When I saw Nymphaea's post about the Ideal Crissy doll, I was immediately caught up in the Crissy doll phenomenon, and promptly got one from Ebay. The 'caught up' feeling didn't stop with one member of the family, and now I have Brandi, Crissy's Californian tanned friend (I also have some more of the family in a fairly beaten up state, but that is a story for another day).
Brandi pre-makeover:
When my Mum saw Brandi after her bath and her hair treatment, she remarked on what an ugly doll she was. I thought she wasn't the prettiest doll when I got her, but now I think she is great. I made her an outfit this week from one of the patterns Beth Colvan kindly has on her site for free, and I think she looks sensational in an outfit from her era, the 1970's. This dress is the backless maxi-dress for the larger Crissy family dolls which are about 17 1/2 inches.
I think that is a pretty face, don't you? Brandi doesn't have the glassene eyes that Crissy and some of the other members of the family have such as Velvet and Kerri. I don't have a Kerri and would like to get her next.
She is an out-doors type of gal. Note the daring backless maxi dress which is great for showing off one's tan. This fabric is left over from a top I made and I was able to 'shop my stash' for all the ribbons and lace trim.
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| Out-doors gal |
These are the markings on her back, showing that she was 1971 model.
Now, about her hair. I did my usual technique of shampoo, conditioner and fabric softner but I could not get her hair to stay un-tangled. I would just get one section untangled and it would be tangled by the time I had finished the next one. So in desperation, I tried the wet towels technique on the ironing board. It de-knotted the majority of her tail, but the ends were still frizzy so I gave them an extra iron (still protected by wet towels) and made them melt and frizz even more. My Mum suggested cutting them off, but I have decided to leave them on and just say she is an out-doors sun loving gal who hasn't looked after her hair very well.
I did read on the internet about this kind of hair can stretch with a lot of brushing, and I think that the previous owner did a lot of brushing, which is understandable as the main focus of this toy was the hair.
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| Hair before treatment |
6 comments:
You're welcome! What? Ugly?!? :-D I think she's just lovely! The beautiful dress suits her very well, LOVE the flowers in her hair! I'm glad she still has a lot of hair, it looks good on the pictures!
She is great isn't she. The dress was so quick and easy to make too. Her hair is not too bad but I wish I hadn't melted the ends. Being an outdoors girl I thought she would look good wearing flowers in her hair.
You could trim the ends of her hair and she'd still have a whole lot of hair! Her dresses are lovely and she looks very very happy.
Thanks Audra, I made the maxi dress and she came in the pink checked outfit. I have made one more maxi dress for my balding Crissy doll since I wrote this post and she looks very happy about it too.
She is awesome. Great make over. Her maxi turned out cute. I too love these dolls and have found one at a garage sale. I love her. When I have time, I bought a whole pile of fabric to make new cloths. Will keep you on my blog list.
xoxo, Juls
I fell in love with the Crissy family dolls, also. I think it's their sweet faces. I first found Crissy and Velvet. I bought Mia on Ebay and then found Kerry at a garage sale. Just today I bought Brandi at a flea market without even knowing who she was. :)
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