Category: Barbie fashions

Some peaceful time in the sewing space

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After all my summer adventures it was lovely to spend time at home, and in particular to have lots of time in my little sewing space. I have previously blogged about the Barbie clothes for the Christmas fundraiser, and after I had finished those at the end of November I just kept going. I have had a group of Barbies with no outfits on the shelf in my craft space for a couple of years, and had promised them all new outfits before I left again.

I had so much fun doing this, not only do I feel that I have developed my sewing skills, but also I love just sitting with all my fabrics, beads and shiny jewels, and playing with colour combinations. I have re-organised my fabric storage to make it easier to find things and just enjoyed myself spending hours each week creating.

I have been inspired by various things, often it is the fabric or the beads that spark an idea. This first one was experimenting with the organza from the bags I bought. Although they are only small pieces they are perfect for little adornments like these ruffles. The red fabric is a stock of small silk pieces that have been in my stash for at least ten years.

I have been using the same pattern, but adapting it with different fabrics and skirt shapes. This is one of my favourite designs and I love beading the bodices. The bodice fabric on the black and bronze dress comes from the same old silk stash. It is nice to finally be using up things 😉

I did some experimenting with layers of tulle. This is some I bought in New York when Ellen and I went, and I added sewn on beads and stick on daisies.

I love the way that this ribbon from stash goes perfectly with the daisies.

My most complex project was inspired by all the wonderful Instagram cosplay makes from the Wicked movie. I didn’t have enough fabric to make a full Glinda bubble dress, but this is one inspired by it. There was a lot of geometrical pondering to get the skirt petals done. Each petal is a double layered circle of fabric, with another layer of tulle folded over it as well.

I am very pleased with the way the beading worked. I did the bodice and the petals separately as I thought it would be easier to bead the petals while they were flat, and then added beads at the waist to make it look as if they were continuous.

This ensemble was made from some raw silk, I love working with this fabric and was keen to experiment with beading. With hindsight it would have been easier to bead the dress before I made it up, but I like the colour graduations on the beads.

I have been buying a few different doll’s heads, from Aliexpress. This Mulan one inspired me to use a piece of Chinese silk that has been around for about fifteen years.

As well as all the Barbie clothes I did a bit of Christmas knitting and crochet. First was a hat for a children’s gift box for the local orphanage. Then I made some wrist warmers for my aunt, from my favourite Emerald Wristwarmer pattern, free from Ravelry. I love the variegations in this wool.

With my new found crochet skills I made some soft baskets from a skein of variegated macramé thread. These were for my brother and his wife, for their cave house. They were an adaptation of various free patterns from Ravelry.

Then there were the usual cross stitched ornaments. These were the ones for friends, a selection of Quaker snowflakes and JBW designs.

These were the family ones, again from the same mixed sources.

I had a bit of emergency knitting to do in between the cross stitching. You may remember last Christmas the fundraiser was a little knitted mouse. Debbie, from our knitting group won it and gave it to her granddaughter in the USA. Sadly she left it on a plane and was very upset. Luckily I had most of a mouse in bits in my stash, and some spare dresses, so she had a replacement to give her on Christmas Day.

I also got around to tackling the WIP pile. I have a lot of embroideries, mainly of designs from Jenny of Elefantz, that I have been meaning to make up into something. This one got as far as being given one of my favourite Churn Dash block surrounds, but has been languishing in the pile for at least six years.

I am always in need of new project bags for travelling so it didn’t take long to make this one up. I also made up this design for my Mum to keep her embroideries in. I originally intended it to be a Christmas gift for her about five years ago, but better late than never. I loved stitching this one, again another of Jenny’s designs.

I also got some lovely Christmas presents. My Mum wanted to buy me something, rather than just give me money, and in following some of the wonderful Instagram Barbie designers I have found a whole new world of jewellery and crowns. I was lucky enough to get these for Christmas. My Glinda Barbie looks gorgeous in her tiara, and I am planning a very extravagant dress to go with the crown, although that will have to wait until autumn now.

It was a hugely productive three months, I did more in those weeks than I have all year, and am very pleased with the progress on the WIPs pile and in using some of the long buried stash. I have already started on the Christmas cross stitching for 2025, have completed two hats for donations, sent the premature baby hats that I knitted earlier last year off, and started my charity knitting for 2025. As I shall be on the road again for the next two months, and then having a very busy spring and summer, I am choosing small portable projects.

