Fashioned by Lyndell

Once were Sarongs

2012-02-09T01:30:00.001+11:00

At the very beginning of this year I was gifted some wonderful, unused cotton sarongs that were bought in Malaysia over 20yrs ago. This bright purple one was still wrapped and labeled.

Hot stuff indeed - the photo doesn't do the strong bright colours justice. Well, I never wear sarongs but I do enjoy working with them & sewing them into something. Sarongs and Saris are often great fun with their border prints and panels of different designs - working with all those elements and making the most of them makes the cutting out quite a challenge.

I decided to make my granddaughter a dress from the purple sarong - with such bright & busy fabric a simple design is best and I found this in my collection of vintage patterns.

Made some adaptations - a gathered skirt rather than pleats that would need ironing after every wash, also made the longer sleeves but with elastic cuffs.

Border around the hem of the skirt and the big flowers 'grow' up the front.

I should've placed the butterflies better - though these 2 seem to be talking to each other!

The 2nd sarong was black&white - and I forgot to take photos before I sewed it up. Quite a busy print with borders and panels of zig-zag design and lush bouquets etc.

It is a lovely cool cotton fabric so I made myself a summer shirt - loose fitting with elbow length sleeves and a mandarin collar.

Placed the strong zig zags up the fronts either side of the buttons, put a bouquet on the back and the borders round the hem again.

It looks quite good on too :-)

Make Do & Mend

2012-02-06T12:17:00.000+11:00

Whether it is for reasons of frugality, or thumbing your nose at consumerism, or because you can't bear to throw out a favourite garment - it feels good to Mend, Repair, Recycle...

Oh Dear! I had managed to get super-glue on a favourite singlet top - it is a flattering pistachio green, a nice rayon knit and it has a matching cardigan so I did not want to toss it!
But nasty dark (and stiff) spots of glue down the front - one big splodge and a trail of small ones.

Now, I also like to mend things in a way that adds to them - Up-cycle rather than Re-cycle - and my favourite method of hiding small stains or mended holes is by embroidering something pretty over the top. I often work lazy-daisy flowers (there are quite a few YouTube clips if you want to know how to do these) but I felt that this top deserved something a bit more special so I worked some Bullion Stitch roses, with buds etc.

The fun part comes first - selecting which threads to use.
2 greens ... not too blue or 'sweet'
and for the flowers I went with shades of apricot instead of the more obvious pinky rose colours.

I like the 'Susan O'Connor' bullion stitch rose - basically you start with the darkest shade & work a bullion loop (in the middle of that big stain). And because I'm not very good at this - I needed 2 loopy stitches!

Then with the next shade work bullion stitches spiralling around that centre...

Sorry for the blurry photo

Then progress to a lighter colour and work more bullions around ... And even if you are not very skillful the result is still quite pretty. Especially if your photos are blurry!!

The splash pattern of small stains seemed obvious as a 'rose bud' on a curving stem. Here is the bud - 3 bullion grubs with a dark one in the middle.

Rose and bud on finished stem - used stem stitch for the stem (naturally!) and bullion grubs beside the bud & for the leaves; small in the dark green with long grubs above in the light olive colour.

SO - those stains are quite disguised now but those flowers are awkwardly placed and the rose is floating in a very isolated way. So I put the singlet on Daphne (my mannequin) and planned with pins how to make the emboridery look like a Deliberate Design Decision but with a minimum of additional work!

Oops - obviously needs to be ironed, but one of those creases inspired the placement of another bud-on-stem.

And here is the finished singlet top - worked another full Susan O'Connor rose & a bud to keep that first rose company, and a 2nd bud-on-stem curving in the other direction.

Fairy Wings for Blythe - Workshop

2012-02-01T14:09:00.001+11:00

I promised a workshop on the Fairy Wings I made for a recent swap of Blythe Doll Clothes (this post) - so here it is.

Well, there must be easier ways to make dolly wings but this method is based on what I did to make the much larger wings for this human costume ...

Made that Damselfly (aka Mayfly) costume back in 2003 - wasn't too proud of most of it but the wings were OK and since 2003 they've been hanging in our lounge-room as pseudo curtains ...

They're a bit warped and faded now but considering that they are nearly 9yrs old and those polyester fabrics are inherently fragile - I think they're doing quite well!

Here is a close-up.

So I chose to use very similar techniques to make much smaller wings for a Blythe doll. Wire, with twinkle fabric and machine-made free-form 'lace'.

You will need (pls note, things get called different things in different countries / areas):
Stationery items : paper, pencil / pen, tissue paper, glitter glue, glitter pen (an optional extra)
Hardware items : thin flexible wire (I used florists' wire but anything easy to bend will do), wire cutters, pliers to bend the wire, plumbers' tape (aka teflon tape - there are white, pink & yellow tapes and they do differ, I find that the white is the easiest to use. Florists use very similar stuff and theirs is either white or green and it costs a lot more).
Now I dare you to go into a Hardware Shop and tell the butch blokes there that you need wire & plumbers' tape to make fairy wings for your doll!
Fabric & Haby : transparent fabric (organza, organdie, twinkle organza, mirror organza), bits or ribbon - braid - metallic embroidery thread (these are for the free-form 'lace'), stabiliser that dissolves in water (this has many different names - Solvie, Dissolve-Away etc) beads, a bit of felt or ribbon (for the center back reinforcement), ordinary sewing thread, pins, scissors ...
Hint : keep to a limited colour scheme for your wings as they could easily become really crazy.

OK here we go:
First design your wings and trial them in paper (pin paper onto your doll's clothing and check for size, shape ...)
Now use your paper wings as the pattern to shape the wire. 2 important points here

minimise the number of wire pieces to minimise joins. I had 3 pieces of wire - 1 went across the top from one curly bit to the other, 1 formed the rest of the wing outline and a third (not shown in this pic) made the 'hooks' that go over dolly's shoulders.
where one wire joins another avoid T joins by bending one wire into a L at the end - that little bit will lie against the other wire and when bound with the tape it'll be stable. You can see the thicker bits here where there 2 wires meet.

Paper pattern, shaped wire being bound with teflon tape - Note thick bits where wires are joined

An explanation - you can join wire by soldering but I dislike soldering. Nasty hot things, acid in the flux, lead in the solder ... yuk! Plumbers' / Teflon tape is my preferred method of joining wire - I've used it for costumes and head-dresses, seems strong enough.

SO - bend the wire to shape and cover with the plumbers' / teflon tape - it is stretchy stuff and it clings to itself. Pay particular attention to joins, and make sure any ends & sharp corners are covered nicely.

Plot fabric / 'lace' areas on tissue paper.

In this photo you can see those over-shoulder 'hooks'.

Pin wire wings to tissue paper and plan the area that'll be free-form 'lace'.

I found I could trace this onto my dissolve-away stabiliser ... but remember that it will shrink in the sewing - a lot! If you can, using a hoop while sewing the free-form lace will help stop the shrinkage.

You can see my dissolve-away under the pretty stuff

Now for the fun of deciding what to use for the free-form lace ... I had some metallic embroidery thread, thin satin ribbon, some transparent ribbon & a shabby old silver tassel ...

Now go slightly crazy on the sewing machine ... sew the pretty stuff to the stabiliser in a random free-form manner. You can use metallic thread in your machine, use zig-zag, wave st, fancy stitches, couch other stuff (like threads from that old tassel), just sew over the stabiliser ...

I used the stabiliser double - but it is old stuff and prone to tearing!

Ack! what is that mess?

This messy business is what I ended up with - check that it is large enough - mine did shrink with the sewing!

"I'm melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world!"

Now - dissolve the stabilser. Mine is old stuff and I think it is gelatine based - it goes very slimy in the water - yuk!!! And even though I rinsed really well, some residue remained to make the 'lace' a bit stiff - which is OK really.

Dry your free-form lace and admire it twinkling in the sunlight ...

Back to the drawing board ... trace wing designs on tissue paper - pin to fabric (I used polyester "mirror organza" doubled - not sure why I doubled it!)

Flip that over and pin the now dry 'lace' in place, hold everything up to the light so you can see where - back to the sewing machine and sew a guide line round the edge where lace & fabric meet (shown a little darker above). You can sew through the tissue paper, then tear it away and work a tight zig-zag (satin-stitch, like for a button-hole) over the guide line.

Cut the fabric from behind the 'lace'. Be careful!

Fabric & 'lace' - fabric snipped because I kept forgetting to take progress pictures!

The next step is not much fun but your work will now start to really look like wings.

Pin fabric & lace piece to the wire and machine it. At this stage you can also add the felt or ribbon for the centre back reinforcement. See photo.

If the needle hits the wire and it probably will - it will probably break.

Please Wear Eye Protection

Use zig-zag stitch - wide enough to go over the wire. I go around once with a slightly shorter than normal length stitch but not the tight 'satin stitch' then later I go round again ...

Cut the fabric and any 'lace' ends around the wire (on the outside!) Then I go back to the machine and zig-zag a tight 'satin stitch' around again - no pins this time. Concentrate on getting the corners to look nice.

Now for some more fun! I hand-stitched glass seed beads & glued some bigger beads to the ends of the curly bits. Then Glitter Glue all around the wire. It is only paper glue but it seems to add strength, it certainly keeps the thread ends tidy and it is pretty.

I couldn't find any blue glitter glue - but I had a glitter pen in the right colour - so I drew blue on the edges and then put glitter glue on top.

Improvements : Next time (and my Blythe dolls say they NEED some wings of their own - so there will be 'next times'!) I would make the centre back section less wide - it doesn't need to be so 'reinforced'. Just a little bit of ribbon perhaps on the inside to stop the wings getting caught on velcro or other fastening on the doll's clothes.
Also, I did sew elastic to the shoulder 'hooks' in loops to that centre back bit - I think this was unnecessary and it was certainly fiddly. Next time I'll just make the shoulder 'hooks' a bit longer.

Violetta models the fairy costume

Putting up Preserves

2012-01-30T15:11:00.000+11:00

Isn't that a wonderful old phrase? Putting up preserves ... not that I do much of that sort of thing as I'm not overly fond of cooking. However, occasionally I make stuff that goes into jars and the warm glow of Successful Domesticity and knowing that I have jars of yummy goodness in the fridge - well it is worth the effort. So a fortnight ago I made marmalade ...

It certainly wouldn't win a ribbon at a Country Show but I'm rather eccentric about my marmalade ... I like it super chunky, very tart and with loads of ginger.

My last marmalade was a bit 'runny' so I cut right down on the amount of water ... this time I used 2kg oranges + 1 lemon and lots of sliced ginger, 3 cups water (just enough to cover those chunks) and an equal amount of sugar (3 cups). The result is probably more 'cooked orange peel' than actual marmalade and it is tart enough to 'put hair on your chest'. In other words - it's just about perfect :-)

Then this last weekend I made olive tapenade. What a wonderful idea tapenade is - olives that you can spread on bread - perfection!

And so easy to make. Take oodles of kalamata olives, chop & stone them into a blender, add a splash of olive oil, a generous amount of garlic and blend. YUM!

And for a final dose of Domestic Bliss - a sleeping cat. Our elderly Cornish Rex doing what she does best.

Beadiness

2012-01-24T17:58:00.000+11:00

I admit to having something of a love / hate relationship with beads.

Love what they do but strongly dislike sewing them on.

Well, you can do a lot with beads ...


You can Knit with Beads

You can use them as Buttons on Dolls' Clothes

Again - beads to fasten a dolly coat

Beads as Bling on a pair of Shoes

Would you like to see more of these projects ? ?? The shoes are for ME the other items are for Blythes - yes those dolls are taking over this blog.

