Dolls from my childhood upgraded clothing.

I picked up my crochet hook again this past 2 weeks.  When Cliff went into surgery I needed small projects to work on while in the hospital with him.

I have over 80 StoryBook dolls and some two dozen were undressed.

This is a dress I made some years ago.  I found the pattern online this past week 

"Gibson Girl Doll Pattern"  http://freevintagecrochet.com/dolls/gibson-girl-doll-pattern.html

 I also found online several sites for crocheting flowers and thought to have a set of "Flower Girls"  These dolls will all have a flower in or on her hat. The flower on this gal is from http://www.youtube.com/user/Sheruknittingcom?feature=watch
This outfit is a one-piece dress.  I crocheted the pantalettes then the blouse and added the skirt last.
The hat is a simple cap like the ladies wore in the 40s.

As you can see I have loads of thread from the 70s and 80s that I found in the attic while cleaning up there.  This doll has a dress made with Pineapple stitches.  Her hat is of an open design made with the shell st and has a yellow flower on it.  This flower was at the above link as well.  I signed up to her blog to get the flower patterns in order as she posted them.

 This is an older dress as well with a new flower on her head.

A cluster of 3 flowers make up this gals hat.  The dress is made with white #10 crochet thread with a strand of red sewing thread added to it as I crocheted it.  The pattern is one of my own.

This doll is waring a very complex dress and hat without a flower on it.  I felt the flower would be overkill on this doll.

 These combinations are under the dress on the above doll.







Here I have made the Gibson dress for this doll with a few small modifications.  I added a black belt rather than a ribbon and her panties are part of the skirt.













 Here you can see how I make pantalettes.













 This doll is in a dress made in the 50s that had a top that was soiled beyond cleaning so I remade it with a new blouse and petticoat.  The flower is just laid on her head.

Here we have a dress made in the 60s or 70s .











Here you see some of the thread I had in the attic made into a layered dress and flower hat.  Again this is a one piece outfit. pantalettes under it all.

The variegated thread on this doll is some I found at Walmart.  It has a nice feel to it while crocheting.










I tried my hand at short skirts here.

Weaving Loom setup

Setting up my 4 harness table top weaving loom.

To begin with I am still waiting for the warping board to be finished.  I laid out the threads on my floor.  When I laid my family/dinning room floor I used 12" tiles.

Warp 60 2.5 yard threads each of 2 colors.  I am using thrift store finds.  The wonderful cotten thread for making potholders.

I make them 5 yds each strand and fold them over to create 2 strands of 2.5 yrds.  Loop this and 5 more strands over the back bar. This will give you 12 strands to thread through the huddle and reed.

 Here you can see how I have laid the strands up.

At this point I have taken the first half of the strands through the huddles and reed and am working on the last half.

This is the front view of the first half of threading the strands.

Pulling the strand through the reed.

Preparing the strands for the process of threading them through.  At this point I will show you how I keep things organized.  The above photo shows the strands through the huddles but not yet through the reed.

A close up of this step shows that I am ready to thread the first strand of the second half of the set.
I have started with the last strand and looped it over the huddle bar control for that strand.  I do this all the way over to the next strand needed in threading the ree.

Here I am showing you that I check to see if I have all the threads threaded in order.  I put the 1st and 3rd harness in the down position and my seperator bar is free of any crossed strands.

I hope this will help you in working with the 4 harness loom.












 

Tie Purse

Supplies:

1 tie
lining fabric
craft fuse
purse handle or rat-tail cord
washer
stabilizer
embroidery designs
thread to match 

Free designs from BFC
http://www.bfc-creations.com/Designs1000/1005FantasyLadiesFairyWitchery/index.html

Instructions:

I took an old Green wide tie, this one is raw silk, and cut it into several sections.  Section 1 is 5.5 inches, section 2 is 7.5 inches, sections 3 and 4 are 8.5 inches in length.

Next I took a seam ripper and opened up all sections except the first one. Leave the V part of the tie intact.
Take section apart on one side to open it up to embroidery on.  Stitch the design and resew it back to original shape and size.

At this time place a washer into the point of section 1 to give weight to the flap.

all I had left after project.  Just this small stack of scraps.

Next press all sections out and place top side up on table.

The section 2 is the front of the purse.

Section 3 is the center back.
Take section 4 and cut it down the center of the width and place on each side of section 3 and sew together. This will form a back that is larger than the front.

Place front and back wrong sides  together and trim to the size of the front.
Now cut 2 lining to match this shape.
Stitch the front lining to the front and use this as a pattern to cut out 2 inner facing sections from craft fuse.
Press this to the front sections.

Take back sections and press to stabilizer and stitch design.
Take the section 1 and place in the center of the back section between the tie and lining making sure that the section 1 is folded properly to look like a tie with the lining showing on the back making sure that when stitched it will flip over front properly.
Stitch across the top of back and lining sections.  At this point you can put  a pocket into the purse.
Press craft fuse to back section.

Now you put strap into the purse at the sides where the lining meets the outer fabric.
Sew from lining side 2 inches from corner, to corner and up side to the other end across it and down the last side to corner and another 2 inches into the beginning side. This will allow you to turn your purse right side out.
When turned top stitch the bottom of the lining together.