I will return in a couple of weeks, Wifi permitting to update you on what I have been doing. Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

A self-taught seamstress

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Like many women my age, I did actually have needlework lessons at school. Good old-fashioned needlework, not textiles or design but reading a pattern, doing it all properly with tailors tacks and matching notches. I actually hated it, and after the compulsory two years was very thankful to give it up, one completed apron for cookery, and an unfinished corduroy skirt, (this was the 1970s after all!), later. I did do cookery, at both O and A level, which I loved, and never regretted not doing more needlework, thinking when would I ever need it?

Of course fast forward 35 years, making costumes for medieval re-enactment, and then Steampunk, and I’m really wishing I knew more. All that stuff about adjusting patterns, FBAs, understitching, how do make a successful toile, all of that has been learnt the hard way over the years. I have had some great mentors, in the women from my medieval group, and I loved the dress making days that we used to have, but for the rest, thank goodness for the internet!

I would love to do an in person dressmaking course someday, however my itinerant lifestyle means that is difficult, but there are so many good resources out there now. Sometimes nothing beats human interaction through, especially when you are trying to do fittings on yourself 😉

I am also developing my skills at Barbie couture, a whole different set is needed to work at such a small scale, and have learnt so much in the past few years, and even more in the past couple of weeks. I have been very inspired by all of the wonderful creators that I follow on Instagram. Some of them post process videos as well, which is really useful, as I can follow what they are doing.

One of my favourites is Grace Panisara She makes the most incredible beaded gowns, many replicas of ones worn in real life by pageant participants. The skill of this seamstress is amazing, and I can only hope that someday I can do something half as wonderful as this. This picture below is from her Instagram, just look at this stunning work!

Another favourite is Hoanganhkhoi whose tailored work with reproductions of all of the wonderful Dior creations is beyond belief. I have been struggling with just a few little patterns pieces and some of the jackets have 30 pieces in them! He posts videos of his makes so do go take a look and be amazed.

I have been getting lots of practise though, with the latest fundraiser, and am really pleased with what I have made. There are six outfits in total, a holiday wardrobe to see Barbie through the festive season ahead!

First make was this Christmas Day dress. I knew the fabric wasn’t going to be brilliant to work with, as it was so thick, but really wanted to use it as I had the Poinsettia flower already in my stash and thought it would go really well. Suffice to say the sleeves were a challenge to sew. I ended up hand stitching them, and supporting the while thing with a pen in the armhole while I did that, which worked well.

That material, and the black lace for the evening dress below, had come from a bag given to me by a friend, Vivien, from sewing group here. I really wanted to use the lace, as it feels very Spanish mantilla, so layered it over some dark gold, which may well be something that Kerry gave me, it certainly looks like one of her underdresses from re-enactment.

The blue outfit is another use of scraps, this was left over from when I made my friend Sarah’s wedding dress, they had a Lord of the Rings inspired celebration, and I have posted about making that dress here. This is the first pant suit I have made and it was great, so will do this one again.

It is lovely to be able use up so much that has memories attached to it. This cream fabric is left over from one of the first outfits I made for Ellen for re-enactment, a mere 20 something years ago.

Some of the fabric is stuff I have bought, particularly the lovely silks used in this purple dress, but the organza I have used for the overlay was a gift from someone.

This trouser suit also come from the bag from Vivien, and the silver for the knitted top was given to me by Linda, from the knitting group here.

I have found an amazing source of free Barbie knitting patterns here. Thanks to Lisa for thousands of patterns in multiple languages. This boob tube is an adaptation of pattern no 95, as I didn’t have enough yarn to do a collared version, but I love it.

Initially I was really struggling with zig zagging the pieces after I’d cut them out, to stop fraying, and then just before outfit number 5, I realised that if I traced them with tailors’ chalk, did the zig zagging as a single piece of fabric, then cut them it might be easier… and it was, so much easier. Wish I’d thought of that two weeks ago 😉

I am continuing with making outfits, these will just be for me so I can make them a little more complex and fragile, I try to just use single press studs, hooks or velcro for ones which will go to children, but can bead to my hearts content here and try and do some high fashion stuff. I have been stocking up on a few new things from the local Merca China shops here, they have wonderful selections of beads and bling.

