What I've Been Up To in August

I'm surprised that more than three weeks have flown by since I last posted here! I guess my July craft-a-day challenge didn't have the intended effect--I had hoped/expected it to give me a creative jump-start, but instead it seems to have drained me! Well, it didn't drain me completely...I must admit that I've been quite a busy bee recently in the realm of crafting for dolls.  By the way...did you notice that I didn't mention Blythe dolls at all during the month of July? I did that on purpose. I was trying to separate my Blythe crafting from my general crafting, and I undertook a Blythe doll dress-a-day challenge during July too. It turns out that I much preferred working on the things for the dolls! I love working on that small scale, and I like that I can use all my crafty skills to make things for them. Here's an example of what I've done lately:

Dresses and shrugs (I love sewing and knitting!)

Underwear (I love embroidery!)

I'm getting ready to go to a big meet-up of Blythe enthusiasts in New York City in October, and I plan to hand out doll undies to the people I meet there (package with my business card--I've just opened an etsy shop selling Blythe clothes and accessories, called Blythe Happy). So for now I am concentrating on doll crafting, but there are a couple of other projects that I plan to post here in the coming weeks.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer! This summer I have finally gotten back into regular exercise (jogging a mile every day) and I've managed to lose 10 pounds!

Thanks for stopping by!

How to Make a Fancy Doll Stand

Here's one more fancy doll stand I just made for a swap. My lovely swap partner, Astral in England, asked if I could show her how it was made; so, here you go, Astral, this tutorial is for you!

Start with pre-cut wooden plaques from the craft store. Mine are 5" square. Drill a 1/4" hole, centered, about an inch from the back of the plaque. (I've never used a drill before, and I was a bit nervous about it, but drilling the hole turned out to be the most fun part of making these stands!)

You need to have your theme completely planned out before you go any further. In my previous post, I showed two stands that have scrapbooking paper on the top, and I painted the sides to coordinate with the paper. For this "outdoorsy" stand, I painted the sides grass green. Be sure to paint around the drilled hole, and down inside it too. Paint over the edges on the top and bottom so no unpainted parts will show on the finished stand (since there was wet paint on the bottom, I set the stand on a can of vegetables to dry.)

Carefully measure and cut the paper or faux grass you will use on the top of the stand. Remember to cut a hole where you drilled the hole in the stand! You can find sheets of this dollhouse grass at hobby stores.

Also, cut a piece of felt to go on the bottom of the stand, so it won't scratch the surface you place it on.

The picture below shows all the bits and pieces I used to decorate my stand. The fence came from the craft store, and I made the watermelons and leaves out of polymer clay. The 1/4" dowel at the back of the picture will go in the drilled hole to support the doll on the stand.

The bush is made from a circle of fabric. I embroidered simple flowers on it, and  added some beads.

Glue on the grass or (scrapbook paper), and the felt, using tacky glue. Everything else should be glued with a hot glue gun. That's all there is to it!

I made a watermelon dress for the doll to complete the picture!

Winner!!

There were so many good guesses in the previous post about what I was knitting, and the correct answer came from Gill:  yes indeed, it is a tiny shrug for my Blythe doll!!

Here again is the picture I showed you:

All you do is sew the corners of the long edge to the corners of the short edge, then roll the long edge back to form a collar:

It is a free pattern on Ravelry, called "Shrugs and Kisses" by Maggie Baird. I love it when designers share their patterns free of charge!  As a beginning knitter, I hesitate to buy a pattern that might turn out to be too complicated for me.

This shrug is the perfect little accessory with a sleeveless dress, and I'm making one for each of my dolls.  I'm also in a couple of Blythe swaps, and they are great for swap packages!

Gill, I have e-mailed you; your zippered pouch will be in the mail to you soon!!

THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment, I appreciate that you took the time to do so.  I thought waggonswest was going to figure it out, the way she was applying such logic to it!  And I need to give special recognition to Angie for the funniest guess:  she thought it looked a lot like a nose warmer!!

Photo Backdrop

I've been working on a big project this week--actually, it's big time-wise, but not size-wise.  I turned this extra-large shoebox into a photo backdrop for my Blythe dolls.  The main thing I do with my dolls is make clothes for them and then take pictures of them in the clothes. Some Blythe owners are adventurous and go out in public to take pictures with all kinds of different scenery.  I tend to stay at home, so I have to get creative with my backgrounds.

On the inside of the box, I glued scrapbook paper to the sides, top, and bottom, to make it look like a pretty room.  The picture frames are actually pre-cut scrapbook paper embellishments, so I just printed some photos of my dolls to place in the openings, then glued them to the walls.  The bunting is also scrapbook paper, cut into triangles, and glued to baker's twine.

With the addition of a couple of props, it really looks like a house!

I want to live here!

For the outside of the box, I used more scrapbook paper to make a cartoon-y house on a hill.  You can see that I decorated the box lid too, to make a bigger area where the doll can stand.

