Category Archives: Sweaters

“Summer’s Sweetheart” for the Little Darlings

I was able to complete one more summery sundress outfit for the Little Darlings. I think this is the last one though… 😦

I made the bodice of this dress the focal point so I designed a bolero to show off the lace and silk long tailed bow when it is being worn. The lace is a scalloped rayon that is hand sewn onto the dress with tiny seed beads at the points of the lace and a line of pink embroidery at the top. The bolero is as light as a feather being made out of lace weight mohair/silk and knit on slightly larger needles. The rosebuds are colorful shades of pinks and purples and placed along the neckline and bottom corners. Finely crocheted ballet slipper shoes, rose hair ties, and a bracelet complete the look. Oh, underneath it all is a pair of prettily embroidered panties.

For more information on this set please visit cindyricedesigns.com

“Summery Days” for the Little Darlings

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Summer days…wish they could go on forever, don’t you? My Little Darling, Gina, is wearing a new ensemble called “Summery Days”. Bright white cotton and cool blue and violet hues with a touch of pink make this ensemble clean and crisp, perfect for this time of year. And…just in case a cool breeze starts to blow there is a lacy sweater knit up in a tonal baby alpaca/silk blend yarn with tiny pink rosebuds embroidered at the shoulders. A very delicate look for our sweet Little Darling girls.

More information on this set can be found on cindyricedesigns.com

“Softly Spring” Ensemble for Dianna Effner’s Little Darlings

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Gina is back to modeling for me and is as happy as can be. I’ve been working for a while now on this very involved 8-piece ensemble for the beautifully sweet Little Darlings.

I am so happy with how this mohair/silk lace hand knit sweater turned out. It is knit from the top down, then I added lace edgings with a 3 needle bind off. I wanted the scalloped edge of the lace edging, but still wanted to make the sweater from the top down so this was my solution. Lots of math involved as the lace had a specific number for the pattern and then the sleeves and body had to be the exact same number of stitches as the edging that would go with it. Yikes, I could feel the burn as my brain worked on this one!

I encircled the eyelet neckline with lots of delicate hand embroidery; roses in pinks, some blue and yellow golden flower clusters, and pretty green for the meandering stems and leaves.

After I completed the sweater I was able to see the kind of dress that I thought would be pretty with it. I found this very soft washed blue cotton chambray in my fabric collection. I added some tucks to the skirt along with a rose bouquet motif and white tulle that barely peeks out from underneath the skirt. I repeated a smaller rose bouquet motif on the bodice just under the strap on the opposite side to balance the embroidered motifs. The entire dress is lined in white cotton lawn with all of the seams enclosed to make the dress beautiful inside.

A low back and angled straps show off these dolls graceful arms, pretty back, and slightly sloping shoulders so well. I love how Dianna sculpted the body of these dolls, so graceful and elegant.

I added a crocheted drawstring purse with a cotton voile hankie (embroidered with the L.D.’s initials), some crocheted ballet slippers, a bracelet, bow headband, and panties and the ensemble was complete.