A lot can happen in a month

January is drawing to a close and after a rough few months and a lot of changes in my life, I am finally ready to reemerge. Although I have been busy with my Mom, an adult disabled brother, and my youngest who just went off to a high school for the arts, I also have been spending a lot of time working and thinking about my business. 

A lot of good happened this January. A range of dolls donated, new visions for my business (when my shop reopens you will see) and two visitors to my studio.

A few weeks ago, two ExtraSmall Phoebe owners came to spend the afternoon in my studio. You may remember Maggie, the talented young seamstress who stitched up dozens of gorgeous dresses for the dolls I donate? Well, Maggie and her friend Elena who's ExtraSmall Phoebe has her own IG account came to visit.

First I put them to work. They helped prepare and organize the dolls, wardrobe carry bags and dolls that were to be donated to The Shriners Hospital for Children—a hospital that treats children who are burn victims. Each girl doll had several of the gorgeous dresses and a sweater made by Maggie. All of the dolls (boys and girls) had a little hospital gown too. You can see the boy in front is wearing his.

Prepping doll donations

Next before the sun set, I showed them a few of my favorite photography tips. Their ExtraSmalls (Madeline and Scout) posed for a photo together. After this photo, Scout got a quick hair touch up. Incidentally Scout was the first ExtraSmall, so she's a bit historic.

Matching dresses by Maggie

Next Maggie learned a few new sewing tricks: sewing jersey and snaps, while Elena looked through my craft books (Elena is more of a crafter than a sewist)

Maggie and my 28 year old Bernina getting acquainted.

In the end, we had a day of sewing and creating (and cupcakes, it was Maggie's birthday) and hopefully the first of a few of these visits. These girls were just a joy. A big thank you to Maggie and Elena and to their Mom's who traveled here to bring them!

Photographs courtesy of my daughter Annabelle (who is pretty much their age) but rather photograph than sew. And the white doll hanger in the top photo was made by Elena on her 3-D printer.

A Maker of Tea Parties and Dolls

If ever there was a doll made for tea parties, it is Sharon Rohloff's dolls. They come dressed to sip tea in a beautiful flower garden and talk about their recent trips to art museums and Europe. They are delightful, retro, cheerful and timeless.

The bright vintage style fabrics, old fashioned hats and bright hair give the dolls an ethereal charm of early 20th century paintings. her dolls can be found at Pink Ginger Kitty.

Sharon has been sewing soft toys for less than two years, but she read a lot, and experimented a lot.

"In January 2014, I found a copy of Stuffed magazine by Stampington in a thrift shop. I took it home and devoured every article over a weekend. I was amazed to see so many unique, fun dolls and read about artists thriving as doll makers. Encouraged by those artists who drew their own patterns, I decided to give doll making a try. I set up my grandma’s 1970’s Singer sewing machine and started playing around with fabric I found at the thrift store. My first toys were a wonky blue donkey and a pink cat with kittens. I was smitten with them and soon sewing all sorts of softies.

The Garden Party Girl Dolls doing what they do best

"My Garden Party Girl dolls came about because I love to mix fabric patterns and I wanted a doll I could build a story around. This doll has a ladylike style reminiscent of the 1920’s. I imagine them all as friends and neighbors that live and interact in the same small village. Their colored yarn hair, patterned dresses and bendable arms and legs was a look that lent itself to endless variations. This was important to me because I get bored without variety."

Sharon's studio

"I am inspired by many things: the seasons, flowers, colors I see in décor magazines, museums and art books, the fashions in PBS series such as Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and pretty cotton fabrics in fabric stores. 

"I also love going to thrift stores looking for pretty items that remind me of my grandmother’s home. She was a sewer, a great cook and loved pastel colors. I like finding old notions and ribbons, floral vintage tea tins from England, vintage fabrics such as tablecloths from the ‘40’s and ‘50’s, colorful vintage hankies, toys and children’s books from the ‘50’s – ‘60’s, pretty much anything with colorful graphics. Many of the vintage tablecloths and fabrics that end up at thrift stores have light damage or staining. That makes them perfect for up cycling into doll clothes! Its really fun turning something discarded as old and tired into an elegant, cheerful toy that’s truly one of a kind.