I made 3-D grass, flowers and butterflies from polymer clay, to make the scene more interesting.  I glued them to little "islands" of the same green scrapbook paper, so I can re-position them in the scene.

It makes a great backdrop!

I covered the flip side of the lid is with this extremely realistic-looking wooden-plank paper.

It looks like Penny is standing next to an old barn!

To finish off the shoe box, I covered the sides with pages torn from an old dictionary (which I got at the library for $1.00!)  Then I added these wonky stick-on letters, spelling out "Blythe" on each side. I think I will give the sides a coat of mod podge to keep all the edges stuck down.

It happens that just as I was thinking about working on this project, Craftster announced a new craft challenge, "Shoebox Makeover." How's that for good timing?  I'm going to submit this box. The entry period is February 1-10, so if YOU want to enter too, there's still time!

Five Tiny Dresses and a New Blog

Now that the year is drawing to a close, and I have finished my 365 Sewn Hearts, several people have asked me, "What's next?"  I've been thinking and rethinking that; and the answer is...

 a new blog! 

 It will not be in the "365" format; at first I thought would do that again, but then I decided to be kind to myself and not add that pressure to my life!  Instead, this new blog will focus on my new love, Blythe dolls.  I will be able to ramble on about them in a separate place, so I don't bore my non-dolly readers--that's good for me and for you!  I expect to post there once or twice a week, while continuing to post here about more general sewing, crafts and art.  Blythes will still show up here occasionally, when I have made something for my dolls that fits the context of this blog...like sewing these dolly dresses, for example!

First, I proudly admit that my dolly family has grown to five.  I wanted them all to have a Christmas outfit, so using the pattern for the party dress at the Blythe site, Puchi Collective  I whipped out these five tiny dresses. My stash of Christmas fabrics is rather huge, so it wasn't hard to find some small-scale designs for this project. I decided to add a detail of some sort to each waist and hem...that was where things got a little tricky, because I didn't want to repeat any of the trims or ribbons. I've recently discovered a couple of shops on Etsy that specialize in extra-small notions which are perfect for doll clothes, so I will be doing more shopping there in the future!

Now, getting back to the new blog...it's called Blythe Happy. I invite you to take a look--I've started blogging there already.  If you aren't interested in dolls, you still might find something fun--for example, there are more pictures there from my walk through Colonial Williamsburg...I brought one of the Blythes with me and took pictures with her there, too.

 If by some chance I manage to "convert" a reader to Blythe--oh happy day!  I want to hear from you!

Hey--I Can Still Knit!

When I was 10 or 11 years old,  I joined a 4-H knitting club in my neighborhood.  There were only three other girls in the group, and we met once a week at Mrs. Payson's house across the street for an hour or two to learn how to turn yarn into something useful.  I enjoyed it and mastered the basics of knitting quickly, and at the county fair that fall I was elated when I got blue ribbons for my knitted scarf, pincushion, and headband!

Fast forward to 2012.  I've done very little knitting since my 4-H days, but I have this Blythe doll hobby now, and I've been seeing a lot of cuuuuute knitted doll hats that I would love to make...so when I saw this pattern at XOXO Blythe for a simple, basic hat, I decided to give it a try.  I went to Joann's and ventured past the fabric (my ususal stop) into the yarn section, where I bought some double-pointed needles and varigated yarn.  I got down to work, and much to my surprise, I still know how to knit!  Here's an in-progress shot--look at that, I'm using five needles at once!

This is exciting--it came out looking just like a real hat!  The variations of color in the yarn make the stripes happen without any effort on the part of the knitter.

Hey--it fits my doll just like a real hat too!  I was so happy with how quickly it came together that I made a second one (I only mention that because some of you will notice that the stripe placement is different in the hat above and the hat below!)  I feel empowered and emboldened by my success!  Who knows what I will knit next?

 I think Grace likes it even more than I do!  (And yes, I did make her cute little skirt and matching t-shirt!) The hat pattern includes a pom-pom on top, but I like it better like this.

In case you find yourself  interested in learning to knit, let me tell you that I've recently noticed a website called Craftsy which offers online video classes for all kinds of creative things, including knitting.  I am considering taking their class for basic crochet, because I tried to teach myself to crochet from a book last year, with dismal results. Writing this has caused me to make a decision:  I WILL take their class, and I will report back to you here with my findings.  Stay tuned!

Happy Halloween!

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

--Scottish Saying

My thoughts and prayers are going out to all who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.  I hope your lives will soon return to normal.

Bookcases Aren't Just for Books

I love bookcases!  We have quite a few of them in our house, and they hold a lot more than books.

I have two Blythe dolls who were in desperate need of a place to "live". I've seen some interesting dollhouses made from bookcases (like this one on LA Weekly), so I decided to clear off one of the bookshelves in our family room to make a little place for Grace and Bonnie.  Below you can see the progress I've made on their humble abode.  I've only finished Step One: Walls.

