Dollmore Banji! discussion part 2

My Emoji is at my house now! However, I'm three hours away at school and am going to wait until I graduate in two months before I open her. SO EXCITED!!! My family is going to Europe this summer and I plan on taking her with me! I'll have to make her some clothes first...

 

I was home for the weekend and couldn't resist!
Drat. Its sideways. Just emailed from my phone, sorry about that.
She has since claimed "the boots", a Stacie sized, cowboy style, hot pink pair that were once worn constantly by a favorite vintage Crissy/ Buffy doll when I was little. They are currently the only shoes that fit without looking ridiculous.

 

Thank you for all those lovely pictures, please keep them coming. My Banji did not get much love since I got her, but she is awaiting now her new wigs and face up, then I will present her here.

Can you recommend eyes for Banji?

 

hazelleyedlady: There is a lady named Amanda on Etsy whose store is called Dreaming Tree Studio. Her tiny, hand-made eyes are excellent, lots of detail, vivid colors and well-matched pairs – all for a reasonable price. She also can handle special requests. Sometimes there are "odd" sizes available in her store: Banjis can handle 5, 6 & 7mm eyes.

…I cannot recommend her highly enough

 

Thanks for this,I will try and post here sometime later.

 

Ooh, happy to see this thread active again!

Here's my little guys, Chibi Eiri and Chibi Shu (known collectively as The Chibs) in winterwear.

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Chibi Eiri is a Banji with a custom Dollmore faceup and Chibi Shu is a Lime with default faceup.

Pants are Dollmore.
Shoes are (I think) Pullip.
Eiri's blond wig is from Dollmore. Shu's Dollmore wig came with the Banji and stole it.
Armwarmers are handmade and from the MP.
Everything else is Kelly/Todd.

 

Here is my girl with a new face up by suzanyab and a new wig (3" mohair wool wig from ebay seller releaserain).
I also ordered some 6mm Obitsu eyes, will post here how they fit.

 

She's stunning, What's her name again? Love her blue eyes and dark hair

 

My Emoji, Nita, went to Paris with me.

She's wearing Kelly pants, Stacy shoes, and a top I made from a free Dawn Topper pattern.

 

Nita is cute, I have to try Dawn clothes.

I am afraid she does not have a name yet...

I can confirm that Monster High knitted clothes are a good choice as well as Obitsu 6mm eyes, as shown below.




Although I feel they give her a bit of a "deer caught in a headlights" look, i wonder if irises are too big or because the eyes are so light?

 

She is cute! If you position the eyes up a bit with the pupil closer to the top lid, it will reduce the "deer in the headlights". Part of it is the light color and iris size, but repositioning them should help a lot.

 

I've been lurking here for quite a while. You all have some very cute dollies!

I got a Banji in a trade and as he had some issues with severe yellowing (among other things), I was hesitant to even acknowledge I had one, lol. Well, a lot of work later and I think I can introduce my modded Banji elf named Dandelion. I removed his human ears and made new elf ones with apoxie. His eyes are real agate beads with the holes painted black, and good friend made the outfit.


Dandelions New Duds by animefanz, on Flickr

 

Great idea with beads for eyes, I must try it too. Did you make his outfit?

 

hazelleyedlady -A dolly friend hand sewed the outfit for me. I did make the wig though, lol.

Looking at his picture you would never know he was stained neon yellow and pink, had his original eyes super glued in (what a nightmare!), a broken face plate (resulted from removing those darn eyes!), and missing his right forearm (I still haven't forgiven myself for loosing it!). So he was very damaged before I got him, but I added to it! Still makes me sick! Love him anyway!

 

I really love Banjies but it really bothers me that Dollmore have stopped to make clothes, shoes and wigs for them.. I understand it is hard to sew for them. But at least before they made a little something new from time to time. It's like they don't even bother to anymore

And I wish it were just a little bit easier to find stuff for your Banji dolls. I only have my Sweet Rose boy and girl. The poor selection have made me not want to get another Banji doll. But at the same time I want more.

