By Hook, By Hand

Crochet for Victoria DiPietro's Portrait Doll

2012-01-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

For the last week or so I have been working on crochet accessories for Victoria DiPietro's Portrait doll. This lovely doll is just a shade under 19 inches tall, made of cloth (craft velour) with a paper clay head. In a previous post I discussed making wigs for this doll from crochet caps and mohair yarn.

Above you see the camisole and pantaloons for Katy Jo, crocheted in size 3 crochet cotton (like a light sportweight yarn) and a size C crochet hook. The lovely gored skirt was made by Victoria, and the camisole makes a sweet summer top to go with it.

To date I have completed three detachable collars, as shown above. Each could be made with or without the standup neckline. The collars use size 10 crochet cotton and a size 6 steel hook.

A pair of very simple, lacy tube socks, crocheted of DMC size 8 perle cotton and a size 6 crochet hook; and the camisole and pantaloons mentioned above. An apron/pinafore to wear over her pretty dresses will complete her crochet trousseau.

The plan is for this doll, with her cloth and crochet trousseau, to be available as a pattern, possibly in the late spring of this year. She would be a lovely addition to any cloth dollmaker's repertoire. I will keep you posted :-)

Virginia, a knit Waldorf style doll

2012-01-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

Please meet Virginia; a knit Waldorf style doll created as a commission. She was so much fun to make, and create a little wardrobe for. I learned a simple drop stitch knit pattern for her nightgown, played with a textured stitch for her cardigan sweater, and even tried a very simple lace pattern for the edge of her dress.

I have the pattern for her nightgown, bedjacket, and and shoes to share with you:

Here is the nightgown pattern.

Here is the bedjacket pattern.

And here is the shoe pattern.

You can also find these patterns on the left sidebar under 'Knit Waldorf Style Doll Patterns.'

I encourage you, if you enjoy knitting these, to try the patterns with different knitting stitches, or even a simple lace pattern. Two good books that I've checked out of the library for interesting, and simple, stitches are "Knitting Stitches Visual Encyclopedia,' and 'The Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting.'

I hope you enjoy these patterns, and have a much fun as I have been having in learning a new needlework skill.

Portrait Dolls by Victoria DiPietro

2011-12-28T20:04:00.000-05:00

Katheryn Josephine in her many wigs

I have an exciting project in the works! I've been asked by doll artist Victoria Di Pietro (see her Flickr photostream here) to collaborate with her on a doll design CD to be offered this coming Spring. Victoria designs and creates some of the loveliest dolls in cloth and paper clay that I have ever seen. And her costuming skills are equally impressive.

Katheryn Josephine, above, is a working model of the Portrait Doll that Victoria envisions. My contributions to the endeavor are the crocheted wig designs that Katy Jo is modeling, and some easy crochet garments yet to be created.

Anita Marie, with a wig of Tibetan lamb

This is Anita Marie, sister to Katy Jo, also created by Victoria. Victoria also crafted her wonderful wig, from Tibetan lamb. All of the wigs are removable, thanks to a crochet cap as the base. Simple double sided tape secures the wig to the head.

You can see, in both of these wonderful dolls, Victoria's amazing costuming skills. Clothing patterns by Victoria, and crochet patterns by moi.

Anita Marie and Katheryn Josephine, beautifully crafted by Victoria DiPietro

This doll is created in craft velour, with the head sculpted in paper clay. This is a beautiful doll from within and without. A Portrait Doll, to create in the image that you envision.

I hope this has piqued you interest in this unique doll. Stay tuned for further developments :-)

Three new girls

2011-12-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

In between wrapping Christmas gifts I've been working on three new knit girls :-) My knitting gauge is still not quite as it should be; the first two girls turned out a bit smaller than I intended. Violet and Jennifer ended up eight and a half inches tall. But I love small dolls, so they will fit right in. Their big sister Virginia is a few rows larger, which made her nine and a half inches tall.

They all have lots of lovely mohair hair, and they were so fun to make.

Now to get them dressed!

A simple knit sweater for Riley

2011-12-10T19:09:00.000-05:00

Here is a very simple knit sweater to fit Riley, Tulah or Zsu Zse. It is just rectangles, with no shaping. The shoulder seams are sewn, then the sleeve stitches are picked up and knitted into the side of the sweater. Sew up the sleeve and side seams, and it is done! All you need to know are the knit and purl stitches.

This is a resizing of the knit sweater I designed for my knit Waldorf doll.

The pattern is here, and on the left sidebar under Krochet for Kish.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Blessings, 2011

2011-12-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Many are our blessings. These are mine.

Remember your blessings this Holy Day season.

White Friday

2011-11-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Welcome White Friday! To celebrate a new tradition, here is a simple knit doll, about nine to ten inches tall, and her simple knit wardrobe. With some very easy needle sculpting, she looks very much like a small Waldorf doll. Here are the patterns:

Knit doll pattern

Knit camisole and underwear

Simple knit dress

Simple knit sweater

Simple knit pullover sweater

Simple knit pants

There is also a picture tutorial to help you make the doll, here at Knit Doll Tutorial. All of these patterns and the tutorial can also be found on the left sidebar of the blog, under Knit Waldorf Style Doll Patterns.

These are the first knitting instructions I've put together, so if you have problems with understanding them, let me know and we'll figure out what it is I'm trying to convey :-)

What a pleasant way to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving; a gentle alternative to waiting in line for the latest toy or gizmo, that most likely will be forgotten in the crush of so many gifts. I can't help but think that a single gift, made with love and given with joy, trumps store bought any day :-) And think of the pleasure you will have in the making and creating.

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and enjoy the coming Holy Day season. You should enjoy every gift you give :-)

Finishing the Christmas list

2011-11-15T14:33:00.001-05:00

I had to take a break from the knitting and dollmaking to finish up a couple of items left on my Christmas list. I don't know about you, but it has been a couple of decades since I shopped on 'Black' Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The plum colored cowl is from the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Crochet Today, made up in Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe. It was lovely yarn to work with, and has a wonderful drape. You can wear it with the buttons in front, or in back. Looks great either way.

The bolero is a pattern I've had for ages, published in 2001 by the American School of Needlework. It is worked in Lionbrand Homespun, which is NOT my favorite yarn to work with. However, it made up beautifully. This is the second time I've made this bolero; an easy pattern with a neat 'cable' look border accomplished with front post double crochet stitches.

Maybe we should start a new trend, called 'White' Friday, and spend the day making something as a gift for friend or family for Christmas :-)

Have a heartfelt and blessed Thanksgiving, my friends!

Charlie, helping to oversee the photo shoot :-)

Kaitlyn, a Christmas commission

2011-11-03T16:33:00.000-04:00

Kaitlyn is a sweet little cat-eared Pocket Spirit, commissioned as a Christmas gift. She was a lot of fun to make :-)

Patterns for the doll, and her outfits, are available free here on the blog. Look on the left sidebar for 'Links to Pocket Spirit Patterns.'

I'm starting to run out of time! Still have several Christmas gifts of my own to make, but I can't stop knitting :-) I'm enjoying the heck out of learning something new.

Kaitlyn in her birthday suit :-)

The knitting lesson

2011-10-22T12:39:00.000-04:00

Jane Ann, from a free knit pattern from Jean Greenhowe

When I was a kid, I asked an Aunt of mine to teach me to knit. She tried, but gave up in exasperation, telling me it was 'just too hard for you to learn.'

Well, those words stayed with me for 45 years, until a good friend of mine, Tomi Jane, became interested (this is putting it mildly) in Helen Kish's dolls, including the delightful knits that you talented knitters create for these sweet dolls. I too have been in awe of tiny, perfectly knit sweaters, and yet felt this skill way beyond me.

Until now. Tomi and I decided we would learn to knit. This was suppose to be a New Years resolution, but I got the itch (to knit), and picked up 'Teach Yourself Visually: Knitting' from the library. Cast on, knit, purl, increase and decrease. All I needed to know to have a go at one of Jean Greenhowe's free doll patterns; another craving of mine. I have loved her knit dolls for ages. Now I have made one of my very own!

I am ecstatic with my little doll, well beyond just the making of a sweet doll. Jane Ann is a symbol of empowerment. We can do, we can learn, and we can create at any age.

Christmas Bazaar 2011 and a new Group!

2011-10-14T13:14:00.001-04:00

The dolls I donated to this years High Street United Methodist Christmas bazaar, to be held tomorrow. I hope they all find good homes :-)

I also want to share with you a new Flickr group that three of us, who love crochet dolls, have created. It is Hooked On Dolls! and we would love to have you come and visit :-) It is a group created especially for crochet and knit dolls, and we already have over 200 great photos.

As always, enjoy the crochet!

Urban Trails

2011-10-08T18:58:00.000-04:00

This week has been the most perfect of weeks. Clear blue skies over brilliant autumn colors. Larry and I took a 22 mile bike ride today and never left the city. There were places along the way where it was easy to forget we were in the 14th largest city in the US.

These are days to savor and enjoy. Life is good.

Another great Lionbrand cowl

2011-09-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

There she is again! Here is another great cowl pattern from Lionbrand. This is the Supernova Cowl, crocheted from Vanna's Choice Glamour. Glamour is a light sportweight yarn with a fine strand of metallic wrapped around the core yarn.

This cowl made up beautifully; I wish you could see the subtle sparkle the metallic gives this look. The cowl is 60 inches long, with the short ends crocheted or sewn together. This yields a lot of versatility. You can wear it long like a shawl, wrapped once or twice around your neck, or pulled up to cover your hair. The v-stitch gives a lot of drape. Simple and lovely to make, this will be a great Christmas gift :-)

BellaDonna Pocket Spirit

2011-09-18T19:35:00.000-04:00

BellaDonna, a Pocket Spirit, is a commission for a friend. It has been a bit since I've made a Pocket Spirit doll; coming back to them is like returning to an old friend. I really love to make these little dolls :-)

She is Nightshade's sister; you can see Nightshade here.

Enjoy the crochet!

Quick for Christmas

2011-09-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

I've been playing dolls so much, I'm way behind on my Christmas crocheting. Thank goodness Lionbrand has 3000 free crochet and knit patterns! This is their 'Fast and Easy Cowl,' and it is just that, and beautiful as well. It is crocheted of Lionbrand Amazing, a light worsted weight yarn that is 53% wool, 47% acrylic.

It was heavenly to crochet with, light and soft, and self stripes beautifully. The cowl took 2 skeins, so it is also fairly easy on the budget.

The reason there are four of me (one is more than enough!) is to demonstrate the different ways this can be worn. A lovely, versatile, warm bit of wearable art :-)

Enjoy the crochet!

EEEK! A Bedbug!

2011-09-15T13:15:00.001-04:00

Look who arrived in the mail yesterday...Bliss the Bedbug!! From the talented April Ross; thank you so much :-) You can follow the Bedbug antics at Martha and Jane; you will be amazed at what they get up to!

Bliss scrambled out of that envelope and made herself right at home in my jar of wooden flowers.

I just hope she doesn't bite....

Sundress and Rompers for Kate and Nell

2011-08-31T16:20:00.001-04:00

From the basic camisole bodice, I made a pair of rompers for Kate (aka Riley) and a sundress for Nell (aka Tulah). Simple trim for these outfits is a (slip stitch, chain 1) in unworked loops at the waist and across the top of the bodice. Nell's dress has three rows of these worked at the bottom of the skirt.

