Re-root: Sally

Dolly friends,

I'd like to introduce you to one of my latest re-roots. Sally was a Top Model Barbie doll, and while she came to me with pretty strawberry blonde hair, she also had these odd green highlights. They didn't do much for her, in this dolly hairdresser's opinion, so I gave her a re-root.

And... honestly? The re-root didn't suit her, either. The maroon color was wrong -- I should have trusted my instincts on that one. I also used low-quality nylon for some of it, and it really stood out against the nicer stuff. So she sat on the shelf for about a year, while I re-rooted other dolls and refined my technique. And then a few weeks ago, I felt inspired.

Sally got purple hair! It suits her very well, and the saran hangs so much better than the cheap nylon. I was able to re-root her with just one hank of Restore Doll hair instead of two, thanks to the new re-rooting technique I learned and adapted to my own needs. I need a tiny bit more hair because there's a bare spot at the back, but she says she can wait. She waited over a year for her perfect hair, after all. She can wait for a few more hair plugs.

Sally is wearing a necklace I made, and it features the fantastically proportionate Chinese crystal beads I found at the Bead and Button Show a few years ago -- I seriously need to get more of those. Her sweater was also made by me, and so were the pants. The pants were sewn in a batch of 12 or so pairs, all in different fabrics, and they're my favorite, tied closely with the hot pink stretch velvet.

Stay tuned for more! The new technique has cut my re-rooting time in half, so I've done several dolls, in addition to the ones I'd already finished. I also have to share a present that my friend (and newly published author) Audrey bought for me at a yard sale. I was also tagged by two friends to do the Sisterhood of the World blogging challenge, and I'm still working on my answers. I'm having way too much fun with that one, and I have to remember to be less... wordy. 

I'll get to all of it, I swear!

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Re-root: Rashida

Hello, dolly friends!

Today I'd like to introduce Rashida, one of my latest re-roots.

As you may know, I'm a huge fan of thrift shopping. I love to find well-loved dolls and adopt them, giving them a new home, plenty of brothers and sisters to make mischief with, and of course, a makeover.

Rashida, named after my girl crush Rashida Jones, was a Princess of India Barbie. I found her nude, with matted hair, at Savers. I tried de-tangling, but there were too many broken strands, so I re-rooted her with Black Orchid, one of my favorite colors of saran hair. I also gave her an articulated body, and wow! Quite a transformation.

Rashida is wearing a sweater, pants, and necklace that I made. I love the look on her, but confession? The above photo almost didn't happen. You see, she saw the Batik Quilt set up with all its pillows...

And she decided that she would much rather take a nap! "This is comfy," she said. "So, so comfy. I'm never getting up."

I tried to get her off the bed, but she wouldn't listen. She pretended to be asleep, but her snores weren't all that convincing. And so I enlisted the help of a friend, Ellie the elephant. "Wake up, Rashida!" Said Ellie. "It's snuggle time! Come on... pleeeeeease????"

Nobody, no matter how tired or stubborn she is, can resist the charm of a tiny blue stuffed elephant. So after a few minutes, Rashida groaned and sat up. "OK, Ellie. I'm up. Just stop giving me the sad eyes, will you? It's heartbreaking."

I let her enjoy some Ellie time, and then I pounced. "Since nap time's finished," I said, "I guess you can get that photo taken after all." Ellie, being a good helper, nudged Rashida off the bed, and Rashida mumbled something about us being devious and evil.

Guilty, as charged. But a girl has to be clever when dealing with dolls! I should never have let her see the bed, but it was set up for another photo shoot -- I really wanted to show off that quilt. It and the pillows were made with Idea Store fabric, which was one of my best fabric finds to date -- batik is so expensive in fabric stores! The sequined pillow was made with felt and embroidery floss from the very same place. It was going to get a post of its own, but dolls happen.

And that concludes today's post! Stay tuned for more re-roots, more dolls with attitude, and perhaps... more stuffed animals to help with doll wrangling.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And helpful elephant)

Re-root: Dominique

Hello, dolly friends!

I'm excited to share one of my newer dolls and re-roots, Dominique. She's a Barbie Basics doll, and I found her on eBay. She had a severe-looking haircut when she came to me, and while we were both happier with it after a trim, in the end we decided that she needed a total change. Here she is now:

I love how she turned out! Later on I'm probably going to add some waves to her hair, but for now, I wanted to show off how sleek it is after a hot water treatment -- you can see the highlights better this way, too. She's wearing a shirt and sweater by Mattel, which came with Glam Luxe Midge, and her floral pants were made by yours truly.

I was going to post her by herself, because honestly? A doll this fabulous demands a solo post. But then I saw another photo that Uncle John had taken of my newest Monster High doll, Ghoul Fair Heath Burns, and I realized... it looked like she was staring him down! And then he was like...

