Fall is rolling right along...

Inspired by fall, this dress was made from one of my own patterns.  The yoke has a bit of silk ribbon embroidery on it.

Peyton by Helen Kish

Peyton arrived a while back but he was still stifling in his winter clothes, so I hadn't photographed him yet.  I asked Texas Carol to make me some clothes for him and she made him this great polo shirt and shorts with grommets in the sides.  She does wonderful work!  Peyton looks much cooler.  Hopefully I can make him some more clothes myself at some point.  Carol was so wonderful to work with and also threw in a free gift!

Bitty Belle in Pink Petticoat

Bitty Belle in Pink Petticoat, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

I made this as a custom order for someone on Etsy. I just love Bitty Belle. She reminds me why Helen Kish is one of my two favorite doll artists!

I did finally update my etsy shop, too (link over to the right).  There are a few dresses in there and some underthings for various sized dolls.

Another dress on three dolls

Bitty Belle, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

Here's another dress I made, soon to be on etsy, shown on three different dolls that it fits! (Bitty Belle by Helen Kish, 10.5 inch doll by Heidi Plusczok, and Byuri by Iplehouse.)

Cassie by Helen Kish

Cassie by Helen Kish, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

Finally, I had a minute to photograph this! Cassie is wearing a hankie dress that is made from instructions from Sissy Lingle.  Now I have to make one more outfit for the last of my Beach Girls, Buffy, and I will have everyone redressed.

Beach Girl Patty by Helen Kish

Patty - Portrait View, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

This is Patty, one of the Beach Girls by Helen Kish. I have had Betsy for years and recently was able to purchase Patty and Cassie. I'm still looking for Buffy. I redressed Patty in a dress I made just for her last weekend from a Rosemary Ionker pattern.

Rachel by Helen Kish

Rachel by Helen Kish, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

I have had this beautiful girl for a full year and have not photographed her yet! She needs a different outfit, too, because it's way too cold around here for a sundress.

This is Rachel and she's 16" tall and joined my Classic Kish collection with Four Seasons Fall, Basic Brunette Jo, and Kathy. Rachel came wearing Jo's dress.  My Jo is wearing blond Jo's dress and came that way, so it appears that no one around here has their originals!  There's a full view of Rachel on my Flickr account (click through this photo).

Allie models her new dress

Chrysalis Bethany in blue dress, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

This is my 12" Tag-along Bethany from Helen Kish's Chrysalis Collection. Isn't she cute in her new dress? The dress is from a pattern by Designs by Jude and was very easy to make up. I combined the sleeves from the top pattern with the dress instead of making it sleeveless.

I have also never shown a photo of my little Kishlet that I got as a prize for one of the contests in the Kish newsletter. She's a little blond Kishlet and is much beloved by Allie (Bethany).

Suchin and Sasha in hanky dresses

Suchin and Sasha in hanky dresses, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

These dolls are beautifully painted. They are hand-painted Suchin (12 inches) and Sasha (6 inches) by Helen Kish, one of my favorite doll artists. They're just pretty! I admire them daily. I made Suchin's dress from a vintage hanky with instructions provided by Sissy Lingle (she has the directions for sale, send me a message if you need her contact info). Sasha's dress is my own design, also from a vintage hanky. I made it several years ago for Ellery Kish. Sasha is the same size as Ellery and I'm so glad Helen made her. I was waiting for years for more friends for Ellery, and it's great that Helen is offering these six inch all-vinyl babies as companions for her 12 inch girls. They look great as dolls for the 12 inch girls but also can go live in Riley's World whenever I would like them to!  It's always a bit difficult to get good photographs on August afternoons.  The light is so golden.  It's lovely light but makes for yellow photos.

Suchin, Hand-painted by Helen Kish

Suchin Full View, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

The lovely Suchin arrived yesterday. I ordered mine with as a hand-painted set. Suchin is 12" tall (Chrysalis line) and jointed. She is sold with Sasha, a little 6" baby that will fit with the Riley line of dolls or can be used as a baby doll for Suchin. In the photos, they are both wearing their original outfits. There are a few more photos on my Flickr account.

Pretty Doll, Pretty Dress

This is Basic Bethany, by Helen Kish, and I added her to the household a few months ago.  She is a "Classic Kish" meaning that she was made in the pre-Riley days of Helen Kish.  She's all-vinyl and 12 inches tall.  Her dress was a second attempt.  The first attempt was made last week, from patterns specifically made for this doll and it was ill-fitting, in my opinion!  The dress was too broad across the chest area and too loose overall, so I donated it to Emma Effner and tried again with a different pattern.  This attempt came out much better!