I also realised that these little organza gift bags, which you can buy here in packs of 4 for a euro, will be great for embellishments on gowns. You actually get quite a lot of fabric in each one, so I am experimenting with ruffles for this red gown below.

I mainly use the patterns that I bought a few years ago, from Gail’s doll patterns on Etsy. I bought two 1960s ones, and a 1980s and there are loads of options in each pattern. My favourite patterns are the ones without arms as they are so much easier, but there are some nice coats and jackets with arms and body cut as one piece.

So if you need me in the next few weeks I will be in my atelier, faffing about with tiny bits of fabric and beads! That, my other Christmas crafting, and a new writing course with the WEA, will keep me amused for the next few weeks. Much as I love my travel adventures, I am very much enjoy time in the house with the sewing machine, although the bed still feels very big 😉

Until next time, when I shall return to posting about the summer travels, enjoy whatever you are doing. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Stops along the way

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I like to plan some Trust properties or other sites of interest to break up my journeys so here are a few I have visited recently.

Ellen’s best friend from University, Becky, now manages the Droitwich Spa Heritage Centre, a lovely little museum about the salt industry. The town has lots of left over industrial heritage from those days and some beautiful Tudor buildings.

They had a special exhibition a while ago that I just had to go and see, Lisa- Jayne Smith, a retired theatre costume designer, had decided to make 85 Barbie costumes, representing fashion from 1066 to the 1980s.

Such beautiful details on all of the costumes and such a lot of work!

As you can imagine I was thrilled and the costumes are amazing. I must get on with the Tudor one for my dolls that I have been meaning to make since lockdown.

I managed to make a quick visit to Wollaton Hall in Nottingham the same day. If it looks familiar it is because it was designed by Smythson, who also designed Hardwick Hall. It is now the Natural History Museum so the interior is very different.

I also met my friend Lynne from Spain, at Gainsborough Old Hall, a beautiful building with a very unique kitchen complete with serving hatches.

Apologies for the abrupt ending to the last post, whatever I did I could not get it to save anything, so after a week just gave up. As always I hope you are all well and happy. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Small Spring fashions

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Twice a year our local foodbank charity here in Spain has a fashion show using the clothes that they have had donated to the shop. They always have a fantastic selection of clothes and the show is brilliant. Last year the bridal section had some wonderful things, with some beautiful vintage pieces from the 1980s and 90s. I think people probably declutter once they move here so they get rid of things they have been hanging onto for a while.

I decided that I would do a Barbie clothes fundraiser this time, previous ones have been a Luna rabbit for the Jubilee last year, and a pair of reindeer for the Christmas Craft Fair at the charity.

The doll that I have used for this set of clothes is one that I got in a bundle from Etsy. I wanted a more Spanish looking doll, and so I was lucky enough to win a bundle with this doll and four others, including another darker skinned one.

Here she is in her basket with five extra outfits.

I was originally going to do just do fabric clothes, however I did a lot of knitting of little dresses while I was away, and when I tried them on the doll thought that they looked really cute. I also thought that they would be easier to get on and off for small fingers.

The knitted dresses are from my favourite Little Cotton Rabbits, Julie is an amazing designer and I particularly love these dresses. I have knitted nearly all of them now and they are so easy to do. The pattern is the Textured Dresses one and can be found here. I have also got a few more in stock now for future knitted animals.

I did add an extra four rows after the textured section to make them long enough in the body, but otherwise just followed the pattern. The dresses are knitted from the bottom up so it is easy to alter the length.

I think they look brilliant and love the colours together. The textures make them extra special and are really simple to do.

They are just sewn up at the back to just above waist height and fastened with a button. The rest of the outfits have velcro as well for ease.

I decided to make fabric dresses in the same colours as the knitted ones as I already had the pink one above made. This one is made from a charity shop skirt for the bottom half, and stash fabric for the bodice. I love collecting small scale prints from charity shop stock and have lots in the stash for future outfits.

I also had this turquoise one made but redid the skirt as I wanted things in varying lengths. The bottom of the dress was part of an old skirt of mine so I could use the tiers and the hem. This was a really quick make.

