Another New Doll

This is one of several My Twinn dolls I got for Christmas.    I never intended to collect them, but they are just so darned cute and difficult to resist, especially when they are on sale at half price!  She is known to collectors as the “Cookie” sculpt.  The piano is also from My Twinn and makes a nice prop I think.

Happy Holidays to All!

Hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season!  For your viewing pleasure, here is a link to a vintage embroidered postcard uploaded by a member of my Vintage Holiday Greetings Postcard group on Flickr.  Enjoy!

American Girl's Caroline

DH surprised me with AG's Caroline, her cat and parlor for my birthday on Christmas Eve.  Caroline represents the Regency Period and was the perfect choice for me as someone obsessed with all things Austen.  I'll have fun sewing for her!

Two New Santas

I’m back, I think!  I’ve never gone this long without posting!  I have been overwhelmed with business and family issues – and a new family of feral cats, a mom and three babies!  I’m hopelessly behind on the TAST challenge and have only managed to finish two Santas so far, although I have a couple more in varying degrees of doneness.  Pictured below are my Swashbuckling  and Tea Party Santas.  You can see that the Tea Party Santa has traded in his traditional red cap for a tricorne hat.  This past year, I have discovered that hat making in miniature is a very satisfying endeavor...
 

A Little More Progress on Swashbuckling Santa

I made the pants from black and white ticking.  The boots were made from a gorgeous piece of distressed faux leather.  That stuff is a little tricky to work with.  In my first attempts, the thread kept breaking.  Then, I did a little research on the web and learned that you must use a heavier thread than usual on the top.  All I had in brown was some old hand quilting cotton - and it worked like a charm.  I also had some problems with slippage but I corrected that by smearing the tiniest amount of Yes glue inside the seam allowances before I sewed.  Now, I love sewing with this fabric!

Swashbuckling Santa Hat

I have had a pirate Santa doll percolating in my head for quite some time (ever since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, actually) and decided to work on a hat for him yesterday. I adapted a pattern from a great book by milliner Denise Dreher, From the Neck Up: An Illustrated Guide to Hatmaking. This is a bicorne design from the late 1700s – and, although it looks simple, it’s actually quite a little wonder of engineering. I had a blast making this! I even made a ribbon cockade to embellish it using the directions in the book. Although it’s not perfect I love the effect. There’s a whole chapter devoted to making hat trims. All of my fashion dolls are lining up for hats…

Nature Journal: Rose - genus Rosa

TAST 2012: Bullion Knot

Here is a bullion rose garland stitched on wool felt and a couple of samples from the original TAST; a single rose stem and a rosebud on a button.

Nature Journal: Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

These plants grow in stands all over the yard and can reach over ten feet tall.  Very young leaves are consumed (after repeated blanchings) in the South, but many experts warn against it because of high toxicity levels.  They produce dark purple (almost black) berries late in summer that are loved by birds but the seeds inside are poisonous to humans.  A red dye made from the berries was once used to color cloth and as ink for writing.  “Polk Salad Annie” notwithstanding, don’t even think about eating any part of this plant unless you are an experienced herbalist!  I can’t stop singing that song…

"Polk salad Annie, the gators got your granny (chomp - chomp chomp)
Everybody said it was a shame
'Cause her mama was aworkin' on the chain-gang
(a wretched, spiteful, straight-razor totin' woman,
Lord have mercy! Pick a mess of it)"  

Almost Summer...

Here’s a summer outfit I made for my Götz Little Sister doll consisting of a linen skirt, lined sheer blouse and macramé belt. The fabric was from decorator samples I purchased for fifty cents each in JoAnn’s a few years ago.  Check out those fisherman sandals - perfect miniatures of the real thing!  Purchased them in brown, too.  Couldn't resist!

A Party Dress for Jessie

Here’s Jessie modeling a party dress I made for her from a pattern by The Patchwork Pansy.  The fabric was leftover cotton from curtains I made for the bedroom many years ago!  The lace was from my mom’s old stash.  I loved being able to put that stuff to good use!

Jessie's Cami & Triple-Tiered Petticoat

I made this camisole and petticoat adapted from patterns in the book, Heirloom Doll Clothes for Götz.  I love this book!  The cami required a little lace shaping and mitering.  Spray starching and ironing, as recommended by the author, Martha Pullen, really help to coax the lace into position.  Isn’t my model adorable?  She is a My Twinn doll.  These dolls come in a variety of face sculpts and are able to be posed because of an internal armature. They are approximately twenty-three inches high.  This particular little girl has what is known to collectors as the Helen face sculpt. I’ve named her Jessie.

TAST 2012: Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

TAST 2012: Wheatear Stitch

TAST 2012: French Knots

I worked on my fabric collage a little more, adding French knots to the butterfly.  I used them singly to outline the shape and also in groups of three to create a pattern within the shape.

TAST 2012: Stem Stitch

As I was getting ready to add this familiar stitch to my sampler, I checked it out in Sharon B’s Stitch Dictionary and learned something I didn’t know before. The thread is worked to the right side of the needle.  If it is worked to the left side, it is the outline stitch.  I always interchanged them, depending on the direction I was stitching, never noticing the difference in appearance.  I see it now, although it's difficult to detect in the photo below.

Ursula's New Slip

One of the goals I set for this year was to try French heirloom sewing by machine for my dolls. I purchased a beautiful book by Dr. Martha Pullen, Heirloom Doll Clothes for Götz, and this slip was my first attempt. I learned how to sew lace to fabric very securely and invisibly! I figure that should come in handy for making Santa outfits, too. My little model is a Götz Precious Day doll. She's advertized as being the same size as The American Girl dolls, but she's ever so slightly slimmer. I named her Ursula.

TAST 2012: Satin Stitch

Here’s a peek at a work in progress, a fabric collage based upon magazine images from a course taught by Susan Sorrell. I usually use chain stitches to fill in shapes (see the iris and pupil), but thought I’d try satin stitches to fill in the lettering.

TAST: Barred and Alternating Barred Chain Stitch

I'm caught up, at last!

TAST 2012: Whipped Wheel

For the first whipped wheel, I used a nylon washer as the base. Not wanting to leave it plain, I covered it with buttonhole stitches to add some color. The other sample is a whipped long arm chain stitch, one of my favorite stitches from Sharon B’s Personal Library of Stitches course a few years ago. It has a kind of nautical look, I think.