'She's Leaving Home'...

This is the first doll I have made for someone else. This doll is made for my 5 year old god daughter, Meeya.

She requested blonde hair and blue eyes and the clothes are mainly designed with a 5 year old in mind. The doll doesn't have a name yet, that is up to Meeya to decide.

Please say hello (and goodbye) to Meeya's blonde haired doll!



The pink dress is my own design, the blue and purple jacket is a modified pattern from AK Traditions and the shoes are a modified pattern from Fiona McDonald's 'Babes in the Wool' book.



The white nightie and slippers are designed by me, the robe is a slightly modified pattern from AK Traditions.

The purple pants, pink sneakers and pink scarf are designed by me. The hat is from the 'Babes in the Wool' book and the sweater is a slightly modified pattern from the same book.



The mini dress is from the 'Babes in the Wool' book, the shoes are my own pattern.



I decided to make a duplicate doll so that it wasn't so hard to let this one go... so there will be another blonde haired doll coming up soon (albeit with a completely different wardrobe). I'm also working on a gypsy, bohemian style doll plus another boy doll (the ladies need some more men!). As usual I am doing all of these projects at the same time, plus an extensive clothing collection so I have no idea which one will get posted first!

Until next time...

'La Vie en Rose'...

Meet 'Six'... I called her that because she is the sixth doll I have made and the name 'Six' kind of stuck while I was making her. Maybe I will rename her at a later date when her personality starts to come through a bit more.

The idea was to make a glamourous doll with a ball gown type outfit. I was inspired by the yarn I used for her hair and the deep red colour. I spend a great deal of time in yarn shops hunting out yarn that would make fantastic hair and it's usually the hair that inspires the rest of the doll.

As with all of my dolls, I have made her a few outfits to choose from. All of the wardrobe pieces are designed by me except for the pink shoes, which are a modified version of Fiona' McDonald's doll shoes from her 'Babes in the Wool' book.



 

Jack Sparrow has taken a liking to Six... (Six has borrowed a dress from Jemima's wardrobe).

They spent Six's first day with the gang hanging out together.

I have so many doll projects at the moment. I have definitely been inspired this winter! I'll have more to show you in a few days....



'A Little Less Conversation (a Little More Action)'...

I am procrastinating so much over my finishing my Jack Sparrow doll. I now have another new doll amost finished and a bunch more outfits and I still haven't finished off the tiny teeny weeny bit of sewing up I have to do to finish off Jack... so bad!

Over the past few months when I should have been finishing his original outfit... I have managed to make Jack a Santa Outfit and a new suit so he could hang out with the ladies...

At least I can say he is versatile!


Jack's original outfit is at this stage...

So so close... and yet so far...

All I have to do is sew up his sword belt, sew sleeves on his jacket and do a tiny bit of embroidery and he's done. You would think I'd be able to do that over Easter yes?


... I'll give it my best shot... HAHA!

'He's My Blonde Headed Stompie-Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy'...

This doll is all about the yarn I used for the hair. It was calling out to me to be made into surfer style curls. So poor Jack Sparrow and Stella's gypsy outfit got put on the backburner again...

I wanted to make a surfer doll with blonde curls, sparkly blue eyes and a cool casual wardrobe. I loved making the clothes for this doll so much that he ended up being extremely well dressed! This was an easy project for me and came together quite quickly (no procrastination in sight!). I love his cute goatee beard and facial expression.

Meet Surfer Dan...

Dan is a bit of a ladies man. Stella, Ren and Jemima just love hanging out with him. Who could resist his cute blonde locks?



Dan has done pretty well in the clothes department. Here is a peak at his extensive wardrobe...


(All clothes for this doll are designed by me except for the hat which is taken directly from Fiona McDonald's 'Babes in the Wool' and the long sleeved red shirt which is a modified pattern from the same book)

I think the girls are envious that he has so many clothes... I might have to make them a few more outfits to share!


Of course this post wouldn't be complete without Dan modeling his new clothes for us...

Now... where was I? Oh right... I need to finish Jack Sparrow (poor neglected Jack)... better get back to it!

'Black Magic Woman'...



Before I could finish Jack Sparrow, I started to get inspired to make a gypsy doll with long black hair and bright blue eyes. Typical me though, all through the making of this doll, I was getting inspired by different yarns and patterns to make a whole pile of dolls clothes (none of which even remotely resembled a gypsy outfit...) and I ended up with about 6 different projects going at the same time.

Stella (my gypsy) ended up becoming quite the modern young woman with a stylish wardrobe instead.

(It is worth noting at this point that, as of the writing of this post, I have almost completed both my Jack Sparrow AND the original gypsy outfit for Stella after forcing myself to do a little bit each day this week haha!)

I wasn't entirely happy with Stella once she was finished. In my opinion, her eyes were too high and positioned wrong on her face and she looked a bit off.

When I fixed Jemima, I also fixed Stella's face. I unpicked her eyes and re-positioned them and also re-did her hairline to suit her new face.

I am now entirely happy with her and ready to share her photos and her wardrobe (minus one gypsy outfit that is still being finished of course haha... I'm so baaaad)

Introducing my black-haired girl... Stella.

...and here are the various pieces I started while making her that ended up being her 'unplanned' modern wardrobe.







This outfit was inspired by the purple skirt. It was a design idea I had and I wanted to see how well it would work.




This outfit was completely inspired by the fluffy striped yarn that was calling out to me to be made into a big warm jacket.




This one was all about the pink loopy yarn and seeing what I could turn it in to. It worked well as a very simple short sleeve jacket.




This skirt was one of the patterns in Fiona's 'Babes in the Wool' book that I liked. It is slightly modified for a better fit and I designed a simple top to compliment it.

The other dolls frequently 'borrow' Stella's clothes so she doesn't get to keep them all to herself...

Moving on...

By this stage of my doll making journey, I had bits of doll outfits all over the place and was trying to make complimentary pieces and match them up in coordinated outfits... I was also starting to get itchy fingers while looking at some blonde curly yarn I had found that looked like absolutely brilliant hair for a surfer styled doll.

Poor Jack Sparrow was going on the backburner again...