It’s been pretty hectic around here lately and I really need to be spending every free moment sewing, not typing so here’s a little teeny tiny something to sit on the blog until I have a sec to write a proper post or two. I’m bummed I don’t have time to really go into how cuckoo for re-ment I’ve become lately but I’m pretty sure you’ll see why from this pic. See others who are hooked.
Have a great weekend!
my friend jenny
Here’s Phoebe with the owner of the red shoe I posted the other day. I had to wait til they were both wearing their red shoes to snap a photo. I had My Friend Mandy when I was a girl and my Mom miraculously held on to her so I have her to hand down to Phoebe but I could not help myself from ebaying this Jenny doll for my dark haired girl. Phoebe loves her. She squeals when she sees her and starts smacking at her and gets all squinty. It is so cute! Of course right now all she wants to do is eat the shoes and gum her face. I’m sure I’ll have to put her up on a shelf for a few years until she’s really ready for Jenny. That’ll give me some time to work on outfits. Maybe even a cool camping outfit like Sadie’s Mandy has!
in their skivvies
the Kit, Chloe and Louise dolls I’ve been working on are finally finished! now it’s time for some outfits…
***updated to add***
I didn’t really have time to write anything yesterday so I thought I’d just do a little show and tell on the new dolls but Tim’s all “aren’t you even going to talk about them”. Guess he figures if he has to listen to me chatter on about these dolls all week that the rest of you should have to as well. So here’s some chatter for ya. These gals might not look it but are actually quite different than the Kit and Chloe I’d started a few weeks ago. I decided to make their bodies longer and thinner so they look more like the older girls they are than toddlers. This also will make them easier to dress I think. Another difference is I made their bodies out of two layers of quilting cotton instead of the wool felt I’d used on the first two. I was worried it’d be too lumpy when I stuffed them but the second layer of fabric seems to smooth it out quite nicely. After getting their bodies right finally I was stuck on their faces for quite a while. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do different features for each girl but in the end I think the slight differences that come out of being handmade give each one their own personality. And then there’s the hair! Or to be more specific, Chloe’s (the blond’s) hair. Kit and Louise were pretty straightforward but Chloe’s hair is a different story. Finding the right yellow and the right cut.. I’m still not sure I have her just how I want her. I have some “curled” hair that I might try out for her instead. Can’t decide if she’s got straight hair or more wavy curls. This is something I’ve been wrestling with for a while. Maybe this is why I can’t get anyone to take the fact that I am an actual *working* mom seriously, because my work is trying to decide between straight or wavy doll hair. I should make some spreadsheets about it. Maybe a pie chart!
doll sized inspiration
I have no time to sew this week but am doing lots of doll clothes plotting. For inspiration I went over to my Mom’s and retrieved her box of old doll stuff. I love these original outfits for her Ginny dolls.
I pinned a few of my favorites up on the fabrics on my inspiration wall
new doll quilt
After an 8 (or so) month long break, I felt the urge to make another doll quilt for Phoebe. I was inspired once again by Jen’s photos from the International Quilt Festival in Tokyo. This one in particular was whispering doll quilt in my ear. I thought it was perfect because it’s the sort of thing that is awe-inspiringly crazy in a full size quilt but seems kind of quaint and homey in a doll size quilt. I also liked that it was another “+” thing, like the quilt that inspired the first quilt I did for Phoebe’s wall.
Further inspired by Jen and her post on hand-piecing on Sew, Mama, Sew I decided to ditch the sewing machine and finish piecing it together by hand. It was lovely. Just the right sort of project (tiny) for some relaxing handiwork. The quilting was fun too although I got a little too distracted by the tv (buffy) and my +’s sort of sway off grid a bit. But I love the finished product. I knew I couldn’t go wrong when I picked these fabrics and the pink, black and green color scheme. I’ve had most of these fabrics in a pile for a project for, um, over 2 years now I think. So even if I totally botched it I’d be happy with the pretty colors.
here are some details: the finished size is 14″ x 18″, the squares are 2″, cotton batting, vintage bias tape, perle cotton for the quilting, vintage and new fabrics.
fairy stitchette apron
I’ve been thinking for a while that I needed to come up with some fun projects for all these stitchettes I have laying around. I make up the samples for the patterns and then stick them in a drawer. They’re crying to see some action. So here’s my first outing, an apron for the fairy stitchettes. I made this on the fly from a thrifted dress I was saving because of its cute fabric. Luckily I didn’t run out of dress before I finished. I wanted the apron to be adjustable in size so I made big long straps that go through loops at the back of the waistband. Oscar modeled it for me and he’s swimming in it but it still looks cute. I think it would work for 3 up to, well, grown ups, depends on how wide you make the waistband.
smock on a peg
Lots of new things today: a new smock for Phoebe, a newly hung peg rail in her room and the sun!
The smock is a copy of a vintage one (here’s Phoebe modeling it) — oh! another new thing, a couple of them actually, Phoebe can now push herself up to sitting from laying and pull herself up to standing from sitting. She whipped these new tricks out yesterday and the day before. bam! I have a feeling she’ll be trying to break Oscar’s record of walking at 9 months. I need to stop sewing and start babyproofing, but back to the smocker, here’s a close up of the matryoshka fabric that I bought at kitty-craft and I’m so proud of myself that I tackled this because I dread catching ric-rac in a seam. I love the way it looks but I have the hardest time with it. anyone have any pointers? I did okay this time — even with Oscar complaining to me that it was taking forever — but still had to go back and fix half a dozen spots where I didn’t catch both sides of the fabric. But I think it turned out really cute…and I made fabric covered buttons for it. Fabric covered buttons make everything right.
