Yes, I succombed to Dolly Fever! Fortunately, it wasn’t a very bad case…sometimes it’s pretty expensive to “find the cure”…($$$) but this time it only cost me $55 to get over it!!! (I sold some books and used that money to buy her.)
I have been looking at the Paola Reina dolls for a few months and after asking a bazillion questions of one of the sellers and looking at Ebay a bazillion and two times, I finally bit the bullet and cured my dolly fever… Or so I thought.
The Paola Reina dolls are made in Spain and shipped to distributors in the U.S. The dolls come in boxes and the seller has no control over which exact doll you will receive. Oh, the dolls are all named Christy, Dasha, Claudia, Liu, Cleo, etc, and there are pictures of each doll, in different wigs and different eye colors. However those are sometimes stock photos provided by the company or some of the sellers take their own pictures. However, again… the seller takes one picture of Christy and then sells her boxes of that doll from that photo. You can’t search through all the pictures and find the exact looking doll you want and get “her.” You just get a doll that is named like the one you want and you get one that is supposedly 95% like the one in the picture.
This is the Ebay picture of the doll I finally settled on and decided to ask the seller a few questions… that’s when I found out how all the stuff in the above paragraph worked… I must have clicked on her picture several dozen times… If you click on her picture below you can see her larger and see what pulled me in… She is a beautiful doll!
I thought she was cute and sweet looking with long enough bangs that looked pretty evenly cut and it appeared she only had a few freckles. Her hair looked nice and thick too. There were no returns on any of the sellers that I saw selling these dolls. So once you got her you better hope she cured your bout of “dolly fever.”
A friend at church recently had a little girl and named her Callie Rose… I absolutely fell in love with that name and even told her the next doll I got I was going to name Callie Rose. (I hope that was okay) :o)
So this came in the mail and I was almost too nervous to open it up.
But I finally worked up my nerve…
They come in little plastic bags like this…
As soon as I opened up her bag, I could smell her… the dolls smell like vanilla… a very nice smelling vanilla…not too overpowering.
So this was my “dolly fever” doll…This is my Callie Rose? hmmm…
She had nice pretty red hair… almost like Rebecca’s…
I looked at her and sort of went “ho-hum” and hated that feeling… Her eyes are actually called gray but they could easily be considered blue to me.
What was wrong with her? It wasn’t like I had paid $300 for her and she was my dream doll… I wanted her so I could see if the Little Darlings and the Paola Reina dolls “really” could wear the same size clothes…as I had heard… :o)
For starters, her bangs were too short to suit me… and they sort of had a part in them… like a cowlick… and her hair was a bit too flat…
Her eyelashes were a bit goldish looking to me… in certain light they were barely visible…
I got Lian down off the shelf and did a side by side…
Lian wasn’t too thrilled with the new girl… she knows I like red heads… look at that look of hers…
Then I got Betsy down and we took another shot of all three, comparing them…
The first thing I noticed was their underarm area… Isabelle wanted to get in on the action by now…
The Little Darlings can move their arms front to back and swing them out from their bodies sideways… Like this…
The Paola Reina dolls can only go forward and backward but not side to side…
The problem I see with that is how dresses with sleeves will fit the dolls. I like to make my cuffs on the doll sleeves up close to the armpit so the sleeve doesn’t look saggy.. but it will be difficult to make a sleeve fit up close on the Paola Reina dolls… Unless I cut the armhole down lower but then I’m not sure how it will fit on the Little Darlings. I don’t see any problems with sleeveless dresses… just ones with sleeves.
Then what about those little felt jackets I sometimes make for the Little Darlings… will they fit the Paola Reina dolls? Only time will tell..
Since the dolls were non-returnable, I decided to “make her my own!” Anybody else do that? I hear that all the time in the doll world. The first thing I did was comb down a little bit more hair and cut her some more bangs just slightly longer than the ones she had when she arrived. I had to wet them and put a little cap on her head to hold them down, but now they are “ok” to me…
They get knocked out of place very easily so whenever I do take pictures of her, I’ll have to “finger” her bangs to get them right…
She does have a very adorable profile…
I noticed her eyelashes were quite light colored… almost a goldish color and they sort of glistened in the light…
SO… guess what I did?
