Make your own doll hangers! (Or just fix existing ones)

About a month ago, Miriam Shepard (of YumYum Couture) posted this ingenious tutorial for fixing Tonner's full-body hangers so they actually hold clothes! I've been using her method with great success. The following is Miriam's original post, complete with photos (used with permission): 

Why in the world did Tonner design hangers for his trunks that do not function for 90% of the clothing he makes? I love the look of the plexiglass body hangers but the shoulders won't hold the clothing in place so I figured out a way to make clear plastic shoulders for the hangers that make them work and aren't an eyesore. I wish Tonner would take up my idea and make these himself with cute little TW insignias to fit his hangers. Dream on Miriam.

You will need:

One of those clear plastic boxes that UB Tylers come in. Cut it up along the fold lines.

Strong scissors
An Exacto knife or cutting blade
paper to make a pattern.

Make a pattern from paper. Cut a rectangle that is 2 inches wide and 3 and 5/8s inches wide. Fold it in half lengthwise. Trim the corners on two sides as shown in the picture below.

Use your paper pattern as a guide to cut your plastic. I find it is easiest to cut the plastic box into panels and then cut them into 3 and 5/8s inch sections and then fold the sections lengthwise and trim to 1 inch folded. Finally, trim the "shoulders". After folding and trimming the plastic, use the Xacto knife to cut through the fold so that the body hanger will slip through and the plastic shoulders slide down in place on the "shoulders of the hanger. See the pics: This is a dress falling off the Tonner hanger. Boooooo!

Here are pics of the pattern and of the clear plastic shoulders

More pics of the process:

Finally, the dress is hanging on the new shoulders which look good with the plexiglass hanger.

Brilliant, right? I love it! Of course, I only have six full-body hangers myself, so I can only hang up six outfits, right? Wrong! I modified Miriam's method to make my own hangers, as well! See, I'm a huge packrat. You know those tiny plastic hooks that come on packages of things like socks, tights, or ties so that they hang on the pegs on store shelves? Well, I keep those.



I always knew I would have a use for them! And now I finally do:



They make excellent hangers! The top one, being already over 4" long, is perfect for hanging a top by the straps. Then I made plastic "shoulders" for some, and "hips" for others - these hang skirts or pants. I made my "hips" 3" wide, which worked perfectly:



Now you may be wondering, if this tutorial was posted a month ago, why am I just getting around to making my hangers now? Well, before this week, I didn't really have a place to hang doll clothes. But I came back from a trip to Goodwill with this... well, I'm not entirely sure what it is:



The smaller one is an old candlestick of my mom's. Anyway, they look really good full of doll clothes:



Sayuri browses for an outfit to wear: 




Poor girl is still waiting for me to finish her red kimono... one of these days!

Who Wears it Best - Kimono Edition

Welcome back to Who Wears it Best! Today we have a very special treat for you - a one-of-a-kind kimono modeled by seven lovely ladies! First up is Nandini:



Followed by Rose-Red:



Djali:



Ella:



Milana:



And, not to be left out (just because she's blonde), her twin sister Amyera:



Finally, Sayuri:




This concludes today's episode of Who Wears it Best. Tune in tomorrow for Casual Edition! And don't forget to vote!

Just for fun - skin tone comparisons

My last post got me thinking about all the different skin tones of dolls I've collected, so I decided to get one of each of them together for a group shot.



I love comparison shots. :p  

Here's a closer view:


Left to right: Sayuri (Alabaster), Illeya (Cameo), Milana (Pale), Jordan (Tan)


Left to right: Nandini (Caramel/Honey), Djali (Spice), Amaya (Dark), Niobe (Onyx) 

These photos were taken during the day, with flash.  

I love variety in the dolls I collect, and I'm glad that Tonner creates so many different kinds of dolls, so almost everyone can find something that they like.  And he listens to collectors.  People requested an Antoinette doll in the Kagiso (Onyx) skin tone, and he gave us one!  How cool is that? 

A look back at 2010... plus a bit of rambling

Once again, in the past year, I've more than doubled my doll collection. At the beginning of 2009, I had three Tonner dolls. At the beginning of 2010, I had a total of nine. In the last year, I've collected eleven more! I got them all together for a group shot, to ring in 2011:



They are quite an eclectic mix, aren't they? From left to right, we have: Cecelia (Central Park Stroll Sydney), Celeste (Ultra Basic Jac), Illeya (Death Becomes Her), Marguerite (Basic DeeAnna 2009), Niobe (Onyx Antoinette mannequin painted by me), Marisol (Snowflake Ballerina), Djali (Emphatic Antoinette), Sofia (Ultra Basic Daphne), Sayuri (Spring Dance Sayuri on all-white body), Amyera (Ultra Basic Golden Stella), and Milana (Ultra Basic Raven Stella). 

I've added four new skintones (Alabaster, Cameo, Spice and Onyx) and four new body types (Antoinette, DeeAnna, flat feet and small bust) to my collection this year, so by this time I have one of almost everything Tonner has to offer!  I like a wide variety in my dolls.  For example, I now have eight different skintones and thirteen different hair colors among my twenty Tonner dolls.  

I have also decided that I am sorely lacking in man dolls.  I have exactly one, and I never play with him.  A) He's awaiting a makeover that I can't afford yet, and B) He has almost no clothes.  I can easily fix the latter problem, and I have lots of ideas and fabrics set aside for male clothes.  I guess that'll be my New Years resolution.  :p  

I also realized when setting up this group picture that there are a couple of new dolls on my shelf that kind of stick out like two sore thumbs when they're all grouped together like this.  Well, Illeya blends in a little better than I originally thought she would, but Sayuri definitely looks out of place.  Thinking about her, and the fact that now I want at least two more geisha dolls, I came upon a happy solution to both of the above problems.  

Clearly, I need a Doctor Who/David Tennant doll.  And a Tardis.  I mean, The Doctor travels through time and space, right?  So if I had him, suddenly a geisha doll makes sense in my collection.  And I've always wanted to add more historical costumes to my dolls' wardrobe, like Victorian gowns, Medieval and Renaissance dresses, Colonial and Civil War era gowns, etc.  I have rather ambitious dreams.  And if I had a Doctor doll, I wouldn't need to worry about any part of my collection fitting in with any other part.  I can just plug The Doctor into any scene I wish to create, and it'll make sense!  He'll be the glue holding it all together.  Plus David Tennant is just gorgeous.  Ok, time to start saving pennies...  :D 

Gorgeous Geisha

My latest girl is the lovely Sayuri, from Tonner's Memoirs of a Geisha collection. She was given an all-white body by her previous owner (thanks Sonya!) which I think is a vast improvement. She also came to me with no lipstick, so I took the liberty of making her lips rounder and poutier than they had been originally. This is the first time I have gotten a doll who will keep her original name, though. Come to think of it, Sayuri is my first Tonner Character Figure!

But enough with the introductions. It's time for pictures! I don't think this girl can take a bad picture (unless it's blurry, but then that's my fault :p).





I love her gloriously long hair! 







 
 
I love this girl! I think she is one of the most beautiful dolls that Tonner has ever made. Of course, I think that about pretty much every new girl I get. :p

I made the kimono from an old handkerchief, and now I finally have an Asian doll to wear it! I need to get started on a full geisha wardrobe for her. New Year, new projects. I love it!