You can embroider on single crochet fairly easily. I made a single spider web rose on Kate's rompers, and surrounded it with lazy daisy leaves and some French knots.

The socks are crocheted from size 12 perle, which is pretty fine (for me, anyway) to crochet with; but the pattern is a simple one, and I used light colored thread, which helps a bunch!

The sundress/rompers pattern is here: Sundress/Rompers, and the socks are here: SocksForRiley

One last picture I would like to share with you is from Ann, who made a set of underwear for her dear doll from the Riley camisole and pantaloons pattern.

delightful crochet from Ann

Ann modified the bodice a bit to get a better fit. She did a lovely job :-)

I hope you all enjoy the crochet!

My latest obsession: crochet for Kish!

2011-08-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

These little dolls, Helen Kish's Riley (known to me as Kate), and Tulah (I call her Nell) are delightful to crochet for. Small, but not so small that you'll go blind trying to see your crochet stitches; nicely shaped, and made of vinyl, so you don't have to worry about breaking off a finger. Kate and Nell now have some dainty crochet underthings, always a great place to start.

Camisole pattern

Pantaloon pattern

These sweet little dainties are crocheted with size 8 perle cotton and a size 7 steel hook. There are three variations of pantaloons, and three variations of camisole. Each of the camisole bodices could be the basis of a dress, sundress, rompers, t-shirt, you get the idea :-)

I have a feeling these girls are going to get a new sister, and a much bigger wardrobe!

Enjoy the crochet.

Wigmaking for Tulah

2011-08-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

Tulah modeling her many wigs

I love dolls; all kinds of dolls. My favorites are those of cloth and crochet, but there are some 'store bought' dolls that I cannot resist. Small BJD's, and the lovely dolls of Helen Kish, fall into this irresistible category.

So when a dear friend of mine (hi Tomi!) became seriously smitten by Helen Kish's small Riley, it reignited my interest in my own little Riley and Tulah, her friend. But how to add a personal touch to a doll made by other hands in a far country?

How about a hand made crochet wig? So, here is a pattern for making your own wig for a very small doll. Riley and Tulah have a head circumference of 4 1/4 inches. The wigs are made of laceweight Mohair yarn, which works up to a gauge similar to size 10 crochet cotton. This wig pattern can be adapted to other small dolls, particularly small Lati's (White and Yellow) and Fairyland dolls (Puki Puki and Puki Fee).

And, I think Riley and Tulah are in for some crochet finery. You know the drill, camisoles, pantaloons, dresses, sunsuits. Should be fun!

Tulah says, 'enjoy the crochet!'

Angel Cake, a Strawberry Shortcake friend

2011-08-13T16:39:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it is fun to make someone else's pattern :-) I have to thank Susan (aka BlueEyedGirl) for inspiring me to make this pattern, which I've had for several years. I loved the way the dolls looked, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about the construction of the doll. Susan reminded me that, if you don't like it, change it!

So, on her advice, I used an 'E' hook instead of 'G' for the doll body, and used acrylic eyes instead of making them from felt (except for the whites). This made my doll 10 inches tall, instead of 14.

Other changes I made to this pattern were to give the doll a wig cap, instead of attaching the hair to the hat, and also jointing the neck and arms. To joint the neck, you need to work the pattern 'backward.' That is, start the head at the neck edge (instead of the top of the head), and work the body starting at the neck (instead of the feet). Her head is a bit too floppy, so instead of working three rounds of 10sc for the neck, next time I will only work two.

I also hinged the legs the way the Pocket Spirits are done, so this means the entire body from neck to feet is worked backward.

Her clothing is removable, but believe it or not, by using two hook sizes smaller for each part of the doll, the clothing patterns fit beautifully. Instead of working the t-shirt in rounds, work them in rows and add buttons and button loops to the back.

I like her so well, I will probably make her a friend, if not all of them! Thank you, Susan, for the great suggestions and your wonderful doll (See her here).

Enjoy the crochet!

Teacup Cottage

2011-08-09T16:09:00.000-04:00

I love dollhouses; bet you'd never guess :-)

This little dollhouse for the Teacup Spirits is made from a Michael's CD cubbie. I had this collecting dust in my sewing room for a couple of years, just waiting for the right inspiration to do something with it. After making a few Teacup Spirits, I realized it was the perfect abode for them, and their friends :-)

I painted the house with a coat of Gesso, to give a nice surface to paint on. Then used primary colors for the outside, and white for the inside. For wallpaper, I used scrapbook papers. The only problem here was deciding what papers to use, and not end up buying everything in sight!

I papered the back wall only (make it easy on yourself), by cutting a pattern for the wall, then cutting out the paper to the pattern. I glued the paper to the back wall by watering down glue to the consistency of cream, then painting it on the entire wall.

The windows (both inside and out) are trimmed with narrow ric-rac around the curved edge, and some woven braid along the bottom.

Soft rugs are felt. I planned to embroider a design on each rug, but got impatient. The design is penciled on the bottom side of the rug, if I change my mind :-)

Full of dolls and furniture! The furniture is made from one of my all time favorite things to play with...wood findings from the craft and hobby store. The bed is made from four tiny clothespin pegs (courtesy of Joyce!) and craft sticks. The clothespin pegs make the four posters, and the craft sticks the side rails, head and footboard, and stringers.

The parlour furniture is SO simple! Two 1 1/4 inch wood blocks are the base of the chair; the back is made of craft sticks cut to size. The chairs are painted and embellished with lace and felt cushions.

The table is a wood disk glued to a wood flowerpot; painted and trimmed with ric-rac.

You can see how simple the chairs are, and the bed was not at all hard to make either. The mattress is a length of Warm&Natural batting folded three or four times to make it nice and soft. A crochet comforter is in order, I think.

It isn't too early to be thinking about Christmas, and this little dollhouse would make a delightful Christmas gift for a lucky girl. You could make a Christmas cottage, a Gingerbread cottage, a seaside cottage, a Tudor cottage. The possibilities are limitless; let your imagination fly :-)

Guest Crochet Dollmaker - Joyce Yearsley

2011-07-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Joyce Yearsley, also known as Dutzie on Flickr. She is a wonderful crochet dollmaker, and Melanie, above, is the latest example of her lovely work and crochet innovation. Check out her photostream and see what I mean; a creative whirlwind of crochet dolls :-)

Melanie has the most delightfully curly hair, made from crochet roses attached to a wig cap! Simple as that, and yet so cute. Joyce has shared a tutorial for making this wig cap on her Flicker site, and has also graciously allowed me to share it with you on my blog. Click the link, curly wig cap, or find it on the left hand sidbar under Tutorials by Joyce.

This delightful doll also has another cool innovation...ball jointed arms and legs! This is a technique you can apply to almost any crochet doll you are making; Joyce shows you how in her tutorial Ball Jointed Arms and Legs, also shared here.

I am truly fortunate to know such a gifted and generous dollmaker. Thank you, Joyce, for sharing your talents with us!

My latest Teacupsie Spirit used Joyce's curly wig cap tutorial to make her cute wig. Crocheted from size 10 crochet cotton, I just made the unrolled roses a little longer for sausage curls. What a great idea :-)

Enjoy the crochet!

Welcome home, Atlantis. Farewell, Shuttle

2011-07-21T11:27:00.001-04:00

All the photos on this page are from the NASA website: www.nasa.gov

Shuttle Atlantis touched down this morning at 5:58 EDT, bringing to an end the Space Shuttle program, after 30 years of flight.

I watched entranced, 42 years ago yesterday, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

As a child in grade school in the 60's, every Gemini and Apollo launch was watched on a TV wheeled into the room just for that purpose. I was captivated by the space program, as so many of my generation were. The space program was a ray of hope during the bitter decade of the 60's, and inspired me to study science and math, and go on to become an engineer.

I recall holding my breath as Columbia landed for the first time, in 1981. I watched dumbstruck as Challenger broke apart in 1986.

And I have been wholly amazed at the construction of the International Space Station. Not only a marvel of engineering; not only like building a ship in the middle of the ocean from the keel up, but of the international cooperation between countries that only a few years ago were bitter enemies.

Interestingly, we cooperate better in space with former enemies and rivals, than we do within our own congress.

In space we speak a common language of committment, focus, dedication, and passion . Surely this is a legacy that must be passed on to our children. If we do nothing else as a country, we should inspire our children to dream beyond their horizons, to be passionate and focused and dedicated. The space program brings out the very best in us, and shows us just what amazing things we can accomplish, when we work together.

Welcome home Atlantis! Godspeed, NASA, on your next manned mission of discovery. I hope the wait will not be too long.

Variations on a Teacup Theme

2011-07-15T16:47:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for cute, tiny dolls; and these little sweeties are a wonderful inspiration for a variation on the Teacup theme :-) By altering the basic Teacup Spirit pattern a very happy little crochet Teacupsie Spirit can be created.

You can find the pattern for the alterations here, and on the left sidebar under Teacup Spirit Patterns. She can even wear the Teacup Trousseau :-)

Enjoy the crochet!

Tiny Teacup Trousseau

2011-07-07T15:11:00.000-04:00

Now you can cloth your Teacup Spirit in a variety of outfits, from one basic pattern :-) All of these dainty little costumes start with a bodice worked from side to side, my favorite way of making crochet doll clothes. If you work in the back loops only, you get a neat ribbed effect, like the pretty pink camisole in the bottom right. Or you can work in both loops for a vertical line. You can also alternate colors for vertical stripe, as in top left. Cap sleeves, lace sleeves, puff sleeves, or no sleeves. It is a great starting point for your imagination!

The pattern is here, and also on the left sidebar under Teacup Spirit Patterns.

Enjoy the crochet!

Teacup Spirits

2011-06-29T14:49:00.002-04:00

Here is a new pattern for an even smaller Spirit doll. Teacup Spirits! They are just under five inches tall, and inspired by my little Lati White Belle. They have movable heads and shoulders, and pose-able limbs. Once I got the pattern the way I liked it (took four tries!), it only takes about an hour and a half to crochet the little doll.

Tiny wigs from laceweight mohair, fingering weight yarn, or embroidery floss cap these little darlings off very nicely.

This wig was made from laceweight mohair/silk yarn. A little goes a long way! It is 7/8 oz and 195 yards. I used a size 1 steel hook, and made chain loops for the curls.

This wig was made from fingering weight wool yarn. It is 1 3/4 oz, 310 yards. I used a size 1 steel hook, and this wig is removable. If you make the cap a little smaller, I bet it would fit a Lati White or PukiPuki BJD :-)

This wig is made from embroidery floss, which is fantastic at this scale. All those colors! It takes three or four skeins of floss to make a wig; for this long wig it took three skeins. To make crocheting the wig cap easier, I wrap the floss around a floss bobbin before crocheting. If you need another skein to finish the cap (I did) just wrap it around your empty bobbin and tie it on to your working strand. Make sure the knots are on the inside of the cap.

