Making a doll

I was asked to make a doll for our school children (4th grade) beacuse they are reading a book by Alf Projsen and they exchange this doll with another school. In Slovene we call her čajna ženička = the tea lady - (Teskjekjerringa in the original). Anyway, I like a good sewing challenge. 

My inspiration was: (pictures from the book) 

                               

My creation was this:

Purely by chance I came across a doll in Burdastyle magazine 9/2012 

and immediately I decided to use the pattern and just change it slightly.

The process of making - in pictures:

  

  

 So, that's it. I'm to lazy to write a very detailed tutorial. I hope pictures show the process.

Creating fairy-tale world

I was just looking through some pins on Pinterest in order to find something useful to make baby doll clothes for my daughter's dolls, obviously. And I came across this amazing and extraordinary site full of fairy tale characters and clothes. I actually found lots of useful, nice, great sites for making Barbie doll clothes and baby doll clothes and other cute little things, but this one is by far the most beautiful and exciting and time consuming and means you are totally dedicated and committed - Antique Lilac - and let's not forget - talented. I haven't checked everything yet but I think I'll come back for inspiration from time to time.
It's really special, not to mention it has lots of free patterns for doll clothes and some very interesting tutorials and tips on how to create all those divine costumes. (I wasn't even aware that a world like this exists - I mean so many different dolls and such rich embellished clothes. I feel like a child in a candy store when browsing that site.)

Two of my favourite tips at the moment are: 

1. How to create a bodice or any kind of clothes for any dolls: use paper towel to help you create a pattern http://www.antiquelilac.com/queen-of-the-night---a-creative-journey---tutorials.html .
What a great and simple technique to be able to make the right size clothes. I wish I could do something like that for real people.

I found on the net to use an interface (http://miniatures.about.com/od/dollshousedolls/ss/Custom-Fit-A-Basic-Doll-Clothing-Pattern-To-Any-Doll-Basic-Torso-Shell.htm#step8) to do just that and I thought that was brilliant at the time but you must admit that paper towel is cheaper than interface. 

2. How to embellish lace (or other ribbons) with beads: http://www.antiquelilac.com/victorian-ballgown---tutorials.html

(I have lots of beads but I never knew what to do with them.)

I said two tips but just one more - a beaded picot around the neckline: http://bjdcollectasy.com/2012/02/26/picot-beading/

(I wonder if I could do this for my own shirts not just dolls.)

For Christening - What a Dandy!

We had christening of our baby boy which I took as an opportunity to sew something nice for him. (I wanted to sew something new for my daughter and for myself too but I didn't have enough time.)
I found my inspiration on a Russian blog/ site (didn't understand anything) but never mind, I just needed  the picture.

My inspiration: 

My creation:

I decided to make a two piece outfit because it's easier to change diapers like that. I bought 3 pieces of fabric: jersey, shiny fabric and jacquard fabric. The vest is just a mock vest, attached at the front and it finishes in the side and shoulder seams.

But I must admit that it's cute to see a small baby with a bow-tie.

How to make a bow-tie: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2014/04/little-boy-bowtie-the-quick-and-easy-version.html

The shirt is my creation: will make a link

The pants are: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx_iUlU6voEXU3JqUU5kX0ljbUE/view

found on a Russian site: https://vk.com/shop_zigzag

My favourite music at the moment

Some of my favourite songs and videos on you tube.

One Republic - Something I need (I love the music and the video. The dog is scary and crazy beautiful at the same time.) 

Zaz - Si jamais j'oublie (in French) 

Christoph Mae - Il est ou le bonheur (in French; I like the music but I have mixed feelings about the video.)

Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney - Four five seconds (First of all I like Paul McCarney the most not the other two, but I think the song and the video are just great.)

Patsy Cline - She's got you (I absolutely love her voice and her singing.)

Cat Stevens - Morning has broken (Our wedding song, I love the piano, all of his music is great.) 

A new blanket for a new baby

I decided to make something new for our new baby boy - Erik. Unfortunately he is forced to inherit almost everything from his older sister so I wanted to do something special just for him.

My inspiration were: baby sleeping bag 1
                                       baby sleeping bag 2

I became a fan of this burda style sleeping bag (burda 9/ 2013, mod. 148) after I saw how the other sewers made it useful in two ways: as a blanket or as a sleeping bag. And because it can be done quickly - this is essential when you have kids. I still have to insert the press buttons which scares me because you have to make this right for the first time. You can't make corrections after you make a hole in your garment.

It is made of: flannel, striped cotton (bought at AliExpress) and a white fleece blanket. There is a polyester stuffing inserted between the two fabrics. I also used my new bias tape maker to make some bias band to finish the blanket opening at the bottom. I also sewed small and big hearts so that the inserted stuffing would stay in place when washing the blanket.
It looks great I hope it will be useful.

This is the blanket that he inherited from his sister and which my grandma (their great-grandma) made for her, I think it's crocheted and it deserves mentioning because it's all handwork. I wish I knew how to make this but I don't - yet. Maybe someday ...