I've put together an album with all the photos from my girl's Valentines party. I especially love this photo of Nami offering a chocolate to Byrui.  I think Nami looks very pretty in the dress and sweater she borrowed from Bonnie.  Just click on the photo to see all the Valentine photos....

Today I have to tackle Asa's new wig. I've crocheted the cap, and have started sorting through the mohair. I found two bags of 'Very Dark Brown' which were purchased from Edgewood Angoras many, many years ago. Back then Edgewood Angoras raised angora goats specially for doll hair, which they sold at local doll shows. The mohair was dyed and sold in baggies marked with the name of the goat the mohair came from. They had a lot of goats, and some had way curlier hair than others. The mohair I'm working with today comes from 'Justinia' and 'Mandrake'. The mohair locks range from 5" to 8" long and are quite curly.

I bought a lot of Edgewood Angora's last stock before they went out of business, and much of that last mohair was quite matted and full of debris, so it's going to need a lot of combing.....

I'm going to have to strip Asa down to her underwear - or less - as I certainly don't want her gown covered with mohair and bits of plant debris as I work on her wig.

I've finished Asa's cloak, so now her gown is almost done!  Yay! I did most of the cloak last night when lighting wasn't good for photos, so didn't take any. It was very fiddly work. I sewed small black snaps under the front edge of the cloak and on the bodice front under the purple ruffle. I chose black snaps so they would blend into the dress, and chose two sets of snaps that fit really tightly together. After all they were going to have to hold the whole cloak in place. I like that it's separate, so the outfit can be worn with or without it. I had to take some studio shots....

The cloak is made of a soft black tulle covered with stars and moons. They are gold on one side, and silver on the other, but when the fabric lies gathered in folds, both the gold and silver show.

Now I need to make the wig. I had originally thought it should be silver-gray, like the original, but I like the dark brown of the wig she's been wearing. I find it has a softer look than a gray, white or black formal wig would have, and the brown compliments the maroon and gold embellishments on the dress. I've gone through my bags of brown mohair and there's lots the same colour as the wig she currently has on. I've crocheted a wig cap, but don't want to tackle the mohair today, as it's always a huge mess, and we are getting overnight company, and don't want to have to stop halfway through.  I'll just work on the hair embellishments, and maybe tackle the wig tomorrow.

I promised my girls that I would throw them a Valentine's party today, so I did - even though it was very difficult to tear myself away from Asa's dress. I blew up the balloons, got out the vases for the red and pink flowers, and put out all the chocolates and heart-shaped candies . They gave each other Valentines and had a really good time......

The party lasted most of the afternoon, and now it's getting dark, and I'm having issues seeing the dark blue and black of Asa's cloak. Maybe I should just wait until tomorrow morning when the light is better. In the meantime, I can choose some yarn for a scarf for Lisa.

Yesterday I got a lot done on Asa's costume. I finished the sleeves and the bodice neckline. With the bodice finally finished I laced it up the back and tied it tightly into position. Next was the necklace. I'd been keeping an eye out for a nice necklace and earring set, but haven't found one yet - so decided to make my own for now. I borrowed Ryung's necklace as a model, and copied it in silver, blue and red beads. Maybe some day I'll find what I'm looking for, and if not, at least Asa will have a necklace in the meantime. I still need to make earrings.

Next job is to make her "Night Sky" cloak of black tulle sprinkled with stars and moons. It will also have a stand-up collar made with the last five blue poinsettia petals. I decided to add the stand-up collar to the cloak and not the dress. There's an odd number of petals and the bodice has a center back opening, so it would have been too complicated if they were attached to the bodice. Not sure yet how I'll attach everything to make it all work together, but I'll figure that out as I work on it.  After the cloak, I have to make the wig.

This is our "Family Day" long weekend, and Jan asked if Asa will be finished in time to do "Family Portraits". That's actually a good idea - to shoot the annual doll family photos on the Family Day weekend each year. I'll see if I can get her done, but the wig is still going to be a ton of work. 

My beautiful Lisa received lots of flowers, and a lovely Valentine from her 
secret admirers today. But best of all, she also got a new "holdy hand" in the
 mail, so now she can hold things - like her flowers and special valentine.

There was actually a pair of hands, all nicely blushed, complete with a French manicure, but I just put on one per doll. Peach will get the other hand from this set so she can hold stuff better too.. 

After reworking my sleeve pattern, and cutting a new set out of fabric, I decided that the sleeves I'd already made were the correct length after-all. I thought the light blue ruffle would look too plain, so decided to picot-bead the bottom edge with periwinkle blue, glass beads. I can only do so much beading at any one time, so sewed the two beaded ruffles onto the first sleeve.

It's looking really good, and the end is starting to come into sight, but I'm 
extremely tired and sore today, so the work goes very slow.

We went to visit our new grandson yesterday. It's a very long drive, but at -20 C it was a lovely crisp morning with sun shining through the icy fog and on the frosty white forests. 

My daughter and her baby are both doing really well. It's still a surprise to me that she's so good so soon after a C-section. Baby Elliot was just three days old yesterday, and even though he was almost full-term, and wins our "largest grand-baby" prize, he's still just a "little peanut" when he's all tightly wrapped in his blankets. He's totally adorable!  And of course I had to take photos whenever I could.

Today I'm tired from yesterday's long drive. It's 400 km each way, but still doable in one day. Hopefully we can go again soon. Babies change so much at this age.

Today it's back to sewing again. I have to remake the Queen's sleeves. They turned out too short, so I have to add about 1/2" to the pattern and make a new pair. Then I can sew on the ruffles.

Another doll baby photo very early in the morning, as we are off to visit our 
new grandson today - and hopefully take some real baby photos.

Another photo from yesterday's photo shoot, of Elin and the porcelain babies

I'm continuing with my Queen of the Night, but am not posting everything here in my Blog. Yesterday I made the bodice, but then I decided the neckline wasn't open enough. So I had to take out all the basting and turn the bodice inside out again (through an armhole). I was disappointed at first that I had to go to all that extra trouble, but in the end it turned out to be a good thing. When I made my test bodice out of a single layer of cotton, the back overlapped just fine for snaps, but with all the layers and thickness of the real bodice fabrics, the back seams barely overlap, so the bodice was going to need eyelets and get laced up the back. That will actually look much better. So when I had the bodice inside out, I also trimmed the seam allowances down on the back edges so it would be easier to insert eyelets. I was also able to solve the problem of how to attach the sleeves neatly. When I had the bodice inside-out again, I clipped the armholes, and basted both the lining and taffeta armhole openings separately. Then when the bodice was back with the good side out, I stitched the lining to the bodice fabric around the sleeve openings. The bodice looked much better with the new adjustments. Like, why bother with a glamour bust if her cleavage isn't even going to show?

I inserted all the eyelets along the back, beaded the bottom edge of the bodice, and the neckline, then touched up the front flower petal with paint and glitter. Also touched up the last five petals.

Now I'm working on the sleeve ruffles. I've beaded the sparkly purple ribbon ruffles and still need to sew the light blue ruffles that are of the same fabric as the front of the underskirt. I'm going to sew all the trims to each sleeve before I stitch the sleeve into the armhole.

With all the excitement around here about a brand new little baby, the girls wanted to 
get out all their baby dolls, and pretend to be "Little Mommies".