Fun Effect To Play With... And It's Free!

Don't let the Japanese scare you away when you go to Bakumatsu Koshashin Generator's website: http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds.  They have a handy link to translate it to English, and from there it's a snap to use.

The service offered for free?  Add an 'old picture effect' to your photos, either by uploading them to their website or directing them to the image link.  It's sort of an Instagram effect, but it's so very cool and authentic looking.  I wish I'd known about this before Halloween so I could have taken and posted some old timey, Gothic looking pics of my dolls. 

You do have to upload your pictures to their server where you have to trust they are only stored temporarily, and trust that when you download the altered photo you're not getting anything you don't want on your computer.  But I have good antivirus software on my machine, so I feel safe using this service.  If someone else has heard of any issues, I'd appreciate hearing about it in the comments section.  I'm not endorsing this service for anyone else or guaranteeing it is safe for anyone else, I am just sharing how excited I am with what I've done so far.  For a free service, I'm very impressed, and willing to take a little risk for the end results.

Here are just a few pics I've applied this effect to.  This is going to be a very addictive toy for me...

Marilyn Monroe:

Ellowyne Wilde:

With this picture I toyed with the original photo's contrast, hue, and saturation several times before I got the result below.  At first you couldn't even make out her face, but after several iterations, I finally got the contrast and hue on her lovely face stark enough on the original so that the effect applied turned out well.  The fact she has dark brown hair, is wearing black, and sitting against a black backdrop both helped the effect, and made it challenging to get a good result.

As far as I could tell there's no limit to how many times you can use the "lab" for free, so I just kept trying!  I love the final effect I got with this picture.

And my personal favorite so far, Fashion Royalty Veronique:

I didn't make any changes at all to the original photo.  I had very good lighting on the original, and with Veronique's dark hair and makeup, the effect still lets you see her sharp features.  This one definitely has that Gothic feel to it.

Sweater Weather!

I love this time of year.  It's not quite fall, but the weather is cooling down enough to dress in layers and not always be at the bottom one.

The dolls are modeling two new offerings currently on eBay.  Lately I've been favoring the Wilde Imagination dolls, especially Amber.  But this time Prudence got in on the fun, too.

One is a green cardigan sweater I've had nearly done for quite a while.  Sewing snaps and buttons on is not my favorite task, but I finally got them on.  I like how clingy this one is.  It was really meant to be a sweater with a back closure, but I messed up the neckline a little, and it just looks so much better as a cardigan instead.

With the dark wig and her dark eyes, Amber loooks so good in this dark green.  The yarn is from Stricken Smitten, a fingering weight yarn I believe was called Glow Worm.  It's sadly sold out (her yarns sell out fast!), but I believe I have enough to make another doll sweater down the road.  :D

The second is a stripey sweater that I started recently, for Prudence.  Lots of fun stripes, and a nice big neckline.  Even sleeveless, it looks like it would be pretty cozy.

This is another reclaimed/recycled yarn project.  There is a lot of Penelope's Fine Yarns, plus the silver is from Keystone Art and Craft.  All luscious and a joy to knit with.

I've already cast on for a new sweater, but I'm still not sure where I'm headed with it.  I was thinking of trying something with a ruffled hem, but as with my other doll knits, I'll see where it ends up.  :D

Stripes. There Will Be So Many Stripes...

I have so many bits and bobs of wonderful laceweight yarn, I just started knitting up yet another doll sweater.  After the little fitting fiasco of the red silk one I intended for an Ellowyne doll, but became a Fashion Royalty sweater dress instead, I started off with 18 extra stitches on my cast on, for 72 total.  I did a 2 x 2 rib at the hem, so it's nice and stretchy.  I also learned my lesson, and will not do an i-cord edging, especially at the neckline and armholes (if sleeveless) without going up at least two needles sizes!  I'm sure there are much better edging techniques, but I haven't dedicated myself to learning any new ones for my repertoire.

