Turning the Tables

It's deer hunting season in New Hampshire and although I am not a vegetarian by any means, I love to pull out this old postcard. It always gives me a laugh to imagine the deer in the driver's seat!

Inspiration

Have you seen this wonderful e-zine from Amy Powers at Inspire Co? It is packed full of great ideas for the holidays and is totally free! I like that. Here is my version of Charlotte Lyons' beautiful wreath which going nicely with my white theme for Christmas. This is a great way to use up those bits of lace, wool, paper and twigs that are lying around your studio.

Out of Practice

It's been awhile since I've made any kind of a garment for myself and I am really out of practice! I made this seemingly easy little swim cover-up recently and it was amazing how many mistakes I made and had to correct on this thing. Here is a little detail I added to try and give it some personality.

Just a little linen caftan-y thing with funny sleeves. I sewed in one section backwards and had to take the whole top apart and start over. Guess I better start sewing something other than doll clothes to keep up my skills. In the end, it turned out okay but good thing I had extra fabric!

Guess Who's Coming to Town?

It's getting to be that time of year. I finally made a couple of Santa dolls that please me. I actually used a Brenda Gervais pattern as a starting point and then added my own touches. These were fun and much more my style than others I have tried in the past which turned out too weird or primitive looking. I think it's all the facial hair that threw me off but I was able to get this wonderful wool locally from Maple Frost Farm in Langdon, NH. It is from Leicester Longwool sheep and nicely curly.

This is Santa with the Green Velvet Coat

And this is Santa with the White Woolen Coat which I embroidered with a light green chain stitch. I found the most perfect woolen blanket at a thrift sale this year. It is just the perfect shade of white and the perfect thickness and texture. I almost couldn't bear to cut it up but then that is why I got it!

Details....

Little Princesses and Fabric Reincarnation

The taffeta, lace and jeweled trim have been flying around my studio this week as I just finished up two princess dolls for a special order. I was asked to make them extra fancy with plenty of "bling". These are a definite departure from my usual style of doll making as I now almost exclusively use vintage fabrics. However, it sure was fun to go digging around in my old costume fabrics. It brought back some memories of Halloweens past.

Recognize this pink sparkly number? It helped to dress the most glamorous movie star in the neighborhood quite a few years ago.

And the gold trim I used for this little swashbuckler sure came in handy too! The purple sparkle dot taffeta was left over from a wizard cape but I couldn't find a photo for that. It really reminds me how grown up my kids are now. I do miss doing it up big for Halloween.

So it was so much fun to create these little princesses and it proves once again.... hang on to that fabric! You never know when you will need taffeta and gold braid.

What did I make today? Autumn Vignettes

Pumpkin Moonshine

Autumn Joy

Mariposa

Introducing my latest doll which was a special order: Mariposa, a ladye of quality. She is a painted cloth doll with a beautiful vintage silk and organza gown.

Mariposa is spanish for "butterfly" so this was the perfect hair fascinator. I made it from an old jewelry finding and painted crepe paper.

Sometimes they turn out a little pigeon-toed!

Overskirt detail