Playing dress ups and sewing dolls

I have always been fascinated by fabric patterns and textures.  Memories of being a  7-10 year old and playing dress ups with all my dolls using tissue paper, pipe cleaners, wool, aluminum foil - anything that looked fun and useable - to create their outfits. They were always out there creations. Big ballgown type dresses, sequins glued on, bits of feathers. This always excited me. The colours especially. My dolls were my models and designing looks for the various games my sister and I would play was fun to me. Happy memories.  :)

Today I continue indulging in my fabric fascination as I sew my little creations. However I also get to experiment with various prints and colours for my own personal style.

For a long time I wore what I would call my, blend into the background type colours.  You know -  black, beige, navy blue, and browns.  All nice. All safe. All guaranteed I would not be noticed.  However,  lately there has been a complete shift in my personal style. I am making bolder choices,  wearing colours and patterns that I have longed to wear, yet I was too scared to.  Its sort of scary but also exciting as I get to mix and match and create fun looks for myself. I am my own big doll.  Finally  :)

Took my blog for a coffee yesterday.....

Here is what I said:

Dear Blog,

I know I have not been paying you any attention.  I have been indulging in a few of my latest crushes (pinterest, google reader, instagram, blood orange gelato)

 Right here, Right now, I promise to you I will think of you daily.  I will nourish you with my words and ideas,  I will share with you the wonders I come across on this big wide world of Internet land. I will give you a spring spruce up!

If nothing else, I promise that from this day forth, I will be mindful of your existence.

Lets be friends again....

xoxo
craftyclaudes

Frida Kahlo Softie by craftyclaudes

For the last few weeks I have been working on this little Frida Kahlo softie/cushion as a Birthday gift for my sister.   The idea came to me watching a short film on Frida recently.  I loved her unique style, passion for her Mexican heritage and her colourful self portraits.   So after spying this gorgeous fabric on one of my recent shops

I got to sketching and practicing my pattern making skills.  Using a template of a babushka doll that I had made recently, 

Raiding my fabric stash I found these cotton napkins that I got to use for Frida's face.

 More cutting and many hours of sewing by both machine and hand.....I finally completed her in time to give to my sis.

A little poncho with pom poms made me smile.......arribaaaaa!!

 Hand stitching felt flowers for her hair piece....

 Martino let Frida enjoy a little bit of chill out time in his fave chair. She enjoyed it for a little while.  We got used to seeing her around the apartment in all stages of creation......

but now she goes home with my sis to hang out in the Queensland Sunshine.  I think Frida was a hit!  

Craftyclaudes handmade:: Pretty little Babushka Doll Softie

I have been working on a new softie/doll.  For a while now I have been researching Babushka dolls but hadn't found any that incorporated a little bit of hand sewing as well as up cycled fabrics that I liked.  So I set about designing one using a simple pattern I made on my own.

The pattern allows me to use double layers of fabric for extra strength and colour possibilities.

So on my recent visit to the Salvos I found these beautiful linen knickerbockers in a light grey. The quality of the linen is A1 - no pesky knots (slubs) in the fabric.  Although they are a very tiny size 4, for a couple of dollars I couldn't resist.  

snip snip - off with the leg!

I also found this lovely fabric napkin.  This one has a sweet, hand embroidered trim that sets off a little  applique flower.  A lot of  hand made love was put into this napkin, and just my luck, I rescued it from the fabric miscellany bin.

After cutting out the fabric pieces, I did a little hand embroidery.  A quick refresher from mum allowed me to chain stitch the eyes in a sleepy little look. A peaceful babushka ready for a nap and many hugs.  Here she is all finished!

The new Brother NS20 is working a treat. Allowing me to sew through many layers of fabric and with 40 stitches I get to experiment a little with some machine embroidery.

So there she is all finished. She is very cute and plump like a good cushion and soon leaving me to go to a new home.