Tag Archives: little darlings

“Rosy Soft Spring” for the Little Darlings and My Lilacs

This new ensemble that I just completed for the Little Darlings was meant to go with this lace shrug that I started last week. Here it is in progess.

And here it is finished. I love it so much. Lace knitting takes a lot of concentration, but the stitches are so pretty. I couldn’t wait to get a dress made to show off this brand new shrug.

Are you wondering why Gina isn’t wearing the shrug with her new dress???

I picked out a simple fabric and spent time embroidering a motif on the bodice and skirt, but when put together I found that the pure white shrug did not go with this fabric that has an off white ground.

Back to the drawing board or knitting needles. *Sigh*.

I reworked my cardigan pattern to make it into a wide open bolero style sweater so that the embroidered bodice would still be front and center and Gina’s shoulders would stay cozy.

Gina always looks pretty in pink.

So, now I will have to find something else to go with the white lace shrug. I have something in mind. I hope it works out this time.

Our second variety of lilacs are finally in bloom. They can be seen from our family room window. These blossoms are very pale lilac in color and the sprays are quite miniature.

However, their scent is not miniature! They perfumed my sewing room all week long. Aren’t they pretty? I finally discovered the way to make cut lilacs last for days in a vase. Here’s what worked for me: shave off the bark that will be in water. (I used a steak knife on these thin stems.) I put very hot tap water in the vase and as soon as the bark was removed I put the stem in the water. I don’t know how many years I have been trying to get lilacs to stay fresh in a vase. I think I tried everything from hammering the stems to recutting the stems under running water, nothing worked except this…finally.

I hope you all had a great week!

For more information on Gina’s “Rosy Soft Spring” ensemble visit my “Available for Sale” page on cindyricedesigns.com .

Another Springtime Sweater Dress for the Little Darlings

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I loved the last sweater dress that I made for the Little Darlings so much that I immediately started on another one. This one is in pink and also has 10,000+ stitches.

As I was working on the embroidery for this dress I felt as if I were drawing (or painting) with a needle and thread. The first half of the top motif and the first half of the waistline motif (the second half is mirrored) went bit by bit as I was trying to achieve good color balance and a pleasing floral composition. Sometimes my motifs take longer to work out and this one did indeed take longer.

The embroidery may have been painstaking, but I am very pleased with the end result. The motifs are feminine, colorful, balanced and flow smoothly along the waistline, so mission accomplished.

For more information on Gina’s “So Pretty in Pink” sweater dress ensemble please visit my “Available for Sale” page on cindyricedesigns.com .

On Making Sweater Dresses

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Oh, how I wish I were a faster knitter! My favorite things to make for dolls are sweater dresses and out of all of the pieces I knit, sew, and crochet they take the longest. So, so many stitches, and the finer the gauge the more stitches that are needed to complete the dress.

I could probably knit 3-4 sweaters in the time it takes to knit ONE dress, oh, but I LOVE them so. Who knows why! A beautiful doll in a hand knit and embroidered dress is the sweetest sight to me.

This bamboo dress I just made for the Little Darlings is knit on smaller needles than what I normally use for my bamboo sweaters. I thought it would need a tighter gauge to keep all of these stitches in shape. Anyway, it took “a while” to knit so I quickly counted up my stitches, 10,000+. That’s a lot of knitting!

Once I had (finally) finished knitting the sweater dress it wasn’t time to celebrate even though I felt that I should. I had a blank canvas staring at me. Unlike embroidering a sweater to coordinate with a dress I had nothing to go on, only my imagination and a lot of real estate. Where to put the embroidery? What colors to use? I was tempted to procrastinate as I wasn’t really sure where to start. But, no, nothing gets done then, except maybe a lot of snacking and who needs that?

Start with what you know has become my mantra whenever I feel like a little procrastination and snacking is in order. I knew I wanted pink roses centered on the front bodice so I embroidered those on first. After embroidering the pink roses under the neckline, the rest of the design and color palette came together quickly. 🙂 It’s funny how the hardest part is starting something where the end result is unknown.