Abby's sweater

The doll has had to wait, since Christmas projects have taken over. This is for Pat's daughter, Abby. It is a pattern from Sally Melville's book, The Knit Stitch.

Arms and Legs

I guessed at proportions and drew patterns for arms and legs, stuffed them with fiberfill, and then sewed them onto the torso with buttons to secure them and to allow some movement. Clothes are next!

Back view of hair

Arms and legs are next!

The doll has hair!

I used mohair to make a wig following directions for "wefting." This is the way it ended up and she looks old fashioned. I think she needs a high neck blouse, long skirt and boots - we'll see...

Doll's face

After covering the head and neck with gauze to soften the features, I painted all over the face with acrylic paint, then used colored pencils to draw the features. The eyes are painted. This head is a little flat on top, so I will try to adjust for that when I add hair. That comes next.

Doll's head and torso

I stuffed the neck and sewed it onto the head, then sewed the neck onto the torso. I guessed at the size for the torso. We'll see if it works after I figure out how to add arms and legs!

Next I covered the head and neck with gauze (glued on) to soften the features and then "painted" it with fabric stiffener. After it dries, the head is pretty solid. No photo of the "hard head" before painting. The next photo is of the head after painting/drawing the face.

Doll's head - another view

Well, it actually looks like a face - many more steps to come to improve on it.

The doll's head

I stuffed the head and then used a darning needle and quilting thread to form the features of the face. That's where I am today. More to follow...

Dollmaking Step 1 - The pattern for head & neck

I am using Akira Blount's DVD as a guide to start making cloth dolls. This picture is of three heads and three necks, cut out of a tea dyed t-shirt, sewed, with seams trimmed. The next step is to turn the pieces inside out and then stuff with poly fiberfill.

Felted bag

This is my first attempt at felting. I knitted this out of Wool of the Andes yarn from Knit Picks (www.knitpicks.com). It was easy to do and came out looking pretty good!

Emily's Sweater

I just finished this sweater for Emily, who was born in August.

Nora's Quilt

Made for Nora in 2004

Annaliese's Quilt

Keeley's Quilt

This is a quilt I made in 2003 for my neighbor's little girl before she was born.

Quilt 2005 - another view

Quilt 2005

I make quilts for wedding and baby gifts. This is me with a quilt I made for my friend Julia and her husband Jeff when they got married in April 2005. The multicolored design is a "Stack 'n Wack" pattern. You can find the books that describe this technique on Amazon.com. The author is Bethany Reynolds. It's a great technique and the results are fascinating.

Introduction

When I was a little girl my grandmother and mother taught me to sew. Then I learned to knit. Later on a friend convinced me to try cross stitching and I did lots of that for a while. As I approach retirement, I am looking forward to having more time to really focus on all the skills I have developed and find a way to integrate them.

For now, I am going to post photos of things that I have made with a little explanation of how it came about.