Rag Dolls

I realised yesterday that I need to have a bit more of a systematic approach to my blog and the posts! Reading through previous posts, I saw that I had given one a title including the word dolls - and nothing about dolls in it, so I'm going to rectify that right now!

This photo on the left was taken last summer - during Cowes Week. I had made this rag doll for my niece - Maisie; this comes from another Step by Step workshop, this time the tutor was Julia Davis, one of the owners of the shop. The pattern was very easy to follow - and the bloomers extremely easy to make (so much so I've made lots of pairs, and adapted them to trousers). Julia suggested sewing the bloomers to the doll, but I knew that I wanted a rag doll who could be dressed and undressed - and then came the decision to make a rag doll for Maisie - and clothe it too! I've not made clothes before, so this was another new challenge for me. The clothes that the doll is wearing here is a dress that I invented - I changed the style of the skirt (it has a sort of kick-pleat affair at the back, but starting from the bodice), the sleeves were straight rather than being gathered. She has a pair of red bloomers, and a red petticoat under the dress. I also provided her with another pair of trousers and another petticoat. The additional petticoat has a waistband attached. I saw great potential in making dolls clothes, and so set about buying (yet more) fabric that would be suitable for clothes - making something a bit more glamourous. I've started on some ballgown / party dresses in satin - gold with holographic spots, pink with holographic spots, lilac / lavender, and lavender trousers in satin / silk type thing. I'd like to make a jacket with a chinese collar as well, but haven't got quite that far yet. This year for Maisie's birthday I sent down some more clothes for the doll:

I was particularly pleased with this dress. No, I didn't cut and sew all the strips onto black fabric - the fabric came like it already (thank goodness!). I used red broderie anglaise for the sleeves and bodice, and put shirring elastic round the edge of the sleeves. I added a belt, and both the belt and the bodice have press studs to do them up. I also made bloomers and trousers to go with the outfit (I think I sent them both down, although I could be wrong!):

With the bloomers I added shirring elastic around the bottom edge (but a little bit up), to give the appearance of old fashioned bloomers - all that is missing is a little mop cap! (or is it a mob cap? I'm too young to know!)

I love the look of broderie anglaise - it's so feminine and pretty.

The hair for the doll was made from wool, and it was chunky, with 2 'strands' of darker wool, and 1 of the lighter. I spent time unraveling the lighter wool, which gives the wavy appearance. The darker wool has not been wasted. I've used it on my own rag doll (the one made at the workshop), and her hair looks a bit like dreadlocks - it's quite thick.

Going through my photos of projects, deciding which pictures to upload and show on here, I have realised that I don't have any photos of my first rag doll - or any of the clothes I've made for her; I'll remedy that later.

Thanks to Kath for the comment on the last post - and Kath - I will CERTAINLY show pictures of the box I'm currently making, but you are going to have to wait about a month for the photos. It is a policy of mine not to show pictures of WIPs (works in progress) if they are being made as a gift for someone. I only post photos of such projects once the recipient has received the gift! I remember a pupil saying that he had seen my official wedding photos (he was the nephew of our photographer), and I was a bit put out by that; it didn't help that he shouted it out in a lesson!

I've posted a question on facebook - doing a bit of market reasearch, as to how much people would be prepared to pay for a handmade A4 memory box. Any followers or others reading the blog - I'd like to know what your view is on this. How much would you be prepared to pay for a memory box like the ones shown in my earlier posts? Each box is an original - no two will EVER be the same (even if I tried to make them so, I wouldn't manage it!)

Until next time, happy sewing / quilting / crafting

Busy, busy, busy!

Hi there all,

well - the summer holidays are here and I'm about to get down to my room once again - so many things to do! First off, the boxes. I've made two more big ones since the one for my step-sister; one as a present (commissioned by my mum), and the second as a wedding gift. This one on the right was a 60th birthday present. Possibly, if you click on the picture, you will get a better view of it, of the embellishment.

For those who are interested, I use an Elna 7200. It's a great machine that gets a lot of use. I recently bought a trolley bag for it, which makes it a bit easier to take to workshops - usually I take the Elna 6005 to workshops, as it is lighter. However, it really depends on what the course is. The problem with using one machine for workshops, is that I have to re-learn how to use it.

This second box is the one I made as a wedding present - the bride kindly gave me some of the fabric from her outfit, which I incorporated into the box. She told me that the colour scheme was orange and Cadbury purple. I had great fun in buying the ribbons and some of the fabrics and other embellishments. It was great fun to try 'braiding' - creating little loops and having the ribbons go over each other. The 'quilting' featured the initials of the couple, and other freehand designs. I gave the present sometime after the wedding, as I wanted to include photos on fabric of the day; the bride kindly provided me with a disk of photos and let me pick the ones I wanted to use.

I am currently in the process of making 2 rag dolls - I still need to add faces, but the dolls themselves are done. I wasn't so happy with the hair, so added more, and now regret that decision somewhat. However, I've been playing hairdresser, and tried thinning the 'barnet' a little. I'll put pictures of the dolls on here once I've finished their clothes; as I've not made clothes before, these are proving a little tricky in places - especially as I'm starting to be possibly over ambitious, by wanting to adapt the patterns and create other clothes - longer dresses, shirts, different style skirts, different sleeves, jackets....oh - and a Mary Poppins type apron!

The final thing to show for today is a quilt - made for my cousin's second son; I've shown the quilt for his brother on the blog previously, and you can't make a quilt for one and not the other - which is why I have other quilts in preparation. I was able to deliver the quilt last weekend, and so get a cuddle with the new addition to the family.

The quilt was well received, and with lots of positive comments. I don't consider myself to be that clever with my hobby - I'm just determined, and like putting colours together, and playing with fabric and my sewing machine. This quilt is made from a panel that I had bought, and then I added co-ordinating fabrics to the sides - the co-ordinating fabrics had been a free gift from a website, and just happened to be from the same range. Perfect! I departed from the usual quilt making on this occasion, using fleece as backing instead of wadding and backing fabric. I had to wait until the baby was born to complete the quilt (actually, I didn't start it until after he was born - family and work commitments didn't allow otherwise), as the backing depended on the baby - boy or girl.

This photo on the right shows the young man in question on his quilt - the fleece is super-soft snuggly, and I'd bought it in blue and in pink. It came from a shop in Tunbridge Wells - C & H fabrics (I think) - I know the initials, as they are perfect for me - and a perfect shop for me - but not for my bank account! I've started making another baby quilt for someone at school who is pregnant (a teacher), and also have one to do for a friend who has just had a baby. I need some more fleece like this, but am not sure where I'm going to get it from - any ideas gratefully received.

As you can see, the quilt was put to use immediately, and young Austin appears to love it! Both he and his brother were lying on it on Saturday. Oh, and would you believe that he is just 7 weeks old in this picture? It's true - he had a VERY good weight at birth!

And now, it would seem that it is time for me to retire - to my sewing room that is! I've got clothes to make / finish, a couple of wall-hangings for my classroom, a quilt or two or three or four to finish, a couple of block of the months to work on, not to mention all the other projects I started a while back - they are NOT UFOs - they are WIPs - I will finish them, I just don't know when...

Do you hear that sound...can you hear it? It's getting louder and louder, calling my name...my room is missing me, so it really is time for me to be going!