My Messy Doll Room

This is my doll room right now...

I know, it's a mess!

These are Christmas dresses waiting to get

put away and organized. Plus other misc.

items needing to be put away.

Fabric I've pulled out for different reasons needing

to be put away in my fabric bins.

Yes, those are 2 computer monitors.  I mentioned

I needed a larger screen and my family brought me

these. My daughter has a third waiting for me!

I did finally get my doll Christmas decor put away

but here are the bins still in the middle of my room.

And this is my sewing table.

Sigh...

Do any of you get overwhelmed with 

mess and unfinished projects?

SO, I've put this off long enough.

I just have to get in there and

DO

SOMETHING!

I started out just getting everyone

out of their Christmas dresses.

I had already changed my 70s girls out of

their Christmas dresses.

Those dresses were part of the pile on my ironing board.

I wanted to hang up the long Crissy dresses,

but my homemade doll hangers, I realized,

 might snag the taffeta.

Do you ever start one project and it leads to another?

I decided all my wire hangers 

should be covered in felt.

I used my glue gun and did just that.

Now all my large doll dresses will be

protected from snags

Yes, I covered all of them.  I know I was supposed

to be cleaning my doll room.

Next was my sewing table...

I noticed this Build a Bear pattern I had made.

This pattern was for the Build a Bear

Hello Kitty's my daughter collects.

I really should create a better pattern right?

So I got on my computer and did that...

And added some instructions for the bow.

Feel free to use and share!

Wait, where was I?

RIGHT! Cleaning my sewing table

Ick, so messy.

I did finally get it cleaned off.  There were patterns

and fabrics and bric a brac, all needing to be

sorted and put away.

All my compo girls were still in bed

since Christmas! They needed to get

up and get dressed.

I started with Sally, but not sure if this 

dress feels right.

You can read about the 1930s gift dresses here

Next Charlotte and Joan.

And Daisy and biscuit of course.

I changed Sally into a different dress

to match her little sisters.

They all still need shoes, but better for now.

All the miscellaneous fabrics got put away.

The doll house is tidied.

I feel so much better now.

I can't think when things are messy.

Now that my sewing table is usable again, I can

think about some sewing projects.

Up, Up and Away!

 

 

Up, up and Away Balloon Festival

Each year at this time, St. George has a
Balloon festival.  It is so fun seeing all 
the balloons just floating around.

This year Julia and John decided to go
for a balloon ride!

Where is our balloon John?

I think it's this way. Just follow me.

Oooh, look at that.

There it is!

Oh John, I don't know about this...

It'll be great! Just wait!

Look back down the field Julia!

They are really beautiful.

Up, up and away!!! Isn't this great Julia?!

Ohhh! 

Look up Julia.

Oooh.

Look at that!

We can see the whole valley.

Just look John! 

Look behind you Julia.

This is amazing John.

Everywhere I look it's so beautiful!

I think we're getting lower.

That was lovely John, let's do it again sometime!

Anna's Lovely Sewing Projects

Anna is a friend I have made through
this blog.  She lives in New Zealand!

Anna shared some recent sewing
projects she did through the blog 
"Wren Feathers".  This blog has doll
sewing projects that you can join in on.

The first four dresses were for
the Summer Sew Along.

Summer Sew Along - Wren Feathers

I thought these projects were lovely and asked
Anna if I could share them with you. 
Everything in italics are Anna's own words.

Week one Summer Sew Along

"An everyday dress for a girl called Amara"

"For the summer Wren feathers sew- along

I used American girl Ivy Ling. We had a backstory

written by chatGPT about a girl called Amara that

lived in a place called Nirandel.

The designs involved embroidery, which I am too

slow at, so I decided to make my first dress

from an old embroidered cloth I had.

I then decided to continue with that theme

trying to make them fit the story each week. Each

cloth I used was damaged in some way so

didn't mind discarding the damaged pieces."

Week Two Summer Sew Along

"This dress is for the Petalwind Celebration which

is a bird festival. I used a cloth with a swan on it.

It was very worn and I did not like the black

so decorated it with beads to give it a lift.

I sewed the lily from the offcut of the doily on the

dress bodice to tie it in. I threaded matching

coloured thread through the lace on the apron

so it matched and made it less doily looking."

(Click on Photos for a larger view!)

Week Three Summer Sew Along

"Amara has started work as a weavers apprentice

this is her work outfit. I did not like the black on

the cloth again but decided to use

a bright colour for the dress and used the

blue gingham ribbon on the dress to tie it in.

I cut the flowers off the damaged piece of

doily and sewed them on the sleeves."

Week Four Summer Sew Along

"This was Amara's dress for the knotting day

festival. It shows one of the dancers with

streamers dancing under the moon. It is

supposed to be a full moon but the cloth I found had

a crescent moon on it (on the shoulder). It was a

bit tricky getting the pieces out of the cloth to

fit the dress pattern. The knotted belt was a feature

and  I used a friendship bracelet my

daughter had made and added the lace."

These are amazing Anna!!

"We then did a Fall wardrobe for German Schildkrot

Erika who is 16 inches. As I also have a Schildkrot

Inge 18 Inches, I decided to make them matching outfits.

Both my dolls are reproduction dolls from the 1980's."

 

Erika's Fall Wardrobe - Wren Feathers

Week One School Dress and Cardigan.

"This was a school dress and cardigan, I don't really

knit so I used two cardigans I had bought at an

op shop and added the lace and flowers

to match the dresses. I added the ribbon accent

to the dresses so they matched the

colour of the cardigans."

Week Two Oktoberfest Costume

"This is an Oktoberfest costume. I had two matching

serviettes which I used for the aprons. I did not

want to waste the other end of the serviette so

made the little hats with it."

Week Three Cool Weather Jackets

"This is a jacket for cooler weather. I made a

hood for mine and added the plaited

trim. I made the little scarves to match."

Week Four Hiking Outfit

"This is a hiking outfit. We got the pattern for the

trousers and I had the little jersey and cardigan

(They came in a lot of doll clothes I bought one time.)

I added the lace ribbon trim and changed the

cardigan buttons to match the flowers on the trim.

I made the hats to match.

Erika is wearing her blouse from week 2"

Week Five Bedtime Outfits

"These are their bedtime outfits. We got the

pattern for the pyjamas and I made the capes,

slippers and hats for extra chilly nights."

"The sew alongs are great fun and I have really

enjoyed the ones I have done. I love seeing the

different ideas people have and the different

dolls, fabrics and embellishments they use.

I know a lot of work is put into organising

them by Jennie of Wrenfeathers."

Thank you Jennie of Wren Feathers!!

And

Thank you Anna for sharing all your lovely work!