Miss Aine

I've posted many photos over the last few years of little girls dresses. But this week I made my first little boy's shirt and I think I am converted to loving boys clothes. This shirt is so stinkin' cute! My little man is so happy with it and wants to wear it every day. It doesn't get much better than that!

Emily is going to a party at Build-A-Bear Workshop so I thought some build-a-bear sized clothes would be a good present. I picked up a little cardboard suitcase in Tiger and searched Google, Pinterest and Ravelry for a few patterns. The final touch is some wings, with elastic straps, so the bear can play dress-up. Now Emily wants all the same clothes for her bear!

All from the blog 'it's always autumn', it's from the Free Teddy Bear dress blogpost. (Can't link on my iPad but it comes up easy if you google it) The pattern was very quick and easy to follow and the dress is reversible which is always a bonus!

I just added this lot to my Etsy shop. www.missaine.etsy.com All complete and ready to ship. I've also been working on these dolls to replenish the Artists Gift Gallery in on Dawson Street in Dublin City.

The paper bag I had been using to hold my pegs finally died, So I decided to make myself a new fabric one. I found an old baby hanger and drew around it on some red cordroy fabric. Then I cut out a hole to put the pegs in and out.  But I cut the hole too big! So I picked a fabric to add as an insert rather than starting from scratch. A little bit of lace to girly it up, and a few motifs cut from the fabric and machine-sewn into the front on the bag.  Then I stitched up the side and inserted the hanger. Viola! And here it is in action.

Emily requested a new dress for her baby doll this morning. I didn't quite make a dress, but I hope she'll be happy with baby's new outfit!

Emily is going to a party on Monday for the little sister of one of her friends. And this morning I realised I'd no gift. And no little dresses left in my stash. All the dresses I have are age 2-4, and this little girl is only turning one. So out came the sewing machine and a good mix of fabrics. I'd forgotten how much I love making little girls' dresses, mixing colours and patterns. This dress has quite a summer feel in fresh blues and peachy orange.  Now if we could just get some summer weather here in Ireland!

I've been working on some custom doll dresses over the last few days. I think they are just adorable. The prints are just beautiful. I'd love to make some in little girl sizes. And maybe a shift dress or two in my size!!

So I spent most of today making cake for Emily's birthday party tomorrow. I just need to assemble and decorate it in the morning. I've only done a tiny bit of sewing over the last few days. One task was to see faces on all these doll bodies. Now I have to make them some clothes. But first a coffee break!

I'm quite pleased with these. Especially the machine embroidery - I had good fun doing that. The backing fabric was the starting point colour-wise - it's coffee themed so it was perfect for this project. Now I just need to buy some 'sweet treats' to go along with the mug rugs.

My first attempt at machine embroidery, inspired by a Poppy Teffrey book from the library. I think I may be doing a lot more of this in the future!

I'm thinking ahead for Mother's Day today. My Mam got a fancy coffee machine for Christmas, so I thought some cute mug rugs would be a nice idea for a gift. This is the work in progress so far.

Emily has a party to attend this weekend, so I decided to make a little reversible bag for her friend. I almost got it finished in the time Oliver was at playschool. It took a bit longer as I broke a needle - I always seem to when making bags. After that the machine wouldn't work properly. I tried re-threading a few times, changing the needle, cleaning out the lower bobbin case.  Last chance saloon was a final go at changing the needle and tightening it up a bit more. Finally it worked. I was close to crying and checking out new machines on the Argos website. Hopefully I've no more drama with it for a while!

I feel like I just lost a few weeks of my life! First I got the flu. Then a very chesty cough. And then a tummy bug. And in the middle of that DH was abroad for a few days so I was looking after the kids alone, and very sick. It's one of those times when it would be nice to live closer to my family.  So all the crafting I'd done since Christmas ground to a halt. There were days I was too tired to even hold knitting needles. That doesn't happen too often! Now I'm back to the dolly dresses.  And I'm working on a variation to my Anna-Beth knitted doll pattern. I'm not sure yet if I'll make a pattern of it. Or maybe offer the variation as a freebie. It depends if it looks nice once done I suppose!

What a difference a change in scale can make. Both these doll faces are essentially the same design, but the one on the right has larger features.  It creates quite a different look. I'm not totally sure which I prefer.

Last week I was struck down with flu, and it got me pretty good. So all the creative momentum I'd built since Christmas had to be paused. Which was very hard for me. Now I'm over the worst , and just have a bad cough and runny nose. Oh the joys of the head-cold. This week has been mostly about tidying up the house and getting back to normal.  I made some cute buns for the after-school snack. Pink icing, cherries and sprinkles- what's not to love about them! And I've slowly been getting back to creating. My new large rag dolls have finally had their arms and legs attached. Now I'm working on knitted hair and a more embroidered face.

So most of today was spent stuffing doll body parts.  I'm redesigning the large cloth rag dolls I make to sell. Instead of calico for the skin I've switched to a linen-look cotton in a taupe colour.  I think it gives a nice bit of extra colour to the skin. My next job is to try work out an embroidered face that I'm happy with, rather than the cut out felt one I've used up til now. Or maybe a combination of embroidery and felt? Then I want to make some knitted hair. Something that would give them a unique look as not everyone mixes sewing and knitting when making toys. It might not work. Now I better take a break and make the kids some dinner!

I got some new doll dress patterns in the post today. I can't wait to try them out! And here's some pictures of dresses I've been making this last week - now that my machine has been serviced.

My poor, overworked sewing machine went to the doctors today for a service. The tension had gone hay-wire on it and my attempts to fix it had not worked. This machine has not done me wrong. I have it about 10 years and this was its first service. And it gets quite a bit of use! I had expected to be without it for a few days at least but the guy in the shop had a look at it straight away and had it ready for me within the hour. Now that's service! He even cleaned 10 years of gunk from the top!! Now it's back to sewing. I have a few dolls dresses and doll bodies cut out and ready to go. I just need to find the time to sew now!