I didn't want to apply anything directly to the bookshelf that was permanent, so I used foam core board and scrapbook paper to build three free-standing walls.  I hadn't worked with foam core board before, and I was surprised at how easy it was to cut to size with an X-acto knife. I can imagine making a lot of things from this crafty material.

Here are the bookcases, below.  As you can see, they actually hold  very few books, so turning one shelf into a dolly apartment isn't really that far-out.

The dollhouse is looking rather bare, though, isn't it?  The chair and ottoman in the picture are both actually pincushions; I've had the chair forever, and I received the beautifully-made "ottoman" in a craft swap from alwaysinmyroom on Craftster.  The next thing I have in mind is to put a couple of pictures on the long wall, using some ATC-sized wooden frames that I already have. I just need to come up with some art to go in them!

A little more furniture might be in order as well.  I can see that Grace and Bonnie may end up playing Musical Chairs to decide who gets to sit when they are tired of standing...in fact, things are starting to get a little tense already...

So tell me, dear reader, what's on your bookshelf?

Dolly Clothes

I recently had the chance to make some Blythe doll clothes for my partner in a craft swap on Craftster.  I had big plans for an outfit plus coordinating accessories, including an embroidered headband and a necklace, but alas, I ran out of time, so I just made this skirt and t-shirt.  This is my Blythe doll, Bonnie modeling the clothes before I sent them off to Florida.

The t-shirt is from a pattern from Puchi Collective.  I just happened to have a brand-new t-shirt I got for free when I bought several cartons of Coke products; the t-shirt was too small for me, which meant it was perfect to cut up for doll clothes!  I did several practice shirts, sewn on the machine, but they tended to end up with unpredictable wonky areas, so I sewed this shirt by hand.  It's so small it really didn't take long at all.  Because Blythe dolls have such gigantic heads, their shirts all open in the back, and close with snaps or velcro.  (I used snaps.)

The skirt pattern comes from a website called miseducated.  The skirt itself is very simple, so I made it special with applique and embroidery.  It is made from wool felt.

I think Bonnie needs an outfit just like this.  Now that I know the tricks to making it, maybe I'll make her a few!

Meet Bonnie Blythe

I'm excited about something new--it's a doll named Blythe.

I first noticed Blythe dolls on the swaps board on Craftster;  the doll owners were making and swapping clothes and accessories for their Blythes.  The clothes were really CUTE, and the accessories were FUN, and I wanted to make some too!  But first I needed a doll.

Takara, the company that makes Blythe, is in Japan, and they don't distribute the dolls in the U.S.  There is only one reliable Japanese store that sells them online--Junie Moon--but the prices there are pretty high.  The best place for me to get my doll was eBay.  I started watching all the Blythe listings obsessively, and reading all I could about collecting Blythe.  It turns out that there are a lot of fake Blythes on the market (made from inferior materials), so you have to be careful who you buy from.  Within a few days I saw the particular doll I wanted--"Raspberry Sorbet"--offered by a good seller in Hong Kong; and I didn't even have to play the bidding game, since she was offered as a "Buy it Now" purchase.

While waiting impatiently for her arrival, I continued reading about Blythe collecting.  There are Blythe blogs and online Blythe forums, and there is even a big Blythe convention taking place in Texas in August:  Blythecon 2012!  (Maybe I'll go next year?!) 
I also decided on a name for the doll:  Bonnie. 

Earlier this week, the mailman rang my doorbell, and I had to sign for the package.  I expected it to take two weeks or more, but she got here in about a week--wow!  The box was wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string, and it was strangely pristine--I've gotten local packages that look like they've been on a long sea voyage, but this didn't have a mark, dent or crease!  Removing the brown paper revealed a plain brown corrugated cardboard box, and inside that was the prize:

And here she is (below), right out of the box and wearing her full ensemble.

I love the hat, coat and boots she came with; but the shirt and shorts she's wearing needed to be ditched fast.  Time to sew an outfit--yay! 

There are a ton of sewing patterns for Blythe online, most notably at Puchi Collective. That's where I found the pattern for this empire waist dress (below).  This is the first time I've sewn doll clothes since I had a Barbie as a pre-teen!  I chose these fabric colors to compliment Bonnie's hair and eyes.  Did I mention that Blythe dolls have changeable eye colors?  They do!  Each doll has four different sets of eyes, and they change when you pull a string on the back of her head.  I'll get busy sewing something to go with each color to show you in the coming weeks.

You might have noticed that her head is "slightly" large in proportion to her body.  All the more reason to make cute hair accessories for her!  I'm dying to make some pretty headbands and fascinators.  She also needs a bed... and a chair...and a table...and a house... and a...

If anyone reading this is a Blythe owner, I'd love to hear about your girl!  Leave a comment below or send me an email (leslieandersen4@gmail.com).