Overalls for Christmas

Katie now has a short-sleeved jumper (sweater), a pair of coruroy overalls and beautiful leather boots to match the colour of her glasses. 

Her jumper does up at the back with buttons and her overall has buttons over press studs, they are lined inside with the same fabric that I used to trim the pockets.

Now what to do with her hair? I will not cut her hair, but I would like to give her a new style of some sort which would suit her cheeky nature.

It's All In the Eye of the Beholder

You would have no doubt heard the saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" before now.  We all know it also applies to how we see our dolls, some see BJD's as being beautiful, whereas other see Barbie or Paola Reina dolls as such.

However, just recently this was brought to my attention in a completely different way when I sold a couple of sets of clothes which were designed for the 16" Disney Animator dolls. 

The lady (Julie) who purchased theses sets, sent me photos of the dolls she dressed with them and I was amazed by what I saw. I would never have thought to use these clothes on BJD's myself, but it just goes to show how versatile knitted clothes can be, and what one can achieve with a little imagination. 

On 1/3 Fairyland Feeple 65 Chloe.

Julie said: "Some might not agree with me, but I think the outfit fits well, it was the look I was after anyhow. As she is over 60cm tall, the top & cardigan are cropped (especially as she is very well endowed) but I like how the skirt sits on her hips & shows off her belly. Not a big fan of high waisted skirts & pants. It looks a little short, but only because she has such long legs (it does cover her behind completely)."

On her Smart Doll Harmony.

Julie sent the original photos via eBay, and I asked if she would mind if I shared them on a blog post. She very kindly agreed, but I couldn't down load them, so I asked her to email them to me and here they are for you all to see!

Julie said: "Attached are the photos of your outfits on my dolls as requested. Hopefully you and your readers will find  them useful.  I’m very happy with them and think they fit both girls well, but I think the they fit my Smart Doll Harmony better. What do you think?"

I always enjoy photos like this, when I can view things through someone else's eyes. However, I shall let you answer Julie's question now, because I would also be interested in knowing your thoughts.

This is Rachael's Miriam, her Baby So Beautiful doll, wearing the same size outfit. Her measurements are ~ height 34cm, chest 23cm and tummy 23.5cm, so although she's a little shorter, she's about as chubby as a 40cm Animator doll. 

The Little Kidz

My models today are Elli and Grete both Gotz Little Kidz and the latest additions to the fold, although they have been with me for almost a month now. As we have been enduring lockdown #5 (which ended midnight Tuesday), I have been passing the time knitting for them both and this is their second set of clothes.

Once again, I have used patterns from Jacqueline Gibb (orange skirt) and Peggy Stuart (aqua turtle neck) combined with my own. If you are a member of Ravelry you will probably recognise their names and their patterns, if not and you knit, go join! If you don't knit and you'd like to, go join!

These photos were an experiment in composition. I still haven't decided whether I like them or not. What about you, do you like to offset your subject when taking photos?

The last two portraits show how beautiful the Gotz doll faces are. I know play dolls are not for everyone, but I am quite enamoured with these little dolls. But as always, I need a third and preferably a redhead with green eyes (Gotz, I hope you are reading this!)

I have a feeling these dolls will be with me for a very, very long time. If you had to select just one doll from your collection to keep forever, which doll would choose, and why?

A Website Worthy of Mention

I know some of my readers sew, knit and crochet quite well, while others would like to, but lack confidence. This led me to search the internet for some websites with clear, easy to follow free patterns which I could share links to.

Most are for 14" and 18" dolls, which by using your printer to reduce or enlarge the patterns, could be used for other sizes as well.

I found many websites which SELL patterns, but very few that provide FREE patterns. There were even less to actually provide tutorials in a way that anyone could follow them, even the most inexperienced. 

The following website has some wonderful patterns that are fully explained with photographs, as well as with videos, which makes them perfect patterns for beginners.

Happy Bankky Crafty Mom

This website also has other crafty ideas which would be fun to make. I hope, should you take advantage of these patterns and either sew, knit or crochet something, you will share photos of what you make and give credit to Bankky!

