Brown Eyes

You can now see why I have been making so many “tiny” things.  It just seems that although I have been making tons of doll clothes, it has been ages since the last time I made an actual doll.  I wanted to make a truly brilliant one, so here she is.



I very carefully drew her pattern by hand.  She is about 19 inches with a relatively thin body and thinner arms and legs.  Her head of course is huge in comparison, I think it’s cuter that way.  She is made with unbleached muslin fabric.



Her face is hand-embroidered and it’s one of my first attempts with embroidery too.  Not bad for a beginner right?  My mom loved the face, especially the pout.  She thinks it looks kind of like my niece.  The hair is obviously yarn and I can’t quite describe the technique I used for it.  It is sort of like rooted hair, but I used an embroidery needle.  Maybe I’ll show you later.



For accessories, I made this cute little handkerchief in her purse.  It’s just a square of fabric with lace sewn to the edge.

I cut up a pair of old socks to make socks for her.

And to finish the look, a simple, lace-y hair accessory with matching bows.  Nothing left to do but give her a name, any ideas?

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Ten down, just one more to go.  The last one should be up this Weekend i.e. Monday.

Read More »

Perfectly Patterned and Pink

So I made this lovely doll-sized dress, just one.  I intended to make more, but found making one enough of a challenge.  There were parts of the bodice that were surprisingly difficult to do because of the smaller size, mainly the sleeves.  The rest was simple.  The dress is basically a smaller version of the many dresses I’ve been making for myself.  I made the pattern from scratch so I was a little concern about how it would turn it.  But it came out great so I guess this means my pattern making skills have improved.  I wonder if I should try more elaborate doll dresses in the future?  Or possible go for a smaller size?  This one might fit a very slender 18 inch doll, but what if I made one for a 11.5 inch doll?  Hmm.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Eight down, just three more to go.  The next two will be up together by Wednesday.

Read More »

7 is Old?

Today is Midnight’s birthday.  My dear cat is now 7 years old, the age marked on bags of “senior diet” cat foods.  Well, she doesn’t seem to care so it shouldn’t worry me either.  She’s a healthy, active cat with no problems.
And what every healthy, active cat needs is plenty of toys to keeping her healthy and active.  So I made plenty, not all of them are for her though.  I thought it would be good to have a few extra, maybe to list in my shoppe or give as gifts.  Plus they are fun to make.  They are all made with scraps of fleece and are supposed to be shaped like fish.  It’s not because Midnight eats fish (fish really isn’t very good for cats to have too often anyway since it can lead to steatitis), I think the shape makes it easier to play with for people.  I can easily hold the tail end and wave it around while she aims for the head, and that way my fingers don’t get bitten.  These would be especially useful for kittens since that’s more of a problem in younger cats.  Anyway, Midnight will be having loads of fun today.  Plus for dinner she’s getting one of four different flavors of these pouches I got.  They are turkey and giblets, beef and gravy, tuna with sauce, and chicken.  I still not sure which one to give her.  Which seems more “birthday” appropriate?
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Seven down, four to go.  The next project will be up by Monday.

Read More »

Not Too Nuts

Just a quick one today.  I made these pins late last night which is why I am currently only half-awake.  I wanted something for Fall that wasn’t pumpkins and Halloween stuff.  I thought “why not acorns?”  I used scraps of fleece for the parts of the acorn and some felt to back them up since the fleece is a little flimsy.  I’m not sure about them, they aren’t quite as cute as I thought they would be.  Maybe I got the colors wrong, or possibly the shape since it was really hard to cut them.  I tried to mark the shapes but the chalk pencil didn’t show up very well on the dark fabric.  The funny thing is that they are about the same size as real acorns.  That’s something at least.

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Six down, five to go.  The next project will be up by Friday for a very special reason.

Read More »

Too Small? Nooooooo!

I had intended to post this yesterday, but I had things that took all my time, again.  I’m starting to think that I shouldn’t plan on doing important things on weekends since I never seem to be able to do them.  So from now on, when I say I’ll post something for the weekend, just assume I mean Monday.  Heck let’s make Monday part of the weekend, or would that just backfire on me?

