A bit of sewing for Holly....

Holly is my Zwergnase Junior Wentje who came here at Christmastime, a present from my  husband Brian.  Until now the poor girl has stood for ages in her default outfit then she was changed into a 'hand me down' from one of my other dolls, but today, finally, she has an outfit of her own.

I wanted to make her some loose fitting linen overalls and so searched on line for photos of what I had in mind.  So firstly I made a pattern by taking her measurements and drawing it out on a large piece of brown paper.  She's 55cm tall so the usual A4 sheets wouldn't work for her.  I tweaked it a few times and then decided to use an old pair of trousers of mine to cut up for the fabric.  I don't have much linen type fabric here and all that I do have would have been too small.  Plus I didn't really want to use good fabric in case the pattern was not a good fit for her.

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out.  I used some red metal overall clips that are meant for human sized items, and they worked perfectly for her.  I made a simple cap sleeved white tee shirt to finish off the look.

The overalls have large pockets on the sides so that Holly can fill them with her belongings or of course she can fit her hands in them too.

I have tweaked my pattern slightly to make them a little less full under the arms, and next time I think I will make them with short legs for the summer.  

I hope you're all keeping safe and having a nice day.

Big hugs, Sharon xxx

Gotz new hair!!!

I would like to show you the results of some 'dolly recycling'!  In August 2013 I adopted my first Gotz Slate Eyes Sasha, a sweet little blond who came with a 'come over' because the seller said her hair had been cut at the front by a budding young hairdresser!  Unfortunately though, her hair was worse than that, it was actually all snapping off at the roots so in the end, when her hair was completely gone on top, I decided she should lose the rest of her thin, dry, brittle hair, and be wigged.  However I could never quite find a wig that suited her.  Here is how she looked when she came here, before her hair came off.

Time moved on and another Gotz girl came to live here, this time it was a more modern Gotz Happy Kidz Emily from 2015.  In contrast with the girl above, she had beautiful blond locks and plenty of them.  But for some strange reason I decided I'd like Emily to have a fringe so I cut her hair into one......but it was an awful cut and I was disappointed in my hairdressing skills,

so much so that in the end I cut off all her hair and wigged her.

I decided to keep her hair though, I thought it might come in handy, I'm sure you crafters out there will know what I mean by that!!!  And lo and behold at the weekend I got the idea that this hair might well come in handy to reroot Lyric!!!!

The hair, having been cut from the head of another doll, was a lot shorter than I'd usually use for a reroot but I was determined to make it work.  I started working on her on Easter Sunday and finished her reroot last night.  I worked with the existing holes and then added extra ones around the crown and the hairline at the front. 

I'm really happy with her, she looks just how I'd hoped!  I love how the hair, being shorter, hangs in great layers, like as if it's been professionally cut that way! 

I haven't used any hot water on it, I actually like the way it's lying now, all I've done is just trim a few stray hairs at the back.  My friend said she looks like a little 'surfer girl' and I know just what she means!  

I love how the sides 'flick' back.....

And how the back hangs down in nice layers.....

And how, when the wind blows it about, like it has done today.....

......it falls nicely back into shape again without the use of a comb..... 

Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing my doll hair recycling job!

Thank you for visiting, I hope you all have a great weekend ahead and that the weather is good for you :)

Big hugs, Sharon x