Over the Christmas / New Year season I organised another swap for the Knitting for Blythe group on Ravelry. My swap recipient (the person whose dolls I was making for) lives in rural France, in Bourgogne which is one of my favourite parts of the world sigh! She customises most of her dolls - making them look quite elfin and other-worldly ... so I simply HAD to make fairy / pixie / elfin outfits.

The first evolved into a SnowDrop Fairy costume - SnowDrop because that's the name of the lace stitch that I used for the top skirt.

There is a built in 'petticoat' layer too. Two lace-weight yarns with white mohair yarn at the hem; one lace weight I dyed a very pale blue/grey - using 2 shades of white together creates depth. Both lace-weights held together for the bodice with mirrored glass seed beads knitted in. My first ever attempt at knitting with beads.

Lillian showing her petticoat

OK - pretty dress but this is a Fairy Costume and you simply cannot have a Fairy Costume without Fairy Wings!

Complex wee things to make - but rather fun too. Remind me to do a 'workshop' blog to show you how I made them.

Violetta modeled the wings for me.

The 2nd swap outfit evolved from memories of the forest in Bourgogne in winter 2007 (our 2nd ever overseas holiday).

Artists and photographers talk about 'the quality of light' - the sunlight. In France the sunlight has a softness, a hazyness - you can see why it was the birthplace of Impressionism and Pointillism!
The colours of the forest( forêt) in early December, late afternoon - all chestnut and antique mauve - the light definitely had a purple tint. This is an outlying bit of the Forêt de Champornot with the river Cure in the foreground.

I tried to reproduce those colours in a dolly outfit. Again in lace-weight yarn - this time Touch Yarns hand-dyed in lovely soft browns and greys to which I added strands of embroidery thread in antique mauves. Not quite right but getting there.

A fitted coat with big 'romantic' sleeves, buttoning down the front with crystal glass beads. Also made a hood, it is not snug about the face though it isn't quite as flatteringly / romantically loose as I planned. Still it is cute with the frilly cape collar and pixie point.

I like the thought that although I cannot go and live in rural Bourgogne (Burgundy) at least some things that I've made can be there in my stead.

The last of the Blythe garments I'm going to show off today is a prototype. Found this faux fur fabric last week - perfect for doll's clothes as the print is tiny and the fur is low pile (short - like a velvet).
As I mentioned in the last post, I'm toying with the idea of opening another Etsy shop - one with clothes & costumes for Blythe dolls. Hence this prototype coat - the pattern needs some refinement but the idea - Glamour, Mod, MadMen Era - I think it works.

The beads - 2 real tiger-eye beads (nothing but the best for my Blythes!) with a thread loop for fastening under the chin.

Lillian showing off the lining

I gave the coat orange satin lining - the alternatives, beige or black seemed just too boring. Also included a special little inside pocket.

Now for the one non-Blythe project - my Green Shoes. I dyed these satin Ballerines late last year (see this post). But what sort of design was I going to put on them? Started off thinking very "lush & late Victorian" but I really wanted to use those ultra-long gold bugle beads so a geometric design seemed more apt ...

Trial designs with pins & needles

Then I found myself having a 1980s moment -
Disco? Super Hero crossed with a Cup-Cake ??? I don't know really but I like it!

From past experience I know that shoes look slightly different when your foot is inside them - so I marked out that dramatic diagonal line with pins and inserted foot with care!

Some hours later all beads firmly stitched on and ...

Twinkle Toes!

What we did on our Holidays - part 3 - Melbourne

2012-01-20T11:00:00.000+11:00

After the turquoise blues of Perth's beaches the grey/brown of Melbourne's came as a disappointment ... they say it is storm water run-off. However, I had been knitting yet more cossies for Blythe dolls and BiBi did some modelling for me.

BiBis is my daughter's French Trench, she was the 1st Blythe in our family. She has a classic beauty - rather posh & classy though her 'bed-hair' suggests that she likes to party ... on expensive champagne.
BiBi has claimed this classic plain black one-piece swim suit.

The photo-shoot was at Brighton Beach with those wonderful beach sheds as the perfect back-drop.

This cossie is more 'vintage' style with a modesty skirt - I'm thinking of opening another Etsy shop, to sell clothes etc for Blythes & this might just be the first item made for it.

The dolls love going to Melbourne and catching up with their friends there ...

BiBi & Lillian enjoy nice long chats

Took the grandkids to the museum one day - the Melb museum has this wonderful whale-bone on display. I've made reproduction corsets, I've handled real Victorian corsets and I've done a lot of research on corsetry - so to me, this is fascinating.

The whalebone that was used in corsets and clothing is not really bone, it is the baleen. The filter-feeder business in the mouths of the baleen whales that feed on krill. And look - it is like compressed hair - this is why it was so strong yet flexible (so much better than the modern plastic boning and thinner than the spiral steels we use). It is made of keratin - just like our hair & fingernails, also birds' feathers & beaks. It is also practically black, though I have seen old 'whalebones' in vintage garments that were cream colour (also some very dark ones) not sure of the reason for such variation in the colour.

I also did some crafting with the grands -

cheap little kits to make Chrissie Decorations but we'd lost some of the bits and so the children had do be imaginative ... I love what they came up with.

Penguin?

Naturally, we all did plenty of eating - and I realised that I'm constantly taking photos of my granddaughter eating - she does enjoy her food!

Now for some random Melbournian photos -

saw these pretty lead-light windows in a house not far from Brighton Beach. Love that one window had green round the edges and the corner window had the pink...

I also finally managed to get a photo of The Hand at Flinders Street station - pointing the way to the correct platform for St Kilda ... wonderful old tiles!

Finally - some more Brighton Beach photos - the dolls didn't mind the E. Coli count!

Audrey made sand-castles...

While Lillian and BiBi went for a stroll and chatted away some more!

Violetta & BiBi play beach ball, despite the wind!

What we did on our Holidays - part 2 - Perth

2012-01-15T21:31:00.000+11:00

Mostly what we did was spend time with family and eat a lot of Christmas food ... my lovely niece & nephew decorated this Gingerbread House.

We didn't do much that was 'touristy' - though the dolls did spend a morning at the Stirling Gardens on St Georges Terrace where they met some bronze kangaroos!

Roos have big feet

and their Tails are very long indeed!

The kangaroos were created by Charles and Joan Walsh Smith in 1997.

They were very friendly and took the dolls for a bit of a hop about the gardens ...

and the girls found a giant 'shish-kebab' made of rocks - (you can read about the 'Harmony of Minerals' here)

Let's see a little more of Perth's public art - this time from Kings Park.

A giant steel dragonfly on "Lycopod Island" (the pole has been made to look like a Lycopod trunk).

This area of Kings Park also has life-size replica dinosaurs.

And our grand-daughter loved the newly hatched Baby Muttaburrasaurus (which I think looks a lot like ET) ...

There are also replica Stromatolites which the ducks find very convenient ...

Pacific Black Duck-lings

More ducklings - these 2 are Australian Wood Ducks.

But the State Emblem for WA is not a duck - it is the Black Swan and there are swans on many older buildings...

Let's see some more 'nature' - lovely hollyhocks & hoyas in my mum-in-law's garden

Violetta likes flowers that match her hair!

A large Preying Mantis who posed for a portrait ...

And some truly spectacular Sturt Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa) in a Mosman Park garden

This amazing flower with its 'crescent moon' shape and shiny black centre is the Floral Emblem of South Australia.

Hmmm
2 state emblems in 1 post!

Well, let's leave Western Australia with a sunset. From Leighton Beach, ships anchored in Gage Roads waiting to get into Fremantle or Kwinana harbour.

What we did on our Holidays - part 1 - Perth

2012-01-11T17:08:00.000+11:00

Just back from 3weeks away in Melbourne and Perth visiting family - it was a MEGA Christmas.

The 2 Simply cousins, Audrey and Violetta came to Perth with us.

Do you think all these pressies are for us?

We stayed at a cheap hotel which is about to be renovated. This is a shame in a way because I doubt that they'll replace the vintage bottle opener fitted to the wall in the bathroom ...
And, sorry, I know we shouldn't mention such things, but why do hotels & motels do this to the toilet paper?

I do admire the skill and care that goes into folding toilet paper into neat points but ...

The hotel in Perth went one better - the tissues were pointy too!

The girls decided to stay on the shelf - it was just their cup of tea!

They also did plenty of exploring - mostly in Kings Park

Indiana Audrey

They found old trees with wonderful dolly-sized hollows in them

Dollies debating what living in a tree hollow would be like

And trees with lovely colours

Also wonderfully coloured birds ...

Rainbow Lorikeet

Pink & Grey Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)

Finally here is a view of the Swan River with the old brewery in the foreground - this was taken from the Tree-Top Walk in Kings Park which is not recommended for folk who get vertigo!

It was a typically hot Perth day - but with wonderful clouds - Cirrus (I think?).

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-13T20:11:00.000+11:00

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas

by the bunch!

All our best wishes

More Knitting for Bythe - 2010 / 11 Fashion

2011-12-13T00:07:00.001+11:00

It seems that I love assigning myself rather long-term projects ...

This one is for my granddaughter - I've bought her a Blythe doll & the idea is that every winter and every summer I will make the doll an outfit that reflects the fashion of the time. Not haute couture / strange cat-walk fashion but what I see young trendy women wearing on the street. Then when granddaughter has one of those VIBs (Very Important Birthdays) - 18, 20, 21 ??? she will get the doll and a collection of outfits - 2 for each year of her life.

Of course I'm behind with the project but after a flurry of knitting I've finished the outfits for last year!

Winter 2010 -

In grey self striping sock yarn (a cotton blend called "On-Line") a little suit. Simple pencil skirt and not-at-all-simple short jacket. Little jackets like this were still very in this year and they do remind me of the fashions of the 19teens - feminised tail-coats etc. Anyways - I did lots of short-rows to make the almost circular peplum - long at the back with a box pleat, curving up to a raised waist in the front.

Back View

There is a wee half-belt with buttons at the back, a standing collar, 3/4 sleeves quite loose and with big cuffs. Collar & cuffs in Moss (aka Seed) Stitch. A winter outfit has to have accessories - I'm planning to make a big bag, I have made a beret. It is a Meret by Woolly Woormhead sized down by using thinner yarn and needles (ps: link is to Ravelry).

Summer 2010 / 2011

Teeny weeny shorts - in a denim coloured yarn (again meant for socks) and a bat-wing top. Very 2010 / 11 and also quite 1980s - there is nothing new under the sun!

The top is in a lace-weight yarn (Knit Picks Shimmer) I loved this yarn in the skein but when I started to knit a shawl with it I didn't like the way the colours pooled - on this tiny project the short length variegations work much much better.

And a little Post Script: Just before Violetta & I did this photo-shoot I got new prescription glasses (now on multi-focals which does make me feel old!!) However, I must really have needed new glasses as I'd not noticed before that Violetta has really pretty painted nails - lavender colour :-)

Cossies for Blythe Dolls

2011-12-11T09:11:00.001+11:00

I have been making Cossies / swimsuits for Blythe dolls - trying to develop a knitting pattern for them and giving my dolls plenty of opportunities to channel their inner "Bathing Beauty".

Lillian's cossie is a classic vintage style with a 'modesty skirt' - the colours and stripes make it a little bit nautical.

And yes, she nearly did get her feet nibbled by the gold-fish!

Audrey got a boy-leg suit in candy stripes - it has a low back.

Violetta's is purple (but of course) with a frilly bottom edged in white just so you notice it!

Violetta's beach towel is a face-cloth (or flannel) cut in half and hemmed on that edge - the beach ball is a ping pong ball with texta colours.

