Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other.

Rachel, sewn by my friend Joyce, from the pattern by Ann Wood

The title of this post is from one of my favorite verses from the Bible:  Proverbs 27:17.  This version is from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) published first in 1995.  The simplicity and truth of this statement informs most of my creativity.  

For example, the lovely cloth doll above was created by my friend Joyce, from the Ann Wood pattern Tiny Rag Doll.  This charming little doll is only five inches tall, and entirely stitched by hand.  Joyce made all of her sewn clothing, even though she says she cannot sew!  All of the clothing is removable,  and her hair is a simple crochet wig cap you can find here.

It has been ages since I've made a cloth doll, but looking at Joyce's work, I had to make this dear little doll myself.

It takes so little fabric to make the doll and all of her outfits.  I tucked it all into a Michael's memory box.  

The handstitching aspect of making this doll gives the dollmaker much more control of the tiny seams and corners, and the stitching itself is a relaxing pasttime.  You are making a doll just like your foremothers made for their children in past centuries.  And as you stitch, think that before the advent of the sewing machine, all clothing was made the same way.

So here is Charlotte, inspired by my friend Joyce, from start to finish.  Thank you, Joyce, for leading the way :-)

Charlotte, stitched by me from the pattern by Ann Wood

Both Joyce and I highly recommend this pattern.  It is well written and all of the steps are copiously photographed.  You will create an heirloom doll of  your own, or one for a special child.

Happy sewing!

Rose is ready for Christmas!

I have always thought that union suits, those red one-piece undergarments worn in the 1800's, were pretty cute on dolls.  Probably a pain to wear in real life, but dolls live uncomplicated lives and enjoy looking cute :-)

So I knitted up a red union suit for Rose to wear for Christmas, and topped it off with a Santa cap.  Here is the pattern:

Travel doll union suit with Santa cap

We also had a lot of fun knitting up some other Christmas treats.  The stockings are made from a free pattern available on Jean Greenhowe's site; scroll down a bit, they are toward the bottom of the page:

Jean Greenhowe Christmas Stockings

The teddy's and rabbit are from a free pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits:

Teddy and Rabbit

And the blanket was a free pattern from Jennifer Jackson on Ravelry (you need to register, but it is free!)

Doll Blanket

All of these are quick and easy to knit, and the dolls and young (or old) girls in your life will love them :-)

Rose and I wish you a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holydays!

Just in time for Creative Black Friday!

Just in time for Creative Black Friday; the Friday after Thanksgiving where we all stay home and make something special for someone we love :-)  For Ivy, my latest Travel Doll from Fiona's Travel Doll pattern, a new dress with a knit seed stitch bodice and hem.

Travel doll seed stitch dress

If you are at a loss for what to make someone for Christmas, there are many, many sites with free knit and crochet patterns.  Starting with Ravelry, all you need to do is register (free!) and you have access to literally thousands of free patterns for dolls, toys, wearables, you name it.   Many low cost patterns as well.

Lionbrand yarns is another great site for free patterns.

1500 Free Amigurumi Patterns is actually now 2000 free patterns, and a great site.

Crochet Pattern Central  and Knitting Pattern Central are also great sources for free patterns.

So make yourself a cup of your favorite hot beverage, put a Christmas CD in the player, get out some yarn and the tools of your choice (needle or hook), and enjoy the day!

Rose's Jumper....or more adventures in knitting in the round

I made Rose a white camisole, and as I looked at it, I thought it would make a sweet blouse, if only it had sleeves.  But, I hate setting in sleeves; and thought that knitting in the round (ugh!) would be too hard.  As I pondered, weak and weary, I decided to give knitting in the round another try.

So, with the camisole finished, I picked up the necessary stitches around the armhole with a crochet hook and placed them on three double point needles, and knitted away.  And low and behold, the sleeves turned out pretty good :-)

The blouse begged for a sweet jumper, and the jumper begged for some embellishement when it was finished.  So, a simple knit jumper (with a touch of crochet around the upper edge and shoulder straps), with simple lazy daisy flowers.  To be clear, only the sleeves of the blouse are knitted in the round; the rest of the knitting is done flat and seamed.   Maybe a future outfit will be knit entirely in the round.  And, for those who prefer this, both blouse and jumper would be easy enough to convert to double points.

