Category Archives: Effner Dolls

“Winter Elegance” for the Little Darlings

Here’s Gina, my Little Darling, modeling “Winter Elegance”, one of the new ensembles I recently completed.

Her cropped cardigan is hand knit with pale lavender mohair/silk lace yarn.  The hand embroidery rose bouquet motifs mirror each other at the bottom corners.

Sometimes the colors that I plan on using for my embroidery need to be adjusted as I start to embroider, which was the case with this sweater.  I first started out with the bright magenta purple being used for the main roses, and saw that it was too overpowering.  The sweater itself matches the blue violet roses very nicely, so I went with a deeper shade of purple for the main roses and used the bright magenta for the buds; I thought this produced a nicer balance of color.  I added the beige colonial knot buds to pick up the background color of the fabric and add a pop of light color to the embroidery motifs.

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When I cut out the bodice for Gina’s dress, I picked out a motif to center on the front.  The print has some directional design to it; there are vines of roses (in between scattered rose bouquets) which I chose to go in a vertical direction on the skirt.

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To complete Gina’s elegant ensemble is a beaded crocheted headband, a basket for her flowers, pair of tights, and a bracelet.

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For more information on Gina’s “Winter Elegance” ensemble, please visit my “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com.

A “Winter Garden” for the Little Darlings

I enjoy creating my own embroidered gardens during these cold winter months.  The flowers in these gardens will not get frost bite when the winter winds blow.

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Gina’s cozy winter dress is hand knit with bright pink Peruvian Highland wool.  This a-line style fits her perfectly to show off her cute little girl dolly self.  The embroidery on this dress is mirrored, so the right and left sides are the same, but opposite each other.  At the hemline you’ll find a tiny rose bouquet at the center of the skirt with mirrored rose motifs on either side.  I embroidered roses in two pink families, one warmer pink than the other.  Lavender-like sprays, white buds, and greenery add more color to Gina’s garden.

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“Winter Garden” for the Little Darlings is available on my “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com.

A Couple of Work-in-Progress Photos

Hi there!  I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but not much creating going on with me lately.  Life has pulled me away from my studio for a bit as I’ve been needed elsewhere.  I’ve been getting a little knitting and embroidering done in the last couple of weeks, but don’t have anything completed to show you, sorry.  Here’s a  photo of a sweater dress for the Little Darlings that I managed to get made.  I still have the other pieces of this ensemble to work on, but you can get an idea anyway.  I hope to have it all finished next week.

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Oh, I forgot to show you this little dress I made for my Fairyland Pukipuki, Sugar, a couple of weeks ago.  It is knit with a lace weight tonal alpaca/silk, very soft.  This too, will probably be for sale sometime next week.

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Bye for now!  Hope you are enjoying this week.