Sharon's Doll Making Tips:

• Sew two seams all the way around your doll’s body to make a sturdy toy. This anchors arms and legs and helps keep the seams from bursting as you stuff the doll. I also use a second layer of muslin behind the face of my dolls so the knots of my embroidery thread won’t show through.
• Check your seams on both the front and back of the unstuffed doll to be sure you caught all the layers before turning it right side out.
• If you are just starting to make doll clothes, break down your clothing ideas into basic shapes. Many pieces can be developed from a “T” or arrow shape. Skirts are often a square or trapezoid, gathered at the top.
• Lay your doll down on a piece of white drawing paper and trace around it for a body pattern. I use rolls of white paper from the kid’s section of craft stores. You can use the body pattern to draw top and skirt patterns on tracing paper. Once you have a top or skirt pattern you like, cut it apart and make a mockup from inexpensive fabric like muslin or a vintage sheet. You can also try adding variations such as a ribbon tie at the neck, an elastic waist or a ruffle at the bottom edge.

Sharon and her dolls can be found:

On Etsy, on Sharon's blog and by following her on Instagram.

A fox comes to the rescue

Since I started making the dolls for the children in need, I have been making puppies for the boys. They looked like this:

They were very cute, but tiny and too many little pieces for something I need to make lots of. I had been searching for a pattern that would have the same appeal for a boy, but be more fun to sew up.

I think I found it.

Enter the fox. From this pattern that I found a while back on Etsy.

The fox so far seems to meet all of the requirements: sturdy, fun to make, materials are easy to find, appealing to little boys and not scary. He's cute, but not too cute.

This past weekend, with the help of an assistant,  a skulk of foxes got made. Soon they will go out with a bunch of other dolls, some to Family Promise in central Massachusetts and some to foster children in Connecticut.

Gift Idea: Scrappy Phoebe Learn To Sew Kits

It is a little over a month until the holidays. I am not going to suggest a Phoebe doll, because any orders received at this point, I cannot guarantee an Xmas delivery. I have a number of dolls in the works that will make it to their new homes, so if you've already ordered, you don't need to worry.

However... it is not to late to order the perfect gift for teaching your child or grandchild to sew: The Scrappy Phoebe Learn to Sew Kit. 

The kits comes with a 12 inch Scrappy Phoebe doll,  an instruction booklet detailing how to sew and embellish the basic dress and everything you need to make at least eight dresses, including practice fabric, 8 fabrics, 8 trims, velcro closings, Wonderclips and pattern pieces to be traced onto fabric and cut.

Everything is packaged in a cute box for storing when your little one is not sewing. 

I just cut some fun fresh new fabrics for the kits. The dresses and instructions are simple and a great starting point for sewing.

From a customer last Xmas:

"I wanted to thank you for the amazing learn-to-sew kit I purchased for Christmas. Both of my girls (ages 7 and 12) have been making fashions for Phoebe - adapting the pattern for a long sleeve dress, a flannel nightgown and a felt coat "

Kits available in my Etsy shop.

New stack of fabrics for the kits!

The trim packet.

Two sets of twins

Twins. They are fun, adorable, sometimes exhausting, and in most cultures considered lucky. A woman's chance of having twins is less than four percent.

So when they come into the world, there is a bit more fanfare and celebration.

And if you love to sew little girl clothes, dolls and doll clothes, twin great granddaughters are certainly a reason to celebrate.

Vera Catlett is mother to two daughters, and she now has six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. The most recent additions to her extended family are twin baby girls, Eden and Eliah.  They arrived on August 5, weighing five and a half pounds and required a two and a half week hospital stay. Two months later, they are over eight pounds, thriving, and the whole extended family is enjoying them.

Eden and Eliah, relaxing together

Especially Vera, who lives two miles away. Not only will she enjoy spending time with Eden and Eliah, but she has already started sewing for them.  Vera's mother taught her to sew when she was a teenager, Vera then started sewing clothes for herself. Since then she has continued to make clothes and toys for her growing family. 

Below is one of Vera's designs modeled by a twin. However, she will soon be sewing on an even smaller scale, she purchased twin Baby Eggs for the twins and will be sewing clothes for both sets of twins, dolls and great granddaughters.