The lilac one took the longest, mainly because of the need to fit the dress. This is a pattern that I have made many times before. It is a vintage Barbie one from GailsDollEPatterns on Etsy. She has a fantastic selection for all types of dolls, and this one is a vintage Simplicity Pattern from the 1960s.

The doll is one of the diversity range, with wider hips and a smaller chest, hence the fiddly fitting, as the vintage patterns were designed for the original dolls. The thing I have found is that even the non- diverse dolls vary so much in their shapes that it is definitely not one size fits all.

I am very pleased with the overall set and hopefully they will find a happy home next week. Then it will be continuing with more couture outfits, inspired by all of the wonderful blogs and Instagram posts that I have seen over the years.

I have just made the swing coat pictured on the pattern in a dark jade green silk with some of the ribbon stash from New York, and am also making another version of this dress in the green silk and cream brocade.

I will be using some more of the New York stash, here is a peak at three of the bundles that I got while I was away, including some beautiful stitching threads from Japan. I have the middle fabric and tulle in a lilac and a pink colourway.

I also need to work on the Liberty lap quilt, I have to take that back with me in July, along with a gift for Willow and hopefully a new peasant dress for re-enactment, (that I only started about 5 years ago!). I just couldn’t find my mojo during the Covid years when there were no events and last year was too busy finishing a Steampunk jacket and hat. You never know it might get done for this year 😉

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend ahead and enjoy the extra Bank Holiday if you are in the UK. I will be back next week with more of Japan. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Finding haberdashery heaven

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Well dear readers, the travel gods smiled upon us and Ellen and I were able to go on our very long awaited trip to New York in the second week of January. We had been planning this trip since about 2018, when we watched a series called Project Runway. This was set in one of the Fashion Institutes there, and featured regular visits by the contestants to the Garment District, in particular a shop there called Mood.

We had originally planned to go 2 years ago, for Ellen’s 30th birthday but as we know the world got a little crazy and so we put that trip on hold. We had not finally decided to go until just before Christmas, as we were waiting to see if anything changed with restrictions but sorted it all out and had a fantastic time. I had visited many years ago but it was Ellen’s first trip.

As well as buying fabric and haberdashery we wanted to visit some fashion collections and museums, as well as see all the tourist highlights. I will post later about those, this post is just all about the wonder that is the Garment District. It really is amazing how many shops there are, and how much there is available, we were at points quite overwhelmed with what to buy.

We were guided by a particular vlog from someone I have watched a lot over the years, Bernadette Banner, who did a New York Garment District vlog three years ago. I don’t remember the name of every shop we went it but we did visit B and Q trimmings, M and J Trimmings, Pacific Coast Haberdashery, and of course Mood!

This was just a tiny selection of what was in one shop, they had four aisles just of zips!

Ellen was looking for sparkly fabric for a night sky inspired project and had a hard time choosing from all the loveliness, though the $450 dollars a yard fabric got put back straight away! The Garment District is right next to Broadway, so as well as fashion fabric there are endless sequins, lace and feathers available such as these beauties.

We were both very restrained, even though a small fortune could have been spent. I just bought things for very specific Barbie couture projects as it was wonderful to have very small scale braid and trimmings available. I will do a specific post about that and my plans for the purchases later.

Before the shopping we spent some time at the Fashion Institute of Technology, looking both at the display of students’ work and at their current exhibition. The student work exhibition was really interesting, as much for the design boards as for the final creations.

The current exhibition at the museum looks at the interior spaces that many of the world’s greatest women designers lived and worked in. As well as showcasing their designs there were pictures of their salons, many of which no longer exist. It was a fascinating look at these creative spaces. The gowns on display were a very varied selection, and all stunning.

I am going to be working on more Barbie couture when I get back to Spain so wanted to choose two garments from the trip to make in Barbie size. I have chosen this gold one from the museum collection as I love the beaded detail on the neckline. I may not do anything as elaborate as this but it will be the inspiration.

The other dress I have chosen is this one from the film, ‘Mrs Harris goes to Paris’, which I watched on the plane. I love this and was able to get some gorgeous fabric in New York for it. There are so many amazing dresses in that film so may make others in the future, Barbie scale only though! Picture from the above link.

We also saw a great exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, all about the history of the kimono, and how it became transformed once Japan opened up to Western fashion, and in turn how kimonos inspired other designers. Very interesting with some beautiful garments.

