China dolls

When I was a little girl I played with these dolls. I probably played with them more than any other toy that I ever owned. They're a bit grubby at the moment. They could use a good face washing.

I have put the Ottilia dress aside and have gone into high gear making doll clothes. Way too many doll clothes, probably. I seem to be making them all at once too. Usually I work on one project until it's done. Right now I am in the middle of 3 dresses, one skirt, two pairs of bloomers, a shirt and a couple of underskirts. Since the direction and patterns for the doll clothes are pretty minimal ( I have the pattern for a shirt front, pantaloons and sleeves only) my experiences in the past year are standing me in good stead. 

I'll post more about it as I sew along.

Monkey-Style Crafting

One of my teachers used to watch me as I embarked on yet another new enthusiasm and then he would say "you see, that is the monkey, they pick a peach and take a bite, then they see another peach and grab it and let the first peach drop." Not entirely complimentary, but, on the whole, a very accurate description of me and my enthusiasms.

This is a record of my passing crafting passions. I have quite a back-log of them so I should be able to stay quite busy posting about crafts past and future.

I think I'll start with the Waldorf dolls that I made for my daughters last winter solstice. These became quite an obsession for a while. They are now VERY well dressed. My eldest took hers out for a walk in the stroller and the dolls feet dragged on the wet pavement for blocks, which quickly wore away the toes. Now she has some lovely black linen slippers in place of her feet.

Part of my crafting inadequacy is my lack of interest in measuring very accurately, as you'll notice, some of the clothing isn't quite the right size. I eye-ball stuff a little too frequently.

The green knit dress was actually made for my first daughter before she was born. I never put on any fasteners so she never wore it. It makes a lovely doll dress. The green knit hat was made for my second daughter. She did wear it once or twice. Not more than that. But it makes a lovely doll hat.