Country Dolls

I enjoy making these country dolls. I have made four and am working on a fifth. I give them away to friends and family; one of these days I'll keep one for myself!

I sew the dolls with muslin fabric and stuff them with polyfill. I use fabric for the dress and solid colored fabric to match for the bloomers, and vintage dresser scarfs to make the aprons, or else I crochet them. I crochet edging around the hem of the dress and sleeves, and sometimes at the dress collar. For their hair I use either ready-made doll hair or yarn. For these dolls, I painted on black shoes, but the one I'm making now will have felted booties.

I paint (or stitch) the faces on and I never know what personality will arise in the expression. It gives a certain kind of magic to the creative process.

"Twigs" the Garden Angel Kitty

This pattern is in the latest "Create & Decorate" magazine. She was so much fun to make! The pattern instructions said to use black buttons for the eyes, but I like the two different colored eyes better.

New Flap for my Mom's "As you like it" purse

Here is a new flap I made for the "as you like it" purse that I had made for mother. The pattern for the "as you like it" purse can be found at Creative Thimble. You can use your own creativity for the flaps. This flap is quilted and is also reversible. For this flap, I made a zoomed copy of the backing material and turned one of the roses into an applique. I cut the rose apart and used different fabrics for different parts of the rose. I copied the top fabric and used one zoomed panel as a template for a window on the front of the flap. I used fancy stitches around the edge of the window. Using my felting machine, I made my own felt for some of the petals of the rose - red/pink, red, and pink, and the green stem and small leaves. For the other petals I used various fabrics, including the backing fabric. I satin stitched around the rose parts and around the large leaves. I stipple quilted the flap.