Hello and happy new week to you. I hope you’ve had a nice weekend and Monday. We have finally cooled off a little and got lots of much needed rain on Sunday. I think we are in a little drought in northern Illinois. The dreary days are not uplifting, but the plants need the rain.

As spring is drawing to a close I am starting to gravitate towards summery prints for my doll ensembles. Bella, my Ruby Red Fashion Friend, is the first recipient of a summer ensemble this year. She wears a simple floral cotton dress with cotton crocheted ballet slippers (on her bare feet) and a cotton crocheted sunhat. Summery blue and red are a part of her new look. When I was very young I remember loving to wear these colors in the summertime. There is a tiny bit of pink in this print, too–can’t ignore pink!

Bella’s sunhat is crocheted with three strands of crochet cotton and has a pretty scalloped navy border. A self fabric band, crochet flowers and a leaf, are all hand made and hand sewn onto the hat with beads.

Bella’s pink bouquet of flowers is tied together with embroidery thread carefully wrapped and secured around the stems. A navy silk ribbon is tied into a bow and also secured so it will not slip off or untie.

Once I figured out the pattern for Bella’s ballet slippers they crocheted up pretty quickly. The pattern took me a day and a half though. I kept trying things and ripping back and trying some more. I wanted to get the sole to fit the bottom of her foot perfectly. And then the upper part of the slipper to be low on her foot for a dainty look. Bella has such cute little feet!

Bella has some super cute jewelry with this set. Her bracelet is made of three strands: cobalt seed, mint green seed, and iridescent warm red bugle beads strung on stretchy jewelry cord. A silver toned ring wraps around all three strands with a red flower dangling from it. The necklace is silver toned with a tiny green/red garden gnome and flower dangle. The heart shows that this ensemble was made with great love and care.

Bella is as cool as a cucumber and ready for lots of fun summer picnics.

Are you ready for summer (or winter) to begin? I’m not sure I am ready to say goodbye to spring, but it is leaving us regardless of my being ready or not.

My tiny girls all say hello and thank you for visiting with us today. Sending you late spring hugs from my sewing studio.🤗