I took a piece of paper and held it under her teeny tiny lashes and used a black water color pencil, touched it to a damp paper towel and stroked the lashes lightly in upward motions. Here the one of the left is done, so you can see the difference.
I sort of smudged the one on the right, so I’ll have to redo it…
I redid the right side lashes and then used my chalk pastels and added a little bit of “sunkissed” look to her cheeks and across her nose… She needed some more color in my opinion…
You can see her fairly well in this picture…
After I corrected her eyelash on the one side and got her blush just the way I liked.. I used another bit of chalk pastel and took some of the shine off her lips and then added a bit of a darker water color pencil.
I took her outside and she is definitely an OUTSIDE model… my pictures turned out so pretty. You can really see her much better in the natural light…
BUT… you’ll have to come back tomorrow and see Callie Rose outside… sorry! :o)
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne
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Congratulations on Callie Rose! She’s going to be a great addition to your “stable” of models!!
Going back to yesterday’s posts, I wanted to let Barbara know that, yes, the fabric in those t-shirt kids is probably just fine. So is the ribbing, unless it has some Lycra in it (Lycra fails after a period of time) If I were you, Barbara, I would wash and dry the fabric in those kits–just like you’ll wash and dry the finished t-shirt–before you cut anything out. This takes care of any shrinkage that might occur, as well as color bleeding/crocking. The ribbing is likely cut into 3″ wide strips; don’t wash/dry those (they’ll twist and stretch in the machines). If the ribbing is a dark/bright color that is going to go on a fabric that is mostly lighter in color, you might want to soak the ribbing in hot water (to check for/remove excess dye), and then lay it flat to dry after blotting it with a towel first.
Hope that helps!
Thanks, Charlotte. I usually wash fabric before I sew it, especially before I make children’s clothes. I really appreciate your suggestions about the ribbing. Will heed what you say. As for Lycra, I’ve had many bad experiences with it disintegrating over the years, even on clothes I’m wearing. Thanks again for your suggestions.
Thank you Charlotte,
I hope Callue Rose earns her keep here!! I think she will.
Thanks for your expertise on the knit kits!! I hope Barbara and anyone else interested learned something!
Thank you,
Blessings, Jeanne
Congratulations to Callie Rose for “making it” to the Jeanne Marie Studio! I love the way you gave her a spa treatment to fit in! Good job, Jeanne, and it will be fun to see what kind of outfits she inspires in you!
I’m hoping today is not quite so hot and humid as yesterday, as I have plenty of work to do outside. These last lazy days of summer are coming too fast! Time to get out the fall decorations, but it seems strange in this heat to do that!
Hi Linda
First of all. Thank you so much for the lovely birthday card. I loved what it said and thanks for being my friend too!
I’m glad you like Callie Rose. When I heard that name, I thought it sounded old fashioned. I was hoping to make Callie Rose an old fashioned girl and make her some really sweet dresses. :o)
I don’t know if you had the heat we had today, but we were really hot AND humid. I dont know how high the temp got, but it was high, I’m sure.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings ,Jeanne
Callie Rose is quite adorable.
I do like her shoulders/arm connection and think she will look sweet in many
sleeveless outfits, that the others might accentuate the shoulder joint.
Her bangs are short. I think arranging them carefully each photo will always help
Congratulations on your new dear dolly
Thank you Rosemary,
I guess I am just used to the arm joints on the Little Darlings. I’m sure I’ll get used to them…I think I’ll just make one of my Little Darling dresses and see how it fits Callie Rose to begin things.
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
I have 3 Paola Reina dolls… I really like them – I haven’t sewn for them…just purchased outfits for them…and shoes. 🙂 The first one I purchased was a ‘custom painted’ doll – the other 2 are ‘factory painted’. If I was talented, I’d ‘upgrade’ the makeup on the 2 last dolls – they seem a bit ‘anemic’ after standing next to the first girl. 🙂 I have purchased outfits listed as LD and PR for them – and everything has ‘fit’ them so far. Her feet are much bigger than LD, tho – can’t swap shoes. :-/ I’ve only noticed their ‘smell’ when they first arrived. I don’t notice it, now. I ‘think’ they have made some changes in the body recently – but, all my girls seem to be all the same.
