Sunday Stock Clearance

It's finally time to start clearing out some of my CurlyPops stock...

I don't know if I'll ever have time to do a market again, so I'm just going to mark down a few things when I have time and clear them out via the shop.

Today, I've marked down my Poppy and Harry Cloth Doll Kits by almost 50%. They're down to just $12.

There are not many left and once they're gone, they're gone forever.... so get in quick!

Introducing Poppy and Harry - Cloth Doll Kits

The Cloth Doll Kits are finally here... and they now have names!

Thankyou so much to Rachael for suggesting Poppy, and to Tracey for suggesting Harry. I'll be in contact so that you can choose a kit as a reward.

The Poppy Kit contains pre-printed fabric panels to make the cloth doll, along with a halter dress and a cape.

The Harry Kit contains pre-printed fabric panels to make the cloth doll, along with a cape.

The kits come with step by step instructions. They're super easy to follow along with, and even the kids can get involved.

Hope you all like them!

I need your help!

This is a project that I've been working on for a very very very long time....

Over 5 months to be exact! Oh well, at least I have a very good excuse for being so slack.

Well then, I guess you're wondering what it is exactly? Currently in her fourth incarnation...

It's going to be a Make It Yourself Cloth Doll Kit!

The kit will contain the Cloth Doll fabric, and fabric to make a reversible halter dress and reversible cape (thanks to Michelle and Deb who suggested that she needed clothes... eeeek no naked dollies allowed)!

She's still in the testing phase at the moment, and she'll also have a twin brother.

Now the bit where I need some help - for the life of me, I can't think of a set of cute names for them both. I need a girls name and a boys name that will suit a funky, colourful and very patterned doll.

I'll pick two winners - one boys name and one girls name, and the person who suggested the name will receive a kit of their choice (once they're available).

Fire away!

The Purple Haired One

I seem to flip and flop between craft projects, and that's just the way I like it. A little bit of this and a little bit of that means that I never, ever seem to get bored.

In perfect timing for making something different, I received a request for another cloth dolly for a new bubba.

Of course, I'm still addicted to Instagram (I'm @curlypops over there).

It's fantastic for snapping and uploading photos of the progress of a project as it's being made.

This one is for the third little girl of the family, so the only request was that it was a different colour than the other two (so that the sisters don't get their dollies confused).

She has an underskirt and a little a-line halter pinnie.....

.... and she's just like her sisters.

Can you see the family resemblance?

Sewjo...where for art thou?

I conducted a little totally non-scientific experiment on the weekend to try to pinpoint when my sewjo disappeared.

The carbon dating of my iPhone photos seems to indicate that it was somewhere around  February 3, although I'm quite sure that it was on a go slow for a couple of weeks prior.

With the forced hibernation due to the crazy hot weekend, I decided to set myself a challenge...

.... and thanks to my infatuation with Instagram, this is the finished result.

It took me all weekend in between faffing, drinking cups of tea, catching up on all of my Foxtel IQ'd shows, washing etc...

 Jeez.. there's that moon tan again!

...and thanks to the power of Instagram, when I had a little whine about how frustrating it is to 'turn out' softies,  Berene from Happy Sew Lucky pointed me in the direction of one of her tutorials.

Brilliant!

Now she just needs some clothes.

A long lost twin

It seems that one cloth dolly just isn't enough when then are two little sisters enamoured with her.

So of course, the solution was to make another cloth dolly.....

..... with a lacy pettiskirt

.... and halter dress.

I'm hoping that peace will be restored in the household very soon.

My Creative Space.... Dolly's Fashion Parade

In my creative space today... the leftover remnants from the making of my cloth doll.

Cardboard patterns and calico toiles.

 

Cloth Dolly has ended up with a couple of different outfits for her journey to her new home

There's the Halter Neck Apron Dress.....

With Lacy Underskirt for modesty...

...and when it's time to party, she can change into her little red pinny.

Bon Voyage Dear Dolly!

The home of our creative spaces...

An Accidental Self Portrait

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make a handmade doll to give as a baby gift.
I'm always up for a sewing challenge so of course I agreed to give it a go!

Fast forward a couple of weeks..... and I'd completely forgotten (whoops).

I put my skates on (amongst the ladies lunch, and nephews first communion) over the weekend and made a beginning.

I started off with thinking about making the Emily Martin - Black Apple Doll from Martha Stewart, but that's not the sort of design she was looking for.

So, using my own very unscientific method, I took it upon myself to sketch a doll, and then make my own cardboard pattern from the sketch.

That was the easy bit..... working out how you're going to sew it so that it's strong enough not to tear, deciding where to leave an effective turning gap, turning those pesky long skinny limbs out, and then stuffing it is much more difficult!

Those pesky long legs are my favourite bit....

Here she is all crinkly and unstuffed. I was so happy when she was finally turned out without a tear or a rip... phew.

This is where she ended up yesterday arvo before I rushed off to church for the first communion (it's ok, I made sure that I de-fluffed my dress before I left the house).

Looking at her on the bench lastnight has got me thinking though..... I've managed to create a doll that has my actual body shape - really narrow shoulders, skinny limbs, a fat belly and no bum! Hilarious!