Now - all these swim-suits are my own knitting pattern/s. They all have the same halter neck top and, except for Audrey's boy-leg suit, they are basically the same shape in the body & bottom. They can be worn over the doll's underpants - taking those on & off is an ordeal I was keen to avoid!

Lillian's old ADG body (see this post all about Lillian's body transplant) makes a wonderful dressmakers' dummy - I'm calling it Elle (after a certain supermodel who was known as The Body). The dolls are really relieved that they no longer have to try on half-made garments with knitting needles and sewing pins that scratch and get all tangled up in their hair ... and I guess this photo should come with a "Partial Doll Nudity" warning!

Pattern-making in progress ...

But wait - there's more ... I've made some swimsuits as swaps & things too. So more Bathing Belle photos ...

This suit & bag was part of my Secret Santa pressie at the WPWD's meet last weekend. Mandy got my parcel - hope her dolls like it.

In soft aqua, a very girlie version with a frill skirt all round - this time edged with pearlised embroidery thread. The beach bag is crochet.

And this was for a swap done through WPWDs. I couldn't post about this until my swap partner got her parcel ... she lives on a Pacific Island which (predictably) made me think of resorts and lazing about a pool ...

Doesn't Audrey make a wonderful swim-suit model? The suit is a plain maillot but in a variegated sock yarn - there are some glass beads at the decolletage. Another ping-pong / beach ball but this beach towel is knitted - stripes of left-over sock yarns in moss stitch (aka seed stitch) for a rather vintage look. A knitted beach bag with crochet trim.

And to complete the swap parcel - a maxi-dress. This is from the halter-neck dress pattern I have for free (at the top of the page). I used a self-striping sock yarn that I bought in Versailles :-) it is "Opal Planète" for Bergère de France, the "Rosa" colourway.

Well, you've seen some beach bags above, I made my own dolls a bag each too - to match their cossies.

Lillian & Audrey's are knitted in bamboo yarn - with trim to match their suits. I used the "Turkish Cast-On" to make these ...

Audrey & Violetta both have really alabaster complexions - so sun-hats are a necessity. Audrey's is crochet from the same bamboo yarn I used for most of the beach bags - the frill makes it rather like a May Gibbs gum-blossom baby's hat.

Violetta's hat & bag are both crochet from a metallic tape-yarn that I found un-banded in an Op-Shop. Makes a great dolly hat as it is rather stiff. I went a bit flamboyant with the purple nylon ribbons - but why not when she looks so cute!

Well, after all that modelling of swim-suits the girls decided to have a picnic and they tested the carrying capacity of their new beach bags.

Things ...

2011-12-04T18:39:00.000+11:00

Time for a Catch-Up post? To show you some Things I've been making and some of the other Things that have interested me - perhaps they will interest you.

Earlier this year I finally bought myself an overlocker. I've been a seamstress for 3 decades but until this year I had avoided owning an overlocker. So now I have an "entry level" machine (as in the cheapest one the brand makes) and it is making some garments a possibility ...

Very stretchy, fine, mesh fabric - with neat hems and edges. Without an overlocker this would be a nightmare and / or impossible.

And it is making some sewing much easier. This is the inside of a Blythe doll's dress.

But enough about Blythe dolls ... I'll show you all the things I've been making for the dolls in the next post...

Let's see more sewing.
I've been making some of my 1930's inspired Kimono / Cocoons for my Etsy shop (see above for a link). They are very Glam evening wraps - I've made one in this lovely black lace, the others are in some all-over sequin fabric - one is rose gold, the other is a brighter (9carat) gold.

The sequin Kimono / Cocoons are really Old-Style Hollywood Glamour.

Now for some knitting.
Also for the Etsy shop, some of my slouchy beanies - too warm for an Australian Christmas but Etsy is on the www and somewhere in the world they will be having a white Christmas.

This beanie is very toasty - it is my own hand-spun yarn - un-dyed, naturally coloured sheep and alpaca fleece.

Did someone mention Christmas?
Last year I made knitted snowflakes as little pressies for family and friends ... seemed like a good idea at the time! This year the little knitted Christmas decoration / pressie is going to be .... guess!

I've a bit of a production line of them ... thankfully I don't have many friends.

Now this is also too warm a garment for this time of the year - it can wait till next winter - a poncho for my granddaughter. A mohair blend from Bendigo Woollen Mills that I dyed myself - the stripes are a cheap chenille acrylic yarn.

This is my favourite method of making a poncho - 2 rectangles stitched together ... add a neck-band and some fringe. Fringe is mandatory for ponchos I reckon :-)

Have also finished this scarf - made from Habu yarns packaged as a kit from Dairing. You work 2 fine yarns together and one of them is a blend of silk and stainless steel. The steel means that it'll hold a frilly edge like this.

Now for something completely different - I love flat shoes, the freedom and mobility, the independence, the comfort of them. Towering heels / tottering platforms are not for me - I walk everywhere, don't have a limousine so no limousine shoes for me thank you. I live in Ballerina Flats (the French call them "Ballerines") and the ones I love most are, appropriately enough, from Blochs. The black leather version is my shoe staple but I also love the white satin ones - I think they are meant as bridal wear.

But the ones I buy don't stay white for long ...

This pair are now a nice dark emerald green.

Fabric dye, painted on. Now I just have to decide if I'm going to put gold beads on them or not ...

Enough of things I've been making ...
Was delighted by this historical old advertising recently revealed by a demolition following a fire on King Street Newtown.

It was once a garage with "Cars for Hire" and that was "Waratah Motor Spirit"...

This link will take you to another blog with more information (and a lot of advertising!) Unfortunately, less than a week later the other end of the wall with "Perdriau Tyres" was covered with some unattractive tagging / graffiti.

Now for some nature.
Summer time means crickets - no not cricket the sport of flanneled fools but insects like this ... she hitched a ride into the house on the washing and had to be escorted outside again.

Lovely long antennas !

A few weeks ago on a very hot day I spotted this young kookaburra in some jacaranda trees. Poor thing was trying to cool down - beak open and wings held away from the body.

I'll leave you with something pretty - another surprise from my garden because I planted this lily bulb at least 8yrs ago and this is the first time it has flowered. A small arum lily it is a sweet blush pink colour.

And then there were 3 - Another Dolly Story

2011-11-23T09:30:00.001+11:00

Audrey & Lillian were on a modelling shoot, colourful maxi dresses for Summer, but it was not going well. The light was wrong, the photographer was grumpy, Lillian was having a bad hair day ... nothing was going right.

Frustration causes orange eyes in Blythe Dolls

Then some parcels were delivered and the photo shoot was abandoned ...


Excitement causes pink eyes

Audrey : This enormous box is from Junie Moon, don't some Blythe Dolls come from there?
Lillian : Let's open the smaller parcel first - I think it might be the shoes we were meant to be wearing with these dresses.

What is in there?

Yes - the smaller parcel was the platform shoes to wear with those maxi frocks. Blythe dolls just love getting new shoes!

Yea - new shoes!

How do you manage to walk in these?

Audrey : Whoa! We are very tall now but I feel quite wobbly, think I'll just lean against the box.
Lillian : You get used to them - Carmen Miranda used to dance in platform shoes like these.
Audrey : Goodness Gracious! How did she manage that? and with fruit on her head! I don't think I can even walk!

Lillian : Don't you think we should see what is in the enormous box?

Do be careful with those scissors Lillian.

Audrey : Oh my - a box in a box ... is this like those Russian Dolls?
Lillian : But do you see what is printed on the box ...

Oooo this is SO heavy!

Audrey : Another box ... it IS like those Russian Dolls.

But Look - it is a Blythe

Audrey & Lillian were getting rather disheveled

Audrey & Lillian : Ooo - how exciting! Isn't she Lovely!

Audrey : It is my cousin a Simply Thumpty Thump. We are such a large family, us Simplys.

Hello Cousin

Let me help you out of there.

Audrey's cousin has come to live with her and Lillian. Her name is Violetta. Violetta is in show business too - she is an ice-skater & dancer and gets a lot of work in musicals and live theatre.

Audrey explained absolutely everything about her new home to Violetta while Lillian played with her hair.

Lillian loves Violetta's pink/purple hair and her special mauve eyes.

Brought to you by the letters H & M

2011-11-20T19:36:00.001+11:00

Remember that Alphabet Project I was making for my grandchildren? I gave them the first part last Christmas (posted about it here) - the middle part will be one of this year's Christmas pressies - from H to M. And it was those 2 letters that I hadn't yet made the toys for.

H - what animals have names starting with H? Hippopotamus is definitely not Australian so I settled on Horse.

An easy pattern from Sarah Gasson's Knitables and very cute. Am not a fan of eye-lash yarn but it does make a good horse's mane and tail!

The letter M simply had to be a Marsupial Mouse - remember The Muddle Headed Wombat by Ruth Park? Wombat's friend Mouse was a Marsupial Mouse ... she had a pouch. Well, marsupial mice are not nice at all - they are carnivorous marsupials related to Tasmanian Devils - they just happen to be mouse sized; the Latin family name is Dasyuridae. We have the Antechinus and the Dunnarts - I tried to make a Dunnart because they look so cute - I think this is a White-Footed Dunnart. And here is a Wikipedia article on the Dunnarts.

Used Marisol the Mouse pattern (link is to Ravelry) because Dunnarts have a pointy slightly up-turned nose - just like Marisol. Adapted the limbs by making them shorter & in the pale yarn, the tail is shortish and fur-colour, the ears are larger with pink linings, nose and eyes in black and quite large (Dunnarts are nocturnal).

The body is very adapted - to give her a pale tummy and a pouch (made like a pocket) and there are babies in that pouch - 6 bobbles in pink yarn, I even stitched eyes on them …. none of which can be seen :-)

The pale mouse on the left is a Marisol Mouse unadapted … a regular Mus musculus. They seem to be friends.

The Perils of Wearing a Flowery Hat to the Races

2011-11-13T18:48:00.001+11:00

Audrey and Lillian were enjoying a lovely afternoon at the races ...

When one of the horses thought that they looked quite interesting ...

Audrey: "Oh look - a friendly horsey"...

Audrey: "Oh no! I think he wants your hat"...


Audrey: "Quick Quick - run away"

Lillian: "Oh my lovely new hat. What a naughty horsey!"

A Cat & Doll Story

2011-11-08T18:38:00.001+11:00

My elderly Cornish Rex cat felt somewhat neglected and ignored during a recent photo-shot ... she wanted to join in all the fun.

Lillian was still recuperating from her full-body-transplant operation (read all about that here) and was quite alarmed - so she fled the scene.

But Audrey finds "lions" rather fascinating; so she stayed and was very brave ...

"Perhaps if I distract her with something shiny ..."

However, the cat wasn't very interested in Audrey's new blue art-deco bead ... and for a moment we feared the worse

"She's going to EAT ME !!!"

"Oh - she gave me a kiss"

But the Cat only wanted to smell Audrey ...

And now Audrey and the Cat are good friends.

"I think she likes me"

Halloween

2011-10-31T21:28:00.000+11:00

The Blythe dolls are having a great Halloween with lots of dressing up.

I organised a Halloween / Back-to-School (USA)) swap with fellow Blythe doll people on Ravelry - love doing swaps of clothing for Blythes, it is really inspirational seeing what everyone creates.

Goodness Gwacious!

My swap partner was extremely generous

- sending a box full of spooky lollies and fun stuff.

The Dolls were quite overwhelmed.

Audrey 'claimed' this cute Sheep outfit (love those textured stitches)

Lillian always looks rather elegant in black - a lovely dress and hat and

YEA! bat-wings!

I made my partner only 1 costume and that does make me feel a bit mean but it was elaborate and took quite a bit of making.