One Outfit, Three Dolls

12 inch Bethany by Kish, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

I made this outfit and realized that it can fit on lots of different dolls, from my 12" Bethany to my 10" Rosen Lied Beige! The dress is made of a lightweight cotton print (don't remember where I got it! I've been de-stashing and it was in my peach cubby). The shrug is from 100% wool and is from a Froggy Duds pattern.

On Mandy by Heidi Plusczok:

  

And on April (Beige, Tuesday's Child from Rosen Lied). 

 

In other news, I have bought a Rosen Lied Sage Boy and he's on his way. :)

Bethany's New Outfit

Bethany's New Outfit, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

I ordered a pattern from Designs by Jude and made Bethany an outfit. It will be listed on etsy within a week or so.

Peak Color

Fall Leaves in Upstate NY, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

The view out back is gorgeous! It's all yellows, reds and oranges.

I got Venetian Carnival Olivia by Helen Kish from MDCC's website. She's gorgeous! I made her a new outfit and had some fun drafting patterns to fit the vision I had in my head of what I wanted to make. The first version came out too large and so it is on an Effner Little Darling at the moment. After I get the snaps and slip done for that version, I'll share that, too.

Song and Tamsin

Song and Tamsin, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

I found this great bench at the thrift store and realized it would be perfect for the 14" Chrysalis girls. Song and Tamsin volunteered to have their photos done, with Tulah's cat, Toots.

Piper on a late summer day

Piper on a late summer day, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

Finally, I had time for the sewing machine! I bought a pattern today from Designs by Jude for some jeans. It also has a turtleneck, but it was too hot here today for turtlenecks, so we put a blouse on Piper and took her photo. The early evening late summer light is a little difficult to photograph in, but Piper is such a pretty doll! Below is a close up, just because.

Alisha, Hand-Painted by Helen Kish

This is my little Alisha, 8" and all-vinyl, hand-painted by Helen Kish!  She arrived the other day and is so pretty!  I made her a little romper but had to draft the pattern for it myself because I had no patterns exactly right.  It still needs a bit of tweaking to be absolutely perfect but it will do for Alisha's new outfit.

 

A close up of her face to show the painting.  The camera fails to capture that her eyes have a bit of iridescence to them!

Tag Along Bethany

Tag Along Bethany
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

This is this year's new Bethany, produced by Kish and Company.
She's Piper's (14 inch Chrysalis) little sister. When I first opened up her box, I didn't like her much. I don't like the hard plastic bodies that are being used on these jointed dolls. I also thought her head was too big for her body, and didn't understand why they made the doll in this size when she's only about 3/4" taller than the Bitty Bethanies. And her face is different--why didn't they name her something else?

Anyway, after I made her a new outfit and smoothed her hair out, I like her a lot more. I wish Kish and Co would produce these dolls with a jointed VINYL body. The hard plastic is just unpleasant and irregular and the more you move the joints the looser they get. The faces are still beautiful, though, and the wigs are great quality and the painting is nice. The original outfits are of very good quality, too, although they are not the style I like my dolls dressed in, so I usually store the outfit immediately.

Her outfit is made with Bitty Bethany patterns. I lengthened the skirt very slightly. The jacket pattern is from an Ionker book. and is made from microwale corduroy.

Overall, I'll still buy Kish dolls, but only new faces. I so wish she would go back to the original all-vinyl bodies. Why mess with perfection?

Bitty Belle by Helen Kish

 

Here's a girl who doesn't get enough attention.  I love her hair.  This is Bitty Belle by Helen Kish, about 11 inches tall and just as cute as can be.  I made her a new outfit, because she had been wearing her previous one for way too long.   The dress pattern is from a Rosemary Ionker pattern and the fabric is a small quilting calico from Fabric.com.

Riki with Puppy

Riki with Puppy
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

Riki, by Helen Kish, is snuggling with my Toby portrait sculpture by Barlee Rumburg. I made Riki a new outfit yesterday. She looked cold in her sleeveless summer dress!  Below is the full view of the outfit.  The pantaloons are made from a Londie Phillips pattern and I drafted the bonnet and top myself.  The top is wool felt.  The embroidery pattern is based on an illustration in a Dover book of floral embroidery patterns.