Caroline's Dress

Here’s the promised photo of the dress I made for Caroline.  I used a commercial pattern as a general guide for size, but adapted it by shortening the bodice and making it more close-fitting,  redesigning the sleeves and lowering the neckline.   The skirt is also much fuller.  The trim is made from vintage ribbon stitched to the lower edge of the skirt with invisible thread.  The hem is sewn by hand.  I made her a pair of lace-trimmed pantaloons to wear underneath.  I’m currently working on a matching bonnet.

A Drawstring Bag for Caroline

I made a Regency era dress for my AG doll Caroline (photo later) and wanted to make her a dainty little bag to match.  This one is lined and embroidered by machine.  Although it was simple to sew, stitching the casing was a bit tricky due to the small size.  Having never made a drawstring pouch before, I searched the web and found quite a few wonderful tutorials and YouTube videos showing how to make several variations.  

Bird Nursery

I was delighted to come upon this old nest nestled in the catbrier on my walk the other day.  It would have been well hidden in the thick foliage in the summer.  It's beautifully engineered with a plastic outer layer and sweetly decorated with lots of pink Easter grass.  Mom and Dad must have been expecting girls!

Nature Journal: Pinecones

I was inspired by Jane LaFazio’s tutorial on painting pinecones so I thought I’d give it a try.  I don’t know why I never did it before.  I had a great time mixing greys and browns!  Our yard is littered with pinecones from many big old pitch pine trees - so willing models are plentiful…

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.