With the two pansy pillows completed, Isis arranged all of them on the sofa...
"What do you think??"
"Five new needlepoint pillows in one month is totally awesome!"
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Ginger Raccoon had gone to see her friend Muffy, who was a professional seamstress...  "I heard that there's another Raccoon on the way, and she's a fashion model. Smuzhka and I mostly just run around 'au natural', but with this new fancy Raccoon moving into the neighbourhood, I don't want to look like a slob in comparison, or risk Smuzhka's eye wandering. So, can you make me a beautiful, fashion gown? Like, really fast?? I already have the fabrics."  "These are really nice fabrics! It's the perfect colour for you. And you're lucky I'm between jobs and am free this weekend, so I think I can do it for you"  "I just have to take some measurements, and you have to tell what you have in mind."  When Lisa was at school, Isis couldn't resist sewing the two pillows together and stuffing them...  "I can't believe that you've sewn it together already, Mom. It looks really nice!"  "They both look amazing!"  Every Saturday, our three granddaughters come over for the morning. Today Rachel brought along her doll with two of the outfits I made for her last year, and she wanted to take pictures of them...
So she helped me set up a scene on my dining room table, complete with cake and presents...   Then she changed her doll into the yellow 'Beauty' gown, and we changed the scene. She wanted the doll to be reading 'Beauty and the Beast'.... 
Afterwards I always let Rachel pick her favourites, and then I print them out for her, to take home and add to her album.
Both Isis and Lisa worked on their pansy needlepoint pillows when they could, Isis on her larger project, and Lisa on her smaller design. Soon they were both finished....  ...and just had to add a border....  ...and they both chose the same blue....  March 21st is 'Flower Day', and it just so happens that I picked up three miniature African violets at Vandermeer's recently. I like using real miniature plants in my doll photos, and the tiny cyclamen are almost done, so it was nice to find another tiny flowering plant. Being another 'old-fashioned' plant, Isis was very happy to include them into her conservatory... 
..and of course, Nyssa, who also loved flowers, wanted to help water them...  But being rather short, she needed to stand on a sturdy, overturned bucket.... 
 Last August I started two outfits like the one my Willie wears, with the intention of putting them up for sale, but things got in the way, and I never finished them. So I decided to finish them now. They won't be exactly the same, since Willie's outfit was made out of the last bits of those particular fabrics, and unless you make multiples at the same time, the second set would never be the same anyways. I dyed the fabric to a greenish gold - the camera makes it look very 'yellow'. My Willie's dress has fitted sleeves with snaps at the wrist, but at such a small scale they look huge, so I used a cotton jersey for the sleeves this time, so the sleeves could be close-fitting, but they wouldn't need snaps.  I decided to use white hair for the hats for these outfits. My Willie has blonde, but she has an artist faceup with light brown eyebrows. Almost everyone else who ordered a Willie, got theirs with Donny's faceup, and those came with applied fuzzy white eyebrows. So I figured I'd match that. The white mohair gets sewn into the hats at the beginning, between the good fabric and the lining, and I thought they looked rather interesting, so had to take a photo....  The beads are made from coconut husk, and it takes quite some time to sew each one on. Once that's done, the back of the hat can be sewed together, and I can finally braid the hair. Then Willie can model one of the new outfits.
Today is the first day of Spring, and with the piles of snow still underfoot everywhere, I decided to do a photo session with Miho, my Spring Fairy....         Isis was enjoying the needlepoint so much, that she started another...  Pansies this time....   But then she thought, with it being a rather simple design, that maybe Lisa might enjoy learning how to do needlepoint...  "I think I'll ask her..."
March 19th is 'National Poultry Day', and Willie had invited the Foxes for a chicken dinner. "First we need to go out and catch one..." So Willie sprinkled some seed, and gave Rhett a net......  "You can catch that rooster. I'm so fed up with his crowing so early every morning."  "Don't scare him, or he'll start running....and we don't want a tough bird."  So Rhett quietly snuck up on the distracted rooster.....  ...and caught him!!  He quickly dispatched him (humanely) and Willie took him inside to roast him. When it was done, they all gathered round the table for dinner....  "You know....he looks so much bigger now that he's cooked."  "Well, I accidentally made double my stuffing recipe, and I didn't want to waste it, so I rammed it all in. I think I may have stretched him a little."  "Well, he looks delicious!!"  |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2025
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