Hobbit Children

I first read The Lord of the Rings during a summer semester at college.   Since then I've probably re-read the trilogy 20 times, not including reading The Silmarillion,  The Hobbit, Lost Tales, and JRR Tolkien's letters.  It is my favorite book of literature; a story of courage, friendship, and ordinary people achieving the extraordinary. 

So when my latest Pocket Spirit got a curly hair style from some mohair boucle yarn I have, she told me in no uncertain terms that she was a Hobbit, and by jove, she was indeed :-)

So here meet Violet Willowdown and Rose Fernbrake, two dear Hobbit children.  I used the camisole pattern for the bodice of their dresses, and made their skirts from some lovely fabric that was a gift to me from Stepheny at Katie What Can You Do.  Stepheny has a delightful blog, and is a very dear person of great insight.

And this is Ivy Heathertoes, wearing another sweet combination of crochet and fabric.  The pattern for the bodice and dress is here:

Link Bodice and Dress

The fabric for Ivy's dress was another gift, this from the very talented dollmaker Kate Erbach.  If you'd like to see some of her amazing dolls, you can find them here at My Sister Kate

Violet, Ivy, and Rose say 'Have a lovely day!'

Thanksgiving, 2010

The good thing about growing older is realizing how much you have to be thankful for.

I hope all of you take time to pause for a moment and count the blessings in your life.  There is grief and joy in every life; may we have the strength to endure the grief, and the gratitude to acknowledge the joy.

Victorian Pocket Spirits

The works-in-progress from a couple weeks ago are now clad in their Victorian finery.  The pattern for all of these delightful little dresses is an Annie Potter Presents leaflet entitled "Victorian Darlings."   To fit the Pocket Spirits I used size 20 crochet cotton or size 8 perle cotton and a size 7 crochet hook for the dresses.  The sweet little boots were crocheted just as the pattern called for, with size 10 crochet cotton.  This pattern book is out of print, but if you do a Google search, you may come up with some used copies that are available.

Abby and Meghan

Felicia

Catherine and Bearable

Rebekah

Felicia in her nightgown

I did work out a couple of patterns specifically for the Pocket Spirits.  The nightgown above is one of them; you can download the pattern here:

Victorian Nightgown

Felicia in camisole and pantaloons

And also a pattern for a Victorian camisole and pantaloons.  I'm sure these patterns look familiar to you, but the instructions are now specifically for the Pocket Spirit size dolls.  

Pocket Spirit Camisole

These dresses also fit the 16cm BJD dolls, such as Lati Yellow and Fairyland Puki Fee.  For the long sleeved dresses you might want to crochet the sleeves a bit longer than the pattern calls for.  

Rebekah says "Have a lovely day!"

Images of late fall

Bicycling in our old home town of Columbus, Indiana over the weekend.  It was mild and breezy, with that touch of melancholy that comes with late fall. 

Winter may be with us soon...but the sun was shining on this day.

A Simple and inexpensive doll bed YOU can make

Just in time for Christmas :-)  Here is a picture tutorial for making a very simple and inexpensive doll bed for your favorite girl.  The bed requires no woodworking skills (I certainly don't have any), and uses inexpensive wood turnings available at any craft store.  I purchased most of my pieces from Michaels.  Here is the link to the picture tutorial to make this bed:

Simple and inexpensive doll bed from wood turnings

Some additional pictures of the bed in process.  Enjoy!

Trying out the pieces before gluing

The pieces selected

The bed stained, glued, and varnished

A cozy bed for Pocket Spirit Catherine.  You can also make a nifty dress form with wood turnings as well :-)