Anyway, I sort of finished the dress, as in I tried to make a dress and ended up with a skirt instead.  It started out as as simple dress with an absolutely beautiful bodice.  This bodice was indeed brilliant with perfectly placed lace and details.  Everything was perfect except for the size.  I accidently made it too small for me.  I’ve been so depressed about it that I couldn’t bear to take a picture of it.  I still have it though, I cut it off from the skirt and saved it.  I figure with some tweaks I can turn it into a cute top for my niece.  As for the skirt, all it needed was a waistband.  I consoled myself by altering another t-shirt to go with the skirt.  I just did the usual kind of thing I do with t-shirts, add elastic to the sleeves, a little lace on the cut neckline, etc.  To cheer myself up, I added some ribbon neck ties, it worked.  Instead of a beautiful dress, I have a really cute outfit.  Plus, the fabric was leftover from a previous dress, which had a matching bag that I can now use for this skirt.  So everything has turned out okay.

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Five down, six to go.  The next project should be up by Wednesday for sure.

Read More »

They Match?

I thought I would try my had at making doll shoes.  Not as easy as I thought they would be.  The pair on the left are the “prototype”, first pair I made.  The shape is a little odd and they don’t actually fit the foot they are intended for (more on that later).  After tweaking the pattern a little, I made the pair on the right.  They is a noticeable difference, at least in my eyes.  At the very least they fit way better.  I guess they could be worse, plus the bows make them look so cute that it doesn’t really mater how bad the shoes look.  That’s my strange logic.

Thankfully, the matching bags came out just as I planned.  Simple square bags with a touch of lace and the same little bows.  What’s not to love.

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Four down, seven to go.  The next project should be up this weekend.

Read More »

Learned It In The Scouts

I had intended to post this Saturday, but the usual stuff got in the way, again.

While hunting for back-to-school deals last month, I managed to score a pack of mechanical pencils for 19 cents at Walgreen’s.  Although they are perfectly adequate as writing utensils, I find them to be an eyesore.  They came in several colors and most of which I can’t stand.  Of course the obvious solution is to decorate them.  But how?

Wrap them in yarn.  Actually I used crochet thread in pink and white instead of yarn.  I’m not sure what the name is for the technique I used for these pencils.  I learned it years ago in girl scouts, back then we used it on coat hangers.  Ah, those were the days.  I’ve also seen this done with hair and the occasional tree branch.  It kind of reminds me of friendship bracelets.  Friendship pencils?  Hmm.

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Two down, nine to go.  The next project should be done by either tomorrow or Wednesday.  I just need to double check on the size.

Read More »

Quickie Flowers: A Mini-Tutorial

So I got a pack of plain hair elastics on sale at Walgreen’s for 50 cents.  Score!  But am I one to wear plain items in my hair?  And do I want to spend too much time to dress these up? 

Here’s the solution.  Attach flowers to them.  Super easy and takes less than 10 minutes.
You’ll need:

• A hand-full of plain hair elastics.
• Various fake flowers, the little fabric ones with wire stems.
• A trusty glue,  Aleene’s Jewel-It to the rescue.

Hold the hair elastic up to the flower really close to the blossom.

Start to wrap the wire stem around the elastic, getting it as tight and snug as possible.  To help try pinching it with your fingers as you go, use your nails (or someone else’s) if necessary.

Continue wrapping the wire stem, coil it as neatly as possible.

See, neat and tidy.

Now just dab a little glue to secure it.

Now stand back and admire your work.  Now quickly make another one, and another, and another…

These are the ones I made.  It’s good to experiment with them, add multiple flowers to one elastic or use different types of wired flowers.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

One down, ten to go.  The next one should be up by Saturday.

Read More »

New Mascot?

I thought I should mention this if you haven’t already notice the new addition on the left.

<--

It’s a new widget I found on WidgetBox, a cute little pet to clutter you blog or whatever.  Lots to choose from, but I went with the monkey because I thought it was the most fun.  As you can see, his name is Momo.  Try clicking on the branches to make him leap, or clicking on the more box to give him a banana.  Aww, so cute and I could play with him all day.

Read More »

Up to Twenty-One

Well, the latest project list is ready finally.  Had a little trouble deciding what to put on this one.  Every craft project that came to mind was for the wrong season or holiday.  I’m one of those weird people who never start crafting for the holiday season until at least after Thanksgiving if not December.  And I can’t think of costume ideas until October.  At least for this list I’m working a little bit early for at least some “Fall” items, sort of.

Project List #21

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

I plan to have them all done by the end of the month, again.  Odd time for a deadline but I like the way it sounds.

Read More »