This outfit is based on a couple of costumes from the Emerald City scene of the musical Wicked. I missed out on sewing costumes for Wicked and took this swap as an opportunity to make something (in small scale) that otherwise I might never get the to sew.

Bought the glasses and shoes - made the dress, hat, tights & gloves. Lots of ribbons & loads of fun. Audrey is doing the modelling here but the doll who is now wearing the outfit is a CanCan Cat and she has bright blue hair - which looks perfect with this costume.

I did make the doll's person a mini lion ... just because.

From a Mochimochi pattern.

I think I caught some sort of must-make-dolly-costumes virus. The WPWD's people had a photo competition, and the theme was Orange.

So I got busy ...

And made a pumpkin costume - mostly felt fabric with some green ribbon left over from the other costume.

Audrey got a little worried when I asked her to pose in front of the cook-book open at ...

Pumpkin Soup !!!

You can see all the fantastic entries for this competition here.

Meanwhile I'd been busy knitting a Morticia Adams style dress for Lillian. The girdle and under-flounce are actually purple (my camera doesn't like purple) and the dress is adapted from my "recipe" (available for free at the top of the page).

Lillian asked for a nice dramatic cape to go with her dress. Full circle with purple lining and a nice big hood ... so she can be romantic & mysterious.

Little Bird wanted an costume too ... just like Lillian's

Bird likes her long black dress - it makes her feel quite Grown'd Up.

"It has a long bus out the back" {I think she means the train!}

Wait for Us Lillian

Well the dolls got to show off their outfits at the WPWDs Halloween meet. This was just wonderful fun - I got to meet some people who are just as crazy about their dolls as I am! And there were so many gorgeous dolls!!

Some of the wonderfully costumed dollies .... I loved the I Dream of Genie outfit

Isn't she gorgeous!

Audrey met another Simply Chocolate - Evie was wearing a lovely witch costume and she had brought her cat. Audrey and Evie had a lovely time.

The meeting was on the Central Coast, past the Hawkesbury River - I took the train there and took some photos out of the window on the way. The train-line goes really close to the river.

The Hawkesbury is quite shallow in many places and there are oyster leases.

Bird enjoyed looking out the window!

The colours of the Australian bush - those olive greens. The very green tree in the bottom RH corner is a non-native, such a contrast!

Happy Halloween Everyone

Lillian's New Body - Plastic Surgery Drama

2011-10-28T20:42:00.002+11:00

This post needs one of those trashy magazine covers -

Blythe dolls get customised quite a lot - and there are people who are very skillful at it, making quite beautiful dolls that sell for quite a lot of money. I'm not one of those people - I'm very timid about the whole idea of tampering with a doll; especially a doll I'm very fond of - I might wreck her!!

But Lillian had a neck problem and her head was getting quite wobbly. She'd fallen off the desk where she lives a couple of times and when we were in France, she fell off a statue.

Little chips had come off her head where it meets the neck.

If you look closely at this photo of the back of her head you'll see the letters ADG - Lillian is an ADG Lounging Lovely. There are 3 companies associated with Blythe dolls:

Kenner - they made the original dolls, for 1 year only 1972
Takara have made Neo Blythes in her many different varieties since 2001
Ashton Drake Galleries (ADG) made Blythes from 2004 to 2007 - replicas of the original Kenners and slightly cheaper than the Takara dolls.

Blythopia gives a listing of all the different Blythe Dolls.

Well, back to Lillian's neck problem - to fix it I knew I would have to open her head which got me thinking about giving Lillian a whole new body. ADG dolls don't have bending limbs whereas most Takaras have 3click bending legs, I'd also seen customised dolls with extremely flexible bodies (ball jointed). All quite tempting and very confusing so I consulted the folks on the We Play with Dolls Forum - had a couple of recommendations for the Licca body - and found out that those wonderful ball jointed bodies have problems supporting the (rather enormous) weight of a Blythe head. Licca is another doll made by Takara - they have a similar body to Blythe but a more normal sized head.

So I bought a Licca doll and took her head off (cackles in evil-witch fashion)!!!

The legs bend without clicks and the arms are very flexible.
BUT the feet are a lot larger than Blythes' and the chest cleavage is quite strange (this photo doesn't really show this but that cleavage went right up to the collar-bones!)

So I started on the feet - carving with the blades of some sharp little scissors, then sandpapering, then using very fine glass-paper (240) for smoothing off. It took ages (partly because I really didn't know what I was doing and was quite timid) but I managed to achieve a much nicer and smaller foot.

original foot on the Left - new on the right

the soles - new foot on the left

The Licca foot was rather unformed but there were slight indentations for the toes which I wanted to keep and I managed to narrow the foot without losing any! Only needed to reduce the width a little. I shortened the foot at the heel and made it nicely rounded. I carved an instep - and I think this really makes the foot look more 'real'. Also thinned the ankle a little and sandpapered the moulding 'seams' on the leg.

Made the foot shorter by carving down the heel

After checking that even the smallest of the Blythe dolls' shoes fitted that new foot I had to work on the second one and make it match!

Once the Licca had Cinderella feet I took the sandpaper to the torso - lowering that cleavage, reducing the chest under the arms, reducing the 'step' / bump where the shoulder meets the arm and taking off 'seams'.

New cleavage and shoulder on the right reduced

Chest reduced under the arm

I reduced the chest because the Licca body has very slightly different vital stats to the Blythe including a larger bust measurement. I'd like Lillian to be able to wear all her clothes and the Licca did curve outwards slightly under the arms (chicken wings on a doll?)

Having perfected the new Licca body it was time to address the problem that started me on this whole process! And Lillian's wobbly neck problem was not due to the body - it was actually in her head (oh dear!) How to fix those chipped bits?? As Lillian is an ADG, to get inside her head (oh dear again!) to open her head fully, I would have to scalp her first ... remove the whole of the top of her head. Far too too scary.

If I couldn't get into the head and somehow mend those chipped off parts, perhaps I could pad-out the new neck.

With something soft, squishy and preferably not visible. Something like a transparent rubber-band. think think think

Those things are certainly NOT invisible when used for the intended purpose - my daughter calls them "sticky tapes". However, they were just what I needed for Lillian. Cut enough to go round the neck 1.5 times and (after testing) I used a tiny amount of 450 glue to keep it in place.

Now to do the BODY SWITCH

I studied the only YouTube I could find and it seemed really easy to switch bodies - it wasn't. The head screws were very tight - hubby darling came to my rescue there and the old body came out OK but the new one didn't go in with ease.

With those screws out but the scalp still on I could only open the head a very little bit. AND
If you scroll back up to the beheading photo you'll see the Licca neck knob thing is quite long and conical with a narrow groove between it and the neck part - in this photo Lillian's old ADG body is on the left - that knob thing is short and the groove is wide. The Licca body is on the right with bra strap padding in place and I've started work on the knob - chopped it with a hack-saw blade then sanded it down.

I've lost my head - Why so have I

And sanded it a bit more. Then I took to the groove with that hack-saw blade until it was wide enough that it fitted and we could close up the head. Actually there is still a small gap - I should get back in there and hacksaw a little bit more! Maybe later - I found the whole body switch operation rather traumatic!

Meanwhile, Lillian (and myself) have recovered from the surgery and we are very happy with the new bending limbs and steady head.

Audrey has been a really good friend, she helped nurse Lillian through her convalescence and then took her out dancing to celebrate her New Body.

Oh - almost forgot! Both girls also have new 'ring pulls'. The Blythe doll ring pull is a bit iconic - but I'm not fond of it and thought I'd give my dollies things that expressed their personalities a bit better.

Actually I spent ages in the bead shop trying to choose - Lillian got elegant silvered shapes and Audrey an Art Deco dangle bead in her favourite light blue / aqua colour (thought it does not go with those orange tights !!)

What I bought at the Vintage Market

2011-10-21T13:41:00.001+11:00

Last weekend I went to the "Love Vintage" market - great fun. Managed to avoid buying clothes - honestly I have too many already! Saw some gorgeous hats and, if I get the time (my constant caveat) I might copy a couple of them for my Blythe Dolls.

So what DID I buy? Rather a crazy collection of things really: I nearly always buy old sewing and knitting patterns - this time was no exception...

Australian & UK Knitting Patterns rarely have copyright or other dates but "What to Knit for Baby" is probably from the 1920's and some of the patterns are hilarious - drawers, gaiters! some are a worry - "Knitted Stays" !!! though the photo shows a short sleeveless vest / singlet with long ribbon ties to go about the baby's tummy - hopefully not tight.

Child torture via knitting did not cease and possibly never will. Take a closer look at the lad on the back of the Lincoln pattern - this dates from the late 40's or early 50's. The whole outfit is knitted - shirt, shorts with belt and the tie with a panda on it!

What a dapper young gentleman!

Now some would consider this a form of torture -

An industrial strength girdle, in great condition, probably never worn.

Here is the tag - made me laugh - "Camp" ??!

However, I think Berlei may have made this girdle under license as Camp was an American Company, they developed that style of fan-lacing.

The fan lacing does make this girdle relatively quick to put on - loosen the lacing, wrap it round and do up all those hooks on the side front. Then pull on those wide tapes, trying not to think of parachutists and their rip-cords - check that you can still breathe - and tighten a little bit more!

This girdle might have been sold as a surgical support - though I've nick-named it the "Diet-No-More".

Buns of steel (quite literally as the boning is made of steel) without setting foot inside a Gym - bonus! And yes - you can sit down while wearing this thing but slouching is an impossibility.

One more detail - look at those lovely suspenders. Big, strong and functional. And now for one of my rants:

I am not a fan of the naked leg (too much hard work) I love fancy and colourful stockings / tights / panty-hose. I would prefer to wear stockings as too many layers of man-made fabrics around the nether-regions are unhealthy but there we are faced with a very old problem - how to keep stockings up. Garters cause broken veins, the modern 'stay-up' stockings are a complete misnomer, so the best solution is the suspender but modern suspenders are poorly made - the metal clasps bend, the plastic buttons fold and pull through. Underwear manufacturers - please make suspenders like you used to - please pretty please. End of rant.

Now for some lovely little things that I bought despite the need to mend them. And these photos show them straight out of the bag - not mended, not washed, not ironed. When I've done all of that (if/when I get the time) I'll post some 'after' pictures.

A little lace boudoir cap - there is a rip in the lace on the other side and the ribbon needs replacement.

And (what I consider to be quite a 'find') this silk & lace dickie front or false blouse - American reference books call them Chemisettes and I've knitting patterns from the 1940s & 50s where they get called a Vestee.

Cooler and more economical than a full blouse but you cannot take off your jacket! But people didn't back then. This one dates from the 19teens - it's about 100yrs old; pretty lace but no collar, it has a soft 'pouter pigeon' or 'S-bend' silhouette.

With many old clothes you can have fun unraveling their history. I think the cotton waistband is a replacement and there were rather badly done adjustments to make the dickie front even smaller - funny little darts and shoulder seams.

These blue marks seem to be dressmakers' chalk - wonder if they'll wash out!

Will I wear these things you ask? that girdle, lace cap, lace dickie front -

why yes, why not? I'll wear them.

Things from the garden

2011-10-18T20:12:00.000+11:00

Well the self-sown fox-glove I blogged about back in September was amazing but now there is another! Rather stunted but a lovely mauve colour

A close up of those lovely spotty throats.

And this chap was in the back garden about a month ago - I've tried to research what sort of praying mantis he is and just ended up very confused. About the only thing I can say is that he probably is a He because in many species of mantid the ladies are green and the gents are tan brown.

He was quite large at about 6cms (over 2") and appeared to be dancing to the rockabilly music our neighbours were playing!

Nice white markings down his back.

