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Back in November 2006, I did something fairly rare for me, as a treat. I bought a brand-new doll ! This is very uncommon,
I rarely buy dolls at all, and the ones I usually buy are second-hand ! But this one was special. So, may I present to you,
Aria, The Little Mermaid Bride doll !
Oh, and I made her some clothes, too.
Yes - I went out and bought a new, not used, doll. I've been fighting getting her for weeks, and after a difficult October,
I finally found exactly the one I wanted, and just spent the darn money already.
This is 'The Little Mermaid Special Edition Royal Wedding'. Because Disney's always-released-at-Christmas-buying-season
Special Edition DVD this year is "The Little Mermaid", there's lots of Ariel dolls and toys out. There is another
'TLMSE' doll, a lovely mermaid one called 'Under the Sea'. But I've always kinda liked her wedding dress, and Playmates tends
to cheap out a bit on their mermaid dolls by not giving them shoes. So I decided on this one - bear in mind, I first saw her
on websites that had Toy Fair photos. Toy Fair is always in February...
Once I finally decided...I couldn't find one ! Our Mart hasn't had the Wedding one in weeks, possibly ever. But I got
to hit another Mart in the neighboring town yesterday, and they had two. Whee !
Want a touch of irony ? The shoes I was sooooo concerned about ? Yes, she does have pretty pearly pumps. Just one problem.
Her feet are absolutely flat. Her shoes not only have heels, but the shoe sole is angled upward. If her legs are straight,
they look bizarre on her. For the heel and toe to be on the ground, her legs have to be bent, if she's wearing her issue shoes.
(sigh) I have no idea why they did that. Why didn't Playmates just give her flats ?
There was also another bit of irony about her, but the only reason that matters is that I wrote down 'Ariel Irony' on
a notepad, and out of that came 'Aria'. I liked it, so it's now her name. After all, I already have a little Ariel.
Oh, well. Guess I'll make shoes m'self. I pulled her hair out of the shipping net and brushed it - lovely ! She didn't
fit anything I already had, although Interactive Belle's wardrobe came close, just too long. So I'll have to *make* her entire
wardrobe. Whoo-hoo ! She's not much bigger than Little Princess Ariel(16 and 15 inches, respectively), so when she's posed
next to 'little sis', I'll have to boost her up on a block. I kinda knew she wasn't as tall as Crissy and Isabella, but I
just loved her pretty face.
She also came with a bag for her jewelry - the veil/tiara is a barrette, and the pearl and green trim around her waist
and down the gown's skirt front detatch to double as kid jewelry - and a Coloring Book on CD-Rom, and it's actually fun to
play with. Amazingly, she was less than $20. Quite a lovely doll - but you may wanna act fast if you want the Bride one. Both
the Marts had a lot more of the Mermaids (they're identical save for clothes) than the Brides.
Got her measured for Doll Shop Deluxe, and here's the first 'muslin', the simple straight sheath. Not bad at all, and
this time I ironed as I went, so it looked much better on her than my usual attempts. Hope I have time to sew pants and a
shirt. Gotta see how much DSD needs tweaking !
| New Clothes ! Version the first... |
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Here's Aria's latest outfits. The two-piece set on your left was done without changing anything on Doll Shop Deluxe. The pants
are rather big on her, but a bit short. The blouse is too tight, and the darts are too high. Sleeves were also a bit short.
After a bit of re-measuring and just plain changing the numbers no matter what the measuring tape said, we got pants that
fit much better - the black ones used the same pattern type as the floral ones - and a stretchy blouse that also fit better.
I did alter the sleeves, since there wasn't much of that sparkle green left.
I'm hoping to make a nice Spring dress from some cheeep green gingham - yes, I'm always a season or two off ! - later
this week, and that should tell me what else, if anything, needs further tweaking. Not sure if I'm getting better at sewing,
or just used to DSD's quirks.
| Thanksgiving and the Village |
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Aaaand here's some more Aria outfits ! On your left is the former 'Happy Thanksgiving' image - it's a slightly longer, more
snugly fitting sheath dress. From DSD, it's modified a bit from the first dress I made her, pictured above.
The left dress is my attempt to make a costume from the movie. I couldn't find the right shade of blue, so I went with
other colors. The skirt is a simple gathered rectangle with a waistband, the round-necked blouse was my first attempt at sewing
a gathered sleeve to a cuff. Not too bad, huh ? The over-bodice is fully lined, and I had to sew the front bottom 'v' in.
But the fit is great, and once I do find the right colors, I'll make this again ! All patterns from DSD. Her shoes are very
clumsy efforts, as I don't have a single pair that fits her. <sigh>
Even made her a little hair-bow to coordinate with the knockoff film outfit, but it doesn't show up well. Seems like she
collects dolls, too ! :)
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