Hand Crocheted Bed Doll Dress and Skirt

Finished crocheting this bed doll last week. White crinoline and attached slip was made using baby soft yarn; overskirt, hat and sleeve and neck trim using ww acrylic yarn in turquoise and maroon. I’d thoroughly enjoy dressing lots of dolls in seasonal clothing for display. The boys would have a fit though. Will be offering her at Holly's Dollies. I need to add a Bed Doll Button and page for her.

Today I am knitting myself a pair of lavender mittens while riding the stationary bike. A simple pattern, no fuss no muss. Am hoping to have enough for a hat. Or do the hat in lavender and white and a white with lavender snowflake design scarf.

Handmade polymer eyes!

These were a lot of fun to make. The instructions mentioned it being difficult to set them in perfectly. Understatement! 

Well, this is a prim crow so her eyes can be wonky! This is still a major improvement over the black embroidered eyes. I decided to glue the upper lid to the head and the lower lid to the eyeball. The next pair (oh, yes there will be more!!!), I might concave the iris/pupil area before baking. 

I used the clear gloss varnish (Ceramcoat) and creating the cornea did not work. With a "divot to fill", it might work better. 
Now on to the clothing.... decided on a maroon dress and maroon and white gingham pinafore and bloomers.

Handmade eyes for cloth dolls

I am finally working on the draft blocker doll. I decided instead of a chicken she'll be a crow. Very cute. And instead of a draft blocker, she is going to be a doll/deco piece.

Very unhappy with her embroidered eyes... Black thread on a black fabric... BORING! I found this wonderful blog with instructions on making polymer clay eyes for cloth dolls and setting them in with fabric eyelids. I am really excited to give this a go. I think she'll have green eyes!

Then I need to get her dress, pinafore and bloomers done. Today?? Probably not.

30% off at Fabric.com clearance sale

Take an additional 30% off our clearance section at Fabric.com with code "CLEAR910".  Offer valid through 9/20/10.

15" Raggedy Ann and Andy photographed

I don't see how professional crafters/doll artists manage! How do you juggle production, website management, PR and housework???! Kudos to those who do all of this themselves. I am having a hard time trying to manage!

Anyway, it is a wonderful challenge to get much as I can done... in  a day (week?). The frustration is having dishes piled 3 feet high in the sink, dust bunnies running rampant, and a bored kid.

I finished a 15" Raggedy Ann and Andy pair and finally got pictures taken. The quality of my pictures is improving! Getting better and better! Charlie is still trying to get pictures of lightning...keep trying bud! 

This pair was made with small children in mind. Hand painted features in non-toxic acrylic paint, sewn on wig, no buttons.

The 36" dolls are incredible! Always wanted a huge dolly growing up. I still need to add hair to one; stuff, paint and add hair to the other one. Their clothing is already made and ready for button accents.
See them here: http://hollys-dollies.sweetwatercreations.com/raggedies.html

With the sound of thunder, I shall sign off here....egads the horse and chickens will soon be sprouting gills... but the garden is looking fabulous!

Goings On

I haven't been very inspired lately. All this rain and the humidity. I haven't felt like knitting or crocheting. So I decided to spend some time sewing!

I got quite a bit accomplished with the traditional Raggedy Ann and Andys. 3 dresses (3 sizes), 3 outfits for Andy (3 sizes). 2 15" dolls done (one waiting for wig), 2 36" dolls sewn (1 stuffed and face painted), 2 15" dolls sewn. Still need to cut out and sew bloomers and aprons.

Then I sewed (is that really a word??) a 12" prim kitty and got her painted and stained. And then this morning I sewed a Jumper and long sleeve top for a 14-16" baby type doll.

This evening I plan to crochet an outfit for 14" baby type dolls. Who knows... never a dull moment around here.

Visit http://hollys-dollies.sweetwatercreations.com/doll-clothes.html to see handmade knitted, crocheted and sewn doll clothes!

Hat Creek Market Online Craft Mall is now officially open - FREE advertising

The Hat Creek Market Online Craft Mall!

http://www.hatcreekmarket.com 

 

Last minute tweaks and I think we are finally up and running.

There are still a few behind the scene tweaks to finish up and I still can't seem to get the banner rotation to work.

I will be taking FREE ads through the weekend. Simply send in a limit of 2 ads including your website URL, banner/image URL and which ads you want to monkeefan66@gmail.com.

I don't have a shop directory page set up yet, but you can submit your shop and I will add it ASAP! More pages and goodies will be added regularly.

Please promote the free advertising to other crafters who may be interested in helping getting this launched. Just direct them to the site and have them e-mail me with the weekend free ad offer.