LittleFee Christmas Swap

Over at Den of Angels (a forum for those who collect and/or love Asian ball jointed dolls) I participated in my first ever "swap". The owners who participate put their doll's name on the list along with a picture and a bit of a profile describing the "personality" and the "likes and dislikes" of that character. They in turn are given the name of another doll from the list that they then compile a package for.

This particular swap had a theme of Christmas/Winter and I had the good fortune to be collecting for a little elf character named "Mint". It was really fun for me because Mint is brand new (hasn't even arrived yet) and so doesn't have a lot of clothes. . . . . and you know how I love to make doll clothes!

So here is how the package looked just before I mailed it to Ontario.


I didn't need much packaging material because I managed to fit everything into a little gift box. There was not a smidge of room to spare!

And this is what was hidden in all those little wrapped packages.



The candy canes were "mint" flavoured of course, and they were for the doll owner. Almost everything else was part of a one of a kind, head-to-toe outfit, compiled with Mint's specific character in mind.

Mint's profile said that he likes boy-friendly clothing in colours that don't clash with his mint green hair, colours like black, white, and mint or dark green. He also likes dinosaurs and desperately needs shoes.

So here's what I gathered, starting at the top:


I made him a little, felt, RobinHood style hat. Delilah has the same size head so she's my model here.


The next item probably caused me the most angst and took the longest. This is intarsia knitting at 14 stitches to the INCH folks! Lots and lots of little ends to sew in. I found the dinosaur graph on Ravelry.

Like the other little sweaters I've done for my own dolls, this one is from the free DollsWest pattern. It opens down the back for ease in dressing the doll.


Next is a little t-shirt I made using a pattern purchased from Adams-Harris.com. It also opens down the back.



These little black jeans with mint coloured stitching are from the same Adams-Harris pattern that I used to sew the blue jeans for my own dolls.

They have working pockets both front and back! Remember, the dolls are less than 10" tall!


For those bare feet of Mint's, a pair of green sneakers (liberated from my own dolls collection, but with replacements on the way) and a couple of hangers to keep everything tidy.


And one more little thing, a toy in proper scale for Mint. It's a triceratops that I needle felted.



My swap partner really likes the package I sent and says everything fits perfectly. That's so great to hear!

Hair Now

Yesterday it was the eyes, today the LittleFees' hair arrived. Though there are only two dolls ordered I actually purchased 3 wigs because I was having trouble deciding between two different lengths and styles for the brown.

My 16" vinyl doll, Delilah Noir, wears the same wig size so she has been cajoled into modelling the wigs for me.

Here's the first option for "Peanut", the LittleFee Elf Ante. It's a chestnut brown, Monique wig, in the "Lexy" style. I think it looks particularly good on Delilah. It might also look great on Peanut, possibly showing off her lovely, pointed, elf ears.


But there's also this option for Peanut. It's another Monique wig, this time a brown "Doris" bob. I like it, and it looks a lot like the hairstyle I had in mind, but I do think I like the longer one better. When Peanut arrives she will just have to try them both on to help me decide.


Then for "Pumpkin", the blue-eyed LitteFee Leah, I have this carrot red "Lulu" wig, which is also a Monique brand. The colour is perfect, but it's perhaps a bit too full.

I think it will look much better on Pumpkin than it does here on Delilah though. Delilah is a more mature looking sculpt, with a darker skin tone, than Pumpkin will have.

I love the wild froth of curls at the back.

Four Eyes

The eyes I ordered for my Fairyland LittleFee dolls have arrived......before the dolls.....but that's a good thing. When the dolls arrive they will have eyes, but they are "default", chosen at random, and are sometimes red, purple, or some other ghastly, unrealistic colour......ewwww!

The dark, dark brown ones are for the Elf Ante I'm naming "Peanut".

The bright blue ones are for the Leah I'm naming "Pumpkin".

I was surprised that they were shipped rattling around loose, with no cushioning, inside little plastic boxes within a plain manila envelope, not even a bubble envelope. They're fine though and all is well that ends well.

Edited to add: Brrr......I looked out the window and giant snowflakes are coming down. Our first little flurry of the season.

Another, Like the Other

Here's another little short sleeved pullover destined for a Fairyland LittleFee. This one will be for the dark haired, dark eyed LittleFee Elf Ante expected in December.

It should look great paired with the tiny jeans I sewed.

