Photos of previous dolly sewing commissions.....

I had some very sad news today from the son of a dear dolly friend of mine.  I knew she was very ill but today her son emailed me to let me know that her doctor says she has just days left to live.....so I've not really felt like taking any photos today....I'm just sort of waiting to hear from him again, because I'm sure it won't be good news.

So please forgive me for posting old photos, but they are in response to a comment my sweet friend Ronny wrote on my last blog post.  I thought I would share some photos of some previous dolly sewing commissions that I've done over the last few years.  Some of my blog followers who I've met through my Sasha dolls, are not very familiar with BJDs, (ball jointed dolls) so might not know the sizes of a particular doll if I only name it, so those of you who are familiar with bjds, please bear with me when I add sizes etc.

A lot of my commissions are based on the ideas of the person commissioning me.  Some people will give me a free reign to make what I want but others like to be more specific and send very detailed drawings or photos of human sized outfits that they'd like me to make.  I used to sew using just measurements but it became too stressful working that way and now I prefer to just sew for dolls that I already own.

This lady sent me a photo of a straight jacket that she wanted me to copy and make for her 11cm doll.  This was a real challenge, but I was very pleased with the end result, and luckily so was she!

This was the photo the customer sent me:

 

These are photos of the finished result, being modelled by 11cm tall Orient Doll So Ji:

 

 

The same customer wanted some old fashioned suits for her 27cm boy dolls.  Below is Fiona, my Fairyland Little Fee, modelling them for me.  I made one black and one brown suit.....based on the photo she sent, also below:

 

Because I didn't have access to black and brown velvet, I used fabric with a high wool content instead.  

Another customer sent me a drawing of a little 'vampire' outfit she wanted made for her 16cm doll.  Because I didn't have the same doll, I used my own 16cm Lati Yellow Miel as the model:

Customers drawing:

Finished outfit: (the wings are made of soft craft foam sheeting!)

A lot of customers want what has become my 'speciality' over the years!!  Jeans!  Here are some pairs of 'aged' jeans for the 16cm Lati Yellow dolls.  Each pair has working back pockets, 'aging', little metal rivets, ribbon tag on the back pocket as well as leather patch on back waistband.  They are all completely topstitched with front fly, fake front pockets, back yoke in most cases and side stitching, just like real human jeans!  Most also have back darts at the waistband to make them the perfect fit.

Then we have the VERY tiny jeans, made for both the Fairyland Puki Pukis and Lati White Specials, who are both approx 12cm tall.  These have exactly the same details as the jeans for the 16cm dolls have....which is a real challenge in this smaller size!

And here are a few things that I made for people, not demin, but I thought they were quite cute....

Little boy outfits for 16cm boys:

 

Sleep suit with feet and beanie hat for 11cm dolls:

This lady wanted 'safari' outfits for her 16cm and 12cm Lati dolls.  I cut up a new linen table napkin from Ikea for these!!!  (they were a nightmare to iron though!)

The same lady asked me to make a Peter Pan outfit for her tiny Elfdoll Tiny Monnaemi Sister.  These dolls are 14cm tall but are sooooo skinny!  I made the whole outfit including the boots, which although not great went quite well with the outfit.  I used one of my parrots feathers for her cap!!

And a few for the very tiny Puki Pukis and some for the Pocket Fairy who is a chubby 13cm.

 

 A small Superman outfit for a 11cm Orient Doll So Ji for a lady in the US!

 

Gingham outfit for Pocket Fairy:

 

And finally, here is a photo of a 12cm Lati White Special Belle sitting on top of a regular sized cotton reel, for size reference!

So these are just some outfits that I've made for the small dolls....I will show some bigger doll outfits another time!

Well this turned into a bit of a photo fest, but I hope you enjoyed joining me on my little trip down Commissions Memory Lane!!!!

Happy Easter dear friends.....

I hope everyone who celebrates Easter had a lovely weekend and for those who don't celebrate it, then I wish you a Happy Spring!!!

I took a few photos of Olive today in her pink Easter dress!  It's not really an Easter dress as such but it's one I made for her in anticipation of her arrival and I think these are the first photos I've taken of her wearing it, although she has tried it on before.  It's a little long in the sleeves because I thought her arms were longer than they actually are!!!  But she doesn't seem to mind and I'm sure she'll grow into it!! 

She has teemed it with ORANGE tights!  Yes orange!  Because apparently, according to little Olive, they go with one of the umbrellas on the skirt part of her dress!!!  Fair enough, can't argue with that!!  She also wears her tulle underskirt and her brown boots!!!  Quite a combination!

Here she is amongst the Jasmine, which I have to say smells beautiful at the moment!!

Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

Virginia (pronounced Ber-hin-eee-ah in Spanish), my sons fiancee, made us two boxes of lovely Oreo Cookie Cupcakes for Easter.  We decided we'd not eat them until later so I put them up high on the worksurface on the kitchen, out of the way of the dogs.....obvioiusly not high enough though!!

Three little girls are very interested in the boxes, peering through the celophane at the cupcakes!  Me thinks they have a Cunning Plan!!

Olive, being the biggest, gets the task of opening the lid and looks for the BIGGEST cupcake! 

"This one looks lovely!"

 The girls look a little bit guilty though, it has to be said!!!

Ellory, wandering what all the whispering is about, comes to investigate, but finds the three girls just 'hanging out' by the Cupcakes box!!!!

"Such sweet good little girls" she thinks!!!  Ha ha, little does she know!

(I love the way Olive is looking up at Ellory in this photo....and holding her hand too of course!
And I realised that of the four girls I brought with me to the coast, three of them are redheads.  I do like red hair on my dolls!!)

