knitting for Disney Animator dolls (cropped photo)

I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent (what’s new?) and been buying more dolls (second hand on ebay) . . . all because I saw the most adorable knitting pattern that I just had to buy!

The pattern is by a Canadian lady, and can be found here:  CSKraft4Dolls, if you’re interested/curious.  I believe she also sells on Ravlery, but I prefer to buy on etsy.

Anyway . . .  Disney Animator dolls are 16” tall, and very tubby, younger looking versions of the well-known Disney characters.  This headless pair being Belle and Rapunzel.

I promised I wouldn’t spook you out with dolls on this blog . . . so I cropped off their heads, to show just the knitting.  If you’d like to see the dolls themselves, then just hop across to Claire’s Collections, which is my new blog, dedicated entirely to my doll collection.   I personally think they’re adorable, but I realise I’ll probably be outnumbered.  That’s fine . . . the world would be a less interesting place if we all liked the same things, wouldn’t it?

You’ll notice, from photo, that the two outfits don’t appear to be the same size/fit.  They’re not.  I started out knitting the outfit on the right, using a 3.75mm needle and DK yarn as recommended . . . maybe my tension was too tight? but the shorts ended up way too snug, and the top turned out too short (for my liking).  So, I moved to a 4mm needle for the second attempt, and added a few stitches to the shorts, and a few rows to the tunic. 

Great thing about the pattern, apart from being nice & easy to follow, is there are also instructions to make a dress . . . and more instructions to make the dress with a knitted yoke and a fabric skirt.  I will definitely be attempting both of those!

Advertisements

ScrapHappy # August

Time to link up with Kate and Gun, for the monthly ScrapHappy post!

For this month, I had a rummage in my fabric scrap bags, and cut lots of 2.5” squares (and a few rectangles).  Having done a fair bit of clothes making I had lots of pretty, colourful prints and went for a random layout.

And messed around making a small quilt top.

Plan is to add more white for outer borders and make a small doll-sized quilt for my reborn dolls.

Other people who take part in ScrapHappy:

Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline and Sue L.

SAL “Bag Ladies “ # 15

Another 3 weeks have flown by . . . and my SAL project  has evolved from this

to this

As you can see, there’s a ginger cat just peeking out of the new bag.

Let’s hop along and see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis,  Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

A little PS to SAL members with Blogger/Blogspot blogs . . . you might have noticed, I’m leaving comms “anonymously” these days, but signing claire93 as that seems to be the only way I can leave a comment.

And meet up again on 1st September, for our next update.

more second-hand goodies

The husband and I were up at the crack of dawn again last Sunday and off out to another local carboot sale.  I really am not a morning person, but if we hope to find any bargains, we need to get there early.  So up and out by 6 o’clock it was.

And home again by half eight, with some new “treasures”.

I had my eyes open for DVDs this time and grabbed these three.   I was also on the look out for Playmobil 123 but even arriving at 6.30am, we were too late.  All I found was one lone horse that a very nice lady let me have for nothing.

Also spotted this wooden chest, which I just had to have! 

And then, (because I’m  watching lots of animation films at the moment, and have only recently watched “Frozen”) . . . imagine my surprise, when I should see the tip of some antlers . . . give them a tug, and discover

Sven and Olaf, both in the same box just waiting for me to bring them home!

And ‘tis not all . . .

We did also manage to visit an Emmaus depot (a charity) and I saw this gorgeous handmade pouch.  I couldn’t leave it there, because it made me so sad to see such lovely handicraft in a charity shop . . . so home it came with me, where it will be much loved and admired.

Anyway, total spending for me for all of the above: 8.50€.   I was well-pleased!

best layer of the month # July

Time to tot up the eggs count this month.  The really hot weather has taken its toll, and hens have slowed down somewhat.  I don’t blame them.  Even so, we collected 66 fresh eggs this month which was more than enough for us and the neighbours who aren’t away on holiday.  Mauricette and Miss Moneypenny both laid 21 eggs, and Miss Plumpton, our Sussex, laid 24. 

carboot sale haul for July.

Regular readers will know I do love a good rummage at a local carboot sale whenever I get the opportunity.  Those of you who live in the US, the UK or Australia often have thrift shops or charity shops nearby, where you can enjoy a rummage, if that’s your idea of fun too. Sadly, in France, that kind of shop simply doesn’t exist, apart from Emmaus (founded  by Abbé Pierre) but you don’t find an Emmaus in/near every town.  So basically, if you’re looking for second-hand bargains in France, apart from the usual on-line auction sites (where you have to add on p&p costs), you have to wait for carboot season, which is generally during the summer months.

Anyhow . . . the husband and I got up at the crack of dawn a couple of Sundays in July and headed off to a few local carboot sales where we both spent some pennies and came home with a few goodies.  My haul as follows.

Three paperback books (1€ each) by the author Meg Cabot.  I’ve never read any of her books before but the covers tell me they’re definitely “chick lit” and are going to be light-reading.  Titles are:  “Size 12 is not fat”,  “Size 14 is not fat either” and “Big Boned”.  I’ll do a book review at some point once I’ve had time to read all three.

I also found one cute ragdoll, in pretty good condition, one cloth baby book and a very vintage Burda pattern.  Couldn’t resist any of the above, which totalled 1.50€ in cost.

Very pleased to spot a wooden kokeshi doll (1€) which measures 24cm tall.  Don’t often see kokeshi dolls at carboot sales in France so when I do, I tend to grab.

The other items there are always lots of . . . baby clothes.  Now, with my reborn & vinyl baby dolls, I’m supposed to be knitting, crocheting or sewing new outfits, but honestly, with people selling pristine baby clothes for peanuts, it’s hard not to grab a few items of clothing for dolls.

These last two, hand-knitted, probably by some clever grandma . . .  and so very well knitted too!

And, while I’m not supposed to be sharing doll photos here . . .

just one for the road.

A perfect fit!

happy unbirthday Debbie Rose!

What with crafting for birth of Baby Viking last year, followed by xmas, which was then followed by invitations to 2 weddings for 2019, I wasn’t able to find the time to keep up my “unbirthday” scheme.  In fact, it’s been way too long since any unbirthday gifts were made & posted . . . so time to try and get back into the routine!

For July, I sent a little something to DebbieRose.

A little cross stitched card (design by Helz Cuppleditch and published in Cross Stitch Crazy) and a cross stitch kit.  “Quilting Angel” by Jim Shore.

DebbieRose does many needlecrafts, including patchwork and cross stitch . . . so hopefully, this lovely design will be right up her street!