A New Doll

Meet Big Sister.

I have been working on her bit by bit and thought you might like to see a few pics of her as I go along. I embroidered her face a little differently than the directions because I like to do my own thing.

1947 Simplicity pattern. Note the price, 15 cents!

I decided that I wanted a long sleeved dress so I chose this 1989 Vogue pattern.

This is the bodice piece, not finished. I love the Peter Pan collar. The fabric is special too. I paid $15 for a small piece of beautiful red vintage feedsack printed with bows and flowers.

Unfinished shoes. I'm still experimenting with shoes. These are imitation leather and I want to use real leather. The shoes are partially lined with red antique satin, and the insteps will be padded red satin when I finish. I had my eye on an old wide red belt I've had for ages, but it is too small. Big Sister has huge feet, because she is 32 inches tall and also wears a size 1 toddler dress. I made her socks today, they are blue and white striped soft jersey.

More pictures coming as we move along.

Happy Sewing

Yahoo - A Gift from the Patchwork Dress!

A Little Soul Mate Came to Stay

Caireen at the Patchwork Dress made these lovelies.
Above you see the picture taken in Scotland.

And Whoopie, look who came by ROYAL MAIL to live in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont! And ... a Patchwork Dress card, a lovely pouch, a bead key ring, pearl sequins and pretty ribbons for my dollies. Thank you, Caireen! This is a real treasure, and the very FIRST present I ever got in the mail. I was so excited opening the package, and Mr. Diabetes ate the candy first thing! What is a wife to do? Anyway, I'm a happy camper. Next week I will post off a little something to Scotland and I'll only tell you that it is PINK . . .

My "Patchwork Dress" soul mate bird!

The Patchwork Dress Etsy Shoppe is the place to visit for gorgeous cards:

Like these! Caireen calls this batch "Secret Garden."

If you look at my swap picture you will see the card that Caireen made and sent to me. It is so perfect, a sweet kitten surrounded by poetry written in Scotland. Caireen makes geo-friendly cards out of recycled pictures and paper, but I would never know if she hadn't said so. I wish I knew how she makes them so professional, I'd love to know the secret!

"Wee" elephants made exclusively by Caireen! Isn't this too cute?

Dolly Surprise from Germany

This little Miss lives in Germany but she looks like a long lost cousin to the Dolly Dilettante family! Imagine my delight when my new blogging friend Aleinung posted this adorable picture of the latest member of her cute, cute, cute doll family! Wow, surprises never cease . . .

Well, Aleinung, greetings from your dollie's big brother in America. He sends you both lots of lollypop hugs!

©2000 Denise Van Patten - http://collectdolls.about.com

Today has been a relaxing Sunday and I've had a bit of time to myself to think. Usually I'm trying to think and nothing happens, I just go with the flow of the day. Today I resolved to slow down the hectic pace and reclaim my creative space in peace. This is how I am going to do it:

• Give thanks to the Lord for the gift of a new day and new blessings

• Make my DH diabetic cookies! Anyone got a great recipe for oatmeal raisin?

• Give some tender, loving care to my new doll and create a vision of who she will be and what she will wear. The little one in the picture has some possibilities, with those cute little shoes. I am making red leather shoes for my doll from an old Italian leather belt I "out grew" about 30 years ago.

• Concentrate on sending several of my dear blogging friends promised goodies. Now I know the meaning of "blogging guilt." The hurrier I go, the behinder I get. This has to stop, right here, right now - this week!

• Not obsess about STUFF

• To find joy and love in this wonderful life.

May you all start the week with peace and happiness

Sunday at the Craft Festival

"Autumn on the Green" in Danville, Vermont

Janice and Rick helping with the canopy tent!

Dolly Dilettante Booth

Here I am, "Hi everyone!"

A little stranger picking up 40 pounds!

Just a peek at Dick, my husband, in the blue shirt.

Meg and friends, Sophia and Athena

No rain! What a blessing!

I made the bunting last week and was very happy with it.

Just across from my booth, mmm yummy fried dough!

There was a big crowd, over 3,000 people!

Folk music, square dancing, and an Irish orchestra . . . wonderful music!

A Danville lady and her little friend!

Sunday was a perfect day!

My Town

Discover St. Johnsbury, Vermont

Countdown-Three Days Til My First Market!

The busier I am
The behinder I get

Or, I'm a little "behind" in my blogging. I created these pictures last week to show you a few items I made for my very first craft fair. So here they are! Please imagine that I posted them last week and FORGIVE ME. I know you do because you are all such lovely people.

Fun Stuff!

The return of Strawberry Shortcake!

Happy Halloween treasure bags for candy and fun things!

Itsy-Bitsy Annie Apron!

Busy Annie Pillows!


Pennants and Checkbook Covers

Another Day, Another Apron

This apron was requested by a customer, and I finished it today.

To all my dear girls waiting for a parcel from me:
You are not forgotten, I'm working on it . . .

My Brother Makes Quilts

My brother, David, is a quilter. The following pictures are his newest quilt in progress. Dave is still piecing it and is almost ready to add the batting and backing. He is an experienced quilter, quilting for at least 15 years (right, Dave?) Every stitch is sewn by hand, no machine quilting. Even more interesting, David designs his own patterns. This quilt will be the 7th quilt my artistic and talented brother has made!

I love the selection of rainbow colors! This quilt is bright and airy and Dave thinks he will call it "Springtime." It will be finished with a light blue border, then completely hand quilted.

The quilt design consists of hexagons, big square panels, small squares and arrows.

David has been working on this quilt for 6 months, on weekends. He is a busy Dad of 2 boys, both teenagers now, and he works a full time job, and he is an awesome quilter and designer. Wow, huh? I hope that he will share his gorgeous photographs with us on this blog. Vermont is one of the most beautiful states in the country, especially now with all the trees in the mountains turning red and gold, and Dave's photographs really do it justice.

So, ladies, what do you think? I love to read your comments . . .

The Apron Renaissance

This is my friend Jessica. Jess is a good sport to model my aprons! Thanks, Jess.

This is the white embroidered apron, great pic of Jess but you can't see the embroidery.

Jess in the red apron

Love that cute smile, just had to include it!

The blue apron. I made the pattern myself and I was glad to see that it fit someone as petite as Jessica. But wait a minute, it also fits me and I am, well a sturdy size 14 (oh my.) So I am happy with the way the apron fits all sizes.

Here are the original 3 aprons in the afternoon sun on the front porch.
Now that I know they fit everyone, they have magically multiplied to 20 aprons.

Turkey Feathers so kindly made these folk dancers available to those who visit her fabulous web shoppe she calls Patternbee. The minute I saw them I could feel the music. Aren't they a happy couple? If you are looking for vintage embroidery patterns Patternbee is the place to go, where you can find hundreds of old patterns reprinted as new iron-on transfers. You can get the folk dancers for free here, thanks to Turkey Feather's generosity. Do some shopping, too!

Aprons are IN! I am having a wonderful time reading apron blogs . . . of course, I am so suggestible, just mention something to sew and I want to try too!

HAPPY SEWING . . .