Petite Blythe moves in

2011-10-06T19:51:00.000+11:00

Seems like the Blythe Dolls are taking over my life! Certainly the newest (and littlest) Blythe has taken over the Dolls' House. Bird is a LPS Blythe - she likes Ladybirds and joined the other dollies some months ago.

When I showed Bird the dolls house it seemed that all the furniture was just the right size ... not to big, not to small but just right. I think Bird has moved in....

Making Biscuits in the kitchen

Replying to her fan mail in the Drawing Room

Playing Bach Toccatas in the Parlour

And making friends with the Cornish Rex Cat

At the dressing table

Running a nice hot bath

Bed-time - tucked up in the Nursery

Lillian goes Fishing

2011-09-17T21:23:00.001+10:00

Lillian has been enjoying our lovely spring weather - and all the flowers in the garden. She went for a walk through the bluebells ...

to the fish pond. And although Lillian could see the fish swimming about, she didn't manage to catch any.

Lillian's pretty new outfit is a purchased one - from This is Blythe - known to Blythe doll people as TIB.

More Stitches and some Facilitating

2011-09-11T13:41:00.001+10:00

I have been working hard - here is some proof!

That's what happens to a pin made to do too much - poor thing!

The Facilitating was at a Workshop held by The Watershed on King Street, I had great fun and it was quite a success so they will be holding another Upcycle your wardrobe workshop more info here.

Currently I'm working full-time sewing costumes for some musicals and I can only show you a few peeps.

Lots of stitches in that costume and the shiny velvet stuff is not easy to work with.

This beaded "cage" was a joint effort - all the major construction was by another - I did the smaller beads which are tiger-tail - lots of organic, wobbling lines to break up the straighter, structural work and wherever one crosses another they are wired together ... Quite a massive thing but very pretty and twinkly.

Most of what I can show you is knitting stitches rather than sewn ones - here are some knittings made for family & friends over the last few months ...

Socks - quite plain and traditional in a nice "denim" yarn - Araucania Ranco Solids.

Jacket for a new baby - an old pattern (from the 80's) and nice cheerful red wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

For my Granddaughter - an interconnecting set of accessories to keep her warm. Little people are very apt to lose small items of clothing like mittens & scarves so my idea with these was to make them connected and thus, rather more difficult to lose.

Scarf with Mitts attached

The Scarf is long enough to go round then down the arms to her hands - where it ends in the mittens. There are button-holes along the edges of the scarf which can be buttoned to the beanie hat.

And you can't see the buttons in this picture but they are there in a decorative grouping.

Of course my granddaughter has her own ideas about her clothes - she loved the beanie but insisted on wearing it pulled down almost over her eyes. She wasn't impressed by the scarf - perhaps it is too wide.
Oh well - it served as a good project to start teaching her brother how to knit. And he really enjoyed helping me to "stab the stitch, throttle the stitch, walk it round the ship and push it off the plank". Piratical Knitting :-)

He preferred helping with the variegated yarn sections ... and that yummy yarn is "Knitcol" by Adriafil. I bought it in a lovely little yarn shop / cafe in Nancy, France - a shop utterly crammed to the gunnels with wonderful yarns :-) I bought 2 colourways of the Knitcol - the other will make a similar interconnected set for my grandson.

Another yarn purchase in France was the utterly gorgeous mohair I bought in Vezelay - I've blogged previously - and you can buy this yarn on-line No, I'm not getting a kick-back. Yes, I'll be buying more of this yarn - for a 1950's style big mohair jumper? :-)

This is the loveliest mohair - very long haired, but quite soft, not wire-like and skritchy; it even has a slight lustre - divine.

With the 2 colours I bought I've made myself a simple lace cowl.

Isn't it lovely?

Have I mentioned that I love this mohair?

Aren't those colours gorgeous?

Did I say that these are THE colours of spring in France? The light green of new leaves against a freshly washed sky.

Aaaargh can I go back to France? NOW!!

Self Sown Foxglove

2011-09-05T20:25:00.000+10:00

Previously I posted about a daffodil that has appeared and flowered in our garden - at least 5 yrs after I last threw daffy bulbs into the soil (here) and now we've a self-sown Foxglove in flower.

I planted foxgloves over 20yrs ago - but although I love the look of them, I haven't planted foxys since (was being cautious about the digitalis - read too many Agatha Christies in my youth.) Foxgloves are biennials and over the years there have been large leafed 'weeds' which I've usually pulled out but this year I was lazy / busy and one of the 'weeds' has flowered ... proving itself to be a foxglove!! Really love those spots.

Stitches

2011-08-20T19:15:00.001+10:00

It has been such a long time since I posted about the things I've been making - there is quite a backlog!

Most of the stitches have been knitting and the sewing projects are mostly things I can't really show you. I can show you the complete mascot costume - one Hound Dog.

Previously I've posted about the making of the head and about the hind feet - this is the complete costume being modeled by my darling hubby.

And a back view to show the tail. BTW please do not notice the uneven lengths of those curtains!

Of the next project I can only show you a teaser - and tell you that it is all ecru with lace & embroidery - it involves masses of hand-stitching and quite a lot of glue.

And now to the knitting - the commissions for costumes have continued. Some have been repeats ... and this was a repeat of a repeat Eh! What!

Well, the first tatty & distressed shawl for the Bird Lady in Mary Poppins was a great success and they wanted a 2nd one - which I made from the yarn supplied - half of which was mohair. That 2nd shawl was quite 'splodgy' and I think the mohair made it look quite elegant (it is the last item in this post). Perhaps it was too elegant and it didn't look like the 1st shawl SO I had to make a 3rd one ... and I now consider myself an expert in the art of Bird Lady Shawl Making :-) For this 3rd shawl I sourced the yarn - it is a long length variegated yarn meant for socks.

I've also made a 2nd Cardigan / Jacket for Colline in Opera Australia's current production of La Boheme - there are some cast changes. It is another distressed and artfully 'badly knitted' thing and I would like to avoid all shades of mustard for the next decade! Had to hand it in without buttons (they weren't supplied) so here it is with safety pins.

And a back view - with those pleats and some of the deliberately 'knitted in' holes.

Now if you go to the Opera Australia web site you'll see David Parkin wearing the 1st of those mustard cardi/jackets - with the beanie and scarf that I knitted. I've borrowed one of the pics here ...

Had my first commission for some knitting for the small screen - the next 'season' of Underbelly (starting in some states (or all?) Sun 21st Aug) is set in the 1920s. If you watch the show, keep your eyes peeled during some of the more domestic moments for a character knitting a chocolate brown jumper. Of course, it may all have ended up on the cutting room floor but I provided the knitting in 3 stages - just commenced ...

Up to the 1st (or 2nd?) sleeve ...

And Very-Nearly-Almost-Finished ...

Poor ole' Bruce the Body there with those sharp metal things at his neck - very appropriate for this TV show! The jumper is based on a vintage pattern and has old-fashioned styling including very deep rib bands. I also had to source all those knitting needles - making sure that they looked like those used in the 1920s.

There were some other commissions, not for the stage but via Jonathan Howard The Hatmaker.

Donuts? toilet-seat cozies? hand-knitted UFOs? No, but almost as unlikely. Jonathan was making a top-hat for a client who wanted it hand-knitted and he wanted cashmere. So these are, in fact, the parts of a knitted top-hat!

First I had to find the cashmere - the desired 'look' was chunky, country-fied and natural - hand-spun seemed the best option. I bought some natural brown cashmere fleece (fluff) from Belisa Cashmere lovely soft stuff it was like spinning a cloud - I put in about 20% wool to make it easier to handle. However, it was still brown - the client wanted charcoal so into the dye-pot it went ... until it became the colour you see above ... actually the knitting was the easiest and fastest part of the whole process!

Jonathan The Hatmaker really likes the look of my hand-spun yarns with all the lumps and fluffy bits ... he commissioned a man's scarf ...

The yarn is about 50% alpaca & 50% corriedale sheep, both undyed, naturally coloured fleece. I used a simple knit/purl pattern with garter stitch edges and as it was to be a fairly short scarf, there are 2 splits. The wearer can thread the scarf through the splits and the scarf doesn't slip off and get lost. Here is a close up of the texture of the yarn and the stitch pattern.

I've also been knitting beanies for Jonathan to sell in his lovely boutique. We've missed the window of opportunity to sell warm woolly beanies this year but inevitably, winter will return! Here are 2 of the beanies ...

Again, all naturally coloured, undyed fleece, these were spun 'in the grease' so the yarn has retained some of the lanolin. The mottled yarn is sheep - a grey/brown from the Robinson era with some very dark fleece from another Robinson sheep thrown in :-) The stripes are 100% alpaca - the same ginger girl as in the scarf above. Her name is Angelique and the fleece was from her 2nd shearing.

The stripes in this 2nd beanie are the same alpaca - the rest is re-purposed woollen yarn. I found an abandoned knitting project in an op-shop - following some un-knitting and lots of sorting I plyed 2 of the colours together on my spinning wheel to create a thick tweedy yarn ...

For the ladies I knitted some very vintage, very French berets. My own pattern but based on a 1940's vintage one.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills - their very dependable Classic 8ply.

Spring has Sprung - at least in our garden

2011-08-11T18:35:00.000+10:00

For some the first sign of Spring is one of these :

This daff has appeared in our tiny front garden - I must have planted the bulb at least 5yrs ago and this is the first time it has flowered!

For many Sydney-siders Spring has arrived when the jasmine starts to bloom

Our jasmine is down the side of the house - don't you love the perfume of jasmine on a warm evening? not that we've had any of those yet!

For me the first signs of spring are the SnowFlakes (Leucojum aestivum) with their pretty bell-like flowers,

our little Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata), and

my favourite orchid - a Dendrobium teretifolium.

Dendrobium teretifolium or has this native Australian orchid been re-named (I simply can't keep up with the botanists) Dockrillia teretifolia well it has several common names as well - in NSW 'rat's tail orchid' for the long thin leaves whereas in Queensland they call it the 'bridal veil orchid' for the lovely cascades of white or cream flowers. We call our D teretifolia/um Errol; he has been with us for 30yrs and every year Errol delights us with bunches of lovely 'flying' flowers - the scent is gorgeous too :-)

This year Errol started flowering really early - the last week of July! but those photos, in full bloom, were taken last weekend (7th August).

I'll leave you with a dewy pale pink camellia bloom :-) pretty?

New Shoes for Blythe Dolls

2011-08-04T17:39:00.000+10:00

Lillian & Audrey needed new shoes .... and I found a wonderful fellow Australian Etsy artisan who makes (and sells) really wonderful shoes for Blythe Dolls. Here is a link to her Etsy shop JemGirl

Lillian new shoes are a wonderful sheeny purple with Mary-Jane straps and high heels - Lillian thinks she is extremely elegant and sophisticated in them. Here she is modelling her new shoes and new winter jumper suit.

Audrey got a pair of low-heeled Mary-Janes, black with twinkles in them :-)

JemGirl also sent a licorice lollypop - which made Audrey very happy indeed.

We all went to Melbourne recently - Lillian & Audrey are jet-setting dolls and they do love to catch up with the Melbourne Blythes.

That's Bird with her Bugsie and Bunny with her Wabbit, Audrey, Bibi and Lillian.

Bunny is new to the Melbourne branch of our Blythe family - she has been adopted by the White Rabbit.

Bubs arrived a little late to the gathering - she was busy getting dressed!

Bubs is a Basaak Blythe clone - Audrey was rather envious of that big evening dress ...

But Lillian was very happy when the irises in the garden started to bloom - they were such a lovely dark purple.

