the last bits

just to drag christmas out a little longer since i missed out on so much of it whilst fantically quilting, i'm sharing the two christmas makes from my oldest girls.

d1 made doll dresses for her little sisters. well, the plan was to make one for each, but like many a good crafter, she waited until christmas eve to sew up that "quick" little make she wanted to gift. she was up all night trying to get just the one doll dress done. it turned out darling, though, and we look forward to it's companion making an appearance soon.

d2, another intrepid sewer, made me a small, decorative, gingerbread house pillow to go with the snowman pillow she made last year. she, however, was way ahead of the game and completed the gingerbread house pillow at the beginning of the month. it's been sitting, wrapped, under the tree, taunting me for weeks. i love her self-initiative and the rustic design she made all by her 11 year old self.

i hope the dress sees a lot of play in the days to come. the pillow, like the rest of christmas, is now safely tucked away until next year, when it will once again appear and remind us of christmases past.

doll dr.

so, i have been sewing some, just not posting about it. can't manage both now that school's back in business (i homeschool). i did get a whole weekend's staycation to myself over labor day, too, in which i planned to sew my little heart out in my empty, quiet nest. but i scrapbooked instead. i've done that even less than sewing this year. it was nice. it made me realize maybe one of the reasons i'm rather unmotivated to sew is that most of the projects i need to get to immediately are for other people, not myself or my little ones. sure, i want to get those gifts done, but with so much going on in my life, getting around to them takes a backseat to what really is important around here.

what i have done sewing-wise in the last month:

• 4sq baby blanket #7 is complete, but not photographed.
• finally begun removing the border from "taite" quilt so i can redo it and get moving on that quilt
• spent 45 minutes handsewing one whole patch on my husband's scout leader shirt (he's only been a leader for 3 years!) just 10 or so patches to go.
• reattached my daughter's doll's head for the second time

i have no idea how to properly do this. sure wish i knew one of those toy specialists like the one who fixes up woody in toy story 2 because i've got a few babies who could sure use some airbrushing. (until i got around to fixing this one, she looked like a victim of sid from toy story 1!) but it doesn't take an expert to look at something and just go for it the best you can figure. i could tell the neck stem needed to be reinserted into the body and that the fabric of the body needed to go into the groove at the bottom of the head, then be cinched tighter. so that's what i did.

our surgery scar is not pretty, but she's a modest dolly and always covered up at the neck, so no one will notice. all we care about is that she is back in one piece. and it only took about five minutes total to get her back together.

we've got several corolle dolls, those lovely french playmates that smell of vanilla and are so wonderfully made. this is the only one who's head has ever fallen off and she survived quite a few years of love and play before that happened. her neckline has been compromised now, so i wasn't surprised when she needed a follow-up surgery to the first one she had a few years ago. we just made do and fixed her right up as best we could. she's all set to rejoin her sisters and enjoy some more play.

sewing comes in handy. and you don't have to know exactly how to perfectly do something to make do. just go for it!

finger puppets

a really simple and cute sewing project for the junior set is felt finger puppets. my 12 year old daughter made some for her little sister for this christmas just past. she got the basic idea and pattern from emma hardy's sewing for children (see left sidebar) and went with it all on her own. after the first one or two mostly copied from the book, she started making up her own designs. felt is easy to cut and doesn't fray, so it's wonderful for young sewers.

she added this bunny and carrot to the collection on her sister's birthday. i think she was in a bit of a hurry because her stitching on these pieces was not as careful or nice as the others. i'm still trying to work out how to encourage their creativity and let them know perfection isn't required, yet inspire them to do good, thorough, durable work. i want them to learn proper technique and take pride in work well done, but i also don't want them intimidated or stifled when they don't know how to "properly" do something. either way, their creations are charming and the three year old doesn't seem to mind its quirks at all.