Reemah Afia's Sandals, New Sash, and Cut Hair!

Reemah Afia arrived with bare feet wearing a black sash with her caftan-style dress as shown above.  Bare feet on dolls is one of my pet peeves.  Shoes, sandals, or some form of footwear is preferred.  I had also seen photos of other collectors' dolls wearing the "yellow" caftan dress that my doll wears with a gold sash instead of a black one.  I wanted a gold sash for my doll, too.

To remedy the bare feet issue, I initially planned to make a pair of sandals, which would have been easy to do; however, the square cork coasters I purchased specifically to use as soles are nowhere to be found. (I had them in one place after purchasing and then put them in another, but where that second location is, I cannot remember).

The Sandals

Plan B was to purchase a pair of sandals for Reemah Afia.  I found the above pair offered on both eBay and Aliexpress.  Based on the description and measurements provided, it seemed they would be a good fit for Reemah Afia's oddly sized feet (too small for her 22-inch height).  Because of their low price with free shipping on Aliexpress, I ordered the sandals in several colors with a plan for her to wear an orange pair to pick up the colors in her dress.  After they arrived, the brightly colored orange sandals were swapped out for the brown sandals.

The sandals, unfortunately, are not the correct length.  The sole is slightly shorter than her foot, which would not be a problem if the foot could fit inside properly, but the too-short heel strap prevents this.  Determined to make these work, I devised a quick fix. What I did is captured in the following photos and captions.

The strap at the heel was cut in half.

The initial plan was to pierce both side edges of the cut heel strap using one of the upholstery needles shown above and to use braiding cord to extend the straps.  I made one piercing with the needle, but the hole was not large enough to thread the braiding cord through.  So the ends of each heel strap were turned under and scissors were used to cut two horizontal parallel slits into both sides of the heel straps.

Two pieces of equal-length braiding cord were cut.  The cord was threaded through the slits in the heel strap starting from the undersurface of the lower slit to the top, led across to the upper slit, and taken down through the bottom surface of that slit.  This was repeated on the other heel strap using the second braiding cord.

Both cords were then tied to create a bow in back.

Voila!  Reemah Afia now has sandals that fit.

The New Sash

Reemah Afia's original black sash is shown above.

A vintage gold cloth napkin, shown folded in half, was used to make the new sash.

The black sash was placed on top of the folded cloth napkin and the material needed for the new sash was cut out.

The edges of the cut-out sash were ironed under.  Stitch Witchery was used to seal the edges.  Finally, adhesive-backed Velcro was placed on the two opposing ends of the sash.  Both sides of the completed sash, front and back, are shown in the above photo.

The new sash better coordinates with the fabric of Reemah Afia's dress.

Reemah Afia's caftan dress looks much better with the gold sash and her feet are now covered.

Cut Hair
My only disappointment with this doll is she arrived with the first row of rooted hair cut at the hairline of her brow!  I noticed this upon her arrival but did not give this much thought until another collector contacted me about her brown-haired doll's cut hairline. (She owns both versions, the brown-haired and black-haired versions).  As unevenly cut as my doll's hair is underneath, I know this was done intentionally.  Why?  I have no idea.  Was this to keep the hair away from her face?  That's possible because the brown hair is not as coarse as the black hair used for these dolls (as confirmed by the other collector who also indicated the black-haired doll's hairline is uncut).  Cutting the hair at the hairline was not a remedy to keep the hair away from the doll's face.  If any trimming had to be done, it should have been done from the ends of the hair and not at the roots or even better, at the discretion of the buyer!  Why would anyone cut perfectly rooted hair?  Just why?

With her hair pulled back Reemah Afia's cut hairline is visible.

As indicated, the hairline is unevenly cut.  My thumb holds down the longest cut piece.

I contacted Makedaa Dolls about the cut hair, but at the time of publication, I have not received a response.  So potential buyers should beware that if you desire the brown-haired doll and you do not want a doll with a cut hairline, you might think twice or ask the company if the doll you will receive will have a cut hairline.  This is very unfortunate for an otherwise nicely made doll.  I'd be interested in knowing if any other brown-haired Reemah Afia doll owners' dolls have cut hairlines.  Please let me know in a comment to this post.

My original post about Reemah Afia, written after her arrival, can be read here.


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