My Penguin Friend

A cute little pengun for the Annette Himstedt girls.  This is a One of a Kind ensemble offered on ebay and ends soon.  This little outfit consists of blouse, skirt, apron & hair bow and will fit all your 32-36" dolls.  Sales for $135 contact me at cls2sew@woh.rr.com

Thanks for everyone that took the time to fill out the poll!

Happy Monday!
Charlene

Little Picasso

Little Picasso   a 3 piece ensemble modeled my Annette Himstedt's Ai Lien.  What little girl doesn't like to color. My favorite paints are the ones you just add water to the page but this day we painted outdoors and painted the trees, the ornamental grasses, and everything else Ai Lien wanted to paint!  Patchwork is fun to do and when you have a edge stitching foot for your sewing machine you will save much time and increase your accuracy of matching the points.   For Sale $175   If interested or want additional pictures contact me at cls2sew@woh.rr.com

Heirloom for larger BJD

As Promised another heirloom dress!  This one will fit the larger 58-60cm BJD Dolls.  This one will go on ebay soon!  I will update with a link.  This one has a bonus pair of pantaloons just in case the wind blows her skirt up!  The skirt and pants are made with a tie waist so very adjustable with their size!   Thanks for voting on my poll below.  And if you haven't done so yet there are days left!   And if you have any other comments or questions let me know, I look forward from hearing from ..........you!  

For Sale  $ 150   can contact me at cls2sew@woh.rr.com   Charlene

POLL NEWS

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE POLL PLEASE KEEP SCROLLING TO NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE  PAGE.  WANT TO BE A FOLLOWER CLICK ON BOX  THAT SAYS FOLLOW!!!
THANKS FOR VOTING!
CHARLENE

Poll news

If I haven't addressed your hearts desire on what you would like to see on your BJD just add a comment to my blog! 
I plan on showing my outfits on here in the future before listing on ebay so you'll be the first to see what's new if you join my list of followers and come visit.  I love to hear from you!
Charlene

Valentines Sweet Hearts for MSD BJD

Little Valentine Sweet Hearts for MSD  BJD                                               Wanted to add a little Valentine for the little girls and used a this and that to create this.  Ms Noel borrowed Ellowyne Wilde's wig just to show how she looks in dark hair.  Got to got off to the sewing room and back to a Heirloom for the larger 58-60 cm girls today!  Can't wait to share the next little creation from my sewing studio!

SOLD!

Plum Pretty

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160396147770

Plum Pretty:
My newest little One of a Kind creation for the Super Dollfie
Dolls.  Made from Premium Cotton and Silk Dupioni and
embellished with select eyelet lace, rayon braiding and beads.

New on the horizon sewing for these girls, what a treat it is to
design for theses hot hot dolls.  The collectors are great to sew
for.  With these resin girls all my bodices are lined. 
Special orders are a pleasure and I work with my fabrics or you
can choose your own.

Many will be headed to IDEX soon and those of us that won't be able to visit the wonderful State of Florida and the show, we look
forward to pictures we know will be headed our way!

Heirloom Laces

I was asked from my auction on this dress where do I find my laces.  Since I sell on ebay I also try to support other sellers on ebay so my favorite store is Cabbage Roses Laces & Such.  They have French
and English laces and also some more economical close out laces to great savings.  They have added
beautiful hand made high end decorator pillows to their store as well.  With less and less brick and morter
stores to shop knowing trusted on line stores is a great find!
Look out for a new BJD outfit for 60cm girls coming later today. 

A Little Heirloom Treasure

Just a little Heirloom Sewing for this week. My little Noel models again.  Offered for a 3 day auction on ebay.  French insertion lace and embroidered lace with cotton batiste and a touch of tatting, brings this old fashioned sewing treasure.  Before Martha Pullen classes I only admired the beautiful sewing. Her classes along with Sew Beautiful Magazine brings these techniques to everyone who wants to work with the finer fabrics and laces and create Heirlooms for their families.  More pictures can be seen on the auction. Hope this little frock inspires you too!    Charlene

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160395195233

Appliques with perfect edges

 Many of my customers liked to applique and so do I, but they had troubles getting the edges they really wanted.
My helpful applique hint  is simple, inexpensive and always delivers!
Sew a piece of iron on interfacing with the sticking size to the back side of you applique with a miminal
seam allowance.  Make a cut in the interfacing, not too close to the edges, turn and finger press edges.
Iron on and do any edge stitch you prefer, I like the button hole stitch, but any will do as your applique
is already in place!
Have some fun with applique!