A New Dress for Avery

Ideas have been tossing about in my head as to what I could do with the 8ply wool that's been sitting in my basket for some time. There was a tiny bit of white, a slightly larger ball of lemon and almost a full ball of grey. So I began working with the white from the bottom up and completed this off the shoulder dress for Avery.

It was fun just knitting and changing things about as I went, though I wish now I had written down what I was doing so I could make another down the track, but it is what it is . . . and I told myself if I could do it once, I should be able to do it again.

I also crochet the little flowers and stuck them to some hair slides with PVA glue and added the little pearl centres. They are not perfect, but they'll do for now.

Hope you all had a productive week and are looking forward to a lovely weekend!
Hugs,
X

More Knitting

My larger dolls have been a little neglected lately and I thought it time for them to receive some attention. With odd balls of yarn to use up, and inspiration from the beret, I made this set for my Gotz Happy Kidz 2017 Emma.

The beret is a free pattern from Ravelry: Free Beret and the cardigan and dress were both modifications I made from this cardigan pattern: Lacy Cardigan Set.

Hope you have a happy new week!

Something Different

Well I haven't really been in the mood for dolls this past week or so, you could say I have been suffering from the winter blues. As usual for this time of year, I have been hibernating in front of the fire, knitting. Not for my dolls though, this time I made myself some beanies to keep my ears warm when hubby and I walk our dog. This I found, was a good item on which to use up some of my left over yarns.

It was during this time I noticed my knitting needle roll needed some attention. There were more knitting needles and very little space in some sections of the roll to fit them. So it was time to make another and here it is, my own guide to making one. (Left click on photos to see more details).

REQUIREMENTS:

2 x 64cm pieces of 112cm wide fabric. (1 pce plain for inner, 1 pce print for outer.)

2mtrs of 25mm wide satin ribbon.

Ruler and a washout fabric marker pen or pencil.

A permanent fine marker pen.

Matching thread for sewing.

Sewing machine and overlocker (serger).

Iron and ironing board.

Step 1: Place the two pieces of fabric on top of each other and use your sewing machine to sew along the top and bottom. I used my overlocker (serger), but if you don't have one, use your machine's zig zag or button hole stitch to sew along the edge.

Step 2: Fold the two shorter selvedge ends over 2cm and press flat, then stitch down.

Step 3: Fold the bottom long edge over 2cm and press flat, then stitch down. Do the same with the top edge.

Step 4: Fold the top long edge over 7cm, then press flat before stitching the sides to form a pouch.

Step 5: Fold the bottom long edge over 13cm, then press flat before stitching the sides as you did in step 4. (Finished height should measure 40cm).

Step 6: Cut 35cm of ribbon and place on the left hand side half way between the top and bottom fold overs, using the remainder of the ribbon place it across the fabric, so that the extra length extends in the same direction as the shorter piece.

Step 7: Stitch both sides, so the ribbons are held in place.

Step 8: Rule lines with your washout pen, from the ribbon down to the bottom, after making sure there is enough space to hold each group of needles. (i.e. if you have several sets of a particular size in different lengths, or wish to include a crochet hook of the same size, do a dry run to check the amount of space needed for each size).

Step 9: Stitch along each ruled line creating an individual pouch for each group of needles.

Step 10: Using the permanent fine marker pen, mark each pouch with the size of the needle. (i.e. I have marked mine with both the mm size and a corresponding UK size using the conversion chart below).

The finished size of your roll should hold a good amount of needles, mine range from 1.25mm through to 7.5mm, some of which have different lengths or four double ended needles in each group. When all your needles are in place, simply fold the top flap down, roll it up, tie the ribbon around it and finish with a bow.

That's all folks! Until next time, stay safe and keep smiling!

New Knitting Pattern

I have finished writing and posting a few free knitting patterns which are listed here. The last pattern being inspired by these 1920's nautical style day dresses.

The collar is separate from the dress, the band is also knitted separately and stitched on.

The dress closes at the back with seven small buttons. I have used this pattern with some personal adjustments for my other three girls and will show photos of them later when I have more time.