The Paola Reina clothes I’ve seen for sale are absolutely adorable. Sometime maybe you could take pictures of your Reina girls so we all could see them.
Yes. Mary,
I’d like to see your girls too!
~Jeanne
Hi Mary,
I saw a custom doll that I was crazy for, but she was a one of a kind and sold a few months back…for $164! She was beautiful… *sigh*
My girl smells up my whole sewing room but I love the smell of vanilla so it doesn’t bother me. When I walk past her, I get a whiff and it reminds me of the smell when I walk under my flowering Magnolia tree.
I’ll have to check out my shoes and see if I have anything that fits her.
Thanks Mary,
Blessings, Jeanne
I have a Paola Reina doll. Her hair is straight and her bags are wonky. I might try wetting them and putting a cap on to see if it helps. Your Callie Rose is so cute. Now I’m going to check the eyelashes on mine.
Hi Julia,
The seller I bought my doll from said their hair could be wet and set with curlers and let dry….just no curling irons.
I hope putting a cap on your girl solves the bang problem.
Thanks Julia,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for the Paola Reina information. I’ve always liked this model too but didn’t know anything about them. Interesting that the stock photo looks quite different from the real model. I believe there was a heavy handed freckle painter as well as hair cutter, but you have saved the day again. Love how the lashes turned out and the cute blush color too. Good to know about sharing clothes with LD’s, but sad to hear that shoes don’t fit. That was going to be my first question. Looking forward to seeing the “new” lips.
Hi Joy,
For some reason, I thought you’d probably have a few in them in your collection.
I was hoping what I had heard about the Little Darlings and the Paola Reina dolls not being able to wear the same shoes, was wrong, but I think it might be true. I’ll have to do a little checking in the shoe drawer…
I might be drafting a shoe pattern for Callie Rose right away… :o)
Thanks Joy
Blessings, Jeanne
I really love my Paola Reina doll. She has an Asian look and dark hair and looks lovely in so many colors. I think I want a blonde blue eyed one in contrast to the one I have. They fit into hankie dresses too.
I didn’t notice the vanillasmell but what a nice idea. Mine did have a smudge on her leg but it came right off with a Mr Clean sponge.
The similar sized dolls all lined up looked so cute! They are a nice size.
Can’t wait to see what you make for her 😍
Hi Kathie,
I think the picture of your sweet Liu doll gave me my case of dolly fever. They certainly all have personalities and I can see why collecting them would be fun. I’ve seen a few blue eyed blonde dolls that were adorable.
My day was busy so I didn’t get anything made for her, but I will!!!
Thanks Kathie
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m so in love with my Paola Reina doll. So much that I was looking the other day for another. I think Claudia will be my next purchase. Not sure what color hair though. As of now I have not sewn for Cleo Patrice but soon. She is wearing my LD Claire’s clothes and all I have tried on fit well. At the moment I’m making a back-to-school dress (Adams-Harris) for my new Les Cheries doll Chloe. It’s not that she can’t wear someone else’s clothes, I just wanted to make her feel welcome.
I love the name Callie Rose!
Hi Barbara,
I’m glad Chloe is fitting in nicely with your girls.
There are so many cute Paola Reina dolls on Ebay. It’s easy to get caught up looking at all of them, trying to decide which one you might like “next! :o)
I’m anxious to give an LD patterns a try and see how it works.
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, congratulations on your latest dolly. I think you have done a fine job with your face-up on her.
I got a doll last year who did not look at all like I thought she would. I sent her to an artist for a face-up. She looks better but still not like my vision. I have not completely bonded with her. I feel kind of sad for both of us.
On a happier note, I found a Katherine Johnson doll from the movie Hidden Figures and I am delighted to have her!
Hi Dorothy,
Oh. I’m so sorry that your doll didn’t look like you hoped she would. That can be really disappointing…and sad like you mentioned.
I have no idea who Katherine Johnson is, but I’m looking for right now…
Congrats on getting her.
Blessings, Jeanne
I just saw her on Ebay and read the back of the box. I LOVED her cat eye glasses!!!