Knit in Knitpicks Shadow laceweight in the "Nocturne Heather" colourway from Dollswest's free YoSD sized pattern.

A Bench For Pipi

Last week, while browsing the local thrift store for interesting bits of fabric for doll clothing, I found this little bench for Pipi, (a Resinsoul Yu).

It seemed sturdily built so, even though it has a poorly done Christmas themed paint job, I snapped it up for the 50 cents they were asking. I'll repaint it some time in the future. In the meantime Pipi is quite happy to sit on the right side obscuring the hideously drawn Santa Claus.

Pumpkin's Pullover

I finished a short sleeved, mock neck pullover for one of the LittleFees today. This is for the red headed one that I have decided to name "Pumpkin".

It's knit with Knitpicks "Shadow" laceweight yarn in "forest heather" on size 1.5mm needles (000 US), at a gauge of 14 stitches per INCH.

For ease in dressing the doll it has a snap closure most of the way down the back. (Thumb included in picture for scale.)

Modelled pictures will have to wait until the dolls are received sometime in late December.

They Shall Be Shod

Look what came in the mail!

Eight little pairs of shoes, each shoe only 4.3 - 4.5 cm long (under 2"), and perfectly made.

These are, of course, intended for the two resin, ball jointed dolls that should be arriving some time around Christmas. If only shopping for my own shoes was this much fun.

Edited to add:
I got these through mintoncard.com
The red "party shoes" and high top runners are by M-Style. The MaryJanes are by YuHao.

Heather Hoodie Vest

I really love this vest! It's the perfect weight and colour for me and it fits well. I wear it all the time. In fact, I've been wearing it so much that I only now took the time to snap a few photos and get a blog post written. It was actually finished on October 14th.








Pattern is "Heather Hoodie Vest", from Knitscene, Fall 2009 issue.
I used Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool.

Line Pricker

Happy Halloween!

Okay, I can't exactly claim much credit for these awesome Jack-o-Lanterns.


My participation was limited to cutting the tops off the pumpkins, gutting one of them, and pin pricking around a printed design for the owl one. My very talented daughter was responsible for all the rest.

Distressed!

I've had so much fun today working on these little doll jeans. When done they looked okay, but they didn't have that lived in look that I wanted. So.....I set to work with a pumice board and the result is the pair you see on the right.



Softer, with more personality, and more of that comfy, loved and lived in look.

While time consuming and not "easy", these little jeans were not horribly difficult either. If they had been I wouldn't already be making plans to make at least two more pairs! I figure the two LittleFees I have on order will, at the very least, want a pair each in black.

I need to find better buttons. Those ones, although the right size, are a poor substitute for the metal buttons found on "real" jeans.

2 Pairs From a Sleeve

I almost got two little pairs of jeans from just one sleeve of a lightweight denim shirt I picked up at a thrift store.

But I noticed later, while reading the directions through thoroughly, that I had to cut a 8" x 1.25" bias piece for each waistband. For that I had to move on to the upper section of one of the front pieces. Still, I estimate that I could likely get at least 6, possibly as many as 8, pairs of teeny, tiny, detailed little jeans from the one shirt.

They Shall Be Clothed

You may remember that I was waiting for a 43cm Asian ball jointed doll, a Narae that I had ordered way back in May. Turns out there was trouble between the artist and the company he was creating the dolls for. I eventually requested and received a full refund. I then took that money and ordered two smaller dolls of an entirely different style.

The two new dolls are Fairyland LittleFee dolls in the Ante Elf, and Leah sculpts. I've ordered them in the "basic" version meaning they will come without clothing or wigs. Just the naked doll with it's face painted (referred to by collectors as a "face-up") and with default eyes (eyes randomly selected by the doll company).

I have a very specific look in mind for each of these dolls so I've gone ahead and ordered wigs and eyes for them. I've also started sewing for them.

Here's their first outfits, matching but not identical. I sewed the little dresses and bloomers from three men's dress shirts I found at a thrift store. The lace and trim on each outfit is different, and I reversed the placement of the solid coloured fabric.

The dolls won't arrive until some time around Christmas, so I'll have to wait until then to photograph the outfits modelled by the resin girls they were made for. I have a pattern for jeans, a casual top, and pyjamas too. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to find patterns for a few knits too.

Haven't been this impatient for Christmas to arrive for years......make that decades.