One of the twinslooking pretty at five weeks wearing an outfit made by Vera and held by their Mom, Sarah.

A New Sewing Book Giveaway

Wool felt is one of my favorite fabrics to work with. It is soft, yet crisp. Comes in many beautiful colors and it isn't hard to find. 

So a few years back when the book "Big, Little Felt Universe" by Jeannette Lim came out I bought it for my 10 year old. It had about 50 projects, all everyday items made with felt. A felt lap top, a little felt lipstick. A felt campfire complete with s'mores. All things she made that first year and all things that adorned her room... until this past year when she was officially a teenager.

The felt campfire set and lipstick are gone. However the book and her felt scraps are here to stay. This past week, we entered a new felt phase. Felt veggies (all of the photos here were made by my 14 year old).

This book is perfect for the child that sews. The projects, ability and age range are broad. The directions are great. And as we head into the second month of summer vacation, who doesn't want a project your child can happily work on mostly on their own.

The book recommends using a felt wool/ acrylic blend. This type of felt can be found easily on Etsy and in fabric stores.

I am giving away one copy of "Big, Little Felt Universe" by Jeannette Lim.

Here are the rules of the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must fill out your email in the comment form or in the comment. Without an email, you are not entered..

2. I will select a winner using a random number site in two weeks.

3. If the selected winner does not respond in five days, I will reselect.

4. I will not pay postage to send the book outside of the lower 48 states. So sorry. 

A Sewing Book Giveaway

"Sew Fun" by Deborah Fisher (interviewed in my last blog post) is a great book for sewing for and with children.

I've posted the Table of Contents so you can see the amazing range of projects, that are not only fun for kids to help make, but to play with after. The book includes two doll patterns and a quilted doll house. 

I will pick a winner in a week from the comments. Please enter your email when you enter a comment. If there isn't an email I won't enter that name.

The Story of a Dress

Last December, a Phoebe&Egg customer emailed me asking if I would make a doll dress from a fabric she had purchased.

 She had purchased the fabric in Liberia, a country that by the end of 2014 had endured over 9,000 cases of Ebola. Sadly, nearly four thousand of those patients died.

She had been in Liberia for several months. She was one of the many brave medical workers who headed straight into the vortex of a dangerous expanding crisis. I was in awe of her bravery.

Last fall, Liberia was declaring a shortage of body bags. Last week, Liberia was declared Ebola free. 

Ebola has receded from the headlines, but none of us should forget those who bravely went to west Africa to control what seemed only a few months ago uncontrollable. 

When my customer returned to the United States and her family, I received the fabric and a photo of the dress she had in mind.

The fabric was beautiful, a very bright crisp African cotton.  The dress she requested was beautiful and looked simple. The dress design, sleeveless with a ruffled collar, was from Malaika Designs, a socially conscious clothing company. 

Before cutting the fabric, I made a test dress first.  I made my standard one piece lined dress with a ruffled collar sandwiched between the dress fabric and the lining.

Ugh. Not good, at all.

The ruffled collar did not fall correctly. In fact, it did not fall at all, it stood straight up.

Next I used a ruffler to evenly pleat the collar ruffle and tried hand stitching it to the finished dress . The collar now fell correctly, but seemed too small compared to the photo from Malaika designs. It was just not African enough.

Next I made a wider collar, used the ruffler and hand stitched the ruffle to the outside collar edge. I was happy, more than happy, I was smitten. I loved this little dress style on Phoebe.

I went ahead and cut into the fabric and began sewing.

The doll modeling the dress was also purchased.

“The doll will be named after one of my patients who did not survive, but battled the disease so hard. 

“She was an amazing woman who opened her own clinic and took care of patients with Ebola but sadly became infected herself. Her family said that they tried to convince her to stop taking care of patients, but she wouldn't. They said that she was the kind of person who used to hand out free medications even before this epidemic. Healthcare was her calling.”

Just what exactly is so special about a handmade doll?

Why buy a handmade doll? Handmade dolls are more expensive and harder to find than mass produced dolls. Yet, they have a growing loyal following. Why is that?

As a maker of handmade dolls, I felt too close to the subject to answer. So I asked a few buyers, not just of my dolls, but of all kinds of handmade dolls. And I asked one of my favorite doll-makers--Jenny Marshall of Little Jenny Wren. I was sure she would have thought a bit about this, and she had.