This cute, curly cap is made from worsted weight boucle yarn. A bit big for this scale, and the stitches are not so easy to see, but still doable with a size C crochet hook. And any mistakes are invisible in all these curls :-)

Click the link for the Teacup Spirits Pattern, or you can also find it on the left sidebar of this blog.

Think small! Clothing patterns to follow :-)

Summer Flowers 2011

2011-06-25T18:50:00.000-04:00

The flowers just outside our front door.

Bleu Faerie Finished!

2011-06-21T13:37:00.000-04:00

Bleu is finished, wings and all. Patterns for the basic doll, wire wings, and how to make a sweet dress from crochet lace are available on this blog. Check out the left sidebar under Pocket Spirits.

Thinking even smaller Spirits are in the future :-)

Latest Pocket Spirit WIP

2011-06-15T15:34:00.000-04:00

My latest Pocket Spirit work-in-progress, a Bleu Faerie commission for a dear friend. She is alongside a BJD from B&G, a 16cm mini honey named Claire. The BJD's are what inspired me to make the Pocket Spirits, with their movable heads and jointed shoulders. This doll uses 9mm eyes at the shoulder to give a nice movable joint.

You can find the pattern for the Pocket Spirit on the left hand sidebar.

More later :-)

Felt Friends Forever

2011-06-10T13:15:00.001-04:00

Petunia, Black-eyed Suzanne, and Amanda; Felt Friends Forever :-)

Petunia has a dark fuschia tunic embroidered with lazy daisy flowers and leaves. It closes in the back with a single button and loop.

Her spring green pants are also embroidered, in featherstitch and French knots. The waist is pulled in gently with a cord of perle cotton, threaded through the top of the pants.

Amanda wears a felt and embroidered dress and tabard style apron, appliqued with orange mushrooms. The apron has a slit at the neck about an inch long to facilitate putting it on, and is tied at the sides with silk ribbon ties.

Black-eyed Suzanne's dress is felt embroidered all over with her signature flower...black-eyed Susans :-) The dress has slightly capped sleeves and slightly flared skirt.

All of these little outfits are simple modifications of the basic patterns available on this blog for these dear dolls from Gingermelon Doll's Pocket Pixie pattern. Hand sewing felt is very easy, rewarding, satisfying, enjoyable, relaxing, and spiritual. Enjoy.

Salley Mavor's enchanting art

2011-06-03T14:11:00.001-04:00

My copy of 'Pocket Full of Posies' by Salley Mavor, recently arrived, which prompts this post. Salley is an extraordinary fiber artist; she creates wonderful worlds with felt, yarn, found items, items from Nature, and all of it pure magic.

I am fortunate to have four of her books: 'In the Heart,' 'The Hollyhock Wall,' 'Felt Wee Folk,' and now 'Pocket Full of Posies.' The summer that 'Felt Wee Folk' came out I made dozens and dozens of her delightful flower fairies.

Two of the many flower fairies I've made from Salley Mavor's book 'Felt Wee Folk'

Prized possessions of mine are three of Salley's original flower fairies: Downey, Marina, and Opal.

Salley's latest book, 'Pocket Full of Posies,' is a nursery rhyme book illustrated, as all of her books are, with her fiber art illustrations. The rich felt, the perfectly executed embroidery, the texture and design will take your breath away, and offers so much inspiration for all of us that like to play with needle and thread.

Embroidery from 'Pocket Full of Posies' inspires Amanda's dress and pinafore; not quite finished :-)

Salley has a blog where she shares her latest projects, and happy glimpses of the artists life. Pay her a visit and enjoy her enchanting view of the world.

New Pocket Pixie WIPS

2011-05-22T13:56:00.000-04:00

Shelly's Pocket Pixie pattern is such a delightful doll form, and a wonderful pattern to embelish. Here are three new WIPs (work in progress) that I've been playing with.

Felt applique hearts and cheek color for Amanda. Her hair is Reynolds Lopi, a bulky weight single ply wool yarn.

Embroidered flowers and wool boucle yarn for Black Eyed Suzanne (of course!)

More embroidered flowers, and a very fuzzy mohair yarn with slubs of blue and yellow for Petunia.

Felt is such a wonderful dollmaking medium, and these little dolls are a delightful canvas.

Caution! Cute Attack!

2011-05-19T16:05:00.001-04:00

A quick post to share with you a couple of really fun books. "The Cute Book" and "The Cuter Book" are full of tiny, easy, delightful felt cuties :-) I made three in a snap; each one probably took two hours from cutting out to finishing. These would be great projects for children, all the sewing is done by hand. The kitty on the left I turned into a pin to wear (just sewed a safety pin to the back). Teddy and Bunny are toys for the Pocket Pixies.

You can see Finch snuggled up in bed with Bunny and Bear ( and a sleepy kitty!).

I own "The Cute Book," and borrowed "The Cuter Book" from the library. If I were buying just one, I'd pick "The Cuter Book," because, well, it was just cuter :-)

A peak into the Cardboard Cottage. Little by little more things are being added to improve the cozy-ness for its occupants.

A pretty portrait on the wall, and a wool rug for the floor. I used simple applique shapes from the book "101 Appliqué Blocks" for the rug.

Well, not such a short post after all. More felt goodness to follow!

Pocket Pixie Clothing Patterns

2011-05-15T17:13:00.002-04:00

With Shelly of Gingermelon Dolls kind permission, here are some simple outfit patterns for her delightful Pocket Pixie doll. These outfits have already shown up on the blog, but not the patterns. Please use Wool felt for the outfits, just as you use it for the doll. Click on the links below for the pattern downloads.

Pocket Pixie Kimono

Pocket Pixie overalls, tee shirt, and dress bodice

From these simple patterns, a lot of other patterns can be derived. Lengthen the tee shirt pattern, and gently flare the sides and you have a nightgown. You could crochet the skirt onto the dress bodice, instead of using fabric. The tee shirt can also be used as a dress bodice, or made slightly bigger and turned into a sweater or a coat.

Embroider your outfits before stitching up the seams, add crochet or purchased lace, beads, felt appliqués...embellish to your hearts content :-)

Cross Stitch Pixies

2011-05-11T16:48:00.002-04:00

Like a lot of you, I enjoy cross stitch along with many other types of handwork. I found Shelly's Pocket Pixies to be great inspiration in designing some very simple and fun cross stitch pictures. Here is Nettie, as a doll and as a cross stitch banner. The Nettie Chart and the Nettie Color Key can be found by clicking on the links. The chart looks like this:

Here is Robin, also as a doll and a banner. These little designs could be framed, backed with fabric, made into a tiny quilt, stitched on vinyl and used as a mug insert, or a trivet, or just about anything simple little thing you can think of.

Click the links for the Robin Chart and Robin Color Key .

Actually, I started out by wanting to make a tiny cross stitch portrait of Wren to put in her dollhouse living room. Here she is, with the edges finished in crochet and mounted on a circle of stiff cardboard. This could be turned into a cute little pin, and you could substitute your own name for Wren's.

Click the links for Wren Chart and Wren Color Key.

These little designs were created with a program called Pattern Maker, by HobbyWare. I've had the software since 2002; it was purchased after I broke my leg and is probably responsible for me not going totally crazy while my leg was in a cast up to my hip for 10 weeks. It is easy to use, and I've had a lot of fun with it.

Hope you enjoy these little designs. Don't be surprised if more show up here :-)

Felt Felines and New Pixies

2011-04-25T19:35:00.001-04:00

The Pocket Pixies wanted some feline companionship, so here are three little kitties, made from this simple and delightfult pattern by Runo:

Felt Kitties

She is an amazing dollmaker, and her blog is filled with many free patterns. Please visit Runo's blog here at Nuno Life

More Pixies have come to play with Wren and Robin :-)

Nettie, for my sister's birthday.

Sparrow, in her blue jumper.

Finch, in her pretty lace-trimmed nightgown.

It is amazing how much fun can be had with a little bit of felt, floss, and yarn.

Furniture for Wren's Nest

2011-04-14T13:07:00.002-04:00

Wren's Nest now has furniture! Most of it was made with cardboard, foam, and fabric. None of it costly, nor requiring power tools. If you don't mind getting your hands sticky with glue, this may be the dollhouse project for you :-)

Bedroom with bed and nightstand

Kitchen table and chairs, mostly from craft sticks, spools, and wood plaques

Cozy living room with overstuffed chairs and footstool

A picture tutorial for making this furniture is available on my flickr site, and here at Cardboard Cottage Furniture. Just a few little touches to finish this up, an embroidered felt rug for the living room, a cross stitch sampler to hang on the wall, popsicle peg racks for the kitchen and bedroom. My Pocket Pixies are happy with their home, and so am I :-)

Spring in Indy

2011-04-10T18:19:00.000-04:00

Bike riding around our hometown this weekend. Amazing how Spring can grace even a large city.

Wren's Nest; a cardboard cottage dollhouse

2011-04-05T14:13:00.002-04:00

Maybe your child would like to have a dollhouse, or maybe you want one yourself. But the cost of a kit (not to mention ready built) is beyond what you want to spend. And if you get a kit, then there is the construction, which is never as simple as the advertising says :-) For myself, driving a nail straight is a painful challenge.

So how about a dollhouse you can make with material you probably already have on hand, and no hammers necessary? A sturdy dollhouse with lots of play appeal? Cardboard to the rescue!

Wren's Nest, above, is made from cardboard boxes, fabric, and glue. The key to making a sturdy, and attractive, dollhouse from cardboard boxes is to line the box, both inside and out, with covered cardboard.

tools and materials for cardboard cottage dollhouse

I used fabric to cover my cardboard lining pieces, and cut windows out of my boxes and the linings. You could also use white poster board and draw interior and exterior scenes for your house, or your kids could! If you are ambitious, you could applique windows, doors, flowers, whatever, to your fabric before applying it to the linings. Once you've sandwiched two or three layers of cardboard together, you'll be amazed at how sturdy the dollhouse is.

room box with interior lining pieces, ready to glue in place

Measure the interior and exterior walls, floor and ceiling carefully, to within 1/8 inch. Cut cardboard lining pieces to these measurements, and label each piece as to where it goes (e.g. left wall interior, back wall exterior, etc). Each room 'box' should have five interior lining pieces and five exterior lining pieces.

using the lining piece to cut fabric; note the cutting lines on the window fabric

Cover each interior lining piece separately, applying glue only along the edges of the wrong side of the cardboard linings.

gluing fabric around window; the edges will be next

exterior lining pieces laid out on fabric

For the exterior, lay the exterior walls out on the fabric with a scant 1/4 inch between them. Cut the fabric out around the edges leaving an inch extra all around. The exterior walls will be glued to the fabric as one piece, with the 1/4 gap as a 'hinge' around the exterior corners. This neatens up the outside of the dollhouse

bedroom box with interior and exterior linings installed.

outside view

dollhouse with all the interior and exterior lining glued in place

After all the lining pieces have been covered with fabric and installed, the dollhouse is nearly finished. At this point it is fun to raid your stash of trims and lace to trim up the house. I like to cover the front openings (you can still see the cardboard box edges if you don't), add some shutters and curtains, and maybe some gingerbread trim to the roof. Lets see what we have...

these look promising!

What a difference a little trim makes!

