.. I took the time to compare the freshly arrived mini obitsu (21cm) to the Class Mate stock body.

I am in the process of giving Class Mate Marippe a makeover. Her wig was replaced a little while ago, and now her face is the main task. I’m giving her a new faceup (lower eyelashes and eyebrows excepted), and new eyes. Class Mates have real eye sockets, the same way other Jun Planning dolls have, but the eyes inside are painted and quite “flat”.

Maaya (Latte) and Em (ALa) sportingnew wigs – Em even with a new body! – marking the first two “custom” girls of mine. While a change of wig and a new body doesn’t really equal customizing, I’ve really taken the plunge now, though: my desk is filled with wigs and body parts, open heads and faceplates, screws and tools. I even made my significant other come home from work to give me some sanding paper and help me saw down the neck peg on the newest obitsu body..! :D

I borrowed a pattern book from the library today, with sewing patterns for Barbie (quite vintage, I might add – there was even a Jane Fonda style aerobic outfit in there..). I was hoping for a few Skipper patterns, for the Class Mate dolls. Unfortunately, there were only three, and quite girly at that, and so I resumed my googling. I ended up at an already bookmarked site, the Puchi Collective. I downloaded their flared pants pattern, shrinked it by appr. 80%, took out the flares, and gave it a try. Not too bad for a first time, but the next time I will take more time with details. There’s no button in the waist just yet, will have to buy that tomorrow!

(Gah, I really detest that wig Takeru comes with, I’ve put his hair in a pony tail which caused the wig sections to be pulled apart and the seams to be quite visible from the side, above and from behind… Can’t wait until the ordered mohair wig arrives!)

Before I started collecting Pullips, I’d already bought two Jun Planning dolls (not that I knew that they were from the same manufacturer back then, but yeah..). I’d been drooling over BJDs on the Dollmore site, when I found these cheaper dolls, and purchased the first one back in 2006 – the boy Takeru. A year or so later Marippe came along. Both of them have been sitting relatively still on a shelf, until this summer. As I began posing my first Pullip for pictures, I realized that the Class Mate dolls actually were just as – if not more – poseable, and decided I wanted to give them a new life. I’ve ordered mohair wigs for them, because their stock hair is really stiff and unmanageable, and I’ve been looking at the possibility of changing their eyes. The next step was finding new clothes; Takeru’s outfit especially is rather… un-hip.