"What?!!! What did I do?"

And then she was like....

"You know what you did. Don't act cute with me."

This was completely unintentional on Uncle John's part, and I love it. Of course, after the photo shoot, both dolls sat on the couch, all snuggled up like nothing had happened. Almost a week later, they're still together, and it's clear to me that this showdown was all for... show.

Even though he didn't get his name in the title of this post, I'm excited about Heath, too. I love that I won't have to re-root him if I don't want to! Plastic hair... equals no glue. The top of his head looks a bit like a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, but I think that's part of his charm.

Stay tuned for more new dolls, re-roots, and dolly antics! I have another re-root coming up, and while she wasn't one hundred percent cooperative during the photo shoot, I think she's lovely.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dueling dolls)

More Rory!

Dolly friends, I have so much news to share with you!

There are two new members of the doll family, and one of them is a doll I never thought I'd own -- a My Melody Barbie doll I've named Bunny. There is another member of the bird flock as well, and his name is... Chicken (another ostrich). I couldn't pass him up when I found him at Goodwill because of this sarcastic little smirk on his face. Booby the tiny plastic ostrich has a new house, thanks to a sale at the Idea Store, and the most exciting news of all is that... I bought a 1/6 scale doll house!!!

I don't have photos of it right now, or of anything else I mentioned above, because I've been dog-sitting almost non-stop since May and have had no time. But I can tell you that it's from Goodwill, getting it from the store to my house was an adventure by itself, and it's going to be re-floored, re-papered, and even tiled in some parts. Big project.

What I do have, though, is another photo of Rory. It took Uncle John and I awhile to get around to this photo, and as a result, the poor thing was in the same pose for weeks. She's convinced she'll need a chiropractor (or maybe a new handbag to match her dress? She's being a touch indecisive).

In this photo you can actually see her little pink bracelet and the tiny flower hair clip.You can also see more of her cute and easy hairstyle.We're not big on fussy hairstyles at Casa de Sarah.

Rory is excited to be on the blog again, and even more excited that she has another sister. One of the new dolls I bought was Bernadette, or Bernie for short. Another Barbie Style Midge doll who is getting a brown re-root. It's not often that my dolls get to be triplets, so it's a big deal for everyone when it happens.

I'm hoping to share more photos once I'm home and rested up from my latest dog-sitting job. Until then, Rory, Bunny, and Bernie say hello, and Chicken the ostrich... says nothing at all. He's just smirking.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And Sarcastic Chicken)

Reroot: Rory

Hello, dolly friends!

Can you believe it's been almost a month since my last post? I thought I was having some problems with eye strain, but then I realized my problems reading the text on the screen started the moment I dropped the poor laptop on the floor. One of these days, I'll get another one -- but until I do, My posts will be image rather than text-heavy.

Starting with Rory...

Rory was originally Laila, but with her brown hair and blue eyes, she reminded me so much of one of my favorite Gilmore Girls characters. She approved of the name change.

I rooted her hair with two different colors of brown from Dollyhair.com.

I decided to skip the bangs and to change her hair part from the middle to the side.

She's wearing one of my very favorite dresses, made with some of my favorite rose fabric. Lydia's sister Alison lent it to her for the photo shoot. The only jewelry she has on is a simple pink beaded bracelet.

Rory was originally a Glam Luxe Midge -- in my opinion, one of the most fantastic dolls Mattel has ever made. She isn't the first one in my collection. Here is Mindy, who has popped in to show us what Rory looked like before the hair change.

If you look closely, you'll see that Mindy still has her eyelashes. Rory's came out during the re-rooting process. Oops!

Mindy's hair is a honey blonde color. We'll probably keep it that way. She's wearing another one of my favorite dresses. Here's a closeup of the beading around the edge.

You might have noticed that she's holding another one of my beaded doll purses! She was so excited about it, I didn't tell her it was supposed to go in the next post.

That next post is coming soon. Just as soon as Uncle John takes a photo of all the beaded purses... hanging from the display rack I bought at the Idea Store jewelry sale. It was a fantastic find, and I can't wait to show you!

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Re-root: Ruby (and friends)

Dolly friends, did you know that last month I only bought two dolls?

That's right. Just two dolls. You see, as much as I love dolls, I have another passion... dogs. I make my money pet sitting and dog walking, which is the best job I've ever had. I always try to go above and beyond for my furry clients, but lately I've been feeling an undeniable need to help dogs who don't have homes yet. So I challenged myself to give the average amount of money I spend on dolls each month to an amazing animal charity. And I was not allowed to buy any dolls off of eBay, which is where I adopt most of my plastic friends.