I started this project on Thursday afternoon, and finished it on Monday. I worked in snatches over the weekend, and pretty steadily on Thursday afternoon, Friday afternoon, and Monday afternoon. All the materials, including the boxes, came from stuff I had at home.

Here is a full picture tutorial for making this Cardboard Cottage.

I think Wren and Robin are going to be pretty cozy in this nest, as soon as I make some simple furnishings :-)

Tiny Dollhouses

2011-04-01T19:57:00.001-04:00

Several years ago I was making small (four inches tall) dolls from wood beads and tiny spools. The basic doll design was from a kit offered by Hearthsong; I made a few changes and made dozens of these little dolls. Of course, they wanted a house of their own, so I designed a couple of cottages from cardboard and fabric. Here are some pictures to share with you.

Bead and spool doll with removable crochet clothing

Interior of single story dollhouse

Living room detail

Bedroom detail

Cardboard can be amazingly strong, if you use two pieces glued together, which is how this doll house was constructed. All of the furnishing are handmade, some with simple wood blocks and popsicle sticks, or cardboard and foam.

I don't have any patterns for these little houses, but I'm currently working on a cardboard cottage for the Pocket Pixies, and I should be able to share the construction of this with you. It is a little simpler than these dollhouses, but should offer a lot of play potential :-)

Here is a two story house.

Exterior view of two story house

Interior view

Living room detail

Bedroom detail

A lot of fun things can be constructed of inexpensive and readily available materials. These houses were made from shipping boxes cut up, with fabric and trim from my stash. Maybe looking at these houses will spark an idea in you for a fun project :-)

Sometimes I can be a bit obsessive :-)

2011-03-25T18:00:00.002-04:00

When I find a pattern a really like, I can be a bit obsessive :-) I love the little dolls this pattern by Shelly at Gingermelon Dolls makes up, and couldn't resist making some additional clothing. This is Wren, in her overalls and tee shirt. The clothing is removable, and very simple. Each garment is just one pattern piece.

So the fun continues! There are more dolls in my head waiting to be born...

Fun with Felt!

2011-03-23T17:11:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Shelly at Gingermelon dolls, I've rediscovered what fun it is to sew and embroider on wool felt. This little doll is from Shelly's Pocket Pixie pattern; I made her a very simple felt Kimono, and embroidered it with simple featherstitching, spiderweb roses, lazy daisy leaves and French knots. The doll is entirely hand sewn, which I find to be very relaxing and rewarding.

The doll's name is Chikara Nagusameru, which is Japanese for Strength and Comfort, according to the online translator I used. Please continue to keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.

Chikara and Chie (for Wisdom)

Here is Chikara with her faithful friend, Chie, also a pattern from Gingermelon dolls.

Nicole

2011-03-21T14:45:00.001-04:00

Nicole Pocket Spirit. The hat and bag are from the Annie's Attic Miniature Shoe Society patterns; I love the way the bag pattern turned out. She can even put some treasures in it; it really works!

Her skirt is one of my favorite calico prints. I love the blue roses on the yellow ground, and this is a fun a quick way to make a dress.

Thank-you, Shelly!

2011-03-14T14:20:00.002-04:00

This doll is from the delightful imagination of Shelly, at Gingermelondolls. I was one of seven lucky winners of this pattern in a drawing Shelly had on her blog. Better than winning a lottery!

The pattern is very well written, easy to follow, simple to make, and the result is a most endearing little Pixie. The doll is made of wool felt, as are her dress and shoes. I added a little felt bag and a crochet sweater. This doll will be a delight to crochet for. I envision many outfits of felt and crochet. And many more dolls :-)

Thank you so much, Shelly, for your wonderful creative vision.

Seven inches of Pixie charm!

Weep for Japan

2011-03-12T09:54:00.002-05:00

What a nightmare for the Japanese people. Please remember them in your prayers.

A gift for a friend

2011-03-09T16:52:00.002-05:00

Meet Jennie, a gift for my dear friend Bev. As you can probably tell, her favorite color is blue :-)

The hat is another great Annie's Attic pattern. I really wish these were still available. They fit the Pocket Spirits perfectly.

The dress is an adaptation of the camisole pattern, an easy side to side bodice that is very forgiving. This Pocket Spirit has a jointed shoulder, similar to the way the head is jointed, using a 9mm acrylic eye as the joint. Gives her a little more pose-ability, but the armholes in the clothing need to be a little larger to accommodate the joint.

Hi Bev!

Spirit of Spring

2011-02-25T12:32:00.002-05:00

I was inspired by 60F weather, the thawing of ice, and this womans wonderful crochet jewelry to create a Spirit of Spring. Most of North America and Europe have suffered from a brutal winter; so it is time for this Spirit to heal our hearts.

The meadow scene is one I made last year, about this time. The dear little owl on the stump is from a free pattern on the Roman Sock blog by Brigitte Read; patterns for the rest of the scene are available here on my blog.

I've never been a big bunny fan, but bunny ears seemed appropriate for a Spring Spirit :-) They are crocheted directly to her head:

Bunny ears: Ch11, dc in the back loop of the third ch from the hook, dc in the back loops of each ch to the last two chains, hdc in the back loop of the last two chains, sl st to the head, turn, sl st in the first st, sc in each dc up to the top of the ear, three sc in the turning ch at the top, and sc in the remaining ch on the opposite side back to the begining, with a sl st in the last ch. Fasten off and leave a long tail to neaten up the ears where they attach to the head.

For her hair, I used Yarn Bee 'Elvish' (appropriate!) from Hobby Lobby. I must say, it is a bugger to work with; you can't really see the stitches, you have to feel them. But, being an eyelash yarn, mistakes are well hidden. I worked the wig cap for several rounds, then tried it on her head to see where I would need to work openings for her ears. For the ear openings, ch3, skip three sts, sc in the next three, ch3, skip three stitches, sc the rest of the way around. Work one or two more rounds, then a final round of (ch7, sl st in the next) 10 times, then (ch15, sl st in the next) the rest of the way around.

Her dress is from a lace pattern, worked in two shades of blue/green, with the final round beaded with fringe beads. The top of the skirt is gathered up with 42 stitches, then a simple bodice is crocheted from spring green. Size 11 seed beads were used on parts of the flowers and at the waist and neckline of the dress. The flower patterns were from different sources, but mostly from 'Crochet Bouquet,' a great book of crochet flowers and leaves.

She is wearing Elven Boots crocheted from size 8 perle cotton. With a slight modification (in the pattern) they can become Mary Janes.

Today we have four inches of snow, but the Spirit of Spring is here!

Do you knit?

2011-02-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

If you do, you are in luck! I found this book in our public library and instantly fell in love with Fiona's dolls. So much so, that I had to purchase her book (from Amazon ) even though I cannot knit a stitch :-)

There are nine dolls in all, ranging in size from just under 20 inches to just over 23 inches tall. They have the most amazing faces, and you know how hard it is to create a pleasing face on crochet or knit fabric. Fiona shows you a great way to do this, her instructions are simple and easy to follow.

The dolls have an extensive, removable wardrobe they can share (love that), cool hair, and great accessories. What more can I say?

Oh yes, Fiona has a website, and has recently posted a free pattern for a 'chibi' girl; a petite knit girl that is way cute. Check out Fiona McDonald's blog here.

Normally I would say 'enjoy the crochet,' but instead I'll leave you with 'pick up those sticks!'

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T14:13:00.001-05:00

Logan loves flowers; and she has a basket full for Valentines Day :-)

Her perky hat is another Annie's Attic pattern, in bright white, red, and blue. Her jumpsuit is a combination of a shortened bodice and attached pantaloons, made a bit fuller, gathered below the knee, then ruffled.

A better view of the lace trim and big flower on Logan's hat. The flower is from '100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet;' worked in size 3 crochet cotton. The small flowers on her jumpsuit are the same flower, worked in size 8 perle with slightly smaller petals.

Logan is wishing all of you a very sweet Valentines Day :-)

Ready to travel

2011-02-05T17:48:00.001-05:00

Claire says "I'm outta here!"

Claire has packed her bag, put on her hat, and is ready to leave the frozen Midwest. But where will she go? Five inches of snow in sunny Dallas? Frostbite and freeze in the Deep South? Maybe she'll head for the Caribbean and catch a cruise ship.

Claire's pretty hat and bag are from the Annie's Attic series "Annie's Miniature Shoe Society," and her mock smock dress is available here on this blog (it is the Christmas dress with cap sleeves and Spring colors).

Closeup of the mock smocking on the bodice. I love the texture that post stitches give crochet :-)

I sure hope that Groundhog was right; I'm ready for Spring!

After the Storm

2011-02-02T14:42:00.001-05:00

Off our back porch

I've never seen ice this thick; it has coated every surface outside to about two inches. The car is entombed in ice.

But we were lucky! The storm that has swept from Texas to Main rained down mostly sleet on us yesterday afternoon and evening. It has stuck to the ground, but not to the power lines. So we are warm, and connected :-)

Can you see the Cardinal among the sparrows?

Eventually, we'll need to go and chip our way out of the ice, but right now I'm just grateful to be snug and warm.

Go safely out there...It's slick!

Nadia's new hat :-)

2011-01-22T14:36:00.001-05:00

Nadia says "I look like Audry Hepburn!"

This delightful hat pattern is from an Annie's Attic series entitled "Annie's Miniature Shoe Society." The primary pattern was for a fancy dress shoe, but included a hat and purse as accessories. These were published in 2000-2001 and are sadly out of print now. If you do a Google search on the series, you may find some still available.

I loved the hats and bags for these patterns, but didn't really have a doll that the hat would fit well. Sweet Pocket Spirits seem perfect; with 18 of these patterns, expect to see Pocket Spirits sporting fancy chapeaus in the future :-)

Enjoy the crochet!

Variations on a theme

2011-01-19T11:58:00.001-05:00

My little dolls have pose-able limbs by using pipe cleaners in their arms and legs. I worry a bit that bending these pipe cleaners too much will cause them to break, so here is another way to make these little dolls pose-able.

For the pose-able Pocket Spirit above, I've crocheted seperate upper and lower arms, and upper and lower legs; so now she has an elbow joint and a knee joint.

Upper and lower arm, and what they look like stitched together. Pipe cleaners are still inserted into the upper and lower arms, but the bending is now done at the joint.

And here is the leg, one completed and the other showing how the two are stitched together.

The arms and legs are a bit longer than the original Pocket Spirit, so I made her torso a bit longer too. She stands just under eight inches tall; still a sweet size :-) The pattern with these modifications is here:

Jointed Pocket Spirit Pattern

Meet Nadia!

Nadia and Comfort in sepia :-)

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Pocket Cottage

2011-01-11T13:39:00.003-05:00

What can you make from Granny squares? Afghans, scarves, caps, sweaters, dollhouses....Dollhouses?! Yes, you can! No power tools required :-)

The idea to make a dollhouse for the Pocket Spirits has been percolating in my mind for a couple months, and with Christmas now a sweet memory, there was time to see if the idea could become a reality. I love dollhouses, but hammers and nails are not my strong suit. Making a dollhouse from simple squares really appealed to me, and here are the results.