A new dress for Ellory...

Yesterday I made a new dress for Ellory.  I wanted to use a pattern that a friend had sent me some time ago as the picture on the front looked quite cute.  Girly enough, but not frilly because Ellory really is NOT a frilly dress sort of girl.  Well first of all the pattern pieces weren't right.  I could see straight away that the sides of the front and back bodice parts did not match.  One was shorter than the other and the shoulders were not the same width either and each sloped in at a different angle.  I am glad that I noticed it before I started cutting out the fabric or I'd have wasted it.  So I made a new bodice front but copied the placement of the 'pleats'....then cut it all out and started sewing.  I didn't like the placement of the pleats one little bit, I don't think they add anything to the bodice, but I did them all the same.  Once I'd finally finished sewing the dress, I tried ironing out the creases that were in the fabric (I'd already done them a couple of times as I went along, without much success)....it had obviously been folded in the fabric shop for some time, because the little buggars wouldn't come out, even with a very hot steam iron!  So I gave up on that.  Then the collar wouldn't lie flat!  And the strange pleats in the sleeves also wouldn't sit nicely!  In the end I just put the dress on her and hoped for the best.  I also added a scrunchy hair band of the same fabric, white socks and nice lime green leather sandals from Boneka in Germany.

As it happens, I'm quite happy now with how it looks on her, Ellory calls it her 'beach ball' dress because she thinks it looks like the coloured beach balls that they sell in the tourist shops in town.  I thought it reminded me of those clove boiled sweets that come in large jars at the sweet shop and they weigh them out for you!!!!  Either way, we both like how colourful it is!

Then because Ellory had been so good modelling for me, she decided to hang out with Lucy, our Miniature Pinscher.  Ellory loves animals and Lucy is very good with her, gentle and not interested in biting (read chewing) her!!!!  

Semana Santa.....

Because we are not at home for Easter, and therefore not watching the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions, I thought that I would share a some photos of previous years.  Although Spain is a Catholic country, the number of people who regularly attend Mass has declined considerably over the years, however when it comes to the Easter processions, everyone and his brother are there to watch the 'floats' go by.

In our town, Estepa in the Province of Sevilla, as in many towns throughout Spain,  the processions start on Palm Sunday.  The various 'floats' are carried by 'Brotherhoods' through the streets of the town and the 'worshippers' follow along behind the procession.  Different days 'belong' to different Brotherhoods and each Brotherhood wears a different coloured pointed hood and cloak, which often displays their 'coat of arms' plus a floor length tunic.  The floats are heavy and can be carried by hundreds of men on their shoulders and in most cases they are unable to see ahead and are therefore guided by someone who walks in front.  These men and the others, both male, female and children, who follow behind, are called Penitents, or Nazarenos.  I understand that the Penitents represent the followers of Jesus, but it's not really clear why their heads are covered.  I did read that it dates back to the Inquisition when the heads of the accused were covered with a sack.  It is also not unusual to see the Penitents marching barefoot....as an additional atonement for their sins.

Each procession takes approx 5 hours depending on the route.  Because of the weight of the floats they go at a very slow pace.   A person at the front walks along with a long pole which is used to push the electrical cables up above the height of the statues on the float!!

My favourite of all the processions is that which takes place on Monday night.  This is the Monday before Easter and not Easter Monday as it is known in the UK, which isn't a holiday here at all.  The Lunes Santo (Holy Monday) procession leaves the church of Santa Ana at 10pm and is referred to as a 'silent' procession.  Although the participants must not speak, in fact it is not totally silent as there is the steady beat from a lone drummer...I find it very moving.  It actually passes our front door at about 1.30am and it is amazing to watch several hundred Penitents passing by, many of them carrying very large heavy wooden crosses as an extra burden for their sins.

This photo was taken as the 'float' left the church.  The statues represent Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as she craddles her son in her arms.....

The following photos were not taken by me,  but they give a much better idea of the Lunes Santo (Holy Monday) procession in our town:  You can see the guys in front with the 'hooked' poles, these are used for lifting the electrical cables up above the statues as they pass....as mentioned above. 

Next time I will show some photos of the Penitents and one of the daylight processions.

A little Pea in a pod!

Yoda hates mornings....and mornings when I go out without her, so she hates even more!!!!

Ellory enjoys the beginning of Spring....

My little red haired Sasha, Ellory, is enjoying the start of spring with a trip to the coast.  We will be down here for a couple of weeks over Easter as my dogs really don't like the marching bands and fireworks that are all part of Easter in towns here in Spain....so we spend the time down here instead.  I decided to bring four dolls with me this time, and so Ellory got her turn this time!

I have also brought all my sewing things with me, as usual, and Ellory hopes to get some new clothes!  (Well it really is about time, poor thing!)

A few days ago I emailed Jackie Rydstrom, who also lives here in Spain, and asked her about the possibility of her rerooting Ellory's fringe as it is a little bit sparce and I'd like it a bit thicker.  Jackie gave me a couple of suggestions for improving the fringe without Ellory having to go 'under the needle' and so yesterday I had a go at it myself and now Ell's fringe is lovely and thick!  Basically what Jackie suggested is what I do with my Blythe dolls when I want them to have a fringe, I pulled hair forward from the crown and then I trimmed it in line with her existing fringe.  Then, using a damp cloth to completely cover her hair, I used a hot iron to lightly press the hair into place!  And voila once the hair was dried, she had a perfectly thickened fringe!  I couldn't believe that I never thought to try this before and was actually thinking of having her rerooted, especially as she has such lovely thick bobbed hair anyway!! 

I took some photos of her today as she enjoyed the flowers and Spring sunshine, as usual I couldn't pick just a couple!!