Instead of buying new dolls, I (mostly) focused on the ones I already have. I finished a re-root on poor Laila, who was waiting forever for the bottom half of her hair, and now that I know how to thatch a part, I fixed Kenzie's part and gave her a few more hair plugs. But the doll I'm most proud of is Ruby, who got extra hair plugs, a thatched part, and a trim.

When I got back into collecting Barbies again, I discovered the Tarina Tarantino doll. I wanted one so, so much, but I didn't have a few hundred dollars to spend. What I did have, though, was a Barbie Basics doll I'd bought for super cheap on eBay and plenty of shades of pink to choose from at Dolly Hair.

The result was Ruby Reddington, one of the few dolls in my collection with a last name. After almost a year without a thatched part, she's finally finished!

Ruby's hair is a bit redder than Tarina's, and she doesn't have bangs. This makes her happy because she gets to be her own person doll. But since I happened to have a tiara sitting around, I let her have it. I also made her some glitzy jewelry. It looks more complicated than it is! It's just two long beaded ropes looped around her neck a few times and stacked on top of each other. I used size 15 seed beads and 2 millimeter faceted beads from City Beads, my favorite bead store in Chicago.

I also made the dress. It was an experiment -- I'm still trying to make the perfect fitted dress out of stretchy material. I cut slits in the sides because it didn't fit her below the waist, but in the end, I think this style is perfect for her. Next time I'd like to make one with darts in the front.

Ruby thought she would get the photo session, and this post, all to herself. Boy, was she surprised when not one, but two of her friends showed up! The first one is Lydia Holland, another doll with a first and last name, and the same version of the Barbie Basics doll. One of my favorites in the line.

Lydia claimed she wanted readers to get a chance to see how Ruby looked before her makeover, but she's a tricky one. When she insisted on a change of clothes and a new hairstyle, and then a chain necklace I'd made using the new O-Beads, I knew it was less about the reader than it was about... Lydia. But she's cute, so she got away with it.

Then someone else showed up. None other than Domingo Flamingo, one of my rescue birds. He said he wanted to kick-start his career as an international model and hearth-throb, and normally I would believe him because wow, that bird has an ego, but he also has a little crush. Because Ruby is so pink, he thinks she's another flamingo! Ruby doesn't quite know how to set him straight.

"One of these days," says Mingo, "I'm going to be Mr. Ruby Reddington."

"Oh, dear..." says Ruby.

Working on Ruby and her friends made the month fly by (like a lovesick flamingo). Once I've earned a little more money from dog-sitting, I'll do another monthly challenge. Until then, I'll continue to play with dolls both old and new, and I'll keep you posted on the antics of the dolls, Mingo, and the other crazy toys. Mingo may be misguided, but Peanut the ostrich is having a complete identity crisis!

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And toys Lydia the evil genius)

Re-root: Samira

Dolly friends, I am so excited to share one of my latest re-roots with you!

This is Samira. She was a 2014 Holiday Barbie, on clearance for just under twelve dollars. Even though I knew she would have a head full of glue, I just couldn't resist her at that price because she was so pretty. So I bought her, took her home, and immediately removed the hair and glue. Poor thing sat bald on a shelf for several weeks (or months?) while I finished up some other projects.

At first I thought it was a shame to have to re-root her. It's always sad to put new hair in a doll who would have perfectly good hair, were it not for the goop seeping out of her scalp. But when I finished her, I was happy I had. She was pretty before, but she's gorgeous now! The extra length and thickness really accentuate her beautiful face.

And... then there's also the little surprise underneath. Here's a glimpse of it from the back.

Yes, that's a little bit of red peeking out. You can see it better in the next photo, with her hair floofed out.

Samira is living in the red and black room on my book shelf, with her friend Kyla. She is part of a support group, Glueheads Anonymous, formed by some of my other dolls, where they get together and celebrate being glue-free. They also console other glueheaded dolls who are waiting for their turn in the salon, and who are a bit nervous at the prospect of having their heads popped off and all their hair yanked out.

In addition to having new hair, Samira got a new body. She's happy to be able to move her arms and to sit. She's wearing a new hair clip from Meijer (clearance sale last week... couldn't resist) and a necklace I made; I forget where I found the fine chain, but I love how proportionate it is. She's also wearing a black dress I made. I'm fairly proud of it, considering it's my first time putting darts in stretchy fabric. I hope to make many more and to become as comfortable with darts as I am with hair.

Looking forward to sharing more re-roots! I just finished rooting a Glam Luxe Midge with long brown hair, and now that I know how to thatch a part, I did one for one of my earlier re-roots. The difference is amazing! I may have to show off my girls in groups of two or three, because I am an impatient creature. I just hope the girls understand.