I am now actually in the Greek part of Cyprus where I am spending some of my winter months of exile from Spain. I am only allowed to stay there for 90 days post Brexit, but that gives me a great excuse to travel 😉

I have a friend who lives here so came to see him, to travel around, and indulge my passion for church architecture with lots and lots of visits to Greek Orthodox churches. There are also stunning coastal walks where I am now so lots of posts of all that coming up.

I finished the blackwork just before leaving Spain and am so pleased with it. Excuse the rather odd blue tint in the first picture, but I am so happy with how it all looks and plan to do some more of these on my return to Spain. It was a very quick stitch, the border took the longest but really finishes off the pieces.

I have also started and finished a mandala for my van. The design comes from a book of embroidery I bought my Mum a few years ago, and it is stitched with perle thread. It has been a very international stitch, started in Spain, worked on in England and the USA and finished in Cyprus. It just needs the felt backing attaching and it can hang in Katy.

I hope that you are all well and happy wherever you are, and if in the UK have not suffered too badly with the extreme weather. I am very lucky to still be in 19 degrees and am making the most of it.

I will be back soon with the other New York post and will update you on my Cyprus adventures as soon as I can. I am staying in a mixture of apartments and hotels so will be dependant on the quality of the wifi. Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Tis the season …..

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To hold Christmas ornament workshops again! Well in my world we can do it at any point and as long- time readers know I have held workshops in July before now 😉

However this week was the workshop at my lovely sewing group. Last year the group did baubles with folded ribbon and some of them brought theirs from last year to show me, more of that later.

This year it was mainly trees with folded ribbon that people were doing, although one member did an egg, and another a bauble using the cutting into the ball technique. It was, as always, a lovely morning full of activity and sparkly ribbon.

The folded ribbon baubles that Isla and Teresa made last year were just stunning. I love the colour combinations and all of the different patterns that you can achieve with quite a simple process.

I did think that I had given up on the bauble making, partly as anything I make for friends now has to be easily posted, however after I got back from the session I got a message from a local sewing shop asking if I would do a workshop for them next October 🙂

That gives me a great reason to restock on all my pretty embellishments when I get back to the UK and make some more samples next year doesn’t it?

All of the Christmas makings are now finished so I am getting on with rest of the to-do list that I have set myself, with a few extras thrown in. I am having a quiet pre-Christmas week and have nothing planned for the week between Christmas and New Year, so will be happily ensconced in my sewing space.

I am making some more Barbie outfits, using the same pattern that I have made many times before. I spent the first few weeks of lockdown in 2020 making these gowns, and love the flexibility of the design in that it looks so good with different types of fabric and beads . There will be an evening coat of velvet to go with the dress.

These patterns are reproductions of vintage ones and can be found on Etsy at GailsDollEPatterns. They are instant downloads and very easy to use.

I am also making good progress with my Liberty log cabin squares using some vintage tablecloth material for the centre pieces. This is the bit I love the most about making these squares, deciding which of my Liberty stash I will use 😉 It also gives me chance to catch up on some sewing vlogs.

I will share progress with the Rainbow Rascals knitted dolls at some point in the future as I need to do a proper photo shoot. I am really enjoying knitting them as they are so quick and easy and I am planning two dolls and a lot of wardrobe changes for them.

I hope that you are all happy and busy whatever you are doing and are looking forward to Christmas if you celebrate it. I will be back before then with seasonal greetings, until next time have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

The value of reflection

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As a teacher, and a teacher trainer for 15 years, I use and teach about reflection and its value, and have always enjoyed learning from my experiences. Like many other people, I have been thinking a lot about the last year as we come up to the first anniversary of the UK lockdown.

One of the reasons why I love having a blog is that it allows me to look back on my past makes, trips and life in general. One of the practical advantages is that I can always find where I sourced things from, but also it serves as a reminder of all of happy times. Unlike a diary, this blog is not about everything that happens, but the public facing positive things in my life

I have been reminded of the value of reflecting this week twice, once by my very good friend Sarah, whose blog I read this morning. She has written about her year here, and many of the things that she says I can very much relate to. She writes about her appreciation of living here in Marsden, with the beautiful countryside on our doorstep, and the advantages of not having to commute to work.

I am eagerly awaiting lambing time so I can go and see the little cuties like this one last year. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful again so we can go for lots more walks as well.

