Tiny Kitchen

Finished this kit the other day... 

Still have four more kits to make so that should keep me occupied during this lock down.  The lock down isn't bothering me much, I suppose I can understand why some people would not be happy about it.  It's for our own good, unless of course you want to take the chance of dying from the virus, which I don't!

Miniatures

I've been busy making a little miniature kit.  I've taken my time with it so it has taken me three months to assemble everything.  There is so much in it and it's quite tiny, probably half inch scale.  I took this picture of part of the scene but before I'd glued everything in its correct position.

One side is the garden and the other side is a little room.  I've enjoyed this kit immensely.  I used PVA glue so there was a lot of waiting for it to dry.  Daren't trust myself with faster setting glue, the items were tiny and I kept getting glue all over my fingers, at least with PVA it washes off easily.

Neglected Dolls

My poor dolls have been neglected for quite a while now.  I bought a nine inch Dora Explorer in December 2016 with the intentions of making her some exploring clothes.  Started making an overall but couldn't get the size right.  Looks like she is going to end up with either knitted or crochet clothes, if I ever get round to doing it.

It's the same with my doll houses.  They are now really dusty.  Each day I vow to sort them out but, so far, haven't.

How can I get myself motivated and out of this slump?

Got To Get Back To Doll Stuff

Apart from knitting a few little animals and dolls I've done nothing with my dolls for ages.  I wrapped them up, put them away and got on with other stuff.  To give me some impetus to get on with a bit of doll stuff I've bought a Dora Explorer doll.  It's small enough to get me going again with making clothes so I'm looking forward to next year making her things.

Little Knitted Doll

The only doll related stuff I've been doing recently is knitting tiny dolls...

This is one from Flutterby Patch , this is from the Little Friends in Autumn pattern.  It is a lovely pattern, very easy to knit and a beautiful result.

I notice that she has got some new patterns on her blog.

Dusty Dolls Houses

I've got several dolls houses and enjoy making things for them as well as buying items. Trouble is they get so dusty.  A year can go by without touching them or making anything, so, as you can imagine, they are covered in dust.  It's such a shame when this happens.  I have a lot of hobbies and each one takes a turn, sometimes a couple of months, sometimes a year or more between each.  My fabric stash is big, there are quite a few fat quarters that I know I won't be making patchwork quilts out of, most were bought just because I liked them. How to use up my fq stash and do something about the dust are two questions I ask myself. My latest idea is to make dust covers for my dolls houses.  These houses are not on display as such, they are just standing there in my craft room.

Here's what I came up with.  The first house I covered was this Sylvanian People house, I can't remember what it is called...

Using five fat quarters I made the dust cover in a simple shape, to have made one to fit perfectly would have been to difficult for me...

It will be easy just to take the cover off and give it a good shake or to wash it.  Then when I want to 'play' with the house it won't need dusting first.  And it looks pretty, nice to see this Chinese style fabric instead of it being folded up in a box, which it has been for years.

Knitted Dolls

For about a year I've not made any doll clothes or bought a doll.  Recently I decided to get rid of some of the pile of clothes I had made so that I can get back into making new things for my dolls.  A bit like clearing out my own wardrobe that I do regularly.  So far, one bag of clothes has gone to a friend's granddaughters.  Still quite a few for me to go through so in the meantime I've started knitting dolls.  The pattern I used is from here and it worked up beautifully.  I'd heard how good the Jean Greenhowe patterns were and now I know for myself.  Here's the little Rainbow Baby I knitted from one of Jean's free patterns...

It took me a couple of days knitting on and off all day.  It's a very easy project and everything worked exactly as the pattern said it would.  I've started another one and intend sending for the Little Dumpling Dolls parts 1 and 2.  

I had bought a pattern book from another designer and was very disappointed with it.  It was for little knitted bears that had various knitted outfits.  Well, the bear knitted up very nicely but the clothes turned out miles too big for the little bear.  What is the point of making anymore from that pattern book if the patterns don't work how they should, a waste of my time and money.

A Hat for Bonnie

This beret took a few minutes to make.  I love the Froggy Stuff videos and this hat is perfect for Bonnie to wear with her new coat.  I used a six inch diameter plate but think a slightly bigger size would be better.



Bonnie's New Coat

Bonnie the BFC doll now has a winter coat.  I used the 8519 pattern from here .  It is the jacket pattern and I lengthened it a little bit on the body and left off the back collar and the belt.  The picture makes the coat look a bit big, in real life it looks fine.  I used fleece so that I didn't have to bother with hems, it looks ok with the cut edges.  I made three buttonholes, I dislike doing buttonholes, it is always a bit of a struggle for me to trust my automatic buttonholer and I have to do several practise holes before I have the confidence to go ahead on the garment.  I think she needs a little scarf to wear with this coat.  She does have a pair of boots that she came with, I should have put those on her for the photo.

 

I was looking at this blog http://madeintina.canalblog.com/ and noticed that on some of her work she has left raw edges and her clothes still look gorgeous.  So, if you get irritated (like I do) with trying to get the 'perfect' finish, just go ahead and not worry, enjoy creating, to me that's what it is about.



1950s Dress

I finished the 1950s dress for Bonnie the BFC doll...

It was a bit fiddly to do, it has proper darts just like you'd get in a human pattern and the skirt was a bit awkward as I didn't really have enough fabric so had to make up my own pattern for it.  But altogether I think it looks adorable.  I got the pattern, inspiration and the tutorial from here .  I think this dress suits this doll, I was going to dress her in quite modern style clothes, now I think she is going to look good in the 1950s style.