Roof and ceiling squares

All of the squares for the Pocket Cottage came from the book "200 Crochet Blocks." I love this book, and had to resort to buying it instead of borrowing it constantly from the library. Lots of great blocks, lots of great color combinations.

wall squares

These squares worked up to be nine inches, and it took 12 of these, plus two 9x4 rectangles and two 4x4 squares to make the dollhouse. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn and a G hook.

floor and sleeping loft

Carboard is used to make the structure rigid. Cut the cardboard after the blocks are crocheted and blocked (yes, blocked! just dampen your crochet and lay it out on bath towels, squared up nicely so all the blocks are the same size). I covered my cardboard pieces with fabric so the carboard wouldn't show.

stitching the pieces with carboard in between

Stitch the walls, floor, roof, and loft by holding two squares wrong side together and single crochet around two side. Insert the carboard between the squares and finish crocheting the squares together, stretching your squares to fit around the cardboard.

living room; time for tea :-)

When the pieces for the walls, floor, roof, and loft are complete, crochet the walls together with slip stitches; the top of the roof with single crochet and picots; the bottom of the wall to the floor and the top of the wall to the loft with slip stitches; and the roof to the walls also with slip stitches. Crochet the roof apex pieces to the top front and back of the roof.

Sleeping loft; bedtime with Bearable :-)

When the structure is complete, give it a finished look by slip stitching around the front and back opening of the dollhouse. If you like, crochet a fancy trim in the back loops of the slip stitches to mimic gingerbread trim along the roof line and also along the side edges of the roof.

Side view with gingerbread trim

Pretty simple! The most difficult part of this is some awkward stitching when stitching the rigid pieces together. A more comprehensive picture tutorial is available here:

Pocket Cottage Tutorial

Cute, inexpensive, and made with your own hands :-)

Home Sweet Home for the Pocket Spirits!

Aran Sweater

2011-01-07T15:08:00.000-05:00

During the Christmas holidays I made my little Pocket Spirit an Aran sweater, and made both of us some pretty hair accessories. The Hellbore and Holly patterns are from the book " 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet." It has some of the loveliest flower patterns, and I was able to borrow it from our local Library :-) The large flowers are crocheted in sportweight yarn, and glued to a hair barret. The small ones are crocheted in size 8 perle and glued to a length of 1/4" ribbon and tied in her hair.

The sweater pattern is available here: Pocket Spirit Aran Sweater

And the pants are available here: Pocket Spirit Pants

Another fun project was this awesome tree, courtesy of Michaels. My friend Joyce directed me to this link, and has made at least two beautiful trees from this pattern. The pattern is easy, and can be made as tall or short as you like; it makes up fast, and is the prettiest crochet tree pattern I've seen.

The link is here: Michaels Christmas Tree

Start the New Year right and get hooking!

January 5, 1980

2011-01-05T10:07:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe, but 31 years ago today Larry and I were married. Yikes! It doesn't seem possible that I'm old enough to be married that long :-)

We have been blessed with a companionable and loving marriage. We enjoy each other's company, enjoy the same activities, and don't need a lot in the way of entertainment.

31 years have flown by; I don't feel a whole lot different than I did in this picture. Have a great day...we plan to!

A look back at 2010

2010-12-31T19:15:00.003-05:00

2010 is drawing to a close. I hope it has brought more happiness than sorrow to all of you. There have been some bumps along the way, but for me and my family, 2010 ends with comfort and joy.

I made a lot of dolls, and had the opportunity to share my creations with you. I did a little gardening (until it got too hot!), and had the opportunity to talk to a real American hero: an astronaut! Larry and I did a lot of biking, and as always enjoyed each other's company more than doing anything else.

May 2011 bring hope and joy to all of you. If we're all a little kinder to one another, it is sure to be a better year than the year before.

Keep your hands warm!

2010-12-29T14:59:00.001-05:00

We keep our house pretty cool in the winter, around 66F during the day. My hands get cold, and its tough to hold a crochet hook when your hands are freezing :-) So today I whipped up a pair of fingerless mitts to try to keep warm. They work pretty good, so if you'd like to make a pair for yourself, the pattern is here:

Fingerless Mitts

This is a very simple pattern, and can be adapted to any size hand. Adjust the number of cuff rows you make to fit, snug, around your wrist. When working the palm, make it as long as you like. I wanted my fingers well exposed so I can crochet.

These were made with Lionbrand WoolEase worsted weight yarn and a size G crochet hook. Less than one skein made one pair.

Stay warm, and enjoy the crochet!

Images of Christmas, 2010

2010-12-25T15:22:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Comfort and Joy; The Spirits of Christmas

2010-12-19T13:58:00.004-05:00

May glad tidings of Comfort and Joy be yours this Christmas season,

And may the Spirit of Christmas remain in your heart all the year long!

Comfort (on the left) and Joy are all dressed up in their Holiday dresses, and ready for Santa to fill their stockings :-)

Their dresses have 'mock' smocking on the bodice, a crochet technique that uses Front Post Triple Crochet stitches to create a smocked look. I love the look of smocking, and wanted to try to replicate it in crochet. The post stitches can be a little fiddly if you've never tried them, so you might want to practice the stitch pattern with a larger yarn to get the hang of it. The pattern for the dress is here:

Mock Smocking Dress Pattern

The stocking hat is crocheted in sportweight yarn (I used Lustersheen), and pattern is here:

Pocket Spirit Christmas Hat

The Pocket Stockings are also crocheted in sportweight yarn. They would make fun Christmas ornaments for a small tree, or the perfect stocking for your little dolls:

Pocket Stockings

Merry Christmas, my friends! Have a happy Holy Day season, and a blessed New Year :-)

Easy last minute Christmas gifts

2010-12-11T14:22:00.002-05:00

If you find yourself needing a simple, handmade gift and you are running out of time, this wonderful afghan from Lionbrand Yarn, or these scrappy scarves, might be just the ticket.

The afghan is made from Wool Ease Thick and Quick and a 'P' hook. I loved the colors, it worked up quick, and the yarn was a joy to crochet with. There was in fact enough yarn left over to make the two scarves here.

My most favorite thing to make for gifts is scarves from yarns in my stash. I like to use bulky weight yarns and mix up the textures and fibers. For these scarves, with an 'N' hook and bulky weight yarn, just chain 100, then work six to nine rows of half-double-crochet. This will give you a scarf from four to five feet long and 4.5 to 6 inches wide. Use different colors, or similar colors with different yarns, or use up whatever you have on hand. What better than a warm and loving hug around the neck for your friends and family?

Hobbit Children

2010-11-30T13:13:00.001-05:00

I first read The Lord of the Rings during a summer semester at college. Since then I've probably re-read the trilogy 20 times, not including reading The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Lost Tales, and JRR Tolkien's letters. It is my favorite book of literature; a story of courage, friendship, and ordinary people achieving the extraordinary.

So when my latest Pocket Spirit got a curly hair style from some mohair boucle yarn I have, she told me in no uncertain terms that she was a Hobbit, and by jove, she was indeed :-)

So here meet Violet Willowdown and Rose Fernbrake, two dear Hobbit children. I used the camisole pattern for the bodice of their dresses, and made their skirts from some lovely fabric that was a gift to me from Stepheny at Katie What Can You Do. Stepheny has a delightful blog, and is a very dear person of great insight.

And this is Ivy Heathertoes, wearing another sweet combination of crochet and fabric. The pattern for the bodice and dress is here:

Link Bodice and Dress

The fabric for Ivy's dress was another gift, this from the very talented dollmaker Kate Erbach. If you'd like to see some of her amazing dolls, you can find them here at My Sister Kate

Violet, Ivy, and Rose say 'Have a lovely day!'

Thanksgiving, 2010

2010-11-26T16:49:00.001-05:00

The good thing about growing older is realizing how much you have to be thankful for.

I hope all of you take time to pause for a moment and count the blessings in your life. There is grief and joy in every life; may we have the strength to endure the grief, and the gratitude to acknowledge the joy.

Victorian Pocket Spirits

2010-11-19T16:13:00.002-05:00

The works-in-progress from a couple weeks ago are now clad in their Victorian finery. The pattern for all of these delightful little dresses is an Annie Potter Presents leaflet entitled "Victorian Darlings." To fit the Pocket Spirits I used size 20 crochet cotton or size 8 perle cotton and a size 7 crochet hook for the dresses. The sweet little boots were crocheted just as the pattern called for, with size 10 crochet cotton. This pattern book is out of print, but if you do a Google search, you may come up with some used copies that are available.

Abby and Meghan

Felicia

Catherine and Bearable

Rebekah

Felicia in her nightgown

I did work out a couple of patterns specifically for the Pocket Spirits. The nightgown above is one of them; you can download the pattern here:

Victorian Nightgown

Felicia in camisole and pantaloons

And also a pattern for a Victorian camisole and pantaloons. I'm sure these patterns look familiar to you, but the instructions are now specifically for the Pocket Spirit size dolls.

Pocket Spirit Camisole

These dresses also fit the 16cm BJD dolls, such as Lati Yellow and Fairyland Puki Fee. For the long sleeved dresses you might want to crochet the sleeves a bit longer than the pattern calls for.

Rebekah says "Have a lovely day!"

Images of late fall

2010-11-15T11:37:00.001-05:00

Bicycling in our old home town of Columbus, Indiana over the weekend. It was mild and breezy, with that touch of melancholy that comes with late fall.

Winter may be with us soon...but the sun was shining on this day.

A Simple and inexpensive doll bed YOU can make

2010-11-10T11:56:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Christmas :-) Here is a picture tutorial for making a very simple and inexpensive doll bed for your favorite girl. The bed requires no woodworking skills (I certainly don't have any), and uses inexpensive wood turnings available at any craft store. I purchased most of my pieces from Michaels. Here is the link to the picture tutorial to make this bed:

Simple and inexpensive doll bed from wood turnings

Some additional pictures of the bed in process. Enjoy!

Trying out the pieces before gluing

The pieces selected

The bed stained, glued, and varnished

A cozy bed for Pocket Spirit Catherine. You can also make a nifty dress form with wood turnings as well :-)

Dolls for the Christmas Bazaar

2010-10-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

Every year, High Street United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana, has a Christmas bazaar in November. This year, the bazaar is November 6 from 8:00am to Noon. The church is located at 219 South High Street.

For the last few years I've donated several dolls that were made during the year to this bazaar. Above are a few of the dolls donated this year. There are lots of other neat items, and some delicious baked goods...I know this because my Mother donates her marvelous goodies to this bazaar. Her brownies are impossible to beat :-)

I sang in the choir during my teenage years in this church. When I was in college, I learned to my horror that during a brutal blizzard, a gas main exploded and nearly destroyed the church. The entire inside was gutted, all the stained glass blown out, the doors blown off, and it took three hours to get the fire under control. Amazingly, no one was injured, in spite of the fact that a young man lived at the church as a caretaker.

A year later Christmas midnight services were held in the barren, unheated shell of the church. Work was under way to rebuild, but this midnight service was conducted by candlelight, the only illumination. We sang all the beautiful Christmas hymns in the cold, still structure, and truly the magic of Christmas touched us all.

The following year, Larry and I were married in this church; the second marriage service conducted in the newly restored building. We've been together ever since.

Many very good memories remain to me of this structure and congregation. Many extended family members belong to this congregation; the picture below was painted by my Great Uncle Orla and is a lovely and loving representation of High Street United Methodist Church.