The reason that I heard the most is how the dolls feel (not their emotions) but the tactile qualities. Handmade dolls can be made from all sorts of materials: cotton, wool, linen, muslin, yarn. They can be sewn or knitted. All of those materials are nice to touch. One mother said she heard about handmade dolls from others in her cloth diaper group, but could not understand why these other moms would pay $200 for a doll. So she decided to find out for herself and ordered a handmade doll. She said when she first held the doll, she understood.

“There was no going back to store bought dolls from that point on and I can see many more finding a home with us in the future"

Jenny Marshall: To me the feel of the doll is as important as the look of the doll and I feel the body reacts more tenderly and gently to the textures and warmth of natural fibres, there is a softening response, a need to care for the doll. 

If you have not held a handmade doll, then you have not experienced the feeling.

Some handmade doll owners collect all kinds of dolls, handmade and mass-produced;  they are doll-lovers and appreciate all kinds of dolls. But there are many who are not keen on mass produced dolls. They value the uniqueness that is part of the handmade doll experience. They have the opportunity to create a doll that speaks to them, because the dolls are made one at a time, buyers can customize a doll. Hair, skin color, size and clothing can all be specified.

Because the doll took so many hours to make there won’t be many like it. Like those who hunt and collect works by a specific artist, when you find what you like, it is coveted. You cannot buy as many as you want. Handmade dolls are procured. Although with the internet, handmade dolls are easier to find.

One mom, with five girls described how hard it used to be to find handmade dolls,

"I've always bought my girls unique dolls, I hate the mass produced dolls. Years ago when my older girls were little, handmade dolls were very hard to find and the only ones they had were knitted dolls. I'm loving now that with my youngest, there’s all the gorgeous handmade dolls that are out there."

For some, buying handmade is part of supporting those who make them for a living, or the use of natural materials, or both. The purchase of the doll fits into a larger philosophy or world-view. One mother said, “I buy handmade because they are made with natural materials more often and are made with love by one person who is often a mother who is able to stay home with her family by making handmade to support their income."

Another mom said, " I don't buy too many toys for my children, usually waiting for special occasions and I always chose quality over quantity. I want to teach my children the importance of buying responsibly."

Others appreciate the relationship with the maker and the back-story. Doll-lovers can match themselves with doll-makers. A win-win for those who love to create and for those who love dolls. Doll-makers love to create dolls that they know will be cherished and doll-lovers love dolls that they played a role in making it special.

As Jenny Marshall so perfectly put it, “The fact also that the doll has taken so many hours to make and during that process has been touched so often by the maker, touched carefully so as not to roughen the doll, but touched and handled lovingly and you can feel that love and care when you hold the doll. Children feel it and adults too,” 

Hoarding or Collecting

Our obsessions generate a lot of stuff. For me it is skeins of yarn, stacks of fabric, spools of thread, rolls of trim, jars of buttons, patterns, books, etc… Fellow crafters might call this a stash.  When I’m honest with myself, I’m not so certain. Is it a stash, is it hoarding or maybe, could it possibly be elevated to a collection?

And exactly how do you draw the lines between any of these terms?

A stash seems simple. Having a supply on hand in case you run out. Enough yarn to make a quick gift or pair of socks on a sick day without going on a search for a “good” yarn. A stash is easy to justify and if small enough may not require a justification. I realize it is a current knitting trend to push the limits of what can be considered a stash.

Both hoarding and collecting mean acquiring more than you will likely use. Maybe hoarders imagine they will use what they obtain and collectors actually try not to. In that case, I’m somewhere in the middle.

Maybe hoarders cannot organize their loot and collectors relish the organizing and displaying. In that case, I am the latter. I love arranging my buttons, trims and fabrics almost as much as I do eventually using them.

For the most part, I am inspired by my stuff. I love piecing together the components of a project—the trim, the buttons, the lining, the threads. Each selection propels me into a deeper trance with the project. 

But I only feel inspired when I have the time to sew or knit. When I don’t and I see all of my fabric and yarn, I just feel deprived of time--the one thing that cannot be hoarded, collected or stashed.