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1920s girls fashion

I’ve been wanting to make flapper dolls with bobs and so went looking for some inspiration. I love 20s fashions so much. The dropped waists and simple lines but then with all the ornate details. Definitely hard to recreate as doll clothes but I continue to be fascinated.

I was so focused on the clothes that I didn’t get pictures of the full descriptions and that’s bumming me out. Finished at the neck with a smart ??? little bow?

Could I sew on this many tiny buttons? Probably not but maybe 3 buttoned straps would do the trick.

These booties would be much easier to tackle.

I love the bobs and how great are the little bows and headbands.

And lastly, this tiny little bow front and center. Cute!

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a doll for Penny

I made this doll from the Kit, Chloe and Louise pattern, to go to a little blond friend of ours. Our friend Penny is a super talented and creative girl and I was so pleased when her mom said she was loving the toys I’ve been making because I’d already had this one in mind for her. Never too old for dolls!

Her outfits were all made from recycled baby/kids clothes. I am definitely still loving this process, although it’s not always as quick and easy as I imagine it will be. I’ve probably had as many failures as successes but I learn a helpful trick each time. Once I have it nailed down I’ll post some tutorials. Basically I just use the pattern pieces from the clothing in the pattern and start cutting trying to keep as many finished hems and cute details as possible. If my Bernina was up and running I think these would be a breeze but as it is I’m having lots of machine-eating-knits delays. It’s worth it though because it’s so nice to have soft, cozy outfits for these soft, cozy dolls.

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Miss Fox sewing pattern in the shop!

Miss Fox sewing pattern is available in the shop, in time for holiday making! This is the first year in many that I’ve intended to add a new pattern to the shop and actually been able to pull it off. And this little fox has sat in my sketch book forEVER so it’s very pleasing to get her out and into the world. I was so excited to get her done and out that I couldn’t take the time to find the perfectly cute name for her, so she’s just Miss Fox. We’ll leave it up to the future recipients of Miss Foxes to come up with their cute names. Please share them with me if you think of it, I love to see all the toys y’all make!

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little sweater and likes

I made a little sweater for a new KCL doll yesterday. The sweater turned out really well. I know the key to knitting for dolls is to use finer gauge yarn but I always try to short cut it. Here I didn’t and I used Sidar Snuggly Spots DK and it was perfect. The pattern I used was a free one I found on ravelry, Huckleberry Friend, for an 18″ doll. I shortened the yoke by 4 rows and the sleeves by some (not sure, I eyeballed it) and it fits perfectly.

I posted this pic last night on instagram, after it’d gotten dark, and then my phone died for the day. Woke up this morning to the most likes I’ve ever received! So fun! I am definitely energized by the feedback. It reminds me of when I started blogging and was very driven to finish new projects to share with everyone. Of course back then everything was so new that it was very exciting… oh my gosh have you seen japanese craft books?! holy cow, did you see this new site etsy?!!  But even with everything under the sun having been done before (as it always has but now the internet just knows about it) I am super happy connecting with my people again. Of course nothing is ever as black and white/on and off as this, but I do feel in general that I’ve spent the last 5 years or so connecting with my brick & mortar community, growing roots in my town, our schools, my neighborhood, and now I’m rediscovering my internet community again. Checking in with old friends, enjoying the largess that is the internet instead of being stressed out by it, and again geeking out over crafts with you all! Fun fun! And I love the blog even more because no one reads blogs anymore! haha. Now it’s just us, and I can totally be myself.

While I was having concentration issues with my knitting yesterday I hit the thrift store and now I have another stack of must-do sewing. These woolens I think will fit in perfectly with a blanket/quilt scheme I’m hatching.

And I bought another pile of baby clothes to make into doll clothes. I have high hopes for these. The first top I cut into I totally botched, but I’m refocused now. I really want to make a slew of outfits quickly and I think this is a genius solution. I’m off to see if I’m as smart as I think I am…

 

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Monday to-do’s

I mixed two yarns for this girl’s hair and I LOVE how it turned out. I have two more Kit, Chloe and Louise dolls ready for hair but now I need to hit the yarn store first and see if I can find cute yarn to go with these colors I’d picked out.

I made a sparkly deer. Oh, I love her. She’s so cute and just how I was picturing her. I made her from a tiny glittery tweed J.Crew miniskirt I found at the thrift store. She’s a tiny bit on the backburner because she’s got more of a holiday vibe going and I have more Fall coziness themed stuff that I want to get done. Like a woodland elf I just started. And I was going to try a chipmunk friend for miss mouse.

For those waiting for the fox pattern, things are looking good! I think she’ll be done much sooner than I thought.

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all dressed up

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Ours was soggy and rainy, per Chicago regulation. Honestly I don't even mind. I can't imagine how much candy the kids would bring in if crappy weather wasn't slowing them down! Phoebe was a goth fairy, most excited about the make up, and Oscar was scary pumpkin mask bought at last minute. It was definitely a last minute holiday for us (except Phoebe who was ready weeks ago), pumpkins bought at 4:59 before place closed at 5, candy bought day of, Tim was finishing up pumpkins as trick or treaters were coming to the door. But we pulled it out and fun was had by all!

Everyone on facebook is joking… now today, it's Christmas.. haha. What haha? YOU BET IT IS! Especially for us holiday makers. Today I start my who's getting what handmade gifts list, and get to work!