Harold continued

Oh yes! I was able to sew the clothing together. She had a couple fittings. The next time, I will leave the arms off for the body fitting and then put the arms on for the rest of the fitting.

I have finished the dress all on the sewing machine, with some trim.

Here you see the skirt front and back. I used Brocade with a sparkly organza over dress and a lame skirt drape. One sleeve attached to the bodice is laying on the table.

For the sleeve I used the Brocade for the top part, the middle I used a fancy gold striped ribbon (I took the wire out) and for the ruffle I used the organza. All of theses areas will have beads etc. I also sewed all those on the sewing machine.

Around the neck, I sewed two narrow wired gold ribbons together and encased the the entire neck edge and all the way down the back. I can then manipulate areas of it to fit if needed.

Here is the entire dress, waiting for more baubles and bangles and whatever.

When I put the dress on the doll, the only part I will be hand sewing on the doll is the back dress closure and the gathering of the wrist ruffle. I will also sew strips of something on the middle sleeve to put it into a puff effect. Of course all the beading will be done first by hand.

Her head dress still has to be done too but that will be another day.

That's it for today. I have a quilting class to teach tomorrow and have to get ready for it.

Harold The Angel

I thought you might enjoy the procees of these two angels since you enjoyed Holly so much. 

This is a pattern by Arley Berryhill and it's called Harold the angel. You can get the pattern  Here  click on "Patterns' on the left and enjoy looking at all his wonderful work and don't forget to check the Gallery. The pattern and instructions are great. I will be doing a few of his designs.

The body is made of peach cotton and I don't remember if it's Southern Bell or Kona or something else.

The angel is posed so I am showing you both sides as I made two. I penciled and chalked one face and painted the other. I was not pleased with the pencil and chalked one so I just painted over it as my medium is acrylics.

The delicate fingers are wired and she has a wired spine up her back extenting into her neck.

The arms and legs are supposed to be posed and sewed on but I like to string and button them, so I can have control of the pose, and just in case I sewed all that and make a mistake and don't like it lol.

I also tie the head on instead of sewing it on. I go through the neck, go up one side of the head with half of the thread and then the other side with the other half of the thread, push the head down and tie on top. This way I can also pose her head.
I will post as I dress them. Arley sews the clothing parts right on them but that is a bit too much hand sewing for me. I don't know if I can do it my way, I will see

Holly a Sweet Doll

This is  such a sweet little doll. The pattern is by Jill Maas, Here
A couple friends and I made her at one of our doll meetings, she was a fun project. Jill has some very cute patterns and we really enjoy making her dolls.

I changed Holly's underskirt. Instead of lace I put a coordinating fabric on the bottom of her slip. I thought she might look a bit more Autumn with the oranges.

The bow I made by hemming two sides of a strip and then gathering the middle real tight. I put the two long sides together and tacked it in the middIe to form a tube but with the ends free. I then sewed three Asahi beads in the middle and pulled the ends up.

Instead of making shoes, I just used bought doll shoes and socks, it worked just fine. I don't do this all the time, but in this case, she wanted them lol.
Holly really has her arms in the back holding a present but I haven't decided yet if it's going to be front or back. She stands all by herself real nice.

Jill has a style all her own and we enjoy doing something different and unique. If you are a doll maker/lover, go check out her website and see some of her cute patterns. I love Masie and Morris. I had to make Morris first and will do Masie next. You can ask Jill for Morris, she will give him to you free.

I made Holly's entire outfit on my Singer Featherweight. I used the ruffler and the narrow hemmer. That little machine is such a pleasure to work on. I must use it more often...it has all the parts to make all sorts of things.

Here she is with her present.

Butter Beans or Lima Beans

When was the last time you cooked or ate the above?

I soaked the beans for about 4 hours while I made bread and cherry jam today.

I started to cook the beans until medium soft then added a grated potatoe, large onion, green sweet pepper and some ham. These are all grated (in my little chopper)

I added some italian seasoning, yeast flakes, garlic powder, blk pepper, ground red pepper, pinch of cummin and rosemary. I don't add the salt until last when the beans are soft....after it's done I add 1 tabl of venigar...the venigar just gives it a kick, you don't taste it, it just does something. The beans are  thick and delicious.

I can't wait to try this Cherry Jam as I can't eat the cherries fresh. I am alergic to them, but cooked I can eat to my hearts content.

The bread will be done in 15 minutes. Here it is rising, 30 minutes to go but that was a good while ago, it's almost done.

For the bread I put raisens, blueberries, cherries, cranberries in a pot to just reach boiling point and turn off.

After the yeast rises, I add water to the reconstituded fruit and add all of that to the yeast along with the molasses. I grind some flax and add oatmeal, rye flour, whole wheat flour and regular four and mix it all up and let it rise 2 hours and punch down and put in loaf pans and let rise another 1 1/2 hours and then bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so.

I made a huge spring salad earlier.

Yesterday, I made a mess of hamburgers and cookies...I am done now for a while lol......I'm going to go work on my projects now.... will post as I go along.....keep tuned.