 

Now what shall I make next, I'll check out websites with 1950s fashions and see what I can come up with.



Underwear for BFC Doll

I got the pattern for these from here 

They are a bit more like shorts than undies but under the right style of skirt they will be ok.  These undies were really quick and easy to make so I will be able to make matching ones for each outfit the BFC doll gets.  Probably they would also fit my other 18 inch dolls.

 

I'm thinking of calling this doll Bonnie, not sure yet though.



Francine's New Clothes

Francine waited patiently for me to get round to making her something for the summer.  She decided that she looks so much like the BFC doll that an outfit similar would suit her best...

 

I also made her a hairband, her hair is very thin on top and a hairband hides it, she was pleased that I thought to do this for her.  Here she is with the BFC doll who still hasn't got a name...

Francine's outfit is made from recycled fabric.  The pants were a pillowslip and the top was the end of a sleeve from one of my pyjama tops that was too small, I only wore it once and nearly cut off the circulation in my arms, a good excuse to use it for doll clothes!



Replying to Comments

Thanks Theanne, Lizzie, Raine and Audra for all your comments, I enjoy them very much and it's nice to know you enjoy my posts.  If I forgot anyone I'm sorry.  I still haven't decided whether to get that doll I mentioned, I keep looking at it then thinking I'm being a bit silly getting another doll.  I will probably give in though - we'll see!

Top and Leggings for Chloe

Here's Chloe again, this time with a summer top and leggings.  The top is made using the same pattern as the sunsuit, I just cut off the pattern to the length that suited her.  The leggings are made from an old vest/undershirt.  The leggings aren't perfect but they look ok on Chloe...

 

I've been very tempted lately to buy another doll.  It is a Paolo Reine doll, it is slightly shorter than Chloe and very similar in body shape.  I know I shouldn't but what can you do when you see a doll that just calls to you?!?!



Sunsuit for Marie

I like this doll, she is very pretty.  She was a bit more expensive than my other dolls and I would rather have the less expensive dolls because of the guilt factor.  Her hinges are a bit weird, they keep springing out of the position I put them in and sometimes her legs go at funny angles.  I forget just now what make she is and I should have said joints not hinges.  Think my brain is malfunctioning today, it is extremely hot and humid outside due to something called the 'Spanish plume', we're getting a plume of heat up from Spain.

Anyway, I made her a sunsuit and she was very pleased with it, she is always the last one to get new clothes...

I've got to stop sewing for a few days because my craft room is a total mess, I can hardly get in there.  Things need putting away properly, not just piled up like I've been doing for ages.  When I think of a project I just have to do it NOW!  A bad habit.



Sunsuit for Chloe

After I made my decision not to worry about being 'perfect' with my sewing, things have gone really well.  Not that anything I made was perfect but you know what I mean, I hope.  Not being perfect to me means not worrying about raw edges on the inside and not worrying about sewing it all on the sewing machine as opposed to a lot of hand sewing.  This decision resulted in me being on a roll with dolls clothes.  I was going to save this post for next week but I thought this sunsuit is just too cute not to show...

 

I used this pattern.  I copied the pattern to my computer desktop then opened Word and inserted it onto the page.  It turned out 75% of the original size and I saw that it would probably fit Chloe, if not it would fit my little Gotz doll.  Anyway, I was very pleased with how it turned out.  The back closure is Velcro again, it could do with a bit of adjustment at the back as this doll is quite slim and her back sort of curves.  But it looks just right at the front.

 

The whole sunsuit is machine sewn and is very quick to make.  I can do a picture tutorial of how I made it if you would like me to.  The next one will be for my little Gotz but it will be exactly the same size as this one.



Summer Top and Pants

The last few days have been very productive.  The three dolls that had been left out for new clothes now all have something summery to wear.  I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out...

 

The top is made out of a child's sock.  It is a bit raw around the cut edges but I'm ok with this, there's only me 'playing' with my dolls.  The pants look just how I wanted them from the front.  The back is rather baggy because this doll has quite wide hips and very narrow waist.  So there is quite a bit of overlap where I've added the Velcro closure.  But, as I say, it's my doll so that's ok.

 

This doll is a Best Friends Club doll.  It was on special offer from one of those bargain shops, wish I'd bought another one now but they are sold out.  I think it was something like £14.99.



Summer Outfit for Design a Friend Doll

This doll hasn't got a name yet.  I bought her last year and have only just got round to making her anything...

 

The top turned into a jacket because I reduced the size of the pattern too much.  She is slimmer than Bridgette and really I wanted the top to look the same a Bridgette's.  Her body is cloth so she does get away with wearing the jacket, it looks like a tee shirt underneath it.

 

Not bad going for me - two outfits in two days!



Summer Outfit for Bridgette

Poor Bridgette was standing in my craft room wearing the winter coat I made for her ages ago.  She has given most of her dresses away because she didn't think they suited her.  So, she needed something cool and summery...

 

This top and skirt only took me a couple of hours to make.  I've decided that instead of worrying about the finish of my doll clothes I will get on and just make them.  Well, it worked with this outfit and it looks fine.  I used Velcro as the closure on both the skirt and top.



Miniature Hallway

A friend gave me a pack of miniatures that included a mirror, two pictures, clock, umbrella, telephone and coat stand.  I had a look through my stash and found a box with a lid that would look right with these items.  This was the result minus the pictures, they wouldn't fit into the container...

 

It still looked a bit bare so I made the two walking sticks and two books.  Now if I could work out how to make a coat that would drape nicely on the coat stand it would complete this scene.  Draping fabric in miniatures is difficult I think.