Still do enjoy very much the Banjies that I have. Been thinking about maybe getting a Kiwi boy. I guess I just have to learn to look for stuff for them else where.

 

Sewing for my recently renamed Sparrow (previously called Nita) is a pain. I have a Real Puki who is equally tiny, but at least her hands come off for tight sleeves! I dress I made Sparrow no longer has sleeves, as her big hands split a shoulder seam. Now I'm going to see what I can sew with felt.

 

Oh, Wow: Don't get me started!!!​

Leo Pheonix: I hear ya!!! I have bought a few high-end dollhouse dolls' dresses for my Banji, and the main problem I've had is fitting her hands through the sleeves

If you don't mind sewing on a tiny (2-3mm) button & loop closure, you may have to cut along the seams to create a widened cuff to allow for dressing. I can't think of how one could "let out" an armpit seam. If you are making your own clothes, you could use the circumference of her hand as a guide for the shoulder/armpit.

Another problem with ready-made dollhouse doll clothes, is that A) They're usually made for a slightly taller doll. While pants can be worn fashionably long & baggy, dresses often need to have the trim carefully removed before hemming. B) Period clothing is usually made for dolls with a slender waist (imitating corsets). Banji's figure is childlike, and too wide to work that way. Here's an older photo of my Banji (Peach mold) wearing "Heidi Ott" Victorian dollhouse-doll clothing. I had to cut the sleeve seams to fit my Banji's hands through, and the dress is actually open at the back because it won't close around Banji's waist:

by Mandasmac, on Flickr​

Manabusama: I too am really disappointed that Dollmore hasn't done anything to update their Banji bodies in the last, say, seven years. I remember reading an ooooold notice in the "Dollmore News" section about replacing "old" knee joints with newer ones on Banji purchases. My Banji's knee-joints are the "newer" version, but are still pretty basic in their design – I can't imagine what they would have been an improvement on!!
… Magnetic ankles and wrists are one solution, but can be finicky at smaller sizes: The magnetic parts on Fairyland's smallest dolls work well, But Elfdoll Tinies' wrists are so slender that the hands are too easily lost. It would seem to be a much simpler design fix to use hooks at those joints, rather than stringing the elastic directly through the hands & feet. Some people have mentioned in this thread that they've created tiny hooks for Banji on their own, and have been pleased with the results.

Secondly: I have said it before and I will say it again: We need to get some tiny doll modifiers on DoA to think about designing better wrist & ankle joints for Banji – or even sculpting new designs for hands and feet! DoA member DaisyDayes has made wonderful Fawn/Goat legs & Centaur bodies for Banjis (and Fairyland's Pukis). I would love some sculpted shoe-feet for Banji, just like Elfdoll makes for their tinies

Thank you to everyone who patiently read through my rant! We all love our Elf-Ellies but sometimes we need to vent!

Amanda

 

I bought some shoes for my girl from DDE, but their too big. I am getting very cross with the Emoji default wig, because it won't stay on her head form more than 2 seconds at a time unless it's positioned in a way that makes it look stupid, half off her head. The elastic that's meant to keep in on her head seems to be doing the opposite. Any suggestions?

 

Issun's default Sweet Dew wig was the same way... as were the few other wigs I tried buying for him when I first got him. >_< I ended up just making a little fur wig for him myself in the end, and using a drop of white craft glue to make sure it stayed put.

I need to make the little guy some new clothes... He hasn't gotten anything new in years. Well... Noting except his "personal transit pod", anyway. (He's traveling with me to visit relatives for the holidays, and I got him one of those hard-shell eyeglass cases made for over-sized sunshades to ride around in. That way I don't have to worry about him getting mangled when TSA inevitably decides to paw through my carry-on. )

 

I resorted to super gluing Sparrow's wig to her head cap. I hope her bangs didn't end up positioned too high. The white glue didn't work at all and hot glue only lasted a day of redressing and posing. I plan to commission Spampy Stuff for a long sleeved dress and a sweatshirt at some point.