High Street United Methodist Church, painted by Orla Harris

More WIP's!

2010-10-24T15:25:00.001-04:00

No, it isn't as perverse as it sounds; WIP's are Work-In-Progress :-)

Paton's Astra sportweight/dk yarn is the perfect yarn for making the little Pocket Spirits, and I had to have skeins in all of their many flesh toned colors. And then, of course, I needed to make a doll out of each of the colors, and give them all different hair styles. This yarn is a pleasure to work with, it is soft without splitting, and works up nice and tight so no fiberfill shows through the stitches. Find Paton's Astra here:

Paton's Astra at Mary Maxim

They are all sporting hair using Nashua Hand Knits, Creative Focus Kid Mohair yarn. This is a wonderfully 'hairy' mohair yarn, and you can find it here:

Nashua Creative Focus Mohair yarn at Fabric.com

Now to get them dressed :-)

Paton's Astra in Aran, Apricot, Medium Tan, Dark Tan, and Soft Tan

A new look, and a new doll

2010-10-14T21:06:00.001-04:00

After over a year, I felt it was time for a new look. Something a little brighter, and that would make finding the patterns available on this blog a bit easier. What do you think? What I like is the way the sidebar items are grouped together.

Please meet Nightshade, my little Goth Pocket Spirit. The dress was very easy, and a fun way to easily incorporate a piece of favorite fabric in a crochet outfit. Just crochet a top; cut a piece of fabric 10 inches by 2 or 3 inches (depending on how long you want it). Zig zag stitch around all four fabric edges to keep it from fraying. Turn up and press 1/4 inch for the hem and the two short sides; stitch two rows of gathering stitches (either by hand or with a long machine stitch), along the top edge, 1/8 and 1/4 inches from the top edge.

Pull the gathering stitches up to match the lower edge of the top and stitch the skirt to the top. Make sure the gathering stitches do not show below the bottom edge of the top. I stitched with short running stitches. I then hemmed the bottom with contrasting color featherstitching, and stitched up the back seam of the skirt to about 1/2 inch from the top. The back is closed with four tiny buttons into crochet button loops.

Nightshade

More Christmas Crochet, 2010

2010-10-09T17:38:00.000-04:00

For my nieces for Christmas; Pocket Spirits with their own pockets! The pattern for the granny square bags is available free from the Lily Sugar & Cream website:

Lily Sugar&Cream

They have some wonderful free patterns, including a great crochet doll, named Lily (of course!).

The ballerina outfits are from the Annie Potter Presents leaflet "Tu Tu Angelic." I used my own design for the body suit, but the ballerina embellishment came from Annie :-)

Skye, Cherry and Willow

Pocket Spirits for Christmas

2010-10-02T18:31:00.001-04:00

These three little Pocket Spirits are a work in progress for my nieces for Christmas. Meet Willow, Skye, and Cherry :-)

Since my nieces all take dance lessons, these little spirits are going to get some sweet ballerina costumes from an Annie's Attic publication called Tu Tu Angelic. The body suit used with these patterns did not fit well on the Pocket Spirits, so I designed one that did. The pattern for the body suit is here:

Pocket Spirit Bodysuit

This pattern can be used as a swim suit just as it is, or attach a skirt to it; add sleeves and wear it under a jumper or overalls. It is a snug fit, so you'll want to try it on as you crochet to make sure it fits.

I plan to use the embellishments from the Annie Potter Presents publication with the new bodysuit. We'll see how well it works!

Willow says 'Hi!'

Gratitude

2010-09-28T08:43:00.001-04:00

For the beauty of the Earth,

For the splendor of the Skies,

For the Love which from our birth,

Over and around us lies.

Lord of All, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Yesterday as I left the house for my morning walk, the temperature was 49F and the sky was blue and brilliantly clear. I could see the setting moon and it took my breath away. The words to this old hymn popped into my mind, and stayed with me through the entire walk.

I hope you all enjoy the day!

Finished Granny Square Sweater :-)

2010-09-26T18:52:00.000-04:00

All the blocks are sewn together, and the sweater is done! Actually it is more like a jacket. A bit on the heavy side, but this morning at 54F it was the perfect outer layer.

After stitching up the first sleeve it was apparent that the sleeves would be too long, so I removed the last row of squares from the bottom of the sleeves. Much better :-)

And don't forget to block!

The pattern came from the Jan/Feb '08 issue of Crochet Today. Now, to get back to dollmaking :-)

Finally!!

2010-09-16T16:42:00.002-04:00

It has been a while :-) My latest WIP is this gorgeous granny square sweater from the January/February 2008 issue of Crochet Today. I love the simplicity of this design, and just had to give it a try, but I must admit that 68 squares of the same design did try my patience. But they are now DONE!

Next step, stitch them all together :-)

I had help in the form of another little Pocket Spirit. Here she is overseeing the square production.
When the sweater is done, I'll be back to Christmas crochet for the nieces!

A Needlefelt Treasure

2010-08-26T16:04:00.006-04:00

Mrs. Harrison, we're ready to learn,
Mrs. Harrison, we'll try not to squirm!
We're hungry for knowledge;
We may go to college :-)
Mrs. Harrison, don't be too stern!

You can meet the very nicest people on the internet; just like I have! I was the lucky winner of Mrs. Harrison, the School Marm Blackbird, from a drawing on the blog MarthaandJane (http://marthaandjane.blogspot.com/) This is a delightfully whimsical blog that I encourage you all to visit. Mrs. Harrison is a beautifully needlefelted work of art by April Ross, and a teacher of young fairyfolk and their friends.

She reminded me very much of my own second grade teacher, Mrs. Harrison; an angular, upright, grey haired lady that taught us well. She was brisk and birdlike, neither kindly nor cruel. This Mrs. Harrison is a bit more indulgent, but just as sharp eyed :-)

Mrs. Harrison

Thank-you so much, April and Helen!

Christmas Crochet, 2010

2010-08-17T15:23:00.004-04:00

This is the time of year I start thinking about Christmas; crocheting for Christmas, that is. If I start in July, I have plenty of runway ahead of me and don't feel rushed and panic'd as Thanksgiving rolls away and the Big Day looms :-) Since I love to crochet, making crochet items for Christmas is no hardship.

I'd love to see Christmas become a simpler and happier holiday. I think handmade can go a long way toward this end. Also, make doing something for others less fortunate a part of your Christmas traditions, and ease up a bit on all of the store bought items. We place so many expectations on ourselves at Christmas that is it sometimes impossible to live up to them all, and we wonder where the joy has gone.

Okay, enough lecturing; I'm getting off the soapbox and ready to tell you about the cute crew in the picture above. They are irresistible amigurumi from Ana Paula Rimoli, found in the May/June 2010 issue of Crochet Today. The book bags are a free pattern from the Creative Me blog site; here is a link:

http://bwalker8706.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-sons-bookbag.html

The only changes I made to the book bag were to use half double crochet instead of double crochet. I made three more increase rows, and five additional body rows for the bag. It turned out great! These are for my three nephews, ages 7, 5, and 3. Making stuff for kids is the most fun of all.
The Pocket Spirits fell in love with Oskar! They couldn't resist a photo op with him :-)

Roses and Fairies

2010-08-06T19:29:00.001-04:00

Thorns don't hurt fairy feet,
Fairies are too light and sweet.
A quick glimpse; don't look away!
A fairy child is here to play.

The Great Greenway Tour!

2010-08-01T10:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Larry and I and my Dad (the photographer of this pic) rode 22 miles of the Great Greenway Tour, a Rail-Trail annual ride out of Muncie, Indiana. And, just like last year, we got DRENCHED!

I think they are going to ban Larry and I from coming to the ride. For two consecutive years, the ride, held in July, has been deluged with rain and unseasonably cold. This, in what has been the hottest July that I can remember. Larry and I are thinking of hiring ourselves out as rain-gods :-)

It is hard to tell from the above picture, but we are standing in the rain at the end of the ride, and soaked through and through.

The Cardinal Greenway is a beautiful ride, through lots of gently rolling farm and pasture land, wildflowers, wetlands, stands of trees. And being on a rail line, the grades are gentle. The folks who have built and maintained this Greenway have done a spectacular job, with beautiful bridges and trailheads like tiny parks. It is a wonderful ride; I just want to do it sometime when it is dry :-)

Crochet Lace for Dresses

2010-07-27T17:30:00.009-04:00

I love crochet lace, and have many, many pattern books devoted to the subject. Crochet lace can make the loveliest little fairy dress, and so I decided to put together a tutorial to show you how to go from a simple length of crochet lace to a fairy dress :-)
Choose a pattern that would make a sweet dress, like the one above. Seven inches is about one-and-a-half times the waist measurement of the little Pocket Spirits.
Figure out how many stitches it takes to go around the waist, or where you want the dress to fit. These little dresses are short waisted, but you could make a dress with the skirt at the natural waist, or a dropped waist dress. Anyway, crochet a chain that will fit around the waist, not too tight or loose. For these dresses, made of size 8 perle cotton and a size 8 steel hook, 40 stitches was about right. Note: The chain is only used to give you an idea of how many sc stitches you need to work across the top of the lace to fit it to the doll.

Work 40 sc evenly along the top of the lace. If you end up with a few more stitches, or it seems too loose, work another row of sc and decrease a few stitches to get a nice fit.
The next row will be the armhole dividing row, and once you've got the armholes made, try the fit on your doll and see how you both like it :-)
At this point, you can embellish the dress as you like, long or short sleeves, picot edgings around the neckline, whatever!

A picture tutorial with more pictures and directions is available here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157624472023381/

Enjoy the crochet!

Fairy Wings!

2010-07-24T18:30:00.006-04:00

A new pattern to celebrate one year (and counting) for this blog! It has been a lot of fun to share these patterns with you, and chat with so many of you about dollmaking and crochet.

The Pocket Spirits needed some wings, and I don't really like to stiffen crochet cotton, so I thought I would crochet them from wire. I used this technique a couple years ago to make some wings, but never wrote down the pattern...I just sort of winged it :-)

These wings are made from 30 gauge Artistic Wire, available at http://www.artisticwire.com/
Crocheting with wire takes a little getting used to, since it is rather stiff, and your crochet piece does not have much stretch. But it will also keep it shape and makes such a neat, lacy fabric. Perfect for fairy wings.

I incorporated beads into the crochet. Beads are easy to string on wire, but also may require a little practice to get used to crocheting. This is a simple pattern of single crochet and chain stitches. The pattern for the wings is here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PocketSpiritFairyWings.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

You can also find it along the left hand sidebar under Pocket Spirits

The wings are simply pinned on the girls here. When they finally get their outfits, I will permanently attach the wings to the Spirit.

Still, they look pretty cute in their birthday suits :-)

Pocket Spirits!

2010-07-10T19:21:00.007-04:00

Hard to believe, but this blog will be one year old in ten days! I started with crochet, and am delighted to be returning to it, with a new 'twist' on the little Mini Free Spirit. This is a new pattern, and she has a movable head! Either a 12mm animal eye, or two two-hole buttons are used to make her little head fully movable. With pipe cleaners in her arms and legs, she is very posable :-)

These little dolls are crocheted with light worsted weight (or heavy sportweight) yarn, designated '3.' I used Patons Astra, which was delightful to crochet with and comes in a luscious variety of skin tones. The hair is Nashua Kid Mohair, and makes beautiful hair.

