dolls, dolls and more dolls

I had great fun over Christmas making these dolls. I love their felt hair and that there is a boy doll too. They were easy to make but I wanted Grace to be able to put the clothes on and off and the pattern didn't give much room for decent finishing on the seam allowance. Also I thought it was very remiss that it didn't come with knickers! Although that was easily fixed with a quick hack to the dungarees pattern. The little clothes are also a great way to use up some scraps from the stash.

Grace loves the red shoes with buttons and wants some herself. I think the next dress I make for her, the doll will have to have one too.

toy bag

I found some great foam building blocks in a charity shop when Grace was tiny. Now she is big enough to play with them I thought I'd make a nice bag to put them in. The plastic bag we've been keeping them in just isn't safe with an almost crawling baby in the house! I used the corner of an old stained duvet cover and put the pocket on before sewing up the side. It doesn't need a pocket but I've been itching to try out Rae's pleated pocket tutorial. It's so easy, I can't wait for Grace to be big enough to have a use for pockets on her clothes so can make a few more. The only design flaw is that when the draw strings are pulled tight there is a lot of ribbon dangling about for a little crawler to get caught in so it's still not great for unsupervised play.

I wrote this post ages ago and have been trying to get a good photo of the bag ever since. I have given up and taken a photo on yet another gray day. Grace is now crawling like a good un and can get the blocks out of the bag her self.