Charlene

Lining takes the place of facings - a time saving technique with great results.

It's a great day in Ohio!  We had another 5-6 inches of snow and I the shovel had to come out!

I also finished an outfit for Annette Himstedt Dolls.  This model is Ai Lien.  The outfit is is jumper

and blouse.  Lots of great sewing techniques were used in this dress.  The under dress acts like a

slip and the eyelet trim is attached.  Making the slip dress means you don't have to work with facings.

Although it requires additional fabric the time you save working with facings is well worth it and gives

a very professional look.  This outfit is made from handkerchief weight linen and trims are in cotton.

Oh dear oh dear I'll be late

I just got introduced to the characters of Alice in Wonderland from The Toy Shoppe!
I have bought many of the dolls there with their payment plan.  Works well for me!
And right now they have a special on shipping too!  They have some Lasher Simply
Alice dolls left to adopt.  She is very nice and you can see her at:
http://thetoyshoppe.com/product_info.php?products_id=5522&osCsid=dbe10d896f51c1c02988f77ece6052c6
My favorite character, at the moment is the white rabbit with the watch!

Kim Lasher "Simply Alice"

There is a teaser of the real picture of Kim Lasher's "Simply Alice" at:
http://dollsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328/
It is so exciting to see a bit more than the sketch!  She is stunning and my version
of "Simply Alice" dress which was from the New Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland
movie teasers is still available and will fit the 58-60 cm girls. You can find it in my
ebay shop fireflies* and blossoms

Pie Crust

My Old fashioned Pie Crust

I don't make pies often so when I do I don't hold back!  I do it like my Grandma did it and hope no one asks what's in it!  LOL!   For a Large 9-10" pie

2 c unbleached flour

2/3 c +2T lard (yes lard)

1t salt

somewhere around 8-10T cold milk or ice water (you'll get the FEEL of it)

cut lard into flour and salt mixture

add 6T milk to start and mix until moist and easy to hold together.

Roll out!   And Enjoy all the compliments you will recieve.

My family likes sweet to I sprinkle sugar on the top.  For that added golden look you can brush the top with a wash of egg yolk and a bit of water.  You will be known for your pies, like my Grandma was!

Marguerite's Cinnamon Pie Crust Rolls

Today's my husbands birthday.  He always gets his favorites for his birthday and his all time favorite is Cherry Pie.  My Grandma Stewart taught me most about cooking and sewing and along with her pie
crust came my favorites, the little cinnamon rolls she made from the left over pie crust.  Just roll out the
remaining pie dough, spread softened butter, generously sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.  Roll up, slice

 1"pieces and place on buttered pie pan or cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the edges turn brown. We would wait until they cooled a bit and eat one.  This was the test, she would say, as to whether the crust would be good!    She would tell me with a giggle that if it didn't come out that the pie would not be served! I don't recall ever having a bad one.

Sewing Small hints and tips

After reading some of the difficulties some new sewers are having I thought it a good day to add some hints and tips for doll clothing sewing.
When our machines set their defaults they are not the best for sewing doll clothing.
Use a 2.0 or even 1.5 stitch length, this will help you do the curves on the neck lines and arms eyes.
To make your neckline even smoother, after sewing the seam, cut half of the facing fabric seam allowance to half, and understitch .  This will naturally pull you lining to the back.  Always remember to press as you sew,
the end result is well worth the added effort!
Understitch = is when you have sewn the facing to the linging, cut the facing fabric to half of the seaam allowance and top stitch close to the seam line with the lining facing you and the facing fabric underneath.
Please let me know if this helps or you need more information! A seamstress I am, a home ec teacher I am not!
happy sewing!
Charlene

Winter Rose for 14' Kish, 15" Lasher Dolls

Winter Rose, my newest creation for the 1/4 MDJ will also fit the 15" Kim Lasher dolls and the 14" Kish girls.  4 piece ensemble included dress, apron, small waist sash that could also be used for a head band tie and over the knee scrunch socks.   What a cutie Noel is to sew for.  The outfit is embellished with venice beading lace, insertion trim and satin ribbon.  You can view the auction at:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160392010855

Ask Alice, when she is quite small

Small Alice is here!  We rang in the New Year together.  The outfit is made
from cottons and linen.  This set includes dress, apron, headband, and socks.
Fits MSD, Kim Lasher sized and Kish 14" Dolls. I get asked all the time good
places to look for fabrics and amongst my favorites is Fabric Shack in Waynesville Ohio.  Fabric.com. e-quilters. Of course this is very small list.
SOLD