Category Archives: Talyssa

“Summertime for Play”

Hi there! Happy July first! We are about a week and a half into a new season–summer here in the northern hemisphere. And, I am enjoying it immensely.

Talyssa (my fair skinned Kaye Wiggs MSD) has a new ensemble to welcome summer 2022. The fabric I made her dress out of is called ‘Children at Play’ by Sarah Jane. It got me thinking of all those summers when I was young.

How endless the days seemed back then. All the glorious days of playing outside, having picnics, going swimming or running under the sprinkler, staying over at grandma’s and grandpa’s house, picking vegetables from the garden, and of course playing with dolls. They went on and on and on. Those were the days, right? *sigh*

Talyssa is enjoying those days now. She and her stuffed puppy dog love to wander around the garden and look for butterflies fluttering to and fro.

Talyssa’s dress is sewn with a Sarah Jane cotton print. The full skirt is embellished at the hemline with white cotton Cluny lace. A spring green satin ribbon ties around the waist and tiny green buttons are sewn on at the back bodice.

Crocheted leaf hair ties swing freely at the base of Tayssa’s braids as she plays outside.

Talyssa’s cardigan is knit out of melon colored wool. The front and side yoke is embellished with flower-shaped sequins sewn on with embroidery floss. Green leaves are embroidered in lazy daisy style. Green glass beads can button up the cardigan if there is a chill in the air.

Talyssa’s toy pup is embellished with a matching yarn bow and a butterfly button sewn onto her paw. Talyssa wears nylon bobby socks and matching panties which are embellished with a silk bow. Her white stretchy seed bead bracelet includes two charms, a butterfly and a heart (to show that this set was made with love for Talyssa).

I hope you are savoring this time of year. Now that I am older summertime seems to fly by in a flash. I am trying to slow each day down by enjoying each and every minute.

Sending hugs to you from my dolls and I. 🤗 Talyssa sends you many hugs! 🤗🤗🤗 So where does the new season find you? I’d love to hear what you’re up to!

Thank you for stopping by!❤️

A Letter to Santa

Hello! Do you have memories writing letters to Santa? I don’t really, but I’m sure I did write to him at some point. Santa was very magical to me until I was about 10 years old. I never figured it out myself–my mom had to break the heart wrenching news to me, and I really was devastated. I was assured he would still visit and leave gifts, as I had younger siblings, but that didn’t matter as much as the magic being gone. 😥

Talyssa is a believer and I will never tell her otherwise. This sweet girl wrote the nicest letter to Santa this year. Talyssa would love a puppy, and only if it is okay with her parents. (After all, they are the ones who will do most of the work, right?) Talyssa then ends her letter with a P.S. offering her help to Santa, that is if he needs it.

Talyssa has donned her Santa hat and festive attire so that she can be ready just in case she hears back from Santa asking for her help.

The dress fabric was purchased last year and is called “All the Trimmings” by Maywood Studio. Talyssa’s cardigan is my pattern and was made longer with a bit of a-line shaping. Let me know if you’d like the particulars on how to change the pattern. I hand dyed Knit Picks Preciosa to this pretty cherry red. Bare Preciosa is used for the hat’s band and pom pom.

Have you started any holiday decorating yet? We will be visiting the tree farm and putting up our tree is two short weeks. Unbelievable!

I’d love to hear about your holiday preparations going on now or soon to be.

Sending hugs and warmth during these darker days in the northern hemisphere.

❤️🤗🧡

This Week

Hello to you!  I hope you are staying healthy, happy, and busy… at home.  I’ve been finding that it really isn’t hard to fill the days spent at home.  My daily, or almost daily, activities are feeding/walking the dog(s), walking me, exercises to keep my back pain free, meditating, cooking/baking, chores, more puppy playtime.  And then if I still have energy I will get some knitting or doll ensemble creating accomplished.

I finished the cardigan that I’ve been working on for the Kaye Wiggs MSD girls this week.   The embroidery needed to be finished and then the underarm seam sewn up.  I like to leave it open in case I want to add some embroidery to the sleeves.  Lastly, I added white pearl buttons.

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 I can’t decide what to make for the ensemble’s headpiece.  Thinking about that…  I have some pastel rosy colored rayon knit for the panties and thigh highs.  I could sew those next while I am deciding on a headband, hair ties, or a hat.  Sorry about the harsh lighting on the photos.  It has been really dark outside.  I had a halogen floor lamp lighting up my work.  The lamp doesn’t produce the prettiest photos.

My daughter and I started a joint coloring project last week.  Now, she is busy, busy, busy with online classes, so I finished it up today.  I titled it “Rainbows of Hope”.  We all need lots of that these days, don’t we?  I noticed one of my neighbors had a large sign with the word ‘hope’ in her front window too.  We are all in this together.

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Earlier today I looked through my stuffed animal and felt books.  I snapped a few photos of the pages that grabbed my attention.  I thought I’d share them with you.

These felt cuties would be perfect little toys for our dolls.  They are tiny and flat-ish to easily slide under a dolly arm.  The ‘Mushroom Girl’ is my favorite.

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‘Tis the season for lots of little birdies.

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‘Tis NOT the season for Christmas, but some of these can be made appropriate for springtime or get a head start on Christmas making.

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This book contains more tiny felt animals.  My favorite project is the bunny rabbit wearing a dress.

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I am drawn to “Sew Me, Love Me” because it uses recycled materials… and they have clothes to make for them.  What fun to make an animal with its own wardrobe, and using bits of your old things too!

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The following are needle felting books.  The pieces are adorable, don’t you think?

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‘Little Miss Crafty’!  Do you see yourself in her?

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My girls saw ‘Little Miss Crafty’ and want me to make them each a dolly of their own.  Maybe a tiny rag doll with floppy arms and legs–one that is huggable.  Wouldn’t that be sweet?

I hope you (maybe) got a spark of inspiration from my books.  Thank you for browsing along with me.  I enjoyed going through them with you.

Northern Illinois is expecting some bad weather tonight.  Please pray for us, or send us positive thoughts, that no one loses their homes or lives or family members.  I don’t know if we humans can take any more bad things happening all at once.

Have a great week–stay safe! ❤