Dolls dolls dolls

It's all about the dolls in our house.  Barbie dolls, BFC dolls, Blythe dolls (the cheap Littlest Pet Shop ones that is), Lalaloopsy dolls, and Sylvanian Families dolls (my personal favourite).

Guess what I've been sewing a lot of?  Yep.  Teeny tiny clothes.  And I like it.

Some with patterns.  Usually without.  The big BFC dolls are the easiest to sew for.  They 'needed' pyjamas.  Here's version A where the top was a little too short (note the added contrast band at the bottom).  Version B worked a treat, and after brushing up on my rudimentary Illustrator skills I've very nearly got my first doll clothes pattern ready to go.  Any day now ...

Below is yesterday's workspace, drawing up a pants pattern for the shameless Stacie doll.

Before the kids came home and added to the craft disaster that is now my dining table.

Two short years

So it's been awhile.  Much has changed, but much has remained the same.

Children have grown and started school ...

pets have passed away ...

 and another pet has come to stay.

I'm not going to dwell.  Just going to carry on, as if no time has passed at all.

Purple girls

For Audrey's birthday, way back in September, she requested a birthday skirt and t-shirt. The skirt had to use the butterfly fabric she'd picked from Spotlight not long ago. And on the t-shirt she wanted a number four ... no, a cake ... no, a number ... no, a cake with four candles on it.

Fortunately she was more decisive about the skirt. After spying the "Misty" skirt in Ottobre 1/2008 (#13) her mind was made up. Thank goodness.

It is supposed to have a fitted waistband with side zipper. We're not ready for zippered clothing quite yet. This version has an elasticised waistband instead for ease of self-dressing.

The t-shirt is from Ottobre's basic t-shirt pattern, with bonus puff sleeve added on. I used the puff sleeve pattern from a similar shirt, shirred close to the edge, and sewed it on together with the long sleeve.

The big girl is modeling the knit dress made using The Train To Crazy's free dress pattern. This is size 5 and it fits well. I added pockets. Good for carrying things in I thought. Silly me! Little did I know that two hands in low-ish pockets make stretching out and lifting up your dress irresistable! Sigh ....

Instead of the casing inside for elastic, I opted to use a 3-step zigzag to unevenly sew the elastic straight to the inside of the dress.

It's the current favourite for long-sleeve days. The dress has been washed several times already and worn straight off the clothes line.

Big Boy

We once bought a giant plush dog from the local trash 'n' treasure market for a small girl. He was dubbed 'Big Boy' and the name stuck (unusual for the soft friends living here). Big Boy is still much beloved a couple of years on, keeping Hannah company in bed almost every night.

Now he's made it onto a t-shirt as part of a new set of much-needed pyjamas. First there was a brief photo shoot. He's the perfect model. Still. Quiet. Consistent. Much easier to photograph than children, who suddenly insist on keeping their head tilted back strangely once the camera is pointed at them. After printing onto transfer paper, the cut-out image was ironed onto white knit fabric, then stitched onto the shirt. Hopefully the washing machine is kind to him! I've been a bit slow to take photos of crafting projects lately, but made a point of snapping this one before the first wash - just in case.

The t-shirt is a plain one from Ottobre Spring 1/2003 which I've made before. I've also made these pants before (from NewLook 6641) with added ribbed cuffs at the bottom this time. The checkered flannelette is the not-quite-enough left-overs from her Dad's pj pants. Cuffs were an easy solution, with the added benefit of keeping her legs a bit warmer.

Quilted tote

My first quilting! A small little panel that encloses a folded up tote bag. The project is from a Japanese book called 'Country Quilt' (ISBN 4893966251).

Partially hand quilted, in the style of the book. Slow hand stitching = machine quilting the other part. It was a belated gift ... haste was required!

When closed, the bag fits neatly into an adult hand. If there were to be a second version I would definitely make the actual bag bigger. It's a fairly small little tote. Cute though don't you think?

The awesome Four

The littlest girl made it to Four. "Now that I am Four ..." has been a phrase heard often during the last week. Four is very different to Three. You can suddenly reach the high door latches and open curtains and you like different foods and are a bit braver.

Once, not very long ago, you were a wee little bub ...

... and now you're this cheeky little lady ...

... who always wants a hand to hold while walking ... who has such a loud voice in a small body ... who loves dogs and cats (plus rabbits and horses and penguins and bears and many others sometimes too) ... who is so gentle with our pets ... who loves skirts and dresses ... who looked forward to her birthday for at least six months ... who whizzes around and around the table on her bike ... who gets stuck on her words sometimes ... who loves music ... who quietly disappeared to her room for a while during her party to listen to her favourite CD ... who will begrudgingly try new foods and then chew on them for 10 minutes if she isn't so keen on the taste ... who hates tidying up ... who does a funny tongue thing sometimes when nervous or excited ... who loves purple and pink and red because they are girlish colours ... who still sleeps with her beloved blankie every single night.

The cake was a girlish one. Pink icing, flowers and cherries. I used this recipe for marshmallow icing, aiming for a tasty dairy-free topping. Worked great for cupcakes in a trial run, although I learnt that I'd need to ice the cake fast as it sets quickly. Also looked great on the one-big-cake that Audrey decided she wanted instead. And then I went to put candles in ... and cut it. Possibly chef's error, but it set pretty darn hard. Still delicious though.

Happy birthday little one.

Powder puff

Not sure how they are decided upon, but I like that most of Ottobre's patterns have names. Hannah is modeling the "Powder Puff" raglan-sleeve t-shirt I made for her back in June. It's from 6/2008 (#20). The few small rows of shirring on the front were ditched in favour of some less complicated gathering.

Not that I have a problem with shirring. Although I did once have a problem with it. In the slight chance it might help someone with a similar problem I'm going to blah blah about it. Here goes. The elastic thread was feeding out of the bobbin casing easily and not getting enough tension to do those cute little gathers. After a fruitless Google search, I eventually realised that the bobbin elastic needed a firmer tug down into place so that the little arms could grab onto the thread better. When loaded correctly the thread mostly stretches when pulled on, instead of unravelling easily. Problem solved. Clear as mud?

Oh and there's the first machine embroidery I did! It's a curious kitty from here.