A tiny teddy

It's lovely to be able to make things, especially when they have been so politely requested and you know very much longed for.

A young lady's birthday is coming up and a request for a tiny, pink teddy please was made.

I have a month left so (hopefully) I won't be sewing his nose on at midnight the night before, but the children finish for summer holidays today so I will have to hide my sewing from inquisitive eyes!

A Jennifer Murphy Maxwell bear pattern and fabric was ordered and he is turning out to be very cute!

The Dolls Dressmaker

Sleeves!

Mostly I like to make my dresses to my own timetable, so many things can interfere and I dread letting people down so generally I don't take custom orders but when a very nice lady politely enquired if it was possible I could make my dress but with sleeves I thought I might just give it a go!

I have been thinking about sleeves for a while so this was the perfect opportunity to dive in.

It wasn't as complicated as I thought but the resulting dress only fits a Miss Corolle doll (36cm/14in) or very similar, unlike my sleeveless dresses that fit a wider range of dolls.

I like them, what do you think?

The Dolls Dressmaker

Bags

I have been a regular follower of Flossie Teacakes for some time now.  I ordered one of her handmade bags many years ago (it's still going strong!) and we have most of the Squeebles apps too.

As mentioned in my previous post I am having a bit of a love affair with some Liberty Betsy Ann fabric and decided this pattern from Flossie teacakes would do my fabric justice!

I used some Oakshot in purple for the lining and I think it came out delightfully!

I've also made a little lavender bag as once again I forgot when ordering lavender by weight that lavender is quite light actually......

I have to say I loved this pattern, it is so easy to make and once I had mastered it, it took less than two hours to make a bag from start to finish.  Needless to say everyone will be getting one of these bags for their birthdays this year!

The Dolls Dressmaker

Liberty Betsy Ann

Oh I LOVE this fabric, it is truly lovely.

First spotted on the Liberty website with a tutorial on how to make a hot water bottle cover.  It just so happened that I had two naked hot water bottles and I thought it was perfect timing.

Liberty Betsy Ann in front with Liberty Tatum at the back

Completely inspired or just totally copying I ordered the exact same fabric as the lovely Chloe from Stone Cold Comfort used.  I was so pleased I did, not only do I now have a stunning and immensely useful hot water bottle but also a little bit of fabric left over which of course didn't stay unused for long.

So I now have two fully covered hot water bottles and quite a few make-up bags (more on those to follow) and a few lavender bags.

I am also intending on making a dolls dress with this fabric but am stuck on embellishments so it lies in a drawer waiting for the muse to strike!

The Dolls Dressmaker

Christmas Makes

It's not too late to talk about Christmas makes now is it? Ok yes, it is, so we shall just say "christmas" quietly!

A couple of makes for my little girl and I must say that this year it was mostly rabbits.

First of all was a "Belle and Boo" rabbit, which wasn't too complicated, I used 100% wool felt rather than try and felt a jumper as the book suggests.  I also thought that he needed a scarf as it was quite cold when he was made!

Next up is a tiny pink rabbit from Gingermelon's Bunnycup and Tedward pattern.

Bunnycup came with her own suitcase home which was handy as she ended up with quite a lot of stuff!

A nice cup of dandelion tea, some carrots and of course a nice bun!

I already have a polite request for another make, this time not a bunny but he is pink! 

The Dolls Dressmaker

A hiccup

After a few little technical difficulties I am back on my blog!

So many crafty things to show you but need some decent light to take semi-decent photos.

Lots of Christmas crafts still to show and some post-Christmas makes just for me!  Oh and of course lots (although not as many as I would like!) dresses to show you all!

I am in the process of updating my shop but it is taking longer than I would like, however a couple of sales this week have given me some much needed motivation, so onwards and upwards and I will leave you with a picture of a dolls bag I have made and am rather pleased with!

The Dolls Dressmaker

Tiny Steps

So 2013 has been a year of change, most notably we moved house!  Which, as many of you will know, is both a wonderful and ridiculously stressful thing to do!

When we last moved, 16 years ago, we were just two people, a lot younger (by about 16 years I think ...) and more accepting of imperfections but now I suppose I know how I want my life to run (ha) and have a vague idea of how I want my house to look...

Today one of the big things (to me) was ticked off the list!  yea

A mantle!  Just in time to hang stockings too!

Of course now there is just a little tiny bit of wallpapering to do and then total perfection!  Hmm that's not happening any time soon!

But I am enormously grateful that I have somewhere to display a little bit of Christmas candle goodness.

Onwards and upwards!

The Dolls Dressmaker