Sean O'Neill is Matt O'Neill's little brother. He stands at 17 1/4", with rooted hair and articulation at the neck, wrist, elbow, shoulder, chest, hip, knee and ankle. He has a much nicer jaw-line than Matt (in my opinion). Sean and Matt have the same body sculpt, so they can share clothes and shoes.
I haven't done a lot of sewing for Sean, but he has been a welcome addition to my 'Union Jack Collection' which features 'Olympic Runway Models'. I can make up stories too! His hair is sort of strange, but I guess it is more difficult to root man-dolls realistically. I do like the man dolls with long hair so you can pull their hair back in a ponytail or give them a 'mun'... a man-bun.
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Tonner Dolls began in 1991, and became a huge success. The first lines were Tyler Wentworth (1999) and Kitty Collier, with the Antoinette series coming afterwards. There was also a 22" version of Tyler. Tonner Dolls have also put out loads of celebrity dolls and character dolls. Tonner tried his hand at a playline series called City Girls in 2012, and in 2014 the Déjà Vu™ series was launched. Tonner also owns Wilde Imagination dolls. Sadly, Tonner dolls have closed their shops forever. :o(
Some collectors have over 100 Tonner dolls adorning their shelves, and Internet forums were dedicated to topics concerning the larger fashion dolls such as Tonner, Gene and Madame Alexander dolls. There are many more new types of dolls being manufactured these days, so it easy to pick up used dolls and outfits on the secondary market today, and it is sad to see them go so cheap sometimes. It seems to me that today's hottest dolls come and go, but doll collectors do fall in love with certain dolls, and they become classics.
One such Tonner doll is 'Winter Whisper Sydney' shown in the photo to your right. She may not be a collector's item very long, but it doesn't matter. I'm not going to sell her. :o) She is wearing a Tonner sweater that is made from angora, adorned with tiny beads. The clothes are always the feature with these dolls. I started with Tonner dolls and still love them. They have beautiful faces and normally their hair is lovely. There are some issues with eyes that don't both quite look the same direction, and flaws in the makeup, but for the most part, the dolls I have are all beautiful.
I can't say I get much use out of the dolls that were made first with the non-articulated arms. I'm sure they are perfect for the shelf and would look beautiful in gowns without the elbow joints spoiling the look, but I far prefer the bendy wrist Tylers. Despite the improvement of bendy wrists, the hands do not detach from the body. I adore the next generation Tonner dolls such as Antoinette because you can remove her hands. That is a huge feature because you can put bangles on her wrists and you can sew or knit tighter sleeves. The sweater in the photo has bell sleeves, so it would go over the Tyler hands. Click HERE to see an uncropped version of this sweater. It is on the Dreamcastle Dolls site,which is a fantastic Tonner doll reference site.
I have two early Tyler dolls with no elbow, wrist or knee articulation, two next generation Tyler dolls with bendy elbows and knees, and five with bendy wrists, elbows and knees - plus they have a swivel waist. When I say 'Tyler' doll, I mean dolls with the Tyler body. Every doll on this page has the same general body style and can wear each other's clothes. The bendy wrist dolls have slightly shorter arms, which was good. The older dolls appear to have arms that are too long, in my opinion. These Tyler dolls were the first experience I had with the 16" doll scene, and I still love owning them.
Tonner soon gave Tyler a lot of company with the same body-style. Kit is in the red sweater I made from a sock. That was one of my early attempts at dressing my dolls. You've already met Sydney who is wearing the leaf dress. You can use fabric with big patterns to make clothes for your dolls, but you have to be very careful about how you position the elements of the fabric design. The doll with the hat is a re-paint and re-root by Mel G in Germany. She has the Emilie head sculpt, and a Tyler body instead of the ballet body. Now her name is Roxanne, and she is wearing a Tonner 'sheepskin' coat. I made the bag and the hat and walking shorts. You can find You Tube videos that will teach you how to put pretty braids in your doll's hair. The one in the photo is a version of a 'fish-tail' braid.
Kit wears an outfit recycled from shirts I found at a charity shop. I love the blue accents in the animal print.
Meet Fashion Jane. She was offered exclusively to members of the Tonner Doll Collector Club in 2003. Her articulation included bendy elbows and knees. I think she has a beautiful face sculpt. I took this photo of Jane in front of my computer screen. It helps to set your monitor at full screen.
Carrie Chan
I have two Carrie dolls. I renamed them both. The older doll with the long hair is a repaint by RavenDollz and her name is Aja. (yes, I love that album by Steely Dan). I think she was originally called 'City Style' due to her thick, wavy hair. The other one I renamed Kamryn. I work with her mostly when I am sewing because her hair doesn't get in the way. She was originally called Kir Royale.
Tonner gives all of his fashion dolls story lines. Carrie and her PR firm, C&H Associates evidently made Wentworth and Chase household names. Tyler owned the design house and Sydney owned the modelling agency. That's quite a triumvirate! Kit was a model for Chase and became Sydney's sister-in-law for a short time. It's like 'The Young and The Restless"! If you want to read Tonner doll back stories, go HERE.
To see more of the obi dress on your far left, click the photo.
To see more of the Grecian dress on your left, click on the photo. This dress is a free tutorial on my site.
The photo on your right is another one of my early outfits. The sweater is made from a chenille sock and the skirt is a wool blend with embroidered accents. The big flower on the hat are just two fabric earrings.
Duster Coat
Made from a pattern by
Matisse Fashions
I made the duster coat after a few trials and learning curves. I love the fabric - it is a quilting fat quarter with a vibrant print. The coat is lined with acetate. Click on the photo to see more photos of this coat, including photos of it in progress.
Wrap Dress
Diane von Fürstenberg® - DVF.com
Fashion Designer
The Fürstenberg interpretation of the wrap dress, which was consistently knee-length, in a clinging jersey, with long sleeves, was so popular and so distinctive that the style has generally become associated with her. Click the photo to see my interpretation. Sydney shows how the dress works, so the photos are not work safe (NWS).
These dresses were all made from McCalls M-4860. I thought the finished dress turned out too baggy from the ribcage down, so I altered the pattern a bit to get a nice fit. I have made several of these dresses with variations on the straps. They are all lined. The bolero style jacket is my own pattern.
Tyler Wentworth: 5th Anniversary convention doll by Ken Bartram - with Robert Tonner's signature on her bottom.
Sean O'Neill in truly awesome shorts I made from a pair of pants my friend gave me to recycle into doll clothes.
Both of these dresses were cut from the same piece of cloth, but because it is a very large, bold pattern, I could get a completely different looking dress by carefully laying out the pattern pieces.
I did finish
this dress :)