Thank you for checking out my work! I've made a lot of progress since my early, sometimes terrible re-roots in 2000, so I do enjoy showing off. I have to say, though, that I owe a lot of the credit to better doll hair! Thanks, Restore Doll and Dolly Hair!  And equal thanks to Dan Lee for his instructions on thatching a part -- they're the best I've found.

Love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Re-root: Kyla

Thanks to Uncle John and his camera, I have another re-root to share!

This is Kyla, named after Kyla Pratt, one of my favorite voice actors. I bought her with her twin sister (still unnamed) off of eBay a few months ago, as an early holiday present to myself. She's a reproduction of the My Black Barbie doll from 1979.

She's modeling another of my favorite dresses, once again made out of Idea Store fabric. I love this fabric. The maroon matches her makeup perfectly, and it's more modern than most of the prints in my collection. Not a flower or a strawberry in sight!

Kyla is also wearing a necklace I made out of colored copper wire and seed beads. If I remember correctly, the purple wire was 20 gauge, and the black wire was 26 -- that's about the finest gauge I'll work with. The seed beads were around a size 15, but I can't be sure, because they were another Idea Store find. Possibly vintage, and quite tiny!

I wanted to do something a little different for Kyla's hair, so I gave her some red highlights on one side. Another difference is that I used the lock and loop method! I used to be exclusively a hand-knot gal, but now I alternate between the two, depending on what needs to be done.

I gave her very long hair, and I do not plan to bring scissors anywhere near it. I love the way it looks in the high ponytail, and I'm not someone who cares whether her doll's hair looks realistic. Besides, after a few years of short hair, I figured she needed a change.

Kyla lives in the Black and Red Room, i.e. the topmost shelf of my former book case, with her sister and several other dolls. She sits on a doll bed with a crazy quilt that I made in shades of, you guessed it, black and red. We have a running joke in my house that dolls can only enter the room if their clothing matches the decor, or if they are shirtless Ken dolls. I'm pretty sure it was Kyla who added the last part.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her sister's hair. I'm leaning towards a copper color, but I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. With at least a dozen dolls whose hair color I have already chosen, I'll have plenty of time to think it over!

I'm so glad I could show Kyla off, and I can't wait to share another re-root. I may or may not ask Uncle John to take another doll photo next, since I also have a pair of ostriches who would love to be in the spotlight. One of them has a new... accessory... to show off. Let's just say, it keeps my simple boy from hurting himself.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Re-root: Timberly

Last year was a pretty productive one for me in terms of dolly things. I made at least 50 doll dresses in this style, added as many members to my doll family, made 10 doll quilts, furnished about 10 doll rooms, and did a surprising number of re-roots.

I first started re-rooting and customizing dolls in 2000, after reading the book Fashion Doll Makeovers by Jim Faraone, but I hadn't done any in several years because of the lack of quality doll hair. Then I was inspired by two things. The first was A Doll Affinity, run by the very talented Cat. Her work is amazing! The next was Restore Doll, which offers gorgeous saran doll hair in every color imaginable. I ended up doing 20 re-roots... and counting.

Thanks to Uncle John and his camera, I'm going to share one of my recent re-roots today. One of my favorites, actually. This is Timberly, named after a character in one of my favorite 90's cartoons. She's modeling a skirt and sweater I made, some little hair clips from Meijer, and a Mattel necklace.

When I bought Timberly off of Ebay, she had black hair in a cute curly ponytail. Unfortunately, her head was also full of glue, which was seeping into her hair (thank you very much, Mattel). Since there doesn't seem to be a way to remove the glue by itself, it was re-root time.

In the end, I'm glad I gave her new hair. I like the brown with the caramel highlights, and I am absolutely in love with the micro-braids. I love the look, I love the feel, and I love styling them in different ways. Timberly is pretty happy with them, too.

To finish the braids, I tied each one into a knot. I didn't trim the tails off of the knots because I liked the way they looked all together, but I've trimmed them on other dolls, and it looks nice like this, too -- like a bunch of tiny tassels. I'm going to experiment with really long tails, too. Maybe with shorter braids?

Here's a closeup view of the back. Each braid is about three hair plugs thick.

Here's a closer side view. Did I mention how much I love those little clips?

Timberly isn't the first doll of mine to get tiny little braids, but she's definitely the first to get a whole head full of them. She won't be the last. I'm micro-braiding the hair of Mia, one of my Idea Store dolls, and also re-rooting a Salvation Army Barbie, Veronika, with bright red braids. After that, I'd love to do one with beads (a size 6 or 8 seed bead would be perfect). I have as many ideas as I have dolls.

Can't wait to show off more re-roots! And more doll clothing, too.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)