A Crewel Embroidered Bed cover and Pillows for the new Cloth Doll

I began to make the doll's clothes , I had cut out the patterns and these , at present are spread out over my table . Due to hospital appointments I couldn't begin to make them up . So needed to put together a small hand sewing project I could do while in the hospital waiting room .
 I decided to make the new cloth doll (17th century) a set of bed covers and pillows .

 I quickly drew on a simple pattern with a pencil and grabbed a handfull of crewel wool , a needle and my scissors and stuffed them into my handbag .

                                                 Poppet Ælfwynn
 Actually I had a little helper who came to start it off for me . I know there are a lot of you out there , who love old dolls/poppets .
    I have a soft spot for cloth/rag dolls . This is one of my favourite dolls . She is an English historical re-enactment doll , dressed in 1400-1500 period clothes .
   I have been trying to find out who made her . 
              I love her and she is very helpful as you can see .

                             Easy to roll up and stuff into my handbag .

 It it surprising how many little empty moments of "waiting" we have in our lives ....I quickly stitched this while waiting at the petrol station .

                      Waiting for our lunch at the local supermarket cafe .

 I sat in the hospital waiting room stitching away , while waiting for my husband who had a very long appointment with the doctor .

                              I managed to complete the middle flower .
    Very fluffy blue wool , for some reason ....but it's o.k ..this doesn't have to be perfect..it's just for a dolly's bed .

   I,ve been doing a little more , propped up on my pillows, before sleep ....
                   .............sometimes forgetting how late it is !

                                                  Slow stitching ......
   Nice and easy , making it up as I go along , slow and comforting crewel embroidery . 17th century style bed cover for the new cloth doll .
  To be continued ......   :)

Hush.....Shhhh .....

 Hush .....Shhh .... got to keep this dolly a secret ....she is going to be a surprise for my little grand-daughter !

A Cloth-Doll for my Grand-daughter .

It's doll making season again ....well it is for me . Early Autumn always fills me with dolly inspiration .

 I love making dolls and have made using patterns and some with my own patterns .
 You may remember I had begun to make an Antique Izannah Walker inspired  cloth and paper-clay doll . The pattern I am using here is the one that Dixie Redmond of Northdixie Designs has so generously shared on her blog .
 "  This doll was made with Dixie Redmond's free doll pattern "
link -  http://www.northdixiedesigns.com/2007/08/free-izannah-walker-inspired-body.html

 Her blog is delightful and full of advice and tips for making /collecting these charming dolls . Her own reproduction dolls are just so beautiful ! Do take a look at her blog at the link above .

So for me...sigh ...life happened..and my doll was put aside ....and when I took her out again ,  my absolutely gorgeous 3 year old grand-daughter looked at me with those eyes ....and said     " I want one ! "
 ...and so , I began to make a more child friendly version , all cloth doll , just for her .

                                          So here she is , as just begun .

                                    Which colour is Demelza's hair ?

With it being the beginning of Autumn here in Cornwall and how we have been enjoying Poldark on television , we thought that she should have Demelza's beautiful long red hair .
  My doll has more intricately stitched fingers and thumbs (see pictures above )..I simplified my Grand-daughter's dolly hands .

                                              What do you think ?

                            Well ..dolly loves her new red/orange hair !

  I am still working on her face...this is not too bad to start off with ..the eyes will be much bigger and I will put a few stitches in to give the impression of ears .

I want to inspire my little sweetheart grand-daughter to love embroidery and so I have stitched a good sampler of many simple stitches ....maybe soon she can have a go at a simple piece of embroidery .

               Dolly ! Are you climbing on the chair ?  Do be careful !

                                                  It could tip over !

                                            A closer look at dolly's hair .

 I have embroidered her little slippers , as Marla-Rose is inclined to take off dolls clothes and shoes and then they become lost forevermore !

 So with Autumn coming in , I am feeling inspired and have lots of needlework to do .

                                   I have pretty much finished this piece.

 I have a small piece of cork-board ready to block , straighten and flatten the piece .

 Then it will be ready for me to make into the front cover of a cloth book ....my telephone and address book !  So then I have to make up the book and I,m going to embroider the pages inside ....yes..it is going to take a long time ..but I am enjoying every minute of it .

                              I wish you a relaxing and peaceful weekend .