Izzy's new skirt

I came out of bed this morning to see the girls sitting at the table fashioning a new skirt for Izzy. Held together with a hair tie and looking anything but modest. I had to have a laugh! I am sure the skirt was inspired by some we made recently for a disco party the girls were invited to.  They did try and make her leggings to go with the skirt, but that was most unsuccessful!

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...

1am

Excuse the bad lighting in the photo's... it is only 1am.

I have entered the wonderful world of doll making which is surprisingly fun,

but incredibly (crazily) time consuming.

We have a birthday coming up, and I thought leaving myself a week to make these would be ample time.

However I am coming to terms with the fact that the dolls may be bald.

They do have the prettiest of petticoats and bloomers, that must count for something?

I am still trying to work out why I spent tonight making their underwear when I should have finished embroidering their faces and giving them hair. 

I never seem to be able to complete a task in logical order.

And incase you are feeling peckish at this hour of the morning,

here is a photo of the birthday cupcakes that went into school today yesterday.

I managed to overdose on butter cream icing, and spent the day feeling rather poorly.

Lets hope I can make it to bed before the next hour passes.

handmade gifts

I always love to give something handmade to the girls for their birthdays. This year we brought Grace some beautiful Lyra metallic drawing pencils, so I made the case for them to go in. I blanket stitched around the mushrooms, which turned out rather messy, but still passable.

The other thing she has been asking for is a baby carrier for her dolls. This one I whizzed up the night before, and it turned out great. Can't beat the combo of red, white and denim!

something for the dolls

We had another party on the weekend, this time I decided to make the birthday girl some dolls clothes. The pattern was another one of Mum's (thanks Mum!). I was dying to use some of my vintage fabric stash to make these, but knew that the little girl would probably rather something more modern. I will save the vintage prints for our dolls! And if you want a little vintage doll clothing inspiration, check out Jenny's photos.