Elephant Shark Egg Case

2011-07-24T00:10:00.001+10:00

Elephant +


Shark +

Egg +

Case =

Elephant Shark Egg Case

Found on Brighton Beach in Melbourne about a fortnight ago - here is another photo with the toes of my gym-boots so you can see the size.

At the time I didn't know what it was but suspected that it was the egg case of some sort of shark or ray. After a little wandering about the www I think that it was most probably an Elephant Shark or Callorhynchus milii. When hatched this is a funny looking thing - not quite a shark but a closely related Chimaerid - here are some links for lots - more - information.

Dog Costume ... The making of a Head

2011-06-29T00:41:00.003+10:00

If you've a really good memory you might remember that I've been making a mascot costume of a dog - it has been an on-going project that really did take far longer than I had planned ...

It is now finished :-) and I thought you might like to see some progress pictures of the most difficult part of this costume - the head. Back at the end of last year I posted about the cardboard mock-up. This (sort of) became the pattern.

But as with all engineering projects - you have to start with some foundations ! In this case a hard-hat - the harness inside fits the wearer's head, the brim will support the dog's nose, it is firm and you can glue things to it. Things like supporting foam structures and wires for the ears. Reminded me of "My Favourite Martian" - Ooops that's aged me !

I'm always forgetting to take progress photos : the intervening processes were ... messy - bits of PE foam everywhere!

But here the head is taking shape - head, nose, lower half of the ears - all done. Here I was checking that the end of the snout would work.

That wire nose / muzzle is the only place the wearer will be able to see through. It is important to give the wearer as much 'sight' (and ventilation) as possible without making it too obvious that there is a person inside the animal.

And yes, I was using my kitchen bench as the work area - managed not to poison anyone!

The next step was the lower jaw, and I'm starting to work with the covering fabrics. This is a jaw - hardly any of that pretty pink satin will show - but it needs to be there.

And here is the jaw glued and stitched in place - and some fleecy on the nose as well ... pins keeping everything in place while the glue dries.

OK - now for the rest of the nose - a bit of artistic drapery here as this hound dog has jowls. That's the original drawing of the Doggy - he is quite a cartoon type character.

Nose done - next the ears. Tried to make them floppy and there is a little movement to the upper halves of the ears when the wearer moves.

Skipping a bit now - here most of the fur is on and I'm checking that the 'cape' will work. The cape is to cover the neck, it will go under the shirt.

Intervening processes :

Some padding to refine and soften the shape of the head
Lots of pattern-making (the fur patterns are not the same as the ones for the foam)
Lots of confusion about the direction/s of the fur - it grows 'up' on the front & back but sideways and around on the sides. Sounds odd but it works
Then cutting and sewing fur - a little gluing in place with lots of hand stitching.

But you have probably noticed - dog still has cardboard eyes. I left them to the end because they really had to be 'right'. "The eyes are the windows to the soul" they say and definitely for an over-sized animal costume the eyes could make the difference between a nice friendly doggy and a really scary wolf-creature.

Eye parts -

Eyes finished - felt and satin, machine and hand applique / embroidery. He has a bit of a "twinkle" in his eyes.

Another little touch ... doggy needed something between his ears :-) a bit of a "hair do". In the photo in the mirror above, there is a mess of fur fabric where the front meets the back - a problem that needed a nice solution.

Once again I had trouble sourcing suitable fur fabric - I just couldn't find that "hair of the dog" [sorry!] Eventually I bought a shaggy fur cushion and chopped it up!

I think the result is cute -

Something Cheerful

2011-06-18T14:16:00.000+10:00

Oh dear - we've had some wet, grey, windy weather in the last few weeks so here is something to cheer you up :

Don't you love those darker whiskers against the golden orange 'brush' - the flower on the right is very fresh and still has lots of yellow pollen on.

In our teeny - weeny front garden this prostrate banksia or Callistemon has been slowly establishing itself for many years ... I can't remember when we planted it and I've lost the tag and so I'm not even sure what sort it is, though I think it is a "stumpy gold" which isn't a nice name but is a variant of the "hairpin" banksia or B. spinulosa. I could be wrong though.

It is "vertically challenged" and slow growing (at least in our garden!) but this autumn it has flowered magnificently with 15 big and gorgeous 'candles'. It really looks quite wonderful and the birds think so too, those flowers are full of nectar!

Holiday Knitting

2011-06-13T12:27:00.000+10:00

Well we've been back over a month now but I'm still in mourning :-/ it was a lovely holiday - what isn't there to love about France in the spring-time!

Naturally I did some knitting - can't go anywhere without a suitcase full of knitting projects. This sock was mostly knitted in Belgium -

Appropriate given it's colour and those famously yummy Belgium chocolates :-)

I finished it in Versailles - also appropriate because of the amount of walking we did about the palace gardens and grounds ... Marie Antoinette's impossibly cute 'hamlet' ... the Petit and Grand Trianons ...

The colours of spring in Europe are lovely - and reflected in the clothing worn by many women and children (must be sub-conscious) ! Soft greens, aqua, clear jade, teal colours, apple greens ... the colours of all those new fresh leaves against the freshly washed sky ...

I found those colours in some yarn in the wonderful haby shop in our favourite town in Burgundy - Avallon.

Luckily, one of my daughter's friends is expecting her 2nd bub which provided the excuse I needed to buy it - bought a pattern & the needles ...

Really European style with all those stripes.

I think I was somewhat obsessed by those colours - bought this deliciously fluffy mohair in Vezelay -

I bought it from the breeder :-) she showed me photos of the goats and everything ... very lovely.

My 2 Blythe Dolls came with us!! and I did some knitting for them too ... Lillian needed a chic Parisian dress ... classic, understated elegance -

figure hugging with 2 little 'Dior pleats' at the back (a bit hard to see in the black yarn) -

Audrey asked for a similar dress - but with bracelet length sleeves and a frilly hem "like the dress in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", the one that other Audrey wears with the big hat" ...

We all did lots of shopping in France and the Blythe Dolls needed a new bag!

I met up with a lovely group of knitters in Paris - a knitting group I met on Ravelry . Despite my appalling lack of French they were very welcoming and sweet. As a group they had been knitting shawls and were having a Shawl Fashion Parade in the Palais-Royale. I took this shawl project but I'd only just started. I'm not entirely happy with this and it will probably get un-knitted ... not sure about the yarn - I love purple, I love green but I don't love the way they are mixing here.

The Blythe Dolls have a New Sofa

2011-06-04T01:14:00.000+10:00

Lillian & Audrey have been busy dictating another post on their holiday blog.

They are now relaxing with a well deserved cuppa and enjoying their lovely new sofa.

It's a perfect colour and very comfy!

Just touching base

2011-05-27T12:23:00.001+10:00

Yes - a long silence from me. Mostly because I was overseas on holiday :-)

Yes - it was lovely, 5 weeks in Europe in the Spring ... 5days in Brussels, the rest in France - just gorgeous and I still want to hop on the next plane and go back there. The Food! The lifestyle! Very Big Sigh

I took my 2 Blythe Dolls (yes, quite silly I know, 2nd childhood etc) but ... if you'd like to see photos etc of our journey I'm doing a blog for the "traveling Blythes" (as my poor suffering hubby called them).

Blythe Dolls' Bon Voyage

Well, back in the real world - the knitting commissions have been coming thick & fast - will post as soon as I can.

Musing about Distressed Knitting: part 2

2011-04-03T10:50:00.020+10:00

As promised - a second rave about Distressed Knitting, (see this post for the 1st part) this time focusing on the garments I've been knitting of late. Let's start with the largest one ...
A cardigan / jacket for Colline in Opera Australia's new production of La Boheme. Colline is a philosopher and poor, he is also a Bass and David Parkin is to sing the role - David is very tall and strongly built so this is a large garment. Sorry, I was too lazy to set up Bruce, my male mannequin, so here the cardi is shown on Daphne with lots of shoulder padding - the cardi looks better on David. Well better in all its tatty and badly knitted glory!

Julie Lynch, the designer, gave me a reference photo from the 1930's showing a jacket with pleats (a bit like a Norfolk Jacket) - the sleeves were set-in quite strangely and the hem was badly stretched. She asked for pockets and we decided to put those pleats down the back as well. She needed the cardi to look old & worn out and also to look like it had been badly knitted. Julie had chosen 2 (rather ugly) mustard coloured yarns and wanted 1 row stripes of each (I threw in the occasional 2 row stripe for added Ooops).

For me the challenge is to produce a garment that is tatty looking & "badly knitted" but that still functions as a garment. Holes and ladders need to be stable and they need to be large so that the folks in the back rows can see them - they also need to be in logical places ... places where holes happen in much worn garments. I thought that a philosopher would do a lot of reading, writing and musing & I checked with David Parkin, he is right-handed, so I made a hole at the elbow in the left sleeve and made the right wrist very tatty

David & Julie liked the pockets and we decided to make them quite stretched

As for Badly Knitted ... well I've plenty of experience with knitting mistakes and where those are likely to happen ! Above you can see mis-matched fronts at the hem and here is a close-up showing mis-matched spacing between buttons & button-holes (totally contrived with short-rows). Holes & ladders down the front and you can see a pleat (they are giant Icords stitched down later).

This garment was quite loosely knitted - on larger than optimum needles - and so keeping the fabric stable was a problem.

Next garments in size - 2 cardigans for child performers. Little 'street urchins' in La Boheme. Once again the brief was for worn out and badly knitted garments. This is for a boy, and wasn't to be too distressed (perhaps it is taking the medication!)
Don't you love the yarns Julie chose - kinda school uniform. The reference photo was a 1930's child's garment with dropped shoulders but tight about the armhole.

Most of the holes are on the fronts, elbows, wrists.

Bad knitting includes mis-matched stripes & buttoning, stitching giving way at the armholes ... but so that the garment still functions the neck & shoulder areas are very good knitting :-)

The 2nd child's cardi was to be in a far worse condition ... this poor thing needs to be hospitalised !

Here is the reference ... again those 1930's tight armholes, Julie asked for a similar collar (it was a very strange shape1) and those buttons & loops.

I had to make both these cardigans a little-bit-too-tight but we weren't able to have a fitting so I'm relying on the stretchiness of hand knitting and hoping that they are tight but not too tight! Hopefully the buttons & loops will pull as in the photo. Lots of bad knitting on display here, note the pulled-too-tight seam stitching!

Details such as holes & ladders do get hidden with a tweed yarn - and most of my "distressing" was a little lost in the fingerless gloves, for MiMi and knitted in a tweed sock yarn.

They are a tiny canvas for distressing and I guess that only the tattyness on the edges will be visible.

The last of the distressed garments for La Boheme was a beanie - also for Colline. Julie asked for Vertical Stripes so I used a technique many may recognise from old tea-cosy patterns :-)

This had to be quite large (larger than Mary - my old papier mache head) as David Parkin will be wearing a wig for at least part of the time (and that wig is marvelous, so totally 'real' - the Opera Company's wig-makers are really wonderful).

Now for the last Distressed Knitting - in that previous post I mentioned the shawl I knitted last year for he Bird Lady in Mary Poppins ... well, the designer liked that one so much that she asked for another :-)

The 1st was knitted in beige 3ply yarn and dyed grey later - this time they gave me 4 different beigey grey and grey yarns, 2 of them mohair. So I've knitted all the dirty splodges into the shawl along with the ladderings & holes.
The Bird Lady in this production is very tatty indeed - a street person and as she is very friendly with the birds they have left their little messages all over her :-/ well that's the 'look'. I've been laughing that most knitters use colour-work techniques for pretty flowers, hearts, snowflakes ... I've been using those techniques to make 'Bird Poo'.
The mohair yarns make the shawl look rather elegant in a disgusting way but they knitted up very differently to the other 2 wool yarns - the mohair tends to stretch and it didn't roll between the ladderings despite my using the "Clapotis" technique (knit through back of loop before & after stitch/es to be dropped later) .... so the shawl developed a very lop-sided shape. Guess it all adds to the effect!

