Branching out on etsy.

Hello again!
Over the last week or so I've finally listed a bunch of my handmade items for Blythe dolls. I've been knitting and sewing and trying things out on my own Blythe doll for a while and I've taken the plunge at last. So far there are beanie hats, a couple of dresses and a sweet little necklace. Some of the hats feature my handmade polymer clay buttons. Check them all out at http://kindregards.etsy.com if you are interested.

Our ensuite is close to finished. We are waiting for the showerscreen to come and I have to do some painting but it is looking pretty good! I've got to replace the ugly green vertical blind too. Yuck!

Belated Stitches and Craft post.

I should probably have posted this about a week ago but it slipped my mind. I went to the Stitches and Crafts fair in Sydney about two weekends ago and took Mum along with me. We had a really good day. Mum bought a daylight lamp, some fabric, ribbons, embroidery kit and more. I didn't spend quite as much but bought some ribbons and trims plus these gorgeous pieces of fabric with the cutest faces printed on them. They are part of the Sweetie Petites range from Lisa Tilse - http://www.theredthread.com.au.

There is a post on her blog about her stall at the fair. So cute! What will I make with these?

The Wardrobe Refashion and Tessuti fabrics fashion parades were great. Got to do a bit of internet celebrity spotting when Nichola from Wardrobe Refashion was handing out postcards. I was too shy to say hi but she did compliment me on my bag (which was from littleoddforest.com) and I thanked her. Does this count as name-dropping? Sorry. :)

There was a nice mix of crafts and ideas for crafters of all ages and interests I felt. Well worth a trip out to Rosehill!

T-shirt Reconstruction

Inspired by a craftster.org post today, I went about reconstructing an old Threadless t-shirt by changing the neckline, adding binding around neck, bottom hem, sleeves and creating a keyhole at the back. I didn't quite finish off the keyhole as neatly as I hoped but it was pretty easy and straightforward. Good fun... and it took my mind off the noise of the jackhammer removing the old tiles from our leaky old ensuite this morning.



Thanks to Addie Marie on Crafster.org for her inspiration.


And here's a peek at our ensuite repair/renovation.


Stay tuned for the "after" I suppose.

Maybe in my blog...

... if I write it, it will get finished? Or even started?

As you might have realised, finishing personal projects is not one of my strong points. (Nor is regular blogging!) Every now and then I convince myself that if I write about it on the blog, the project will get done. Really I should probably just spend less time browsing other peoples' blogs and projects and get on with some of mine for a while.

This post will be a bit about my current projects and a bit about some of the blogs and sites that I have been enjoying recently.

- The doll makeover hasn't actually moved on much yet.
Here she is on the right wearing a little stretch top that I made from a Barbie pattern. Not a great fit for her... just an experiment at this stage. Her hat and pink outfit are now gone. (Well, I still have them but they are no longer glued to her... there is a glue spot on the top of her head which will have to be covered. I know a lot of the people who refashion pose dolls and Bradley dolls deal with that issue too.)






- I have a new niece and have been meaning to try refashioning an old tshirt into a baby jumpsuit/onesie. I forgot to take a 'before' picture of the tshirt so here is a picture of a similar top.

This is another project that is only partly finished. If I don't hurry up, she'll have grown too big to wear it.
I have a plain white baby suit which I am trying to base my reconstruction on. I'm going to have to read up on sewing stretch fabrics again because I'm struggling with the ribbing around the neckline.









- Next comes a vintage dress I bought from St Vinnies a couple of weeks ago. It definitely doesn't fit me and isn't exactly my style these days plus I have been looking for a hot pink velour or velvet for ages so that I can try to recreate Lisa Loeb's pink jacket (as seen in these photos - sorry, I can't remember exactly where these photos came from... I found them on the net ages ago but neglected to keep a link reference). Hopefully there is enough fabric in the skirt. Fingers firmly crossed. (I'd love a leopard print blouse like the one she has on underneath too.)

I thought I might also transplant the bib section to a tshirt for a tuxedo-bib look.


And as for blogs and sites that I've been enjoying -

A couple of young ladies who have blogs and youtube channels. Sweet and entertaining. :)

Alissa Loves or on youtube.
Strawberry Koi or on youtube.

They also have other blogs or web places but those should get you started. Thanks for sharing your videos, thoughts and interests ladies!

Then there is All-Mighty Clothing and Dainty June Clothing (also available at All-Mighty). I can't get enough of their gorgeous tshirts.

Sew Slow!

Historically, I have been a very slow seamstress. Well, not necessarily slow...I just tend to leave my own projects sitting incomplete for quite a while. Over two years ago I bought a couple of the Built by Wendy, Simplicity patterns.

I made one of them almost straight away, and now, two years later, I have finally finished Simplicity 3835! It's not perfect... but for me to finish a personal sewing project at all is pretty remarkable. And it basically fits.



I thought I'd better document it straight away (hence the untidy hair and no makeup) as it is so rare for me to finish a personal sewing project!

As I mentioned, I bought the pattern over 2 years ago and I've had the fabric even longer. Thrifted fabric and scarf, used for the arms ties, from St Vinnies store for only a couple of dollars.

Don't look too closely as I didn't do too well on the arm ties and the neck band is a little wonky too. Otherwise, I feel it came out ok. The arms are a tiny bit too tight... if the fabric had a little stretch they might be perfect.

Cooler weather.

Well, the doll makeover hasn't gotten much further as I have been busying myself making a soft toy for my niece, who is due to be born in about a week's time. Very exciting! I already have a niece and nephew via my husband's side of the family, but this will be my own brother's first child and the first baby for any of the kids on my side of the family.

My brother had a jumper (sweater) when he was little and on the front of it was a generic Eskimo picture. I found a slide at Mum and Dad's with that jumper featured in it and used it to inspire the doll that I finished making yesterday. Unfortunately I don't have a scan of the slide at this stage.




I also made a purchase and added a new member to my slowly growing doll collection.


I believe she is called a Bradley Pose doll...but I'm not 100% sure about that as she has no labels on her.

Doll makeover

Time to attempt a doll makeover.
I bought this southern belle type doll...she's a bit like a Bradley doll...from the St Vinnies op-shop recently. She is a bit dusty and her dress was damaged.




So far I've removed her lace skirt and hoop. I've taken the "collar" off and just for now, I'm using it as a bustle. I've pinned her remaining pink dress to create a new shape just for fun.


I really enjoyed the makeovers that some people on flickr were doing so when I saw her in the shop, I thought it must be my turn to give it a try...I'll keep you posted when I decide what she will become.

Here are some of the examples on flickr.