Desert Mesa Retreat

I spent the October 15/16/17 weekend here;

slept each night in this room;

looked out on this view;

and spun during the day, and into the evening with these friends;

I had such a good time that I'm going back next year.

It's the Desert Mesa Spinning Retreat held every fall in Cache Creek.

A Toe Away

The distance from my house to the Vancouver airport is about the length of a toe. I know this because a round trip, there and back, turned out to be two toes.


Knitted sock toes that is.

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Dem'er Sum Fuggly Socks

These are undoubtedly the brightest, loudest, wildest, Ugh-liest socks I've ever knit. . . . .but I love 'em.


Knitting them was a load of fun, like letting the child in me have free reign with all the colours in the paint box.

They were also a frugal knit, using up many little oddments left over from knitting other, less wild, socks.

I did them toe-up, two at a time on one long circular so that I could get them to kind of, sort of, match.

The pattern is my usual standby hybrid, and the idea for the constant colour changing came from Heather Sebastian's "Blender Socks".

Page for this project on Ravelry.

Shaggy Moves to Australia!

Remember Shaggy the Sheep? Shaggy is moving to Australia!

I had originally intended Shaggy to be a mascot in my weaving room, but lack of space and an aversion to clutter has convinced me to let Shaggy move on to a household where she might be more appreciated. I allowed the guild to put Shaggy on the auction block to raise funds for another year's operation. Shaggy is now taking a one way trip to Australia where she will be a gift for this lovely spinner's first grandchild.

Mermaid!

Pip really wasn't too sure that she wanted to go through all the trouble of switching her eyes back to the blue again.

Even the lure of a mermaid tail was not enough by itself.......

......I had to add in a wig, a shell bodice like the "pretty mermaids wear", pearls, and a crystal swan chariot. Now, NOW I think she feels it was worth the hassle.

Pip's Fall Sweater

Pip is all set for the chillier weather of September with a hand knit cardigan and hat.





Pattern is from "Lati Yellow Knit Book" by Mary-Lee.

This Bear Has a Story

This is Olive Blazer, the bear with a past life. She comes with a bit of a story.


Olive's story begins many years ago when I ordered my husband a tweed blazer for Christmas. When the item arrived in the store the salesperson phoned our home and asked to speak with Olive Blazer. There was a confused pause at both ends of the phone until simultaneously both the salesperson and myself realized the woman's mistake. She was reading from the wrong line on the phone list. The ITEM was an olive coloured blazer. The person to speak to was the name next to it of course. The family has laughed over that one for years.

As far as I know this is the only item of clothing my husband has ever had that actually has a name.


With a family story like that behind it I just couldn't send this blazer off to a charity shop when it grew hopelessly out of style. No, Olive Blazer had to live on. I found a sewing pattern that worked with the narrow pieces I had available once I deconstructed the jacket.


The wool blend tweed was used for the exterior of the bear. Portions of the shoulder pads created the contoured stuffing for the ears, and the lining and a button from the blazer were used for the collar of her little jacket. Olive's eyes were scrounged from the family heirloom button jar.

The outside of her fancy tweed jacket is made of a remnant from our living room drapes and its lining is cut from a poly/cotton bathroom curtain. The embellishment on her jacket was done with scraps of felt, embroidery floss and a few beads I had in my stash. The only things I had to buy to bring Olive Blazer to life were the pattern and the stuffing.

For Suzanne

Hi Suzanne. Your email address doesn't come through with your comments and I can't find any contact information on your site. I have answered your enquiry a couple of times in my comment section but I guess you haven't found my responses.

The cookies Kaylen and I made did not place in the top three. I don't know how we did other than that because everyone got at least a 4th ribbon.

We had fun together though and that's what's important.

Teeny, Tiny Teddy

I made a tiny teddy bear for Pip today. Pip is so small herself the actual size of the teddy bear can be hard to imagine.

Here's another photo to put the needle felted bear in more familiar surroundings so the size is a bit easier to visualize.

Teddy is less than 2 inches tall and yet is fully jointed. (I've got to do something about that left arm being longer. Funny how things like that only become apparent after you've taken pictures.)

Pip's New Wig

I used a free tutorial I found on Den of Angels to make Pip a new wig from faux fur. It fits perfectly and I think it looks pretty darn good.

And it stays on!

No matter what she's up to.