Category Archives: Doll jewelry

“Summertime Pretty” for Ruby Red Fashion Friends

Hello! I want to show you the latest ensemble I finished for the Ruby Red Fashion Friends. Stella loves how summery it is. I think all my girls are starting to feel the approach of autumn, so any bits of summer, no matter how small, are something to grasp onto.

Stella’s cotton print dress features happy summery colors in pink, mint green, light blue, peachy coral, and some golden yellow. Even though the ground of the dress is more white than ivory, I thought the dress looked nice with ivory, so Stella’s hemline lace and cardigan are in off white. I guess the different shades of white reminded me of the carefree spirit of summer. Anyhow, they just felt ‘right’, so I went with it.

Stella’s sun shielding wide brimmed sun hat is crocheted with cotton threads. I add some color contrast at the top and a peachy shell stitch border on the brim’s edge. The slanted edge band is made out of the dress fabric and is attached with a mother-of-pearl button sewn on with matching pink embroidery floss. Stella likes to wear the brim tipped up in the front so that her light blue silk ribbon bow is visible.

A strand of peach silk ribbon and a strand of pink is tied twice around the waistline and then tied in a bow in front. Fine gauge English cotton Cluny lace has been hand dyed to an ivory color and is snugged underneath a tuck on the dress skirt.

Stella’s cardigan is knit out of soft merino undyed wool. The flower motif on the dress do not look like roses, so I embroidered a stylized blossom using colonial knots and bullion stitches along with white beaded centers. Some sprigs of yellow blossoms and dark green greenery complete the embroidery. For more pops of peach coral colored semi-precious stone beads are used as buttons.

Stella’s accessories include cotton knit anklets in a very pastel pink with peach bows. Vintage floral blossoms have been gathered into a bouquet. The stems are wound with pink silk ribbon and a bow. The beaded bracelet is made with peach and gold seed beads. A pink flower dangles from the bracelet and a heart is strung along to show that this set was made with love.

I hope this post finds you well, and am wishing you a beautiful August! I must confess August is always a little bittersweet for me in that it signifies that the end of summer is right around the corner. How about you? What are your feelings about August?

Sending hugs and ❤️ from Stella and I.

Patience Has Been Patient

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My poor little Patience. She has been overlooked by my other girls for months now. However, she is now finally getting her chance to show you her new spring ensemble.

I asked her what her favorite part of her new ensemble is and she said it’s “all the roses”. Fair enough… this is an ensemble filled with rose motifs and rosy hues. There’s also a touch of the palest of blues in the dress print, which I love. I brought out more of that color with her ribbon tie, bow on her headband, braided basket handle, and in the cardigan’s embroidery.

Patience’s cardigan is knit out of lace weight merino/silk yarn in a rosy berry-ish color. It’s a little bluer than what appears on my screen. I embroidered rose motifs in coordinating colors on the yoke. She can wear it open or buttoned. The buttons are glass pearl beads in a cream color.

Patience’s rose print dress features a multitude of rosy hues with touches of pale blue. Around her waist is a rayon ribbon in blue. The full skirt has a tuck near the hemline– underneath the tuck is a row of delicate English cotton Cluny lace in a warm white color.

The pearl headband is crocheted with faux pearls in cream. It ties at the back, so is fully adjustable. A matching ribbon bow adds extra sweetness.

Patience has already picked a few blossoms for her crocheted flower basket. (They can be arranged and rearranged.) It is made with natural colored bamboo thread. The handle is braided with the bamboo thread and the blue ribbon.

Patience’s pretty bracelet is made with genuine freshwater pearls and garnet beads. The mother-of-pearl heart dangle shows Patience that this set was made with love, just for her.

Her rosy rayon knit tights complete her new spring look.

As you can see Patience is all ready for spring! We are starting to enjoy some warmer days mixed in with the yet cooler days. I am enjoying frequent walks to check on what is newly blooming. 💐 I don’t want to miss anything! I LOVE this time of year!

I hope you are enjoying spring (or autumn). Have a wonderful weekend (& Easter if you celebrate) wherever you call home. Sending hugs from my sewing room… and my sunny front porch. 🤗💖

“The Gift of Learning”

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Wasn’t it fun learning, or even teaching the ABC’s? I don’t remember learning them, but I remember teaching them to my daughter. We got lots and lots and lots of fun books from the library. Yes, fond memories.

Gina says she already knows them, but there are some students in her class that are still learning them. “G is for gift, and g is for Gina”, says Gina.

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Gina’s jumper is knit with navy heathered Peruvian Highland wool. There are flecks of hot pink and green in this yarn. The slightly flared skirt has decorative decreases to form soft folds before the fitted ribbed area. The wide shoulder straps button and unbutton, but do not need to be undone for dressing. The floral embroidery at the hemline is mirrored on the right and left side.

Polka dotted and striped bows in rose, blue, and yellow are sprinkled on this Japanese cotton fabric used for the blouse. Gina’s school blouse’s bodice is lined, double turned seam allowances/hems on the sleeves, and hand stitched facings are what you see on the inside of the blouse, no raw edges at all. It is finished like my dresses.

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The felt bag is hand made by me to hold Gina’s classroom gift to her teacher. Gina has been asking me to teach her embroidery, so the embroidery on this bag was her first project. Not bad, eh? The flash cards were found at ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com. I resized them to be the proper scale for Gina. They include every letter of the alphabet, and are printed on card stock, and carefully cut out.

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