Knitting in quantity?

2011-03-24T09:48:00.003+11:00

I was trying to calculate the amount I've knitted since Christmas - and I've managed to scare myself!

I seem to have knitted over 13,500 metres of yarn since Christmas !

5 scarves
1 pair fingerless mitts
1 beret
2 adult coats
2 child cardigans (approx 10yr old size)
1 adult vest
2 child vests (approx 10yr old size)
1 child jumper (10yr old)
1 massive shawl
1 dolly jacket

Most of that knitting was for the stage and so I was developing the patterns as I went. Still have a couple of items to make with deadlines that are galloping to meet me - so click clicketty click ...

Musing about Distressed Knitting: part 1

2011-03-15T09:52:00.017+11:00

First there was a fad for 'distressed' furniture - and when we renovated our kitchen the cabinet-maker was convinced that I would want cupboards made of new timber specially bashed about to make it look old & recycled (ridiculous - I told him that I did NOT want distressed cupboards or a stove on the verge of a mental breakdown and if anything was going to be distressed in my kitchen it would be me !) ... Then we had 'distressed' jeans and I sincerely hope that fad is on the decline. But best not get me started on that soap-box because really, I wanted to talk about Distressed Knitting.
Because, I've been doing a lot of it lately - costume for stage productions. Many costumes get 'broken down' - when a character is poor, or is in the middle of a big adventure / war / is fleeing from a monster ... it would be rather strange if they looked like a fashion plate in beautiful, brand new clothes. When a costume is sewn specifically for a production it is made beautifully and then handed to the 'art finisher' who, depending on the look desired, sprays or paints dye into it (for sweat, blood, dirt ...) chops into it with scissors & things, scruffs if up with graters, wire brushes etc etc ... all of which sometimes causes the costume makers to join the costumes in being distressed!
Some Very Distressed & emotionally disturbed sewing.

With hand-knitting some dyeing processes are OK but you cannot chop into knitting or attack it with wire brushes - unless you go to a lot of trouble stitching around the area first ... which is done, mostly with shop-bought machine knitted garments, but it is not really satisfactory and is rather obvious - at least to all the knitters in the audience :-)

So, when a costume designer wants hand-knitting to look old and tatty it is done as the item is knitted. Sounds easy enough but you need the garments to be stable - those holes & ladders should be the same for the 101st performance as they were on opening night - and the tattyness should be visible to people sitting up the back.

The first piece of Distressed Knitting I made was a shawl for the Bird Lady in Mary Poppins the musical - soon to open in Sydney (I blogged about the shawl here) and here is Debra Byrne wearing it.

The designer wanted that shawl to resemble one made from machine knit fabric that had been extremely laddered.

The more recent Distressed Knits are all for Opera Australia's new production of La Boheme - designs by the wonderful Julie Lynch (BTW if you go to "folio" there you'll see, amongst all those fabulous costumes, some other knittings that I've made for the stage - in 'Little Women' including the red & black bonnet :-) and the black & silver cardigan in 'Mary Stuart') The major characters in La Bo are impoverished artists and students and this new production is set in 1930's Berlin.

As this post is getting quite lengthy I'll just talk about the scarves and keep the other knittings for part 2. I've knitted 7 scarves, all bar one (for the LandLord so he has money!) have varying degrees of Distress. These are not very distressed - merely sobbing gently in the corner -
a wide scarf - more about the stripes and slipped stitch rib pattern than the tattyness. Those colours make me think of chocolate cake with cream :->
This one is long - and mostly about the contrast 'splodges' which make it look dirty & stained.

These 2 are on medication ... (but aren't the colours fabulous - the yarns were chosen by Julie Lynch. The red is for an artist, the other is for the Plum Seller - perfect colours!)

And these are for street urchins and they are extremely distressed, poor things.

Well, that last one didn't get many holes etc - the mottled thick&thin yarn looked like it was in a bad way all by itself and my added tattyness was mostly wasted.

Now a scarf is merely an accessory - hard for me (as the knitter of them) to keep that perspective but the performers will be wearing more than just the scarves (I hope!) However, as all scarf wearers know, a scarf can say a lot and of course I wanted to do the best job possible and deliver what Julie Lynch required ... SO quite a lot of thought & planning went into those apparently simple bits of knitting:

With the tight time-scale and the need for 'squishyness' I decided to use larger-than-normal needles for loose and (relatively) quick knits
The yarns were chosen by Julie Lynch and were mostly quite chunky but some were much thinner - in most cases I used the thin ones held double
All except the "choc cake & cream" scarf are completely reversible - various forms of ribbing and 'blanket' or 'basket' stitch. With the choc&cream scarf Julie needed me to reproduce the stripe pattern from a photo of a vintage scarf
Most of these scarves have stripes - the cutting and joining of new yarn is usually a problem as all the ends have to be secured and sewn in invisibly. With these distressed knits the ends are all secured but the sewing is not always invisible, however, most are. If I'd left all the tails sticking out these scarves would've looked like hairy caterpillars
The splodged scarf was the most difficult. The white yarn is thick soft alpaca, the beige yarn is an extreme thick&thin, the dark yarn is thinner and tightly spun - how to achieve the look Julie needed with the right percentages of those yarns and not have an unmanageable amount of joining&ends?

And lastly there is the visibility factor. A scarf is worn wound about the neck so it is pointless putting tattyness in the mid-section where it won't be seen - keep the work near the ends where the scarf might spread out across (hopefully) something in a contrast colour :-) Make the tattyness a bit 'larger-than-life' so the folks in rows X, Y & Z will see it. And make it real - a very contrived and theatrical "real" but let's think about it:

A ladder often starts from a hole and doesn't always go all the way to the edge
Holes are seldom perfectly symmetrical
Knitting often gets caught on things which results in a pulled thread
If knitting gets unravelled there will be loose yarn
If a scarf were caught in a door or a machine (being very imaginative here!) and it was torn on the fringed end ... well the fringe would be torn and missing there too.

Well, one can get extremely philosophical on the subject. Indeed, philosophising about strange things is a known side-effect of spending many hours hand-knitting. But in summary - there is more to Distressed Knitting than just dropping a few stitches. More in Part 2 folks :-)

A Moth of Letters

2011-03-10T09:38:00.003+11:00

Yesterday this very learned and well-read insect paid us a visit.

I have no idea what her proper Latin name is but I'm sure it starts with Prof. She certainly has a lovely funny moth-face with fine and elegant antennea. Quite small - about 1.8cm long.

After the photo session I took Prof. Moth out to the garden and encouraged her onto some wood which was more suited to her lovely camouflage outfit than our vintage letter-holder.

Is there a Dr Zhivago in the house?

2011-02-27T10:57:00.020+11:00

I don't like to boast about the commissioned knitting I do for theatrical productions until they've 'hit the stage' but Dr Zhivago's opening night was over a week now so I guess it's ok to show-off now :-) Especially as I'm actually listed in the back of the programme - in the credits - as 'Knitter' hilarious!

The Costume Design by Tess Negroponte got very good reviews - there are some really pretty evening gowns in the 1st act :-) all my knitting was for the 2nd act, after the revolution. First I knitted a coat for 'Lara' ... unfortunately they didn't use this coat but I love the 19teens styling - fitted, long-line with shaped hem-line.

Tess wanted a Tweed yarn and we couldn't find one in the right colour so we bought (from Bendigo Woollen Mills) some blue 8 ply (DK in the US) and white lace weight, I dyed the white a light grey and then plyed the yarns together on my spinning wheel. Tess also wanted a striped look with some "lobster claw" cables - I chose to use a rib with a slipped stitch for the other stripes (that slipped stitch made the 'stripes' stand out a bit better). Here is some detail Moss / Seed Stitch borders, shaping increases / decreases placed between the 'stripes' ....

and Short Rows to shape the hem ...

When I knit for the stage I can't use an existing pattern (is there a pattern for a coat like this ??) I'm usually given a toile or paper pattern which has been fitted to the performer (the wonderful costume maker Tony Phillips did the toiles for the knits; he and his company made most of the women's costumes for Dr Zhivago). Careful swatching, gauge measurements and lots of maths follow ...

Next I made a beret for 'Tonia' - also not used. Although I made it quite large, I guess it wasn't big enough to go over all Tonia's hair & wig. This was based on an existing pattern - Woolly Wormhead's 'Meret' . Modeled by Linda the Plaster Person who has no eyes!
Next off the needles was an old-fashioned vest for 'Alex' (Dr Z's father-in-law, played quite marvelously by Peter Cousins) And this vest gets some really good 'stage-time' :-) Front with a cable stitch texture and 3 working pockets - again Moss Stitch borders this time with crochet contrast on the edges - all Bendigo Woollen Mills yarns.

The back is plain stocking stitch. I'm showing the knits with pins - they did get buttons but someone else put them on.

Then, right at the last minute they asked me to knit a shawl ... 1.5m square in less than a week EEP!
The reference was a photo of a classic baby shawl with stocking stitch centre and wide lace border with geometric, diamond pattern. There was no way I could hand-knit it in the classic lace-weight yarn given the time frame - I used 8ply but was still knitting 14hrs a day ... and we had a heat-wave (talcum powder helped to stop the sticky factor!)

I did it - knitted in 4.5 days with lace border and edging that I charted out myself For the border I borrowed elements from the Faux Russian Stole in “A Gathering of Lace” the Faux Russian seemed appropriate :-) and the edging was loosely based on the edging in Wendy Engstrom’s ”Orenburg Styl e Shaw l” {a Ravelry link} The Edging seemed to take forever and used up so much yarn. Edgings are deceptive - they look small but they go on and on and on ...

As soon as it was knitted it went into the dye pot - for a slightly darker grey (though it still looks quite light in the photos). Luckily the drying after the dying could be combined with blocking - though when I delivered the shawl the next day it was still slightly damp!

The shawl is used but is not on stage for long - 'Lara' wears it when she & the good Doctor come downstairs during the song Love Finds You - I think that was the song. I saw a Preview and when she ran back upstairs the lace flounced quite nicely - It's all about the flounce but a good flounce counts for a lot in the heart of a costume maker :-)

And here is another photo - that lace did seem to go on for ever.

The Jet Set

2011-02-21T13:55:00.004+11:00

The dolls are going on an overseas holiday for the first time this year and they are terribly excited. They will be going to France (naturally) so Audrey has been reading a biography of Madame de Pompadour, whereas Lillian has been reading Maigret novels and studying French ... Je suis une poupée .... Deux botttles de ce parfum ....

They are both convinced that it will be really cold and I've had to knit Audrey a new coat ...
A slight adaptation of the "NxtDrGrrl Hoodie" (longer and with a neck tie) in "Jitterbug" sock yarn.

This morning their passports arrived - causing Much Excitement -

They are really Very Small and it seems that the country of Blythia is in Florence !? The dolls were very pleased that they could choose the colour of their passports ...Unusually, the photos are quite nice !! In the description, under "Eyes" both dolls have 4 colours listed :-)

Lillian had to check that her velvet coat and hat still fitted her ! Honestly, they really are quite twitterpated!

Paws Button

2011-02-15T12:19:00.007+11:00

erk erk ... can't resist a silly pun. Well, work on the dog costume continues sporadically - some time ago I showed you the front paws and now for the hind feet. Once again cartoon-like but not too large.

