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Monday, October 12, 2015

Dressing the Girls Up for Halloween

Marietta as the Good Witch
Cape and Hat:  Fun Threads Designs.  I sewed two buttons on where I attached the ribbon.  I made the hat out of felt.
T-shirt and buckle boots:  Amazon seller, American Fashion World 
Tights:  Etsy Shop, Sew Fun Doll Clothes
She is pretty complete except for t-shirt embellishment and/or jewelry.  Her broom is a cake tester from Berea College Crafts in Kentucky. 

Elizabeth as Princess Leia
DressI traced her body and added ease.  The fabric is single knit from stash.  I cut a hole for her head and added a folded strip for the turtle neck, then hemmed the raw edges.  The belt was cut down from a thrift-ed sparkly belt.  This doll has some body shape problems so I added two cotton balls for a bust and some shoulder pads. I also repainted her lips. She came with white boots so those worked out fine.    Her hair can still use a little work.  

Kate "Izzy" as Hermione Granger

Izzy had some major problems when I got her.  Her hat was glued to her head and her right arm was partially amputated.  She was sent to a doll hospital, but the doc didn't feel I should put a lot of money into her repair as she was not a "good" doll.  (sad face)  Anyway she did get most of the glue out of her hair and re-attached her arm.  I watched numerous videos on how to recondition dolls hair and ended up using Downy and detangler to clean her hair.  It has a much better texture now.  I will have to watch more videos on how to curl it.  For now it looks glorious for her Hermione Granger costume.  I repainted her lips as well. Her wand is a shawl pin from The Constant Knitter

Hat:  Fun Threads Designs. I downsized the hat a bit since Izzy has an 11 inch head and Marietta has a 12 inch head.  I used felt again.  
Scarf:  My own design.  Yellow Rowan Pure Wool, Red Knitaly.  16 stitches knit in the round.  Turkish CO, double needle bind-off.  Fringed.  Stripes are 8 rows.  
Robe:  Wonderful free pattern by MyAGDollCraft .  Izzy (shhh) has a big head and her body is rather tiny.  I cut the pattern along the sew lines and it just happened to be perfect.  
Skirt:  Just winged this.  I found a nice plaid grey flannel shirt at the thrift store and cut the longest strip possible.  I hemmed one long side, then used the lines of the plaid to make pleats.  I measured the finished length and subtracted the waist portion and added seam allowances and hems. The waist portion was doubled and seam allowances added.  I folded it and half and thread some elastic through.  I cut off whatever I didn't need from the pleated sections and sewed up the back seam.
Vest:  This came out way too big, so lucky thing the scarf covers the neck.  I'm thinking about knitting her a sweater and sewing a collared blouse.  Sounds pretty fiddley too me.  
Stockings:  I used this video to make a pattern
Only had some knit in black to try them out and my machine did not want to hem it well.  They fit pretty well imo.  
Shoes:  I have no idea what size shoes this girl takes.  My first attempt at shoes was way too large.  I used a pattern from The Doll's Dressmaker, by Venus Dodge.  I'm going to try another size.

I had a lot of fun working on these costumes.  While my friends are all in the grand child mode, it looks to me my future does not hold grandchildren.  I'm hoping my nieces'  younger daughter will one day adopt Marietta, but who knows.  Kids you know have minds of their own!  Kate and Elizabeth had some body image problems and scare little ones.  

I miss sewing garments on my old Bernina.  I wish Bernina still supported my 1530.  The Janome is much better with free-motion quilting but it doesn't like to sew over bumps (like seams) and is horrible on narrow seams and starting up.  I am just too lazy some times to start over a bit of fabric or finding the stabilizer, sigh. 




Thursday, October 01, 2015

FOS

Most of my Ireland pictures are up.  Lots of flowers!  There were so many varieties!  The scenery was outstanding as well.  My pictures just don't do justice to the beauty.  Ireland Flickr Album

I also have a few pictures of my brief stay in Atlanta, GA with the fabulous Knitted Brow.  We did drum-carding, soap and a trip to the AtBot  Mr. Cricket the handsome poodle treated me well after a brief re-introduction.


So on to the FOs

Oaken Poncho
Pattern:  Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas
Yarn:  Bugga! by The Verdant Gryphon.  Colorway:  Oaken Timberworm.  Lovely, lovely cushy yarn!  I used two skeins with just a tiny bit left, and not enough for the cowl
Needles:  size 6
Mods:  none
Comments.  The two skeins did not match so I planned the brighter one for the front.  The seam joins the two different skeins and sits on top on one shoulder.  Not a problem!  This is very comfy to wear.  This was the perfect knit for those long stretches on the the bus in Ireland.  So mindless it did not interfere with sight seeing out the window!



Chamblee Bliss






Kim checked out a drum carder and we mixed up a bunch of batts.  Fiber content is chop suey.  Mostly wool, tiny amount of angelina and some silk.    This was the first time for me spinning batts.  They are a pleasure!  I did the singles on Edward, my Bosworth midi, and plied them on Serenity, my Majacraft Rose.    I ended up with 1.3 oz. of worsted 3 ply, and 0.2 oz of a two ply.  Not sure what it will be.

While I was having fun with the drum-carder, Kim made soap.  She sent me home with 9 bars of glorious soap, which is still curing, but smells heavenly.

And just another Shoulder Cozy, or was it two.  One in Noro Aya/Cascade lace and one in Noro Taiyo/Cascade lace, in very similar colorways.