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.



A Winter Coat

Here's a winter coat I made for Bridgette...

It's made from fleece and faux fur.  I've never sewn fleece before, it is lovely to sew and the automatic buttonhole my sewing machine does even worked properly on it.  The pattern was from an American Girl pattern 'Addy's Pretty Clothes'.  I followed the tutorial on how to sew it together from here .  I love the coats she shows in the tutorials.  Next I want to make boots to go with the coat, the boots in this picture are some from another doll and don't fit properly.



Bamboo Furniture

I haven't finished the papier mache book project yet, just the finishing touches to add to it.  While I think about that I looked in an old Dolls House World magazine, September 2002, and saw a wonderful little scene project that I just had to try immediately!  It has a 'bamboo' cabinet and plant stand with the instructions on how to make them.  Here's my version of the cabinet...

The bottom shelf was a bit fiddly to get in place, it looks a bit out to me but not enough to make much difference.  I won't be painting it as I like it as it is.

 

I'm using my new glue and it is working much better than my usual PVA craft glue, it grabs quicker and maintains a bit of maneuverability before drying.  It is 'api's Crafter's Pick The Ultimate'.  It says it is a water based superglue and it dries clear.



Miniatures For A Change

I'm having a few months making things for miniature scenes.  It's ages since I spent time making doll house stuff and the only way I can get anything done with a craft is to spend a good amount of time on one type of craft.  If I try to do a bit here and a bit there with different crafts I never get anything worthwhile done.

So, first I had to decide what to make.  This papier mache book looked as though it would make a nice little scene container.  After decorating it and making a couple of things to put into it here's where I'm up to so far...

The chair is made from wood and bamboo kebab sticks, the table from wood and card, the shelves from card.  Now I've got to decide what else to make to dress it up.

 

 I was away in Morecambe earlier this week and found a fab toy shop that sells dolls house stuff.  I shouldn't really buy any more miniatures but who can resist treating themselves!

I already had the book I've used as the background, though I haven't made anything from it yet.  It is full a really good 'trash to treasure' ideas.  I bought the two chairs because two of my friends are making the miniature book scene as well.  They've never made miniatures before so as chairs are quite hard to make I thought bought chairs would be helpful to them to get the scene moving faster.  The little Reuter set is a treat my DH bought for me, I love their stuff.  The little bottles I found in a bargain shop called Body Care , they were in nail art packages that cost £1.49 each, if you buy this sort of mini bottle from doll house shops they are something like 50p each and I got ten bottles, so that was a bargain.