I started with the toes ...
Using methods learnt at TAFE when making the shoes for a 'Munchkin' Costume - it can be seen here. PE foam is wonderful stuff and this was just thin enough to cut with scissors :-) A basic layering for the rough shape. That black object is one of the canvas shoes that these paws are going to be built unto. Glued those layers together ... erg - contact adhesive is so ... snot-like! Then lots of sanding back & a bit of wadding to refine the shape, put vinyl on the sole & fur on the top and suddenly it looks a bit like a paw. This is pre- glue & stitch as you can see by the pins sticking out!The fur is mostly glued with some stitches in strategic spots. Had trouble achieving "toe cleavage" the valleys between the toes which are important to achieve a cute paw. Had to stitch right through the thickest parts of the paws and nearly lost my needle a few times! Here is the 'sole' and you can see those stitches - and how the toe will fit round the shoe (once sewn together, they fitted more snugly).

Here is the pair of toes ...Stitched the toes to the canvas shoes and made furry tops to cover the remaining parts of the shoes and the wearer's ankles - he will have fur legs which are rather like track-pants. I'm not sure if the tops of these paws (now looking rather like ugg boots!) will be tucked inside the fur trackie-daks or go outside. Opted for an elastic loop and button system round the ankles for flexibility of wearing while minimising trip hazards.

Had to try the paws on - there is something about big furry feet that makes you want to giggle!

A Flying Dragon in my Garden

2011-02-13T19:31:00.006+11:00

Late summer / early autumn is the time for dragons and damsels, no, I'm not talking fairytales, I'm talking about Odonata - dragonflies and damselflies.

This magnificent dragonfly was in our garden last week.

I have no idea what sort of dragonfly he or she is, have tried to identify but ended up completely confused. Eyes and thorax were dark, nice yellow 'racing stripes' on thorax. Very bright blue spots on the back were the wings attach ...

that part of a dragonfly looks so ... mechanical and exposed somehow, like the engine is showing. I've always thought of dragonflies as being rather like helicopters and after I had taken loads of photos this one took off just like a mini-helicopter - vertical and with a really neat spiral.

The Growth of an Organic Evening Dress

2011-02-07T09:50:00.010+11:00

Not exactly a step-by-step; as I keep forgetting to take that sort of photo, but something close. Also, this dress didn't quite fit my mannequin and I don't have photos of it on my client; the weather was so hot on the day when she collected the finished dress, that we just couldn't face having a final try-on.

My client had bought some gorgeous teal silk with contrasting in a deep burgundy and she had pictures of a very grand, haute couture, evening dress. It was very 'organic', with ruched brocade fabric caught in gathers on a strapless bodice then released into a bouffant skirt which was folded up & caught in the front. How to achieve that folded skirt? I experimented with lots of pins ... but how to sew that to the rest of the skirt ?

Cowardly leaving the skirt conundrums till later, I started with the bodice. Although it looks like the fabric is just scrunched up and thrown at the body where it has miraculously stuck! there had to be more of a construction underneath. A light-weight corset style bodice in coutil with thin bones (some plastic, some spiral steels). Here is the underneath of the dress - the foundations - upside-down and inside-out, showing the side that goes next to the skin. CF with angled-into-the-waist boning, burgundy binding, the zip is on as is the 'petticoat' layer (in burg cotton) which the silk skirt is going to get stitched to - well I'd worked out that much!

And here is all of that on Daphne (that's what I call this mannequin). All inside-out looking but that gets hidden later. The top frill of cotton petticoat ended up getting chopped away later - it made the skirt too bouffy.

Now for some silk :-) the bodice except for the front panel, all gathered up and pinned. The top frill is 'lined' with burg silk & I hand stitched to the underbodice just under the bind, tacked silk to underbodice below the waistline and stitched down the ruching - we wanted the gathered look but didn't want it all to make the body look big (& fat!)

Hmmm - time for a break? but here you can see some of the work that needle had been doing (coutil is tough stuff)
Here the bodice gathers after stitches & the skirt (minus that front panel) sewn on. This was something of a problem - the boning in the underbodice made difficulties in stitching on the silk layers! Had to machine up to the bones - and skip those bits and hand-stitch later. Sounds easy enough but with all that fabric it was hard to find the bones until ... crunch, another needle gone!
Well, at this stage it looked ok except it was still missing that front panel - which I did as one piece, bodice & skirt. There is considerably more gathering in the F panel than in the rest but the process of stitching it to the underbodice was basically the same - here the ruching has not been sewn down and that fold in the skirt is still a mystery - but I've got plenty of length to play with :-) (you can also see the burg placket on the side which goes under the zip - as I said, this dress was too small for Daphne)

Well, to cut a long story short (or to fold a long skirt shorter!) that fold went just as I had hoped, quite easy really - and it is stitched to the burg cotton petti layer. Played with the folding and gathering till it looked just right and the length at the front was as my client wanted. And here you can see that the inside of the silk skirt is lined with the burg silk (which is also stitched to the petti. Love the way the skirt does that 'waterfall ripple' down the sides.

you can also see Daphne's 'bandaged' foot - actually she is a bit lop-sided and this is a booster is to correct that.
Some detail photos - the bodice all ruched
side & side-back views - showing that graceful 'waterfall'. It is always nice when a frock looks good from all angles and here is 1 last front view :-)

Tea Cosy Pride

2011-02-01T10:20:00.003+11:00

I’m glowing with pride right now because the Loani Prior aka “The Queen of the Tea Cosies” has included my “Rosie Posy Tea Cosy” on her blog where she has a whole garden of lovely Rosy Cosies. They look so pretty :-) check them out here

The pattern is in Loani's first book "Wild Tea Cosies" - my cosy is on the RH side, middle row, 4th set of photos. And some more photos ...

Happy Australia Day

2011-01-26T14:05:00.004+11:00

Had to share this very Aussie moment -
I like to boast about the things that grow and live in our garden - it is really very small, an inner-city backyard but hubby dear has created a sort of micro rain-forest. Today there were 2 really tiny (freshly hatched?) skinks (Cryptoblepharus ? ) hanging about the back door where I'd left my thongs. They are very common lizards but we don't often see such tiny ones.

He didn't seem to mind my getting really close with my rather basic camera - look at those lovely toes! but eventually decided he'd had enough ... Bye now

Breakfast at Tiffany's - a Blythe tribute

2011-01-24T10:23:00.005+11:00

My daughter calls the phenomenon "compulsory procrastination" - when you are really really busy but you spend valuable time doing something completely NOT on your To Do list. e.g. when the person up a ladder cleaning the leaves out of their gutter should really be working on their PHD and the only time you feel like cleaning the refrigerator is when you've a project or an essay overdue ...

So when my ToDo list is completely out of control what do I spend time doing? A tribute to That dress from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". My new Blythe doll is called Audrey - she doesn't like the idea of a cigarette holder and tells me that it is actually a magic wand. I'm not telling her that it is really a broken paint-brush!

Though I have a great many 'issues' with the story-line of B@T's, Audrey Hepburn looked completely gorgeous in those Givenchy dresses. I had fun getting the cut-away back looking similar - though it created problems with fastening - snap-studs are quite bulky on the tiny scale of dolly dresses. Audrey Hepburn's pearls etc were a separate necklace - for convenience I've sewn Audrey's to the dress.

Busy!

2011-01-20T15:20:00.012+11:00

I've been really busy since Christmas - while all you guys where having a nice holiday I've been busy stitching away - stitch stitch stitch - knit knit knit ... ok ok the world's tiniest violin working overtime :-)

Loads of knitting and sewing - paid jobs. The knitting is for 2 stage productions and the sewing is for my private clients. Until everything is finished - on stage & on my lovely clients I can't really show off but I thought I'd post some tantalising teasers!

These knits are finished - some are deliberately tatty & "distressed" because the characters are poor people

These are still on the needles -

That "stitch register" in the last item was my grandmother's :-) it is holding stitches which will be added to and worked as a giant Icord to form a pleat ... I'm such a tease!

This sewing is finished - lovely fine cotton fabrics

but this is still in progress - beautiful teal silk with contrast bits in burgundy. The white part is the under bodice (built like a corset) the silk is all stitched to it - mostly hand stitched I might add !

Here's Audrey

2011-01-17T10:10:00.004+11:00

I've been hankering for a Blythe doll I could call Audrey - for Audrey Hepburn of course - and my Lillian (who is named for Lillian Gish - another movie star famous for having gorgeous large eyes) has been asking for a friend in Sydney. Lillian has friends in Melbourne and she visits them quite often but Lillian gets sad and lonely when she has to leave.

Then I saw Takara's "Simply Chocolate" ... and it was Christmas time and our exchange rate has been quite wonderful ... and ... well Audrey arrived this morning - she is really pretty and quite shy. Lillian has gone all protective :-) and is introducing Audrey to the other crittersNow I must find some time to make Audrey some clothes.

Cicada Metamorphosis

2011-01-05T13:34:00.009+11:00

Back in early December we had about half a dozen cicadas emerge from the soil of our tiny inner-city back garden, they left their old skins all over the place. One did its metamorphosis just by the back door and I got to take lots of photos. A Greengrocer or Cyclochila australasiae - one of the loudest insects in the world they spend 7yrs underground eating the roots of plants (which plants in my garden had all those grubs been munching on?) before they emerge and metamorphose as gorgeous big loud bugs that fly about, mate, reproduce and then die after only 6 weeks ! As I didn't get to blog all this until now - 4 wks later - this cicada should be on his/her old age pension by now.

Here is the metamorphosis:
10.35 : 07 am when I first saw this amazing thing happening he was hanging almost completely upside down10.35 : 50 am
10.37 05 am a side view 10.41 07 am wings are expanding - he was swinging his body slowly up & down, pulsing the wings and making wild little leg kicks
10.44 00 am wings are growing
10.44 44 am you can see those side flanges either side of the thorax - makes him look like a frog with wings
10.46 09 what hard work metamorphosis is - 10.47 03 looking like a little dragon now10.47 32 - got a firm grip on his old shell now and struggling to free his abdomen ... almost out
10.48 07 Done It - completely out of his shell. No more of that dirty old grub existence now!
10.48 18 am straightened abdomen
10.49 21 am - wings are getting stronger looking but still a bit crinkly. He is still doing those crazy side kicks with the hind legs which are getting greener and more muscular
10.54 59 - and look at those wings now
11. 03 00 am - a side view11.03 53 am and the last photo I managed to take. Camera battery was completely flat by then. But Cicada basically sat and rested for about 40 minutes and the next time I looked he was gone.

Hand Dyed, Hand Spun Yarniness

2011-01-02T19:26:00.008+11:00

Had one of those "D'Oh" moments this morning ... summer here but in the Northern Hemi it's mid-winter and I have some hand-spun yarns sitting about - most of my sales on my Etsy shops have been to folks in the US - perhaps they'd like some of these yarns which were inspired by Spring and Summer flowers. Guess they might like of our spare Australian sunshine :-) so I got busy listing yarn on my Etsy knitting shop.

This one was inspired by Frangipani flowers:

Blossoming fruit trees here:
Also listed some of the gum-blossom inspired yarn which I posted about previously.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T10:25:00.003+11:00

Here's to a wonderful, fabulous 2011 - with Best Wishes from all us Aussie Critters

Kewpie Doll - quick skirts

2010-12-30T23:12:00.007+11:00

Bought a little Kewpie Doll for granddaughter for Christmas - mostly because she kinda looks like a Kewpie Doll herself :-) Then, because most of the fun of playing with dolls is in dressing them and changing their clothes ... I made some ultra quick tutu skirts for the doll. "Knicker elastic" and bits of lace, ribbon & fringing - and please excuse the fuzziness of some of these pics

That last one is quite the thing for a NYE party, don't you agree?