Crafts and Hobbies, Interviews With Crafters, Links

Let’s talk doll shoes @ ChellyWood.com #dollshoes #FridayFollow

This image, showing a doll's tiny criss-crossed legs and itty-bitty feet is found at ChellyWood.com, where a blog post encourages blog followers to dialog about doll shoes in the comments. In this image, the doll appears to be seated in a wicker chair and her bare feet are a bit out of focus. In the foreground, however, her shoes are sharply focused, and they are pink with a T-strap. They may only be a centimetre long with an even tinier heel. The blog post that accompanies this image is great for anyone wanting to chat with other doll collectors and doll shoe makers about collecting and making shoes for dolls.

Today’s blog post is all about doll shoes!

I have a favorite eBay supplier to buy doll shoes from. Do you? My favorite supplier is Dodi, who runs Dodi’s Shop of Stuff on eBay.

I bought some unusual shoes from her and you see a pair of them in nearly all of my stop-motion sewing videos. They were originally designed for a flat-footed “Posable Barbie” from the 1980’s, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the shoes fit my Spin Master Liv dolls, like the Chelly Wood doll. I made a video of the discovery, and you can watch it right here.

Here’s an image of my Chelly Wood doll wearing a pair of the shoes I bought from Dodi’s Shop of Stuff:

The image shows the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll that has had a makeover and hair color changes) seated beside her sewing machine with her mannequin off to the side. She holds up a blue unfinished garment that she seems to have been sewing at the tiny sewing machine. She wears a hand-made long-sleeve shirt, handmade black pants, and white Mary Jane shoes. The doll also wears cat-eye glasses that have slid down the ridge of her tiny nose somewhat. The watermark says "ChellyWood.com" (a website for free doll clothes patterns).

I love the look of a pair of Mary Jane shoes!

If you have a favorite doll shoe supplier on eBay or Etsy, please leave a comment so the rest of us can check out his/her shop as well.

Even if you’re a regular follower on this blog, you may not be aware that I’ve designed a few shoe patterns for my dolls as well. Here’s a link to the main page for my doll shoe patterns.

I have a few doll shoe projects that I’m working on at the moment, for a variety of different dolls. But I must admit that I’m not as good at designing shoes as I am at designing basic doll clothes patterns, so I go through quite a few rough drafts before I create something worth sharing on this website.

I wish I had the talent of some of the great doll shoe designers on YouTube! One of my favorites is Pipe Cleaner Crafts. I’ve tried desperately to imitate some of her ingenious creations, but mine never quite look as glamorous as hers. However, she does inspire me!

She inspired the pink sandals worn by my Sunshine Family doll in this blog post back in May. Have a look at those sandals:

In this image, a Sunshine Family vintage "mom" doll wears a blue felt handmade shirt and a pink skirt trimmed in ribbon and lace. The doll stands before what appears to be a stained glass style piece of painted artwork. If you'd like to make this outfit for your Sunshine Family doll, please click on the link in the caption that accompanies the image.

FYI, those sandals actually fit my Monster High and Ever After High dolls too.

I’m most impressed with how Pipe Cleaner Crafts uses balloons with hot glue to create form-fitting shoes and boots. I have tried to perform this “balloon magic trick” before, but never with any success.

Another YouTuber who makes doll shoes is MyFroggyStuff. She gives such clear instructions in her tutorials, that even those of us who have limited hand-eye coordination are still able to follow along and create doll shoes that truly look realistic.

How about some of you? Have you made doll shoes using the balloon-and-hot-glue method? Have you made sandals? Slippers? Moccasins?

How much success have you had with your doll-shoe-crafting projects? Do you have any tips? Suggestions? Websites to visit?

Feel free to share the names of some of your favorite doll shoe crafters in the comments below.

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “Let’s talk doll shoes @ ChellyWood.com #dollshoes #FridayFollow”

  1. Wow! Chelly thank you for the great video and mentioning me. Also I have tons of other shoes here that might work on some of your dolls. I will be in touch If anyone needs shoes and can’t find ” Dodi’s shop of stuff ” you can also try Barbie1959pink. I have new and used and many styles and sizes for the fashion dolls. So download a free pattern from this site and if you need shoes let me know.

    Reply

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