Sewing a birthday presents....

It's my brother's birthday on the 7th April and every year I struggle with what to buy him.  I always say that he has more clothes than Marks and Spencers and because he has learning difficulties, he is unable to read or use a computer.  He loves the Carry On films but has all those, and a person can only have so many pairs of slippers, can't they!!!  So I generally send vouchers for the local theatre and he and my mum go and see a show as John particularly likes musicals.

However, this year I thought I'd do something completely different.  John has a nautical themed bedroom so I thought I'd make a small 'quilt' for him.  I had some ideas in my head and went to the local haberdashers to get some supplies. I bought some thick beige linen, some natural thick undyed cotton (I think there is a name for this but I can't think what it is) and some fabric for the back.  And I also bought something which I think is called 'batting' a sort of thick stuff for in between the two outside fabrics.

I bought a set of ten 'nautical' themed embroidery patterns on line, downloaded them and made a start.  I didn't use the suggested colours for each design as they were all a little bit dull, instead choosing various colours that I thought would work well.  

When I got to this point, I wasn't quite sure where I should go from here, having never made anything remotely like a quilt before!!!  And it took me ages to realise that I had to use a damp cloth to make the batting stuff 'fuse' to the fabric!!!!  I wondered what on earth was going wrong when I'd stood for more than half an hour ironing it only to find each time that it hadn't fused!

And then I just winged it.  I made all the embroidered 'motifs' into the same size and then I sewed them by hand onto the linen using running stitches.....now please don't laugh, my hand stitching is not very good but I thought the running stitches looked quite effective!!!  After that I started just sewing straight lines all over the place!  And then I attached everything together and this is the end result. 

If you click on the photos they will enlarge and you can see the details better.

This is the fabric I chose for the back, I thought, being of old maps, it suited the theme quite well.

I really really wanted to mitre the corners but I just couldn't do it so in the end I just made them overlap.  I sewed on this tiny metal 'made with love' tag on to one corner....

Hanging on the fence to dry after all the steam ironing!

The finished size is 112cm wide by 56cm deep.  And it's quite heavy.  I cannot imagine how someone could sew a full sized quilt on a home sewing machine, but know that lots of people do it and I really admire them!

I'm not sure I will do another too soon but might consider doing something for my mum for her 80th birthday later this year.  But this time I hope to start sooner and not try to make it all in 3 days. 

It's not perfect, but I'm very happy with how it came out and hope my brother will love it too!

Thanks for visiting.  I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter weekend and that the week ahead is great for each of you!

My new birthday girl....

I mentioned last week about the imminent arrival of my birthday present from my lovely hubby, and she duly arrived from Denver Doll Emporium in the US, and I love her!  I've been slow in introducing her as I had a lot of other things to do first, but finally, today I have some photos for you.  She is a lovely Fairyland Little Fee Ante in tanned 'skin', a shade that I particularly like for photos as I've mentioned before, and the Fairyland tan is very nice, creamy and warm, like milky coffee, although you might be led into thinking that she has an orangey tinge, this is actually due to me taking the photos with the orange and cream sunblinds down!

I immediately changed her eyes from the blue acrylic that she came with to a smaller sized deep brown glass.  A lot of BJD companies send their dolls out with eyes that in my opinion are too large for the sockets, and no white is showing.  I find that unnatural and a little bit disconcerting, so every one of my dolls has an eyes change when they get here!!  She has also borrowed a red faux mohair wig until her own wig comes.  I did get a wig with her in mind, but the colour isn't right for her tan.  Another wig for the overflowing wig box!   Oh well, I'm sure it won't go to waste!  Outfits by me, shoes from Ebay.

The two girls together, Little Miss No Name and Fiona...

Some side by side closeups of the two girls faces....

I love how the Little Fees can squat down so naturally like this!

And touch their faces and cover their eyes....

Actually, Fiona is upset, she thought that me getting the tanned Ante that "I'd wanted for ages..." meant that she would have to go....awww poor little thing, you're not going anywhere sweetie!

I think these two are going to be firm friends!

Now, I just have to think of a name for the little newbie!

Thanks for reading!  I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far!

Teddy visits the Bioparc.....

On Monday I took Teddy to the Bioparc in Fuengirola.  I have blogged about the Bioparc previously, here when I took my blond Sasha for a visit to celebrate my birthday back in June 2013.  This time though it was my brother's birthday, yesterday (7th April)  he turned 50!  I can hardly believe that my 'little' brother, well my ONLY brother actually, has now reached 50!!!

So off we went to the Bioparc and I took Teddy along because he'd been such a good boy whilst my family have been visiting from the UK.  As is normal for me, many of my photos were rushed in case I was spotted 'playing' with a doll.....I look forward to the day when I have a grandchild who I can drag around with me, pretending the doll(s) belong to her/him!!!! ;)

Teddy wasn't overly impressed with his 'mode' of transport....he had to snuggle inside a large holdall wearing a thick bedsock on his head to protect his hair and face....but once he got out in the restaurant and sat with his 'nana' he was happier, especially when she gave him a drop of her hot chocolate!

My mum is a good sport, bless her, holding on to my dolls for me....but my son Brendan wasn't too keen to be seen with me holding a doll! 

Teddy wore his lovely new striped boat motif jumper knitted by the very talented Rosie Laird, shorts and socks quickly made by me, and nice navy blue sandals by Lisa Hartley...he looks incredibly smart, doesn't he? :) 

Teddy particularly liked looking down into the many water features of the parc, but I was always very wary of letting him do so....those fishes are pretty big and he'd make a nice snack for them I'm sure!

"Hold mine hand mamma, I wants to lean over to sees the birdies better!"

Teddy just loves to CLIMB!  My heart was in my mouth several times when I caught him climbing on the fencing......the hippopotamus looked very expectantly at the little striped morsel precariously perched above his enclosure!

Teddy loved the pinky coloured Flamingoes, wanting to take one home and keep it as a pet....he wasn't convinced when I told him that these pretty birds might prefer to give him a nasty peck on his little fingers or knock him flying with their large strong wings!

"But I wanna keep mine fingers mamma!" 

Teddy really enjoyed the fish.....maybe a small goldfish would make a nice pet for him?  

The Buddha didn't have much to say to Teddy .... but appeared to be listening intently to what Teddy had to say! ;)

A little rest....well it was a lot of walking for such a small little fellow!

I think he enjoyed himself, and he got back in the back and into his bedsock 'protector' without a word of protest...and slept all the way home!!!

 

A Present for Me....from Me!!!

Today is my birthday and as some of my blog followers will know, I have been on the lookout for a wider faced Brunette Sasha for a little while now!  

Lo and behold, today Shelly of Sasha Dolls UK posted two for sale on her website!!!   Absolutely perfect timing and surely meant to be!!!!  So I was lucky enough to snap up my favourite of the two, a gorgeous little girl from 1971 who's facepaint is very vibrant and pretty and although she does have falling hair, it is still lovely and thick!  She has her original stringing and comes wearing a cute Ruthsdolls outfit too, which is exactly to my taste!  I'm really happy to say that she is coming to live here in Spain and that she is my birthday present to me .... from me!!

In other news, today we spent a few hours at the Bioparc/zoo in Fuengirola and I took Millie, my blond Sasha from 1971, with me.  Although I'm still not particularly comfortable taking doll photos in public, I was quite brave (!) and took several photos of her whilst we were there!  I haven't checked them yet, but hope that there are at least a few that are good enough to share on another post later!  Watch this space!!!! ;-)