Travel doll blouse and jumper dress

Rose is from Fiona McDonald's free Travel Doll pattern, available on Ravelry.  You'll find a link to the doll pattern on the left sidebar of this blog, along with some outfits to make for her and her traveling companions.

Jasmyn's Chinese jacket and skirt

I love paper doll books.  They are a wonderful source of inspiration for costume design for any era or culture.  Dover Publications has hundreds of titles for paper dolls, from Ancient Egypt to Steampunk to Contemporary Thrift Store :-)

For Jasmyn's Asian inspired outfit, I used the paper doll book shown above to find a style we both liked.  The jacket is simple to knit, with a very little bit of crochet for the collar and trim.  The skirt is also very simple.  Here is the pattern:

Travel Doll Chinese Costume

This outfit is for Fiona McDonald's free Travel Doll pattern.   The doll is tremendous fun; come join us!

Move-able head for knit dolls

I love making dolls with move-able heads.  It is a technique I learned from the cloth doll making community, and have applied to crochet dolls.  It is a technique that works well with crochet; crochet creates a sturdy fabric that is perfect for three dimensional objects like dolls.

Will this work with knitted dolls?  The answer is yes, if you stabilize the neck.  I used Fiona McDonald's travel doll to work out the details, and have a picture tutorial of the process on my photo share site, ipernity.  Here is a link to the tutorial:

Knit doll head joint tutorial

And for completeness sake, here is the link for the tutorial for crochet dolls:

Crochet doll head joint tutorial

You may need to alter your pattern to create the doll head and torso separately.  Give it a try!  You're sure to be pleased with the result :-)

New knits for Fiona McDonald's Travel Doll

In case you couldn't tell, I'm having a great time knitting up outfits for this perfectly sized knit doll.  She now has a pair of slim pants, short skirt, and cardigan sweater.  All very simple to knit.

You can see in the bottom right picture that Columbine's trousseau is growing :-)

Knit Cardigan Sweater

Knit pants and skirt

Keep warm, and knit up a storm!

Travel Doll Undies; don't leave home without them :-)

Columbine now has some undies!  Very simple underwear, knitted primarily in rectangles.  Two camisole options let you crochet the neckline and shoulder straps, or knit as one piece and form the armhole openings like a two row buttonhole.

My doll is 4.5 inches wide at the hips and 12 inches tall, so you may want to adjust the pattern to fit you doll.  Once you've made undies that fit, you can go on to make just about anything else:  dresses, nightgowns, pants, skirts, tops.

Travel Doll Undies

Edit 10/31/2013

I just finished this drop stitch nightgown for Columbine; here is the pattern:

Drop Stitch Nightgown

The shawl she is wearing is from a free Lionbrand pattern, which is available here:

Garter Stitch Shawl  You need an account with Lionbrand, but it is free and well worth it.

Enjoy!

Knit Travel Doll by Fiona McDonald

I would have thought that knitting a sweater would have over-dosed me on knitting for a while, but not so!  I've been wanting to make Fiona McDonald's travel doll, a doll pattern freely available on Ravelry, ever since she posted it over a year ago.  I wish I hadn't waited so long :-)

This is Columbine; she is 12 inches tall knitted in light worsted yarn (Bernat Super Value) and size 3 needles (3.25mm).  She is knit flat then seamed up the back.  I love the use of light needlesculpting and painted eyes, a specialty of Fiona's doll patterns.

The doll made up quickly; it took three days of lazy knitting to make her and wig her.

Next up, some undies and clothing for Columbine :-)

If you are interested in making this doll, here is the link to her on Ravelry.  You need an account there, but it is free.

Fiona McDonald's Travel Doll