Meet Violet

I have been finding my work on Pinterest, and I love that. 

 It is my intention to share as much as possible., and I am happy for you to take my images  as long as you attribute them to me (and so far you have). Please do not take pictures of other people's work that appears on any of my blogs.   Also, my tutorial is for a Femo doll, but I generally work in porcelain. 

 Welcome to all my new Pinetrest friends, I have discovered so much while viewing your sites(?).

Violet is my newest doll that I am dressing.  I have just finished a dark purple cape and will add some ruffles to her neckline.  I love her face, it is very sweet.  I do not feel like I make my dolls, I feel like my hands do...I am always glad to meet my little people.

This doll is all knit, knit on 7/0 needles with Nr. 80 Madeira thread. 

Tiny jointed porcelain doll with dress knit on 7/0 needles and Madiera thread

This is my Give-Away on my other blog http://mini-needle.blogspot.com/  Check it out!

I say farewell to dear Eliza as she is off to a new home.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Lucy

Dressing a Tiny Doll

   I thought you might like to dress the little Fimo "china-head doll" that I described a few posts ago.  The following directions will work with any small figure.  This method is simple, and I think , quite nice.  I made collages, as I usually do, to save space.  Follow the pictures from the top, moving left to right.  If you can use the pictures, feel free to down load them for a reference.

First, I wrapped the wires with cloth tape(this is something new for me, I usually use silk ribbon and glue).  I used first aid tape.

 The first step to dressing her is to make some pantaloons.
I fold two squares of material together and cut a tiny curved line...this is the crotch.
  I end up with two identical pattern pieces that are shaped like the third picture.
  Some people just glue the seams, but for some reason, I am very clumsy with glue.  I sew the crotch seam first and then measure the inseam and cut it to fit the inner leg.
  I then sew the inseam  as shown in the fourth picture.
  The fifth picture shows how it will fit before I gather the waist and the ankles.  I like the pantaloons to fit  just bellow the doll's breast plate.
  I use a running stitch to gather the waist and ankles and then carefully glue a tiny piece of lace to the bottom of her pantaloons.

I measure a rectangle of dress material to fit the doll.  (I wanted the dress to come to the top of her shoes.)
 I sew up the side seam and add a tiny bit of glue to the seam to hold it flat.
  I add a piece of lace to the bottom, and gather the waist with a running stitch.
 The sleeves are glued directly onto the arms, using tiny strips of material.
 I apply a bead of glue around her shoulder plate.
 The bodice is a piece of lace, that is glued into a ring.
 I gather the top of the lace with a running stitch(this will be the neck hole) and pull it over her head and press the ruffled  lace into the glue around her shoulder plate.

I chose a purple ribbon for her shoes and the bow for the back of her dress.
 First, I apply glue to her whole foot. Then I wrap the ribbon around the foot pinching the two ends at the back.
  I cut a small piece of fabric tape into the shape of the sole of a shoe.
 I glue the sole onto the bottom of her foot.
 The final touch for this doll is a bow on the back.
 This method could have all sorts of details added to it to make it fancier.  For example tiny pearls can be added to the shoes to look like buttons  and embroidery can be added to the dress. 

This is a little boy who will go with the mother and sister whom I have mentioned in a previous post. I think I am going to name him Hugo because it is such a big name for such a small sweet boy.  I gave him a striped union suit for the fun of it and also because the stripes peek through his sailor shirt.  I  still have to knit his sailor collar and his knickers.  He will have little black boots with "brass" buttons.

I always forget to welcome new followers and to thank my regular followers for their lovely comments.  I do not mean to be rude, I just have a hard enough time getting my pictures and text in the right place...so please forgive me.  Welcome to my new followers and thank you for all the lovely comments, as a mother of two teenagers, I can use any positive feedback that I can get.

Have a great weekend,

Too Busy to Blog

I have found myself very busy this fall.
 My children are so busy with sports and ballet recitals, and my mother is very successfully having her cataracts replaced.  I am so impressed with how well her surgery is going...she can see again.  We go in tomorrow for her left eye.  I have been traveling back and forth to help her out, and will be settled back home by Thursday, and  I hope to get back to blogging at that point, but for know, I will quickly show you who I have been working on.
 I am trying to get some dolls done for sale, as I am planning on attending the IGMA show next year.  These two little ladies will go in my sales box.

Two new girls  for my sale box.  The red girl is Poppy and the pink girl is Eliza.

Poppy has a green coat, but I love her little red dress and I think I will leave her coat off as a piece of her wardrobe.

Eliza has a removable collar that is tied on.   The pink in her pinafore is a lovely shell pink and does not show up in the pictures.

Eliza has pantaloons and a slip  made of white cotton, knit on 6/0 needles. Her dress is also knit in the same manner and is tied at the back.  her hat and collar are tied on .  I usually tie garments on and apply a small drop of glue at the juncture.  This allows me to break the little seal of glue and remove the garment when I want.  If I am intending to make a full wardrobe -with two or more dresses- for one of my dolls , I leave the strings long enough to retie , but if the doll is to stay as is, I clip the strings to an appropriate length.  Eliza has a pinafore made of  a very fine linen, which is lovely, but hard to knit.

Poppy has pantaloons, a slip  and a little red dress,knit on 6/0 needles . I have embroidered little flowers on the bodice.  She has a green silk hat and a "carpet bag".  Her green coat still needs some work...I think that I will add a black collar and some little bead buttons.

Eliza 

It is hard to get close-ups of their tinny faces!

Have a wonderful week,