Small-time Hijinks

Ursula finally gets a photoshoot (and a new outfit)

In 2022, I returned to the doll hobby after many years away (no drama: life just got in the way, so I packed up my dolls and kept them in a cupboard). Ursula was the first Volks doll I bought that year, a SDGr Dream Angel Una. I'd always loved the F-01/Four Sisters sculpt, so it was really special to realise a long-forgotten dream.

Ironically, I then mostly kept her in her box for the next few years.

Yesterday, I decided I really wanted to join in with a hashtag on Bluesky (building doll community on a different social network means you actually have to engage with things there). This hashtag is from the Japanese community, and is something like "it's the first of the month, so please share photos of your F-01/Una/etc": #1日なので01番・初期子・ウナ・以下略の画像ください

Last year I bought the White Lily Junior High School uniform set from Volks, which was (to my shame) sitting in a cupboard up until yesterday, unopened. I had another doll in mind for the set, but Ursula has always had witchy vibes in my mind. The set is completely black, so I think we can argue that it also has witchy vibes, even though it's a school uniform.

Out to the garden we went!

Photo of a ball-jointed resin doll. She is outside in a garden with grey tiles behind her, wearing a black old-fashioned school uniform and a cloche hat. She holds a black school bag in front of her. Her resin is pale white, her eyes are orange and her bobbed hair is peach.

I was particularly impressed with the bag, which has a clear elastic strip just inside the handle. This grips on to your doll's hand so they can hold it more easily, and isn't very visible in photos.

Portrait photo of a ball-jointed resin doll. She is outside in a garden with dark foliage, wearing a black old-fashioned school uniform and a cloche hat. She carries a black school bag on her back. Her resin is pale white, her eyes are orange and her bobbed hair is peach.

The outfit itself is beautifully made, and I really like the puffy sleeves of the little bolero jacket. I wish my school uniform had been like this (it was uniquely ugly).

Portrait photo of a ball-jointed resin doll. She is outside in a garden with grey tiles behind her, wearing a black old-fashioned school uniform and a cloche hat. She carries a black school bag on her back. Her resin is pale white, her eyes are orange and her bobbed hair is peach.

Let's hope it doesn't take another 2.5+ years for me to take photos of her again.

Introducing Hazel, my SDM F-61

Portrait photo of a female ball-jointed doll with auburn hair, standing outside in the snow and wearing a cream knitted shawl.

Hazel is my first 1/4 scale doll from Volks. She's a Coordinate model, which (to use Volks's own words) means:

"Coordinate Model is a Super Dollfie® that comes with all accessories including outfit, wig, and shoes that are selected by the VOLKS Doll Design Department."

Despite everything she came with, once she arrived I decided to change her wig (to another Volks wig) and eyes (to a pair from Lepus) – but I do love the default faceup. She looks very sad and concerned. I immediately felt that she needed a small friend – and this is, of course, the danger of SDM dolls. It seems like one is just not enough.

Portrait photo of a female ball-jointed doll with auburn hair, standing outside in the snow and wearing a cream knitted shawl.

One thing I didn't expect was that she came with non-standard fist hands (I'm not sure if they're from another Volks release, or another company altogether) which have integrated wrist balls. Her default hands were in the box, but the wrist balls (which are required for those hands, and all other SDM hands) were missing. There's of course a bit of a risk when buying second-hand dolls, and it wasn't mentioned in the listing – it was also not obvious, so the marketplace might have missed it.

I'm still wondering what to do about it, since you can't buy wrist balls separately. One option might be to get a body just to harvest the wrist balls, though that seems overly expensive. Another option is to get an old yellowed body (often pretty cheap) and then get the wrist balls and hands exchanged at Volks, so they match Hazel's newer resin.

For now, while the fist hands are not my favourite, they're also fine. Maybe she just has a lot of pent-up frustration. (After this past January, I know I do.) And she's incredibly cute, regardless!

A new pink dress for DearSD Charlotte

I sewed a new dress! This uses the "Orietta" or "Memory of St. Hildegard" pattern from ancienne, a doll seamstress whose work I really admire. The pattern goes together beautifully and is very clear. I'll just note that it is a pattern rather than full instructions, so if you are new to sewing then you may be better off starting elsewhere.

Female ball-jointed doll wearing a light pink full-skirted dress with puffy sleeves and a wide white collar.

I used a very lightweight Swiss dot voile, which was so thin that I lined the whole thing in a plain white cotton. In hindsight I wouldn't line the skirt if I made this again, because the gathering at the waist became too bulky, but I would instead make a separate petticoat to prevent the skirt being see-through. I tried to cover this crime with a waist ribbon.

Portrait view of a female ball-jointed doll wearing a light pink dress with puffy sleeves and a wide white collar. She has a gauzy pink bow in her hair.

I did make this dress a bit long for DearSD, but that was entirely my fault and not the pattern. (Luckily, I failed to get a full-length shot, so this particular crime is hidden.) I also greatly simplified the skirt due to not having enough lace or other trim.

Female ball-jointed doll wearing a light pink full-skirted dress with puffy sleeves and a wide white collar.

The dress is mostly hand-sewn, including the top stitching. It's absolutely not perfect, but I think I'm getting better! So far the key factors for success (for me) are: a very sharp, thin needle, and excellent light. The hand-sewing was mainly for convenience, so I could be sewing while with my family instead of shut away in another room. I did sew most of the skirt by machine, just to get it over with.

Female ball-jointed doll wearing a light pink dress with puffy sleeves and a wide white collar.

For these photos I gave Charlotte the default wig from DearSD Nayu's fullset, because I still don't love any of the blonde wigs I have for her. Maybe light brown is better? The wig is a bit big (Nayu has a melon head) so there was a lot of adjusting needed between shots. The eyes are from miyabi glass studio (bought second-hand). I tied the bow on as a last-minute addition and realised I don't know how to tie a neat bow. How have I gone through life like this?

Side portrait view of a female ball-jointed doll wearing a light pink dress with puffy sleeves and a wide white collar. She has a gauzy pink bow in her hair.

Disclaimer: In my last post I wrote about how wonderful my new camera is. It's still wonderful, but I may have jinxed something, because it took me 20+ Lightroom crashes to edit these photos (how I wish I was exaggerating!), even after turning off features and downgrading. So if the colours are a little inconsistent across the photos, that's the reason.