AA version but I think she looks more like she is mixed. So after cleaning she got her eye color changed then dressed in an AG outfit I had made. She was made in 2006.

Rhetta's doll

I have done sewing for Rhetta for a couple years now. She was once my mother's customer. 

She brought to me HER mother's doll.  The doll was made from what I can see, sometime between 1905 and 1912 possibly by Butler Brothers. It can be male or female, and has a composition head with painted on features.  The short arms are compo as well but of a different sort then the head. The body is a cheap cheese cloth type fabric and has exposed wire joints on the arms and the legs. I will slip cover the body and restore the compo where chipped and maybe do minor touch ups on the paint. The dress is one of Rhetta's will be restored.

 head removed and first cleaning.

the body is filled with excelsior (wood shavings that look like straw). I am guessing cedar as there is no bug damage and cedar deters them. 

half of the body is slip covered so far.
02/12/2016
Updated. Done and Done.

Jackie's doll

I will not be sorry to see 2015 go. It has been a very trying year for me.  But to end this year and start of the new year I have some dolls to work on to take my mind off what was not so good.

The first I call Jackie's doll. She belongs to a widow lady and it was her doll when she was a little girl. The doll has seen much wear.  The closest I can come to identifying her is an EffanBee Sugar Baby. The face for sure, but she does not have Sugar baby on her neck only the Effanbee name. She was made in the 1930s.

Composition head, arms and legs with a cloth body. The cotton has dry rotted with age and the head was hanging on by a few threads.  The legs are attached by casing and the arms have the enclosed wire to make them movable. I will attempt to make a new body covering so the head can be re-attached, the crotch mended where it is split and make her cleaner looking. She has some crazing in the compo and some chips...the chips will be filled and the crazing minimized and then sealed to protect. The paint touched up where needed and the clothes restored.

 After cleaning the head it looks so much better. She had some kind of blue on her cheeks. I will try to give her lashes again and restore her blush.

the clothes have been washed and soaked  to remove the yellowing and stains...they have since had holes repaired, and elastic restored where needed. Only thing left is to press them and hang till needed.
Well it is 02/12/2016 and I am done with Jackie's doll. She ended up with a repaint so the head would match her limbs. It had faded badly. She got new lashes and her hair sprayed on and a new body made from the pattern of the old and all the old stuffing put back in.  Nasty dusty stuff but it didn't stink. I sewed hand crocheted lace on the dress jacket to replace the stuff that had dry rotted.

Time Flies

I have not posted for a while due to being sick. I was diagnosed in June with Epstein Barr virus which is the beauty that causes Mono. Well it never got that far but it sure tried. This stuff hangs around 12 to 14 months!.  I can't wait for it to be GONE.  So my dolly fun has been few and scarce. Been working on the house when I could with my hubby who did so between two heart attacks. Gotta love that man, he keeps on even when it hurts. 

My daughter brought me this Bitty Baby she got at Goodwill for a whole $1.99.  I think she is one of those oriental ones. The skin tone and eyes are just right for that.

 

torn leg, eye off center and dirty ...and so so pale

Not a hard job , just took a little time to scrub all the yuk and repaint. Now to figure out what I can do to reduce the tackiness on the hair. I used spray Mod Podge Matt and it left it a bit tacky. 

Toni P90

I never had one of these but I heard about them. On one of the doll lists I am on , they had a discussion about the Toni dolls and their dresses...well that did it. I was hooked and had to have one. Now when I look for the dolls I want, I look for a fixer upper first. So I found one

 If the dress was any good it was ruined by some bad stitching.I don't think I can fix it. So she will get a new one

 When I go the clothes off I saw the fading on the plastic and it appeared to have been scrubbed and the lips were badly painted.  So guess I will get my first experience in painting hard plastic.

 She looks pretty good here. I couldn't find a wig that I liked so I washed her original and glued it back on.

 

I love how she turned out

New duds and shoes... looks like a new girl now!

Felt LENCI Type.

Sure I would love a real Lenci but I ain't got a pocketbook lined with gold bullion. So I settled for a Wannabe knock off of similar age.  I think I got a good deal on this Evil Bay doll.  The seller was very nice and worked with me to send by UPS as USPS is not playing nicely with me.

she measures about 22"  in height.  Felt face and cloth body. No markings. Her feet are sold and well formed in size but no individual toes as Lenci of this size would be. Her hair, mohair but very ratty and will be worked on later. Her felt face is faded and has some tiny moth holes...her nose was smushed and I did NOT like the face that much... I wanted her to be more Lenci like. So I did my thing

I painted the felt to match the area under the wig, gave her  new color eyes and bigger mouth, blush, and applied lashes and a new wig.  Whether it all stays like this , I don't know yet.

she is mine so I can have fun.

Hilary

In 1986 Dianna Effner put out a porcelain doll she called Hilary. The pouty face and blue eyes with that curly blonde wig just tugged at me. I couldn't afford that but I sure liked it. As the years past I still liked her whenever I saw her. I saw an opportunity to get a small one that was done in darker skin with brown eyes and I got her. She was wigged and dressed as you see. She looks like one of my girls.

I gave up trying to get the big one. One day  one of my girls called me from Goodwill. She sent pictures of a couple of porcelain dolls and one of them was the BIG Hilary. I told her to grab that one. She cost $19.99.  She is good quality porcelain from Effner's mold made by someone else. Even though not by the creator in construction, she would not have been cheap when made. Those molds cost a bit and the quality of the porcelain is great!.  don't know what she looked like when done but someone had glued a wig to her and then a child's dress was glued to her. That had to go

so her wig was removed, her body washed and I did a bit of blushing  and put a new wig on her. Now she awaits for clothes.

Sasha

     When I first saw a Sasha I wanted one. Not a herd but just one. Not the baby but just one little girl... I got her. She is a little loose and I may try to fix that later  and her hair is coming out in huge bits...so I think she will need a wig. Do not fancy re-rooting this one. Then make her a special outfit. In size I think she will share Magic Attic clothes with no problems.

After her bath.






A couple outfits I designed for her. You can purchase the patterns at
https://www.etsy.com/listing/451210934/sasha-one-pdf-sewing-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_5

 

Tolly Tot

http://www.justmagicdolls.com/meet/Tolly/tolly.htm

Similar to Target's Our Generation by Battat. But made by TollyTots Unlimited

that make a lot of Disney's toys and their princess dolls.

She reminds me VERY much of a Sasha doll in coloring and take off the face paint and the features are similar.  She is slimmer in build then the American Girl but same height. Some of the clothes of the AG will fit her but not the other way around.  She will do well in the stretch knits that well stretch to fit or hug the smaller build. But if the outfit is doll specific and fit just ITS build and measurements you will run into problems with the skirts and slacks that are non stretchy. They will fall off. But I think outfits made to fit Carpatina, Journey Girl and Alexa might do well on her.