Category Archives: Christmas Doll Fashions

Christmas Ensemble Availability Dates

Hello, from frosty Illinois. Boy, we had a good frost last night. It’s sooo cold here, but it’s very pretty too. When I look out my windows I see blue sky, frosty white grass, trees of red, yellow, orange, and yes, some are still green. I don’t think our magnolias will ever give up their green leaves. I don’t know what they’re thinking! 😮

I spent the last two days getting my 6 Christmas ensembles ready for market. It was a lot of work, but the majority of it is complete. It’s a peaceful feeling to have weeks and weeks of work all wrapped up. I’d love to sit and breathe it in, but I cannot wait to start on something new!

I have decided to offer one ensemble every evening for 6 days in a row. They will start on November 11 and go through November 16. The time that the sales page will be live on my website will remain unchanged at 7:00 pm CST.

Here is the order, so you can plan, if you’d like. As a reminder, I’ll also send out a blog post and Facebook post in the morning on the day each one will be available.

November 11: “Frosty Festivities” for Rose (10″ Boneka by Dianna Effner)

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November 12: “Christmas Wishes” for the Little Darlings.

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November 13: “Little Frosty” for Kaye Wiggs ‘illies’ (Millie, Tillie, Lillie)

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November 14: “Classic and Cozy” for the Little Darlings.

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November 15: “Christmas Snow” for Patience.

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November 16: “Miss Cookie Elf” for the Little Darlings.

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All my girls say “thank you, with ❤ ” for taking the time to admire them in their finery today. (I do, too, of course!)

I hope you all have a beautiful day!

❤

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Holiday Spirit in My Studio

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Happy weekend to you all! This morning I awoke to rain pelting the windows very early this morning. It was a comforting and cozy way to wake up, although hard to get out of bed.

After getting the kettle going on the stove for coffee, I took a peek outside the front door. Sweet Morris, one of the two feral cats that we feed, was snuggled up close to the front door. We have a deep porch that normally keeps off the rain, but this morning there was only enough dry area for him on the welcome mat. Poor thing! I felt so bad for him, and promptly gave him his breakfast.

Miss Feral, the most feral tabby I’ve ever met, hasn’t been around yet. Being a smaller cat, she has a special place that she squeezes under in inclement weather. I’ve never been able to figure out where she goes. There is a tell tale sign on her back where her fur gets trimmed off; she goes somewhere.

My studio is looking mighty festive. Five of my girls are dressed in their holiday finery, and another one is almost ready. I’ve brought out a few decorations too. We don’t decorate the house for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but getting my studio ready helps me get in the spirit for making Christmas/holiday ensemble.

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This is the “sweets” tree as everything on it has to do with yumminess. I usually put it on the hearth, but decided it would be perfect in my studio, for now anyway.

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Little stuffies in Santa’s sleigh.

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Teeny tiny things, many are vintage dime store ornaments from my mom and grandma, decorate this Boyds Bears potting bench.

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I hung up one of my two poinsettia botanical bouquets in my studio. This framed piece was part of my very last published pattern; I cross stitched it about 15 years ago. I remember trying to get all of the nuances in color when designing the poinsettia for this chart. I also wanted to get as many types of holiday greenery in the bouquet as possible. The metallic gold/silver balls were a fun addition, but a challenge to work. I’m not sure I like working with metallic thread.

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Kish Tulah is wearing something holiday-ish I made years ago. Can you tell she is a dog lover?

And, here are my girls. Aren’ they cute?

Lucy, Alice, Gina, Rose, and Millie eagerly await picture day. Patience is still in the dressing room, but she’ll be wearing something new too.

Here is a close up of Millie’s snowman. Rose’s is almost identical but with different colors. Patience will also have a snowman.

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That’s all for today. I wish you all a fabulous early November weekend. Enjoy these next few weeks before the hectic holiday season starts up.

❤

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In Progress and Special Days

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It’s been a strange month, or it feels that way, as far as my makings go. I haven’t had one new thing to show you all month, and we are 3/4 of the way through! I’ve not been idle, however. I’ve been working away on Christmas/holiday ensembles. So far, I have two for the Little Darlings completed with another two in the works for them. My 11″ Kaye Wiggs Millie is getting something, and of course, my new 10″ Boneka Rose will get a holiday dress too. After that, I am planning on making something for Patience, Puki Puki, Patsy, and Gracie. Fingers crossed that I don’t run out of time.

09-24-17 595 Here is my pile of Christmas/holiday fabric and holiday colored yarn. I am NOT! buying any more fabric this year since I bought more than I could use last year.

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In progress . . .

I desperately wanted to add these bright foil lined red beads to the white lace; they picked up the bright red edge in the ribbon perfectly. The only problem was that all of the seams on the dress were sewn up, and I didn’t want stitching to show through to the lining. With care, I was able to keep the hand stitching thread between the lace and lining. I am knitting a fuzzy mohair/silk sweater for this dress in pure white.

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I finished the hand sewing on Millie’s dress this morning. Do you also feel like you get bonus time when you get up in darkness and get right to work? I got Millie’s dress 100% done early this morning: hand sewing, snaps, buttons, and belt loops. Yay! This dress is made out of a tiny snowman print, and Millie would love one of those needle felted snowmen that I made last year. I actually want to take a day next week and make a “bunch” of them.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA My hubby and I celebrated our 25th anniversary on Monday. We spent the day in downtown Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Any works of art with sewing catches my eye. This painting from around the year 1900 depicts Renoir’s 4-5 year old son sewing. I guess it was the fashion for young boys to have long hair. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?

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Afterwards, we stopped at a restaurant called Cindy’s. The balcony overlooks Millenium Park, Lake Michigan, and parts of the city. You can see “the bean”, entitled Cloud Gate, above my head. (Everyone here calls it “the bean”.) You can also see some of the trees with their leaves changing color. Everything still looks (and feels) pretty summery.

Today is my hubby’s birthday. We’re hoping to include our daughter in “present opening” via FaceTime.

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