Like me Sarah’s life has changed a lot. She works at a university, in addition to being a GP, so she too has been working from home a lot. We have shared the frustrations of not being able to talk to colleagues easily, and missing the things we took for granted a year ago, like going to conferences and just spending time with people.

She has also completed far less projects than she thought she would this past year, and I can share that feeling as well, where did all that extra time go? I think for me, a lot of it went into thinking, and into connecting with others. I have certainly spent for more time talking to relatives and friends this year, on the phone and video calls, just reassuring each other that it would be ok in the end.

Early on in the lockdown I started taking part in a research project, I can’t actually remember how I found about this, maybe through an Instagram or blog post? It was run by Naomi Clarke, someone who I previously had come across as a crafter as she is an avid paper piecer. The project was called Crafting During Coronavirus and the involvement was to keep a diary for a number of weeks, recording what I was doing and how I was feeling. This is part of her PhD work on why people sew.

I really enjoyed being involved in this, I have kept diaries many times before, and being a diary, and only for Naomi to read it was good to be able to write about some of my frustrations of that time. I re-read them recently and we were all trying to get to grips with online teaching over the summer and feeling totally out of our depths. I have become quite adept at it all now, not that I want it to continue but feel very proud that I managed to get my head round all that complex stuff that was introduced last summer.

Naomi contacted me again this week, with another part of the project, which is to create a postcard to my past self. It is to be a crafted postcard so I think I should definitely make it using Liberty. One of my little lockdown treats has been spending what would have been travel to work money on more beautiful fabric like these from Duck Egg Threads.

I think it will have to be hexagons as well as you know how I love them. Not that I have done much paper piecing this year at all, that is one of the things that has not been achieved, overtaken by Barbie couture and Little Cotton Rabbits knitting! These are some of my favourite hexagon creations, made some years ago for Yarndale, so I think the postcard will have to be linen and Liberty.

She has asked us to think about what we would say to our past selves, from our current selves, knowing what we know now. Being a huge fan of any time travel time type stories I have been thinking a lot about what to write. Almost a year ago on the 21st March I wrote a blog post about the start of lockdown. I titled it ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’

I think that what I wrote then still is very true today, but even more so. I consider myself so lucky to have all of my wonderful friends and family, who have been so supportive over the past year. There have been some lovely times, like going to Whitby and Northumberland with Ellen, and Aysgarth with her and Jacky. I will put that in the postcard, along with the power of positive thought and prayer.

My focus in that post, then as now, was on crafting. The immense comfort that I have had from knitting, sewing and embroidering over the past year cannot be underestimated. I know others feel the same, judging by the amount of knitted animals that have been created in the last year on the Little Cotton Rabbits Facebook page. This Egbert, who I finished last July, wearing the first set of striped jumper and dungarees. I am now on my third jumper so have really got to grips with top down knitting.

My stressful meetings, complex concerns about the job and the students, and worrying about my family, don’t completely go away when I craft but it makes it all so much easier to bear. The blog also serves as a useful reminder that I have failed so far to use any of the fabric that I bought on that trip that I posted about last March for Barbie dresses. I have made lots, as you know, including these two made at the very start of lockdown, but just not with that fabric. Oh well, at least it doesn’t go off, does it!

My plans for this weekend are to finish another striped jumper for a little animal and to create the fabric postcard. I also have lots of little DIY tasks to do, Ellen will be up again next week the last weekend of decorating, then it will only be a couple of weeks of finishing touches before the house goes on the market. Exciting times 🙂 What is even more exciting is the Easter holidays, I am not promising much in the way of crafting, due to the house prep, but you never know.

I hope that you are having a nice weekend and that things continue to be positive in the weeks ahead as well. It is strange to think that we may be on the way to a more normal life. I was sat in a friend’s garden this week, in the sun, having a cup of tea. Over a year ago that would be commonplace but I was so grateful just to be able to be there and have a chat with her. It is, as always, the little things that make a difference.

Take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Back to life, back to reality…

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I have been lucky enough to have the first of my vaccines, so far no ill effects at all. Here in the UK the vaccine rollout is going well and we are all hoping that it really can be a case of getting back to normal life really soon. Our plans for Easter still look like they will go ahead and we are starting to see more confirmation of other possible events later in the year.

