Today is National Book Day, and it's way too cold to go outside, so Ringo decided to occupy himself reading one of his favourite Beatrix Potter books... But Rags was bored, and wanted some attention... "You want to read this book with me??" "This is the story of Peter Rabbit...."
I'm working on making a tiny version of a costume that I made way back in 1995 for an art doll with my sister.....the 'Butterfly Monarch'.... I figured it would be a wonderful elegant costume for my Phairby... Here's what I did yesterday....
...and a strip of orange lace.... ..then gathered small fabric flower petals in the appropriate colours.... ...and beaded them onto the bottom of the skirt. The original spacing I had in mind, seemed too far apart, so I had to fill the spaces with another, shorter row... ...then brushed on some glitter paint... ...and today I'm beading the rows of 'white spots' which correspond to the white spots on the monarch's wings. The overskirt is a thin cotton gauze, which I chose because it already has vertical crinkles, and it will hang better than any thicker fabric I might have. I didn't have any flowers small enough, so am using some cream coloured sequins, and four sizes of 'pearl' beads.... This time I'm going to use a stretch fabric for the sleeves, so they will fit over her hands better without ending up looking bulky. I still have to figure out how to add narrow lace cuffs and beading to the end of stretchy fabric. And with this costume, Phairby will need a proper wig.
Anyways, it's something fun to do while I'm on antibiotics, which have totally killed any desire to take new doll photos. Good thing I still have one little story waiting in the wings..... Isis had had enough of their fighting, took the pillow and sat down on the sofa with her tea.. "But Mom!! I was laying there reading my books!!" "And I was playing with my dolls there..." "I'm sorry, but if the two of you can't share..." "Then neither of you are going to have it." Nyssa and Eric were upset, and ran off to their rooms...
"I think I may just have to make another pillow..." Nyssa wasn't the least bit happy that Eric currently had the pillow, and all their Mom had said was that they'd "have to share".... She figured he'd had it long enough, and yanked it out from under his head.... ...and hit him over the head with it... "Hey!! What are you doing??" "You've had it long enough! Now it's MY turn!!"
"Oh yah? Says who??" Isis had finished the needlepoint pillow. "Look, I finished it. It's all sewn and stuffed."" "It looks really good Mom!" And Nyssa took it, shoved Eric's teddy on the floor, and put the pillow on the sofa... "My dolls really like it!" Eric picked up his bear, pushed Nyssa off the sofa, knocked her doll on the floor, and laid down on the pillow to read one of his favourite books.... "Look what he did!!"" "There's only one new pillow, so you two are going to have to share it..." "But I had it first!!"
It was another snowy afternoon, and I needed a break, so we went for a little walk in the Ruins Gardens.... ...and I didn't bring any dolls..... It was nice to just walk around without the stress of trying to find good settings for doll photos.... ..and just enjoy the peace and quiet of the falling snow....
This week at Value Village, I found a little pink baby onesie with a cute little blue embroidered mouse on the front. I thought it would be perfect for a doll T-shirt, so washed it, and cut it apart. It had very short sleeves with a nice little crocheted edge, so thought I'd use them, and add a 'double' sleeve, with matching colour neckband. Here it is before sewing the side seams.. ...and the finished top, modelled by Paige, whose wearing a freshly reworked mohair wig. It was originally made for my Kaye Wiggs girls, but I found it a bit too sparse for them, and my Peach always looked best in a lambskin wig like this, and the other two mohair wigs her size are permanently taken by other dolls....so here's a new one just for her.... It still needs some styling, but at least the worst part is done.
I made some leggings, colourful socks, and a denim skirt to complete her outfit, but the skirt ended up too long. The easiest thing would have been to shorten the skirt, but I really liked the 'worn denim' look along the hemline. Which meant the only way to shorten the skirt was to remove the waistband, cut an inch off the top, and sew the waistband back on. So I better go do it.... |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
May 2024
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