I like...

The sun was lovely and warm on the front steps this morning. A very inviting place to sit and finish off my latest embroidery. Jude sleeping, Maeve making cakes in the sandpit and me stitching. Rare quiet moments like this need to be seized while they last... I am slowly learning.

This is another one of Grace's drawings. Very special because it was one of the first sentences she wrote on her own (without copying it out of a book), that I happened to find lying around the house. The girls would love a pet. Unfortunately right now (and I can see for a very long time to come) three children is more than enough for me to cope with. So sorry kids, pets are just going to have to wait.

 

I have put together some photos for those of you that wanted to see how I attached the linen to the canvas. 

1. Use a cheap art canvas to cover with your embroidery
2. Lay your fabric over the canvas taking care to position it so it looks balanced. Stick a few pins in to hold it in place.
3. Flip it over and start stitching the sides together at the back. You will need a very long piece of strong thread, and may even need to join it a few times if it runs out. If the edge of the fabric is raw it will fray easily. Just turn it under a centimeter or two so you are stitching through two layers. That should make it strong enough. You need to make sure you fabric is pulled firm so it sits nice on the front of the canvas. Mine looks like I have pulled it too tight, but my linen was super soft and needed to be pulled into place.
4. When your sides are done, fold the top and bottom piece of fabric towards each other taking care to fold your corners nicely so they sit flat without looking bulky.
5. Pin the corners in place and stitch the top and bottom edges together in the same way you stitched the sides.
6. The back of your canvas should look something like this. The dog one I did last week was way messier, but hey...no one will ever know! 
7. Then if you like you can put some thread across the back so it can be hung on the wall. I cant explain exactly how I did this...goes something like this though: Knot doubled thread to one edge then knot it on the opposite edge, so it is fairly tight not loose. Take it back to the other side and repeat process so its quiet a few strands thick. Then knot along the thread to hold them all together. 

And you're done!

(edited to say: alternatively, get yourself a staple gun and save yourself half the hassle. Thanks to my wise friend Lissa for the advice!)

dog and blog

Remember this post? I surprised myself and actually turned that super cool drawing of Graces into an embroidery! She loves it. I love it. In fact, we all love it. If you don’t have any kids artworks to be inspired by, maybe you could try this one from Loobylu, or this one (pattern here) from Geninne’s Art blog. They are both pretty cool, and on my ‘to do list’.

And thanks for being patient with my blog. My hubby and I have put on our nerd hats this week and delved into the world of HTML. We really don’t have much idea what we are doing, so the blog has taken on some weird and wonderful looks as of late. Sorry if you happened to stop by at one of the ‘weird’ times. I think we are finally happy with the layout.

wordless weekend

holidays

I cant believe how much I am enjoying the school holidays. Especially considering two of the children have been unwell. No mad scrambles in the mornings or me loosing my patience over children being slow to eat breakfast, put on their shoes, do up their seat belts. Not to mention trying to decide what to put in the lunchbox. It's been so nice. Given me a chance to catch my breath one again. I have been trying a few new projects like embroidery which have been incredibly relaxing too. Having a go at turning some of Grace's drawing into embroidery's we can hang on the walls. She is very pleased that her artworks are being copied onto fabric, and watching with great intent to see the finished project. This morning we sat out the back in the sun, I watched the kids play and stitched away. We shared morning tea together and chatted and laughed over bowls of mandarins and tasty biscuits. It's so special being able to relax together as a family and enjoy each others company and silly jokes.

playtime

Izzy and Lucy

The dolls are finally finished: dresses, boots and all.

They have been such a fun project, but incredibly time consuming.

Lets just say I have the greatest respect for all the wonderful doll makers out there.

So many hours of sewing and deciding on fabrics ect,

but most importantly trying to create a doll that a child will fall in love with

and want to play with over and over again.

I am now dreaming up other outfit for these girls:

knitted cardigans

smocked top

chambray pants...

and the list goes on!

boots

Izzy and Lucy got a new pair of leather boots last night.

Sewing leather is not as easy as it looks.

They couldn't have been done without my trust walking foot on the machine!

Loving the softness of the leather.

Loving the colours.

pretty faces

Thanks for all your encouragement with the dolls!

They have come along quite nicely are are now just about finished.

I couldn't wait for them to be finished before I showed the girls,

they absolutely love them and gave them names straight away.

Say hello to Izzy (formerly know as Sara, then Judy), Maeve's doll (of course).

 and Lucy, Grace's doll.

I found it so hard finding the right wool for their hair and choosing the colours for their facial features.

But in the end I am happy with how they turned out.

I wasnt sure about the colour of Lucy's hair, and was ready to redo her hair the same as Izzy's.

But as soon as I showed her to Grace, she fell in love and wouldn't let me change a thing.

The dolls are made made from a natural linen,

filled with wool stuffing.

Their hair is mohair.

We have been away for Easter (photo's are from mum and dad's house).

I finished off most of the sewing there, including their dresses yesterday.

I will update with more photos soon.

Now all that's left is to sew their leather boots!

Some of you asked about the pattern for the dolls:

Mum made a kit doll for my sister (back in the 90's?) and the girls just love to play with her when we go to visit.
Mum still had the pattern pieces (without instructions) so I based the dolls on that. 

I am glad they love their new dolls as much as the original!

This is the original doll Mum made. 

Sorry about the dark photos, but we left at night and I didnt get around to day light photos.

 Check out those puffed sleeves!

The girls love her dress, so I copied the pattern for that too.

Will be back with more photos soon...