I am also very near the end of my teaching, only two more sessions and that will be it, nearly 35 years of teaching over. In a way that will mean I can go back to having a more realistic life as well, I have really not enjoyed sitting in front of a computer all day, spending a lot of time in virtual sessions with no interaction. Teaching has always been a very social job and I have loved the human side of getting to know my students. I am looking forward to having a life where I am not staring at a screen all of the time and spending more time with actual humans!

We have been doing yet more decorating (nearly finished) and are getting down to the final touches before the house goes on the market! Exciting yet slightly scary times! I have no idea what the rest of the year is going to hold, or where I am going to be so it is all a big adventure. I am finally able to start driving lessons in April so that is the first step to freedom and adventure. Hopefully I will get over to Spain at some point as well so I shan’t be completely homeless 😉 Although I am quite looking forward to a bit of a van life adventure of my own, after so many years watching vlogs of other people’s.

There has been a bit of progress on both the Barbie wardrobe and the knitting, this dress below is another for my great-niece and is made to fit my gorgeous curvy Alexa. The skirt is from an charity shop shirt that has been in my stash for some time. Such pretty fabric and as you can see I had fun with embellishment!

I made this one a wrap around back so that I could use velcro to fasten it. This makes it a little off centre but I thought it might be easier for little hands.

I deliberately set aside the whole of the weekend as a sofa and TV watching one, various friends who have had their vaccine have felt very ill so I planned to do nothing at all. I have therefore had a lovely time so far, reading, watching old TV series (Space 1999) and working on another top down jumper from Little Cotton Rabbits.

The first one of these I knitted a while ago totally confused me, I could not see how such a long straight row of knitting could ever become a jumper but it is, as one of the Facebook group described, ‘marvellous engineering’, and once you start on the sleeves it all becomes clear. They are seamed underneath which forms the sides of the body, making it a lot easier to put together. This will go with a lime green pair of dungarees and green and orange trainers for a bunny for a friend’s grandchild.

I really need to get out and do some gardening, Ellen and I bought some lovely plants for the hanging baskets last weekend but it has been dreadful weather all week, hail and sleet, and today is not much better. Oh well. nothing else for it but to stay under the fleece on the sofa and carry on knitting. I discovered a new series on Netflix last night, ‘The One’, which is very gripping so will continue with that and hopefully finish the jumper today.

I hope that you are all having a good weekend wherever you are and have a very good week ahead. Mine will no doubt go very fast, time seems to be whizzing by at the moment. Take care, stay safe, have fun and thanks for visiting.

My daughter, the creative genius

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Ellen has been here a lot recently, helping me decorate. Not only is that wonderful of her, but it is also brilliant to have actual human company so often! We bought some plants and various things for the bathroom refurbishment last week, and as it was very sunny this week I have emptied all the old pots and done some re-planting so everything is starting to look lovely and Spring like. Along with the latest announcements about easing of restrictions things are starting to look a lot more positive.

Ellen usually brings some sewing with her and recently brought up the project she has been working on for the last few months. I posted about quiet books a long time ago, and have still not made one yet but she has made this amazing book for her friend’s little boy. He is just two and so she has made him some pages that he can play with now, and is intending to add to the book as he grows.

She is so talented, she did not use a pattern for any of this and has made the cutest bears and crayons as well as this adorable lion with a ribbon mane. The farmyard animals are all finger puppets so he can play with them.

I love it and so did the recipient. She has made so many wonderful things over the years, the Worth dress out of curtains, the flower fairy costume as well as many wonderful Steampunk outfits and everyday clothes. I am so proud of her and so glad that she enjoys crafting, not just because we can share fabric and help each other with fittings!

Due to all the decorating I have not done much creative work myself. I have finished all of the knitted trainers so when they are made up will take some pictures for you. The pattern was very easy to follow as always and I am excited to finish the animals. I did have a little bit of leave last week so had a small amount of craft room time, making this dress for Barbie. This is a combination of patterns, one from the tutorial here and the skirt pattern I drafted myself.

My oldest great-niece, Ava, had Barbies for her fourth birthday so I am making some outfits for them. She had two of the new, more diverse range with larger bodies and one has a prosthetic leg so I have been checking sizing carefully as I discovered over summer that even the standard Barbies vary in waist size quite a bit. I have still kept one of my diversity Barbies, Alexa in the picture below, for fitting purposes (and because she is gorgeous and I love her hair) so still have four from my original collection of ten.

