Teacup Spirits

Here is a new pattern for an even smaller Spirit doll.  Teacup Spirits!  They are just under five inches tall, and inspired by my little Lati White Belle.    They have movable heads and shoulders, and pose-able limbs.  Once I got the pattern the way I liked it (took four tries!), it only takes about an hour and a half to crochet the little doll.

Tiny wigs from laceweight mohair, fingering weight yarn, or embroidery floss cap these little darlings off very nicely.

This wig was made from laceweight mohair/silk yarn.  A little goes a long way!  It is 7/8 oz and 195 yards.  I used a size 1 steel hook, and made chain loops for the curls.













This wig was made from fingering weight wool yarn.  It is 1 3/4 oz, 310 yards.  I used a size 1 steel hook, and this wig is removable.  If you make the cap a little smaller, I bet it would fit a Lati White or PukiPuki BJD :-)










This wig is made from embroidery floss, which is fantastic at this scale.  All those colors!  It takes three or four skeins of floss to make a wig; for this long wig it took three skeins.  To make crocheting the wig cap easier, I wrap the floss around a floss bobbin before crocheting.  If you need another skein to finish the cap (I did) just wrap it around your empty bobbin and tie it on to your working strand.  Make sure the knots are on the inside of the cap.











This cute, curly cap is made from worsted weight boucle yarn.  A bit big for this scale, and the stitches are not so easy to see, but still doable with a size C crochet hook.  And any mistakes are invisible in all these curls :-)









Click the link for the Teacup Spirit Pattern  or you can also find it on the left sidebar of this blog.

 

Think small!  Clothing patterns to follow :-)

Summer Flowers 2011

The flowers just outside our front door. 

Bleu Faerie Finished!

Bleu is finished, wings and all.  Patterns for the basic doll, wire wings, and how to make a sweet dress from crochet lace are available on this blog.  Check out the left sidebar under Pocket Spirits.

Thinking even smaller Spirits are in the future :-)

Latest Pocket Spirit WIP

My latest Pocket Spirit work-in-progress, a Bleu Faerie commission for a dear friend.  She is alongside a BJD from B&G, a 16cm mini honey named Claire.  The BJD's are what inspired me to make the Pocket Spirits, with their movable heads and jointed shoulders.  This doll uses 9mm eyes at the shoulder to give a nice movable joint.

You can find the pattern for the Pocket Spirit on the left hand sidebar.

More later :-)

Felt Friends Forever

Petunia, Black-eyed Suzanne, and Amanda; Felt Friends Forever :-)

Petunia has a dark fuschia tunic embroidered with lazy daisy flowers and leaves.  It closes in the back with a single button and loop.

Her spring green pants are also embroidered, in featherstitch and French knots.  The waist is pulled in gently with a cord of perle cotton, threaded through the top of the pants. 

Amanda wears a felt and embroidered dress and tabard style apron, appliqued with orange mushrooms.  The apron has a slit at the neck about an inch long to facilitate putting it on, and is tied at the sides with silk ribbon ties.

Black-eyed Suzanne's dress is felt embroidered all over with her signature flower...black-eyed Susans :-)  The dress has slightly capped sleeves and slightly flared skirt.











All of these little outfits are simple modifications of the basic patterns available on this blog for these dear dolls from Gingermelon Doll's Pocket Pixie pattern.  Hand sewing felt is very easy, rewarding, satisfying, enjoyable, relaxing, and spiritual.  Enjoy.

Salley Mavor's enchanting art

My copy of 'Pocket Full of Posies' by Salley Mavor, recently arrived, which prompts this post.  Salley is an extraordinary fiber artist; she creates wonderful worlds with felt, yarn, found items, items from Nature, and all of it pure magic.

I am fortunate to have four of her books: 'In the Heart,' 'The Hollyhock Wall,' 'Felt Wee Folk,' and now 'Pocket Full of Posies.'  The summer that 'Felt Wee Folk' came out I made dozens and dozens of her delightful flower fairies.






Two of the many flower fairies I've made from Salley Mavor's book 'Felt Wee Folk'










Prized possessions of mine are three of Salley's original flower fairies:  Downey, Marina, and Opal.




Salley's latest book, 'Pocket Full of Posies,' is a nursery rhyme book illustrated, as all of her books are, with her fiber art illustrations.  The rich felt, the perfectly executed embroidery, the texture and design will take your breath away, and offers so much inspiration for all of us that like to play with needle and thread.

 Embroidery from 'Pocket Full of Posies' inspires Amanda's dress and pinafore; not quite finished :-)

Salley has a blog where she shares her latest projects, and happy glimpses of the artists life.   Pay her a visit and enjoy her enchanting view of the world.