The pattern for the doll is here: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PocketSpiritDoll.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

And a photo tutorial for making the doll is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157624341290075/

Clothing for this little doll can be made from the Mini Free Spirit patterns, using size 20 crochet cotton and a size 8 hook.

I was greatly inspired by the tiny BJD's to make this doll. I love the posability of the BJD's, but I also truly love making dolls.

Enjoy the crochet!

All the girls

2010-07-02T16:03:00.009-04:00

This is Jenny and me; she is the last of five Prairie Flower dolls that I started working on back at the end of May. They are all complete, and everyone has something to wear; not all of my dolls are so lucky :-) I also have three more patterns to share, and altogether these patterns should provide a nice trousseau for your Prairie Flower.
First is Jenny's puffed sleeve A-line dress. I modified the simple A-line dress from thebleudoor with a technique from the book "Dressing Dolls," by Rosemarie Ionker. This is a terrific book for anyone who loves to make doll clothing, or enjoys drooling over well made doll clothing. The pattern for the dress is here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFPuffSleeveDress.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

This is really cute in a '30's style print. Here is a tip to get the collar to lay nice and flat along the dolls neckline; after you've completed the outfit, place it on the doll and dampen the collar lightly. Pin the front and back points of the collar to the dress, with a straight pin right into the doll, just like you would like the collar to lay. Let this dry, and the collar stays nicely in place after the pins are removed.
Next is a dress with gathered sleeves and the skirt gathered to the bodice. The bodice is done the same way as the puffed sleeve dress above. This is a really clever way of making a gathered sleeve without the tediousness of setting the sleeve in the armhole.

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFGatheredSleeveBodice.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

The bodice can be lengthened for a drop waist dress, or for a blouse, and you can play around with the fullness of the sleeve cap to alter the look.
Last is my favorite, a super simple vest that can be left plain or embellished to your hearts content.

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFSimpleVest.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Only two seams, the side seams, and you're done. You can make this vest out of felt or fleece.
Here are all the girls, wishing you a lovely day filled with creativity :-)

Kate's Sweet Soozi-Q !

2010-06-20T10:52:00.005-04:00

The wonderfully talented doll designer and doll maker, Kate Erbach, created this charming little Prairie Flower named Soozi-Q :-) I love her sweet smile and curly hair; what great yarn.

Such a sweet wardrobe too! Lovely eyelet camisole and undies, crochet flowers on a swingy dress, lovely felt boots, and a cute skirt, shirt, and felt jacket. What a lucky doll!

A year ago today...

2010-06-06T10:52:00.021-04:00

A year ago today, my paternal Grandmother passed away. She was 104.

She was born the year after the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk.

When she was 9, in 1913, her hometown of Fairmount, IN experienced the equivalent of four months of rain in three days, a Midwest flooding that destroyed a large part of Dayton, Ohio. In the picture above she is standing with her nephew, the floodwaters lapping at the steps of her home.

She was 14 when The War to End All Wars ended, in November, 1918.

She was a young mother of two girls and two boys during the depression years; she and my Grandfather traveled to Knoxville, TN looking for work during these years. Grandmother was 37 years old when America entered the Second World War.

She was a careful and frugal housewife, as the times required, and with her husband raised four children that embodied integrity and honesty, just like their parents.

She was an accomplished seamstress and needlewoman; she was also an artist, quilter, a great cook, Mother, Wife, Sister. One woman, many roles.

My Mother with Grandmother in the mid 60's. Such elegant women.

Her sewing machine, circa 1960; at the time a state-of-the-art Singer 401. I think you needed a college degree to figure out how to use all the cams that create the decorative stitches. The needlepoint stool was her work. Her needlepoint is breathtakingly beautiful.

In later years her creative passion turned to French beading, and she made the most exquisite beaded flower arrangements. These are two of my favorites.

In 1996, when she was 92. A picture from my parents 40th wedding anniversary celebration. Growing old takes a lot of courage, to know that you are the last living member of your generation. A lonely place to be; my Grandmother had courage in spades.

In 2005, at Grandmother's 101st birthday celebration. In the last few years I enjoyed giving Grandmother a doll for her birthday. Her short term memory was being hijacked, but she never lost her sense of humor, and she always knew each of us.

From the Wright Brother's first flight, to Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon. Terrible wars and a devastating economic depression, but also Women's Suffrage, the end of Polio as a childhood killer, and the Civil Rights Act. Cars, planes, computers, cell phones. A shrinking globe and a population that grew from 80 million to over 305 million in the US alone. What a century my Grandmother witnessed.

We miss you, Grandmother.

First of Five

2010-05-28T16:29:00.007-04:00

Rosey Anne, the first of five new Prairie Flower girls is finished. With their bodies all nicely stuffed, they are a blank canvas; they have the potential to be anything, just like a young child.

The first doll was inspired by Raggedy Anne, with her cute triangle nose, embroidered heart, and sweet smile. I'm hoping to find a light pink gingham to make her a pretty apron. It is almost as much fun thinking about the next doll as making it :-)

More Prairie Flower Finery

2010-05-19T11:39:00.013-04:00

The Bleu Door pattern site ( www.thebleudoor.com ) continues to be a gold mine of patterns to adapt for the Prairie Flowers. Here are a few new patterns, all of which (with the exception of the crochet sweater above) have been adapted from these patterns.

First, there is a simple nightgown from 1920. This is made of a pale pink batiste, with a sprinkling of crochet flowers around the neck, and featherstitching around the bottom. The pattern is here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFNightgown.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

The bedjacket is just a simple sweater crocheted from laceweight mohair yarn. I developed the pattern originally for Waldorf dolls, and have adapted it for mini-free spirits, and now the Prairie Flowers:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Crochet_Sweater_for_PrairieFlowers.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Next is a simple shirt and jumper combination. The shirt has 3/4 length sleeves that are not set in; the neck and sleeve edges finished with either purchased or self bias trim. The pattern is here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFBasicShirt.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

The jumper is also super easy, and from the same 1920 pattern as the shirt:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFJumper.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

These cute and simple overalls are from a 1917 pattern. I made them from an old pair of my husbands blue jeans...the straps here were a little narrow to easily make up, so on the pattern I've widened them a bit. And added a touch of embroidery to the legs. Same simple shirt with these overalls as above. The pattern is here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFOveralls.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Close up of the overall embroidery. A Prairie girl should have Prairie flowers blooming across her overalls :-)

Pansies, pinks, and peonies

2010-05-15T18:39:00.005-04:00

I strolled around the house yesterday with my camera, and took some pictures of what is blooming. 13 peony bushes, a shrub rose on steroids, and several volunteer pinks from last year, to name a few.

Peonies are wonderful; plant them (not too deep) and they take care of themselves and bloom for years and years.

Pansies always have such cheerful faces, and the yellow ones I got this year are particularly sunny :-)

Flowers always amaze me. Why a device to lure pollinators should be so wondrously beautiful to us seems to me a signature of God.

"...if eyes were made for seeing, then Beauty is its own excuse for being..." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Bleuette fashions for Prairie Flowers

2010-05-10T20:21:00.011-04:00

I'm not a very good pattern drafter when it comes to sewing doll clothing, so I asked Janie Hile at www.thebleudoor.com for permission to adapt some of the wonderful original Bleuette patterns for the Prairie Flowers, and she kindly said yes.

The adapted patterns for the apron and jacket above are here:

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFApron1.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFjacket.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

The jacket pattern is from 1913, and the apron pattern from 1909.

Here are the two basic A-line dresses:

Both of these patterns are from 1912. I've made them simpler than the original, with little embellishment. But that is the neat thing about a simple pattern, some lace and ric-rac, or contrasting fabric panels can change the look entirely.

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFLong%26ShortSleeveBasicDress.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

I also dearly love dainty underwear for dolls, so here are a couple of patterns called 'combinations,' which are just what the name implies - a combination of chemise and pantaloon. The one on the left is a 1918 pattern; the one on the right is from 1916.

Made up in lightweight batiste, with perhaps a touch of embroidery, and they are lovely underwear. In a cotton calico, they could be rompers or overalls.

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFCombinationsPattern.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

And lastly, some simple underwear; panties that can be worn under the dresses, and a dainty camisole.

http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PFUnderwearCamisole.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Thank-you, Janie, for providing such a wonderful, and historic, pattern site, and for letting me use the patterns for the Prairie Flower dolls. Some styles are simply timeless, just like the love of dolls :-)

We're back in business

2010-05-09T12:49:00.004-04:00

So I'm learning the hard way that not all document readers are created equal :-) Of course, for crochet patterns it is not an issue, but with a sewing pattern it is quite important that what you print out is scaled properly.

To that end, the Prairie Flowers doll pattern is back on the site with these recommendations when printing out the pattern:

First, use Adobe's Acrobat Reader (free) to view and print the patterns. If you do not have this reader, you can get it here (you will need to know the operating system you are using on your computer):

http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

And next, when you get ready to print the pattern, on the Print page you must set the "Page Scaling" (about the middle of the page) to NONE. This will allow the pattern to be printed out just as I drew it. If this is not the default, change it to NONE, otherwise you will get a small, blank border around the pattern that will change the scaling of the pattern pieces.

I hope this hasn't screwed anyone up. I'm getting ready to test this on both Windows and Mac operating systems (I use Linux, which I doubt many of you are using). I don't expect there to be any problems, but you never know with computers...

Back to the drawing board

2010-05-09T11:17:00.002-04:00

This will be a quick post. When I created the PDF file for the Prairie Flowers cloth doll pattern, the pattern became distorted. I only found this out as I was creating the clothing patterns. Not sure if this is occurring when I export the file to PDF, or when I print it out with my document viewer.

At any rate, I've removed the pattern from the site for now in order to get it 'right.' If you have copied it already, I would not use the pattern and wait until I have the corrected pattern up and available. It won't take long...the pattern is fine until it gets turned into a PDF, so if nothing else I will make it available as a Word document.

I'm so sorry if any of you have already started making the doll. The pattern would still make a cute doll, she just wouldn't be quite the right size for her clothes :-(

Prairie Flowers, an original cloth doll

2010-04-27T20:46:00.012-04:00

Last spring I designed a cloth doll I called Prairie Flowers. She is a simple cloth doll, 11 1/2 inches tall, made from 100% woven cotton material. Above is Lillian, one of the dolls I made a year ago.

I've come back to these cloth dolls, to make the pattern available, and to see what kind of different looks can be achieved with this cloth doll pattern.

The pattern for the doll is located here: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/PrairieFlowersDoll.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

A picture tutorial for making the doll is located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157623903215816/

The pattern for the doll is a 'template' that is traced onto freezer paper (available here: http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html, near the bottom of the page). Trace the pattern to the non-shiny side of the freezer paper, cut out, and iron the pattern to the fabric. The edge of the template is the sewing line, so make sure to leave plenty of space between pattern pieces for the seam allowance.