For Linda: Here is a Paola Reina Las Amigas in the dress, as you can see you would need to adjust the length of the sleeves, but otherwise the fit looks okay.

More Knits Completed

I wanted to try to make a knitted dress that actually looked like two separate pieces . . . a pinafore with a sweater underneath, creating a similar look to this, without the pockets.

I thought I had enough scraps of pale pink wool to make the sweater part and enough hot pink for the pinafore, but when I finished knitting with the hot pink I realised it was going to be too short. So I had to finish the bottom of the skirt with the pale pink, I guess it doesn't look too bad, but it's not what I wanted.

I also finished a hat, but I thought a coat was now required to complete her outfit.

I didn't have a complete pattern for any of these, but I did have patterns for parts of each of them, which I mixed together to knit them. They actually fit my Fashion Friends a little better, but I already have outfits for them.

If and when I repeat this outfit for my Paola Reina dolls, I will make the straps on the dress a fraction wider and the sleeves on the coat a little shorter.

Project: Knitting Continued

After checking the pattern I wrote and posted a few days ago, and prior to my computer chucking the claw in, I realised had made a mistake when typing it ~ where it read Row 14-28, it should read Row 17-28, so you can either change your copy or download the new one which I have edited.

Thankfully, I noticed it when I began knitting it again, this time as a jumper (sweater) which buttons at the back. If you would like to do this, make additional button holes at the end of R15, 27 and 39.

We also have new models to show how they fit my  Corolle Les Cheries and Wellie Wishers dolls.

I'm sorry about the quality of the photos, but my photo editing program went west along with a few other bits and pieces which I had forgotten to save to my hard drive. Unfortunately neither I, nor my tech guys were able to retrieve them.

Willa is wearing the second pink cardi where I added the three extra button holes so she could wear it as a jumper (sweater). As you can see, I also made her a matching skirt using a combination of the Naturally Loyal Baby Print at the bottom and a matching plain pink 4ply from the hip up to the waist.

I use slightly larger needles when I made the skirt, but I think next time I will increase the stitches slightly and revert back to the 2.25mm needles, as the finished garments look much nicer and the stitches more even. Once I have done that, I'll share the pattern.

Well that's it for today my lovelies, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, I'll be back again later in the week.

Project: Doll Knitting

After receiving my recent play doll (Paola Reina Las Amigas Nora) who I have renamed Naomi, I set about removing the Velcro closure (my pet hate) on her dress and replacing it with press studs (snaps), then changing the over-sized yellow rose at the front to a more petite cream rose.

Next on my agenda was to make her a cardigan to wear for the cooler autumn days. I knitted Naomi's in a 4 ply synthetic yarn (a remnant, which I cannot remember the name of), but the other two were knitted in Naturally Loyal Baby Prints which gives a lovely fairisle look to the cardigan, without the complication of working with several yarns at the same time.

I really enjoyed making these garments and recorded exactly what I was doing as I progressed, so I could share the pattern with the knitters among you. If you click on the pattern below and open the link in a new window, you should be able to save it to your own computer, then print out later on an A4 page.

If there's anything you don't understand, please ask, and should you make this cardigan for your dolls, please share pictures on your own blogs, I would love to see them :)

Project Mc² Knitted Clothes 4 Sale

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Well here's a few photos of the new knitted dresses.

WINE

If you are interested, they are $15 plus Economy Air (no tracking) postage = $3.
If you want tracking, it would have to be sent as a parcel = $21.20.

United Kingdom, United States  approx. 7 days

Rest of the World it takes up to 14 days 

BLUE

Please the contact form at the bottom of this page to send me your email and address, so I can send you a PayPal invoice. Let me know the colour/s and I will ship the first working day after receiving payment.

LILAC ~ GREEN ~ YELLOW SOLD

The dresses were all looking lovely and straight on all the dolls when I began the shoot, but these girls are a real pain in the butt to stand, so hair got in their faces and the dresses twisted around when I handled them. oh BTW they close with two buttons at the back.

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

X