I have some more clothes cut out from the silk and satin scraps from the Steampunk jacket I made last year and some pink cotton from an old shirt so hopefully will spend some time tomorrow sewing those up. We are decorating again next weekend so I am makig most of this one.

I am going out for a walk this afternoon with an old friend from my Polytechnic days, 37 years ago. We made contact again a few years ago and have been meaning to meet up for so long but with current restrictions we have not been able to arrange anything yet so thought at least a walk would be lovely. It is a sunny day so I am really lookin forward to that.

My sister has been spending time refurbishing her camper van, she has been off work after a major operation and has spent the time adding to the storage and moving furniture. It looks fantastic now (these photos are from her Facebook) and I can’t wait to see it. Hopefully we are going to be able to go away for a few nights after Easter to the Dales.

So lots of lovely things to look foward to and I am feeling very positive at the moment. Fingers crossed we can do some nice things later in the summer and I only have another four weeks of teaching to go! I will be at work until the end of June as I have tutorials and marking to do until then but only another 124 days until freedom 🙂

I hope that you are having a nice weekend, have fun, take care and stay safe. Thanks for visiting.

Frosty, Freezy and the B Crew

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When my friend Kerry came over during the summer she commented on the fact that I had all of the Barbie dolls that I had been making clothes for lined up on the coffee table in front of me. She said it looked like I was using them as an audience and I told her that was my B Crew and yes I did occasionally talk to them 🙂 Well when you live on your own you have to be creative sometimes for company.

The B Crew have been disbanded now as they are mostly off to new homes. I spent many happy hours during the first few weeks of the restrictions in April making clothes for them all, (I ended up with 10 dolls at one point with those I bought for work purposes and the ones I found on Ebay).

Once I have finished with the animals that I am making as gifts for friend’s grandchildren, I will probably get back to making gowns for them as the recent declutter led to me finding a whole new stash of beautiful fabric that I can use. I bought some wonderful vintage patterns in PDF from Gail’s Vintage Doll e-Patterns on Etsy and have so many other ones to try. I love these very sixties ones.

For these dresses I made four versions of the dress on the top left of the pattern, View 5. For the white and green dress I adapted the skirt to be flared. The other print dresses were made from two rectangles with the skirt part gathered.

These three dolls are going to the cousins for Christmas and three of the diversity ones have gone to my friend at work. She is using Barbies in awareness raising about diversity in art galleries, so they will join her Art Activist Barbie team. I love what Sarah has been doing with her work, if you are interested here is her Twitter page.

I have kept four of them as models, and this is one of my favourite as I love her hair. I must make her some fab new clothes for next season as the poor thing only has one dress at the moment.

I have also finished my two snowmen, here are Frosty and Freezy. The last photos show them filled with chocolate and ready to go off to my nieces for Christmas. I think they turned out really well and I very much enjoyed knitting them. Details of the pattern is in this post here.

I actually had the whole of this weekend off (eek) as all of my teaching on Saturdays for this term has finished. It was so lovely to have two whole days off, so exciting! I managed to get a lot done, sorting out some more of the things in the craft room and made up this pouch for Ellen’s friend. I have had the applique done for a long time but it was on my pile of things to make up (which includes a large pile of stitcheries that I must get around to doing something with!).

I love the Liberty fabric I used for the bottom of the bag, it is one of my favourite designs and I wish I had more of it but think it looks cute as just the base. There is a good tutorial for this and other types of lace zipper pouch here at Plush Addict. The lace zippers come from Buddly Crafts and come in all sorts of gorgeous colours.

I am not expecting to get too much else done this week as I have a lot of wrapping and general Christmas prep to do and may (only may) be leaving the country on Saturday. All manner of miracles have to happen to make that work so we shall see. If I am blogging again next week it will not have happened but fingers crossed!

Whatever happens I will be happily knitting something somewhere and celebrating getting to the end of a very tough year, both personally and professionally, as it has for many people. Whatever happens next year at least this one will be over, in some cases the worst has already happened and we have survived that. We can only hope that things get easier for us all in 2021.

If I don’t see you again until Jan, hope you have a good a festive season as you can, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.