At first I was going to do solid purple, but the little bits of color in one of my myriad of knitting boxes kept calling to me.  So next went a lovely silver, then this gorgeous russet red I'm using on the current stripe.  Next may be the teal blue, then green, and then we'll see from there.

I am picturing this as a sweater for Wilde Imagination's Prudence.  I think all of these stripes will suit her personality well.  This will most likely be a long sweater, with the hemline at mid calf, because I want to get lots of stripes in.  I'm not sure how I'll do the sleeves or neckline yet, but as with my previous "for the heck of it" knitted doll items, I'll figure it out when I get to that point.

And if you haven't checked out Penelope's Fine Yarns yet, you're really missing out!  Even if you wouldn't knit an adult sweater out of laceweight cashmere, why deny yourself the pleasure of working with a luxury yarn?  A lot of her skeins are the perfect amount for a doll sized item, and very reasonably priced. 

I've been a customer of hers for well over a year now, and have lots of her yarns in my stash.  There's something about having cashmere, silk, and fine merino yarn glide through your fingertips.  It's cheaper than therapy!  And considering how much my dolls "talk" to me, I'm sure friends and family have at least thought about my therapy needs... :D

Tiny, Doll Sized Socks!

Even dolls need a pair of luxury socks.  This first attempt turned out to be green reclaimed cashmere socks.

These were knit on size 0 US needles, with a laceweight yarn once again provided by Penelope's Fine Yarns.  It's a nice shade of green, more blue undertones than yellow.  They are simple socks with ribbing at the top, but they aren't tube socks.  Oh no, these have a tiny little heel!

The socks are knit from the toe up, so I can gauge how long I want to make each one before I will run out of yarn.  I have a lot of little skeins that are perfect for doll items, so I envision a lot more socks in the near future.  The pattern being easy to memorize makes this a great project for tv watching, or to have in my purse if I suspect I'm going to be waiting around for anything for any reason.

This pair of socks is up on eBay.  Hopefully this will be another item I can make to help offset the cost of living in general, and doll collecting specifically.  :D

Now I need to get to work and try to ignore the indignant glances I keep getting from Ellowyne and Sydney.  They got a taste of cashmere socks, and now they want their own.  They've already pointed out that it would be impractical for me to knit myself a pair, and that they have been modelling for free, so, you know, some kind of compensation is in order.  Soon.  :D

Tailor Fit Dress For Wilde Imagination Amber/Ellowyne

I had a pretty blue and white print cotton fabric that was just calling out to become a summery dress for one of my dolls. My Essential Amber graciously and patiently helped me draft a pattern, and sat through a few hours of fittings until it was just right.

Amber didn't realize she doesn't get to keep this dress, as it is now listed on eBay.  I'm sure she wants to tell me what she thinks about that, but is remaining silent in hopes of getting a new dress of her own soon.  :D

The auction listing is here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300762145176&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

The dress also turned out to fit well on Tonner's new Judy doll with the starlet body.  I was surprised by this, only because I expected the hips on Amber to be narrower than the hips on the starlet body.  But both fit along the bustline well, and draped on the hips the right way.

I had to keep adding snaps to the front bodice to prevent "wardrobe malfunctions", but in the end it just enhanced the fit.  I also gathered up the shoulder straps to enhance the bodice, especially the low scooping back.

I have to admit I'm proud of this dress, mostly because I did it without any pattern at all.  It also didn't take as long as I thought it would, so somewhere along the line I've started to get a better feel at doll dressmaking.  I will definitely be custom making more dresses for my various dolls in the near future!

Just don't tell the "models" that they probably won't get to keep their dresses, either... :D

Update on 2012-08-26 11:40 by Fashionable Figures

This little dress did sell on eBay, happily for more than my starting price.  I was asked about a pattern for it by the seller, and have heard interest expressed elsewhere for one. 

This is a dress I definitely want to make again, so next time I will make sure to write myself notes and take photos along the way.  I may not be able to make a draftable/sellable pattern because of the amount of tailoring on the doll I employ, but I can at least share my steps in the process (plus record them for my own records!).

Stay tuned!