After the pattern pieces have been sewn and turned, stuff the pieces with your favorite stuffing material. I've mentioned this before, but the best way to stuff a cloth doll is to lightly dampen the pieces with a mist of water. Work the material in your hands after it is dampened, and stuff the body firmly. Dampening the material will help to eliminate wrinkles when you stuff.

It is also VERY important to pay attention to the stretch of your fabric, and how you lay the pattern pieces on the material. These two bodies were made from the same pattern piece; but one was laid on the fabric with the stretch along the length of the body, and the other with the stretch running from side to side. The pattern pieces are marked how they should be placed. Before ironing them on, stretch your material along the grain and across it to determine which way the maximum stretch runs.

After all the parts are nicely stuffed, it is time to make the face, and perhaps add a touch of embroidery to the neckline of the doll. The tutorial shows a way to make the faces you see here; they are a combination of paint (for the iris and pupil of the eye), embroidery (mouth, nose, eyebrows, and iris), and crayon, to blush the cheeks. It is easier to do this and the embroidery before the limbs are attached to the doll.

Two new Prairie Flowers :-) I called them this because of the flowers embroidered around the neckline.

An Awesome Opportunity

2010-04-17T21:13:00.005-04:00

My family and I had the awesome opportunity to hear Kevin Ford, pilot of STS-128, talk about his adventure aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

Their mission launched last August, 2009 to the International Space Station and took 15,000 lbs of supplies, experiments, and equipment, and performed three space walks. They also took Nicole Stott to the ISS as a space station crewmember, and returned Tim Kopra.

Kevin was informative, funny, and gracious. It was terrific.

Thanks to my brother-in-law Roger for the pictures. I'm the wannabe with the braid :-)

Adorable Annies by De Powell

2010-04-03T14:48:00.015-04:00

A friend on the 'Friends of Cloth Dolls' message board shared a link to these adorable Annie patterns a few months ago. In addition to crocheting, I also love to make cloth dolls, and De Powells Annies have snagged my heart. I've been working on the pattern 'Goody, Goody, Gumdrop,' which makes two Annies, a 10" and a 12".

Here are the body pieces for the 10" and 12" doll all stuffed and closed up. A great tip for stuffing a doll like this nice and smooth, with no wrinkles, is to spray the cloth with water from a simple spray bottle, before stuffing. Work the misted water into the fiber of the cloth, especially around the neck and head, then stuff. Keep the body slightly damp (not soaked), and stuff hard. You'll be amazed at how much better your stuffed doll body will look. Gail Wilson shared this tip on her website.

Here are the girls with their painted and embroidered faces, and all the limbs assembled :-)

And here we have very simple wigs. De uses a very simple wigging technique. If you want more hair coverage on the back of the head, you can just make a crochet chain a few chains long and hook your hair strands into this. Stitch it down to the back of the head and pull up the ponytails. Either way is very cute.

With bows in our hair, and our pretty matching bloomers. The clothing patterns for these dolls are very simple, but work up very nice.

And here are the completed dolls, all ready to warm the heart of a child, regardless of her age :-)

A change of pace

2010-03-29T20:07:00.009-04:00

I had the good fortune to be able to take a dollmaking class from Gail Wilson a couple of weeks ago. The doll we made was a cloth bodied doll with papier mache head, arms, and legs, inspired by Jane Austen. The papier mache pieces were poured and cast by Gail. We students got to paint the papier mache pieces, including the face detailing, and assemble and dress the doll.

Oh yes, there was also a wonderful wide brimmed bonnet that Gail showed us how to make from needlepoint canvas. Truly creative and the perfect touch for Jane.

It was a wonderful class. We worked from 10:oo am until 5:3opm, with a break for a delicious lunch served at the class. By the end of the day I think all of us had painted a lovely doll. Assembly was left as an excersize for the student at home :-) The bodies had been pre-sewn, so all that needed to be done was stuff the body and attach the head plate, arms and legs.

Instead of sewing for my doll, I decided to crochet her a sweet set of underwear and camisole, and a Regency gown, and trim her bonnet with crochet lace.

Here is Jane in her crochet underwear. I almost hate to put a dress over it all :-)

Closeup of Jane's crochet trimmed bonnet and crochet camisole. You may recognize the style of the camisole, I love the way the side-to-side crochet fits the body, especially when worked in the back loops only.

And finally, Jane in her Regency gown. It took a little while to crochet this, using size 20 crochet cotton and a size 8 steel hook. It amazes me that with Gail's guidance a person who is paint-brush challenged (like me) can produce a very credible painted doll. Gail has a way of inspiring confidence in the most timid :-) She is a natural teacher and a wonderfully gifted dollmaker. It was a great class.

To find out all of the neat things that Gail is up to, visit her web site at:

https://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/index.html

A quick post

2010-03-22T22:47:00.003-04:00

Someone asked how much yarn it takes to make one of the Free Spirit dolls, both the original 12 inch doll and the seven inch Mini.

I can get at least two of the larger dolls out of a 3 oz skein of worsted weight yarn, and three mini's out of the same.

Hope this information is helpful, and enjoy the crochet :-)

My BJD Doppleganger

2010-03-19T21:59:00.008-04:00

I don't know how many of you have been bitten by the ABJD (Asian Ball Jointed doll) bug, but I have. These dolls are made of resin, and have joints in the ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbow, shoulder, and neck. They are amazingly pose-able, and the joints also make them surprisingly easy to dress.

The lovely BJD above is 16 cm (6.3 inches) tall, which is shorter than the Mini Free Spirit. Since what I really love doing is making dolls, I wanted to make a doll about the same size; at least, the same body dimensions as the BJD (her name is Sidney, by the way). The crochet doll next to Sidney is a Little Mini (her name is Violet); she was crocheted with sportweight yarn (Patons Astra) and a size C crochet hook. She's a little taller than Sidney, but her torso, legs, and arms are closely the same size.

This is Sidney in her lacy Camisole and Pantaloons. They were made from the Mini Free Spirit pattern, but I used a finer thread, (size 20 crochet cotton, instead of size 10), and a smaller hook (size 8 steel hook)

This is Sidney's crochet doppleganger, Violet, wearing the same Camisole and Pantaloons. So, Little Mini can wear clothing made from the Mini Free Spirit pattern using the finer thread and smaller hook. I also love her elf ears :-)

A trousseau of clothing made for Sidney, and shared with Violet.

Mini Nature Spirits

2010-03-06T13:16:00.008-05:00

I was playing around on Wikipedia the other day, and came across this entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures

It is a list of names of legendary creatures, from all different cultures; Asian, American Indian, European, you get the idea. It also gave me the idea to use the Mini Free Spirit pattern as a base for a collection of Nature Spirits, or in this case, Mini Nature Spirits :-)

Some of the modifications are very simple, like changing the ears to Elf ears or using a different shape and color for the eye surround, like these two. In warm colors is the Fire Spirit, Phoenix, from the Phoenician firebird, and in green is the Tree Spirit Canotila, from the Lakota (American Indian). I also love the effect of beads, so these two have beaded faces and beading on their clothing.

Other modifications take a little longer. These are not hard, but they are a bit more involved. Meet Melusine the Mermaid (from Medieval England) and Adhene the Centaur (from the Island of Man). In both of these cases, the Mini Free Spirit body was crocheted without the legs, and the Mermaid tail or Centaur body crocheted separately and then sewn or crocheted to the body.

I have created a pattern that has these modifications to the mini Free Spirit pattern as a series of separate changes, so you might want to use the Centaur ears and make a Cat person, or use Elf ears for a Mermaid and so on. The pattern is here, and also on the left sidebar of the blog page under the Mini Free Spirit patterns:

Mini Nature Spirits Pattern: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/MiniNatureSpirits.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

This PDF has more pictures in it, so it is a bit larger than most.

Enjoy the crochet!

From my Archives

2010-02-27T11:01:00.003-05:00

This is a pattern I designed back in 2008, and made many dolls from. In fact, my flickr Avatar is a doll from this pattern. Anyway, one of my flickr friends wanted to make this doll, with cat ears, for her grandkids and their friends, so I'm putting the pattern up here for her and anyone else who is interested. It has been a while since I've made a doll from this pattern, so the pattern may not be perfect. It does include instructions for Human, Cat, and Bear ears, and there are some pictures on my flickr site of dolls made up with these.

Like most Amigurumi, this doll is very simple to make, consisting of single crochet in worsted weight yarn. The pattern calls for 'soft' yarns, but any worsted acrylic will work. My problem with most 'soft' yarns is that they split and can be a pain to crochet. These dolls are about 10 inches tall, I think. Unfortunately I don't have any of them anymore; they have all found homes :-)

One of the nice things is that the clothing patterns are also made from worsted yarn, so they make up fast, and they are simple.

Here are the links to the patterns, which can also be found on the left sidebar under Basic Amigurumi Doll:

Basic Doll: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Basic Aran Sweater: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll_AranSweater.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Basic Jeans: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll_Jeans.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Basic Skirt: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll_Skirt.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Basic Cardigan Sweater: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll_Sweater.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Basic Tank Top: http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/Basic_Crochet_Doll_Tank_Top.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Becky, I hope you enjoy making the dolls :-)

The Little Gardener

2010-02-16T14:15:00.006-05:00

If the flowers aren't blooming outside, you can always crochet yourself a garden that will never wilt :-)

My sister is a terrific gardener, so for her birthday this year I've made her a gardening mascot. The flowers crocheted here are many of our favorite spring blooming flowers: columbine, narcissus, pansies, and roses. The grassy carpet is a circle crocheted of worsted yarn and eyelash yarn together. I used the eyelash yarn in every other round.

The lovely flowers are from the book 'Crochet Bouquet' which was published in 2008. I was able to borrow it from our local library, but I think I'm going to have to purchase this one! It has some of the best flower patterns I've ever seen. This is the first crochet columbine that actually looks like the real thing :-) Some of the flowers are funky, some are fun, and some (like these) downright realistic. A great book.

Adapting patterns for Free Spirit

2010-02-09T13:26:00.004-05:00

I am having a great time adapting patterns for Free Spirit. She is 11 to 12 inches tall, and turns out to be a good size for many of the patterns designed for the Fibre Craft 13 inch and 15 inch dolls. The great thing about crochet is that you can fit as you go, so if you need to remove a row or two in the bodice, or nip the waist in a couple stitches, it is very easy to do this as you are crocheting.

For the outfit above, in addition to using a size E hook and Red Heart Soft worsted yarn, I took in four stitches at the waistline, and removed two rows from the skirt. Sleeves and neck did not need to be altered. It fits Minerva very nicely :-) This was a pattern designed for the 13 inch Fibre Craft doll.

For this American Indian costume, I removed two rows from the bodice, and two rows from the skirt. I used a size E hook and Caron Simply Soft. This costume was designed for the 15 inch Fibre Craft doll. So what I notice is, the 13 inch doll bodice needs to be reduced in the waist, and the 15 inch doll bodice needs to be shortened slightly.

I crocheted these outfits very tightly; the gauge was six sc to one inch. I think they could be made in sport weight and a slighly looser grip on the hook with the same alterations.

Free patterns are available, and there are also out-of-print patterns available from Amazon, and from this site:

http://www.treasuredheirloomscrochet.com/index.html

Enjoy the crochet!