Karol Goes Hiking

I have been wanting to make John Paul II, Doll Pope, another outfit or two. St. John Paul loved the outdoors; I went in search of old photos to see what he might have worn on a hike or a kayaking trip.

For the pants, I used the Eva pants pattern from Imagine Gnats. They work very nicely, and I found that I could push them up over his knees for a shorter look.

The shirt is modified from Pixie Faire's free polo shirt design. I basically just flipped it around so that it opens in the front, and skipped the placket. The main problem I had was that the sleeves came out extremely tight and narrow, even the shoulder seams.

Anyway, I eventually finished up and was happy with how it turned out.

I have to find him some good shoes now. His feet are nowhere as big as Elphaba's, but I had trouble squeezing him into my more unisex-looking Springfield and Battat shoes. He can wear the AG girls' dressy heels and ballet flats just fine, though. I need more boy shoes.

But he doesn't need shoes to go walking behind my house.

I love that peaceful-looking smile he's got.

Finds!

I went to the local fleamarket today! I say local, but it's kind of a drive, so I don't go often, but this week I was very happy with what I found.

So we have a mug, a Christmas wreath, a male Barbie child (I've been looking for one of these forever - he has no shoes and his shirt is torn, but it's okay) and a doll-sized toy train.

Then we have the books. I hit the motherlode! There are several books from the Running Press Miniature Editions line, then a Little Little Golden Book in really good condition, and finally, one of the mini American girl books, Meet Samantha. I actually made a high-pitched squealing noise when I saw this. I'm going to need to get another bookshelf.

You neve know what you're going to get. There were also plenty of things I passed over because of price or because they just weren't quite what I was looking for. I saw a doll with a Gotz head (the seller wasn't sure whether it was on the original body), and strongly considered that, but it was kind of high in price for such a TLC doll. I mean, I've got Gotz on my wishlist, but this doll did not look good.