Greetings!

[Avalonnae]

Thanks!!!

[WhiteDove01s]

Hi, and welcome. I'm new too, and here for semi-similar reasons. Do you plan on sticking to a particular scale to work in, or just whatever catches your eye? I'm going to stick with 1/6 scale myself, partly for budget reasons and partly to make it easier to find accessories and whatnot.

[Avalonnae]

Thank you and hello! Actually, I think I'm going to stick to this size...at least for now...for the reasons you mentioned more than anything. Though I have a 5 year old daughter just getting into the 'Barbie' scene, and I'm already realizing that even the standard doll this size is not always that affordable. People on ebay buying up the pretty ones, stripping them of their clothing and selling each piece individually for outrageous prices after throwing an OOAK in the description is making it difficult for me to find even a particular doll with a reasonable price tag. Buttttt.....I'm learning quickly here that there are many options out there, and that the people on this forum are quite knowledgeable on the subject.

[WhiteDove01s]

My budget here is really tight too. It's a good reason to stick to 1/6 scale vinyl. XD

I'm going with obitsu bodies from Junkyspot, and a lot of my heads for females and younger characters will likely be salvaged from barbies from yardsales and other such sources. Those are often in rough shape, but can be anywhere from 1-5 dollars around here. I also found this site while hunting around that has a lot of fairly cheap barbies if you look in the selection of loose/unboxed ones. I haven't bought anything from them yet, but the prices look good. And loose works out fine if you're planning to make modifications.

http://home.comcast.net/~rgree3/index.html

I used to sew clothes for my cousin's Barbies a lot. It's not that hard to adjust a real pattern down to 1/6 scale, but then adjustments always have to be made for Barbie's proportions. And Obitsu has different proportions than Barbie, so even if I still have any of my old patterns tucked away somewhere (I have a lot of the old 1/1 ones, just none of my adaptions that I've found so far) I'll have to re-adapt from scratch.

I definitely recommend having some cheap muslin or something on hand for working out new patterns. I remember I sometimes used my gran's used dryer/fabric softener sheets, but that was ages ago and we don't use those here.

Since I've gotten into this in order to make fanfic-ish photo comics, I'm going to end up having to make a lot of 1/6 scale patterns from scratch. Some of the Star Wars ones will be a real challenge to get right, but I'm kind of looking forward to that.

[Avalonnae]

I will certainly check out that link, thank u! I have many ideas in my head for doll garb...fantasy and medieval...so I will be making my own fair share of patterns I fear. *bites nails never having done it before* and I found some cheap muslin somewhere last week...waiting for it to arrive. I will be paying extra attention to your creations. You and I sound like we have very similar interests.

[WhiteDove01s]

Yes, we do. Some of my stuff will be 'other end of time' from what you make, though. I'll be leaning towards sci-fi, futuristic armor, and some classic modern day clothes (t-shirts and jeans). I like seeing good medieval stuff though, so I'll be watching for yours. And if I see any sites with good 1/1 medieval patterns for costuming, I'll try to send the links along so you can try to miniaturize them. One place you might want to check is websites for the SCA/Society For Creative Anachronism. They should have lots of notes on period clothing of the sort worn to renfaires.

[Avalonnae]

Now...do you know where I might purchase more hours for my days? Two children equals crafting after bedtime for the wee ones mainly. Lol

[WhiteDove01s]

That one I actually don't know. XD I don't work outside the home, and my own schedule stays extremely erratic... I work on whatever's at hand whenever I'm not running errands or doing things for the Evil Overlord. I'm essentially an unpaid live-in caretaker... which is like having kids only with the age the other way around. The upside is that, thankfully, the Evil Overlord (my mother) can be left unattended in a room most of the time. I just have to be on 24-7 call if she yells because she can't move or needs something heavy lifted or whatever. (The downside is that she's a whole lot heavier if she's really stuck, and I have a bad back and arthritic knee as it is.)

[Avalonnae]

So you have your hands just as full. *Hands you some well deserved chocolate*
Well, if I find a link for those hours, I'll share it with you.