Just a little twirly skirt and a pained expression

I made this skirt a little while ago using this. Her twirling skills are still in development, but the skirt is good to go. 

Black Apple Doll

I've made a few of these dollies, but this little lass is my favourite. I made her this weekend for a 4 year old girl in my mum's group as a christmas present. I struggled over dolly's face for a while and got a bit grumpy when she looked like a creepy Bratz doll, but I think she turned out quite sweet in the end. I hope she is well received. I might throw in a bright pink (child sized) tutu to cover my bases as the gift recipient is partial to bright pink. I was especially inspired by this post in making this dolly. Emily's dolls have an x-factor that I could never hope to replicate. 

Making doll clothes is so much more fun than I ever thought it would be. A fun way to practice "designing clothes" without using much fabric, and the way it fits is not all that critical. Try it. You'll like it. 

A little mexican

Well, I finally finished the mexican dress. I think it's finished anyway. I had intended on doing some more embroidery on the skirt, but the way the pleats ended up, I wasn't sure how it would look. I quite like the simplicity of the current design, but who knows what might happen if I start to feel stitchy.

I'm quite happy with how this turned out, especially considering some of the problems I had during construction!

For some mexican dress inspiration, look here! That's what got me going in the first place.

Ads as inspiration

The ad was a Heinz baby food ad- a photoshopped picture of a girl riding a toy dinosaur figurine. I thought is was cute so I painted a picture of it. I quite like the look of water colours but I find them quite difficult to use- there is less room for error I find. 

Library Day

Every 3 weeks or so Thursday is library day. Since Caleb has just been getting into drawing, I picked up Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Trucks and Trains. It's a little old for him, but if we both draw together I can guide him through. The train track and the colouring in are all his however. 

I have some arty plans of my own. A little painting based on a sketch I did a long time ago. The little girl figure is somewhat inspired by Jemima and her short hair with little curls springing out from behind her ears (aka "flaps" in my family). Also at the time she also had 2 teeth. Now she has 6.5. How time flies.

Made by Norma

There is a beautiful lady at my church who has been generously showering my children with handmade gifts and second hand treasures for the last couple of years. Knitted cardigans haven't always been my style, but my tastes are changing, especially as I am learning about the time, effort, cost and love that go into handmade clothes. So much better than Best and Less really.

Norma used to sew and gave me this pattern which I must sew up quickly as it goes up to 18 months. She has assured me that the sizing on these patterns is always big. Hope so, because I am quite keen on the pinnies- and call me crazy, but I am liking the little bubble romper too.

An afternoon's labour

Apologies for any head tilting required to comfortably view this photo. Blogger and I are having a little fight. Never mind.

I finished the construction of the mexican dress on Friday night. And now the fun part is underway. In regards to the dress's construction- the pattern is very easy to follow, though I did a few things differently to what was suggested (just little things like finishing the seams as I went).

The most frustrating thing was that the pattern is for an adult and *should* be reasonably easy to resize as it is based on body measurements. The only parts that weren't I made far too big... like the neck, hence the "tucks" in the neckline which are front and back, and the sleeves which were originally very wing like. I don't consciously think that my one year old has a thick neck, or arms but I keep overcompensating.

The past 2 afternoons have been spent embroidering away which I quite enjoy. There is a lot of value in a portable project. Especially one you can do while watching Australian Idol which I intend to do tonight. I haven't done a lot of embroidery, and perhaps should have done some practice before I started sewing onto my dress, but I was excited to get going, and I am happy enough. Fortunately I am not too much a perfectionist as I don't think I would enjoy crafting as much as I have been if I was.

I have a fair bit more I want to do with this little number, but wanted to put an update "out there".

PS I think I am a little crazy making this in white. But for the 20 minutes she looks all fresh and lovely, before she turns into a grublet, will be totally worth it.