re-discovering sewing for fun

I haven't done an April-Easter catch-up type post as intended, as it's now May I can't see much point!
So instead, here's a quick sewing post. I feel like I haven't done any sewing-for-fun for ages now and I haven't made anything for Hesper for about a year, I think? Probably because I did make her loads of clothes that she never wears and when I do sew now its for selling, so I decided to try sewing for fun again. I made Hesper a smock dress (more like a top with her betty spaghetti legs).

This was in a mustard coloured knit with black circles - a remnant I picked up for 50p aged ago. She wore it once in  a flurry of excitement and I fear it is now discarded with my other makes as it is not PINK or shiny or associated with anything Disney or Princess. sigh.

My second make is this toy cat, which I made from my trusted "Wee Wonderfuls" book by Hilary Lang.

I followed the Katie Kitty pattern, but made it in organic brown linen instead of felt and I substituted the dress for a ballet skirt+ stripy top combo. I also made her ballet shoes and gave her a little bell around her neck. I couldn't get the face right - I think she looks a bit evil but Hesper is happy enough with her, just the thing for a poorly girl! I really enjoy sewing toys, especially at the last stage when you are free to add any personal details or embellishments. I have lots of ideas for things to make Hesper,  like turning a vintage suitcase into a portable dolls wardrobe complete with dress-up doll and outfits...not sure this will happen but its a nice idea! I'd forgotten how much I love sewing for pleasure, rather than sewing to sell - which can be a bit stressy as I constantly question whether my work is good enough. But I love turning scraps of fabric and trimmings into a new toy, making something personal and unique, especially when it hasn't cost a penny. Free toys...hooray!

cynthia & tig

I posted before about the wonderful Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang. I have made three dolls using the Tag Along Doll pattern - which is a joy to make, but I also attempted a couple of others when I first bought the book. I dug them out of Hesper's toy box as I thought they deserved a show and tell. This little lady (I call her Cynthia) was made following the Sleepover Pals pattern - the actual pattern is for three of these little dolls who all fit nicely into a roll-up sleeping bag. My idea was to make them with small magnets in their arms so that they can all "hold hands"... well, I made one back in October and she  remains a billy-no-mates. Her magnet arms are quite useful for holding onto H's hair clips that she discards throughout the day...

 

Next is "Tig", made from the "I Heart You" pattern. I used red corduroy for the heart-shaped head, blue gingham for the body, legs and skirt back. I made the front of the skirt from a section of vintage embroidered linen that I picked up from a charity shop. The linen and lace were small scraps that I had stashed away and the rest of the fabrics are all recycled from charity shops. In the book, she is made from a printed, folksy fabric but I wanted to experiment with making a doll from these embroidered linens as they are too pretty to be kept hidden away.

 

two new dolls

In the past month we lost our lovely dog Taos to cancer (I was too sad to blog about it at the time), we had a lovely log cabin + hot tub break in the New Forest, plus some bouts of illness thrown in, getting all Christmassy and... taa-daa! here is another doll I have slowly, but steadily been making. She is a gift for one of Hesper's friends. Made following the Tag Along Doll pattern from Wee Wonderfuls, which I used before here:

Because her recipient is part South-African, I used orange and purple South African fabrics for her dress and legs. She also has green felt eyes and curly wool, hair instead of felt as in the original pattern.  I worked out how to do the hair by looking at various techniques online and then just sort of making it up a bit. I wanted her to have long curls and found this kinky- textured wool gave the right look. I stitched it into side bunches as I used a lot of wool and did not want it to look too wild.

With the left over pieces of fabric I made her a quilt, backed with some lilac and white print fabric that I had squirrelled away. I also covered a couple of buttons with the purple fabric and added these to the quilt with orange elastic loops, so that the quilt can be wrapped around her and buttoned up into a sort of sleeping bag-cocoon! For finishing touches, she has a hand-stamped linen gift tag with metal eyelet and a chocolate coin in her pocket!

...and here is doll number two for another of Hesper's friends. Again, using the same pattern I made her body from organic, fairtrade linen. The dress is from the lilac & white fabric that I used for the quilt backing above and her hot pink cord legs are made from a pair of Hesper's old trousers (thoroughly washed!) She also has curly wool hair, tied in bunches with strips of felt. 

I hope they love these dolls as much as Hesper does!

// Wee Wonderfuls doll making book by Hillary Lang here //

// African fabric bought online here //

mini hesper doll

I made a doll! I treated myself to Hillary Lang's beautiful Wee Wonderfuls book, after coveting it for a long time. Hesper is so attached to some old rag dolls that I had as a child (they have had more attention from her than they have ever had in the last 30+ years), that I wanted to make one for her too. I was just going to make it up as I went along, seeings as they all seemed to have a pretty basic design to them, but thought it might be useful to have some more technical help. This is a lovely book and I did spend some time pawing over the designs, choosing what to make.

I decided on the Tag-Along Doll as I was drawn to her round, happy face & sweet dress. She is also  similar to the dolls that Hesper has which inspired me to make one. I plan to make one with African fabric for Hesper, but thought I should practice first with fabric I already have before buying anymore.

The pattern uses wool felt for the body, but I like this organic linen that I already had. I used vintage pillowcase fabric for her legs and the dress is made from a vintage tea-towel with a retro apple design on it. I bought three of them from a charity shop a few years ago and made cushion covers For Hesper's room with two of them, so she now has a doll to match her room! I even think she looks a bit like Hesper!

Hillary Lang's wonderful Wee Wonderfuls book is available here

bocky + dink

Here are two characters that I made a little while ago now. I have posted before about making clothes for Hesper out of her old baby clothes as I couldn't bear to part with them. Well, these were the first such things that I made, but for some reason or another didn't think to photograph them at the time!

They were both made from pairs of woolly baby tights... and there was no way I was chucking these out. I do love a colourful, woolly tight! The cat, or "Dink" as I like to call him, from a striped red and royal blue pair. Next came "Bocky" the rabbit, a little bigger than I would have liked but in a lovely lime-green and black. Incidentally, "Bocky" is the word for H's comforter and "Dink" is well, how she says drink. These were her two main words at the time of making and just seemed to stick!

home life

 It feels like we've all spent so much time indoors lately due to being poorly, it being so cold and now the snow! Though we did actually go out in the snow today - Hesper's first real experience of snow, but unfortunately we have no decent photos to show for it. It's always tricky to get a decent photo when surrounded by snow (gives a false light reading) and only being armed with iPhones doesn't help.  So, here are some recent, random photos of home life instead - namely, Hesper looking serious and harassing the pets. 

My parents found an old Fisher Price "Family Camper" toy that me and my sister had when we were young, which is now being played with by Hesper. I loved this toy and still do...the clicky noise it makes when being pulled along take me right back to my childhood.