Starting up the blog~

Well now, it seems there really are people out there who want to read my thoughts. lol
So I started up a blog to aid in challenge venting and share a little of the behind the scenes goings on with the Project Dollway viewers. Since I didn't really give a lot of background on the first challenge (Gene) I guess I will start with that. *wink*

Being a fairly new doll collector, I was of coarse familiar with Gene, but honestly had never seen one in person. So the minute I was told she would be the first model for PD, I jumped on Ebay and bought one. My first impression was that she was a giant Barbie with 1950's makeup. I liked this and I knew she would be more fun for me than say, a standard size fashion doll. My hands just don't like to sew that small, which is why I settled down in the wonderful size range of Asian ball joint dolls.
I started making general dress patterns for Gene as soon as she got home so I would be somewhat prepared for whatever Ted tossed my way come challenge day. This ended up to be a HUGE help as none of the patterns in my current collection were made for dolls of her size, so I had to start from scratch.

My background as a manager of a clothing designer showroom in Los Angeles helped a lot as well. I had spent several years of dressing real size celebs for the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and just about every other Hollywood red carpet event there was to attend, so I had a good idea of what someone of that stature might choose.
My tricky thing was choosing the colors. I often fall back on black for several reasons. It is very slimming, it is a popular staple color for many women at black tie affairs and it flatters the figure beautifully when used correctly.
I was sure I wanted a crop jacket and a corset top to the dress. The trouble came when I stood back to look at the entire outfit and didn't care for the straight line hem.
That is when I decided to create the fan detail in moss green. Looking back after hearing Mr. O's comments, I wouldn't have changed or added a thing. Hind sight...lol

I will blog a bit more about the Gene challenge later and talk a little about Ms. Ellowyne~
Until then~
~Locked in the sewing studio~

Brandon