#Pattern Revists 1

I've been crocheting since 2009/2010 when I found an extremely helpful book in the high school library. Crochet became my go to for present making. Birthdays, weddings, Christmas, you name it.

Around May 2010, I crocheted my friend Anaiza the four ninja turtles for her birthday. Yeah, we're a little old for dolls, so what? They were ooo'd and awwwww'd over and (in my opinion) won the best gift. I was really proud of those dolls.

Now, looking back at the pictures in my craft album, I wonder how much I've improved. Certainly my shapes have gotten better and I no longer use googly eyes as often.

Yesterday, I decided to return to the pattern that I used to make these dolls. This was originally posted by underthemountain on craftster. Find it here. It really is a wonderful pattern. I noticed right off that I was able to read it better and go a little bit faster.

I only made one doll. It took about 5 or less hours for me to complete it. And it turned out waaaay better than these four.

It's really cool to be able to use the same pattern and have it turn out differently years later. I'm glad to see improvements in my skill.

I will probably be doing more of these as I have a lot of patterns that I would like to retry now that I have more experience.


If you love this doll as much as I do, you can pick him up here for $15.

6/6/2014

Happy Etsy Craft Day, everyone!

If you follow my Facebook fan page you might have heard that I had been planning a party for today. Unfortunately scheduling with my work did not work out and I was derailed in some of the planning process due to my depression. Hopefully, everyone has a great day full of crafting anyway!

I'm currently working on recreating the dress I had made for my Maria doll. A friend, who has ordered from me twice before, fell in love with the ruffley dress and wanted it for her latest doll. It's definitely going to be a learning experience since the original outfit is a physical part of the doll and must now be made removable. I can make a simple dress, so the skirt and torso part will be a breeze. However, the off the shoulder ruffle and sleeves will need some thinking.

I'm excited to see the finished dress though since I'm using a lovely dark green and the doll will have a mass of curly red hair to really set it off!

Original Dress

Yesterday, I made a trip to my favorite store, Micheals. My bank account isn't completely empty, but I'm really excited to get into my purchases! Since my interest in embroidery is expanding, I picked up some transfer paper because my drawing skills have really declined. I also picked up an iron transfer pen to make my own transfers from illustrations I have around the house.

For my first transfer project, I am going to use a white string knapsack that I also bought at Mike's to make something for myself. Which is completely unheard of. I can't decide if I want to make it something to advertise my Etsy with or to just have it be all queer and angry.

I also bought a cross stitch apron pattern to make for my sweet Alice. It has three cupcakes and says the "Sweet Life." She seems excited by it, so I'm eager to start it so she'll have a cute apron to wear. She currently has a mustard yellow apron that I've been saying I'll embellish, but haven't been inspired.

So, with all these things to do, I've decided to add more to my weekend projects. Today, I listed a set of three crocheted rice balls for play food. This has inspired me to make actually onigiri! The recipes have assured me that it isn't too hard, but I'm still very excited!

Like a lot of modern American teenagers, a lot of my exposure to Japan came through anime and manga. Rice balls stuck out to me because of how common they were in any book I picked up- but they were legit customizable! I plan to make them for the first time ever on Saturday, so look out for a blog post covering them in the next few days!

This is going to be an interesting/busy week. And Orange is the New Black is back today!!!!!! This is a great Friday!

Happy crafting (and Netflix bingeing!)

Bertie

Tutorial- How to put hair on a crochet doll

Do you love making dolls, but don't know how to do hair? There are many different ways out there, but this is how I like to do hair.

This is a photo tutorial I took while adding hair to a recent order. Here's our model:

   

Step 1: Choose your hair color! I chose a dark brown sports weight yarn. This tutorial should work with any weight yarn. However, when making the wig cap, I suggest you use a medium weight version of the color you choose.  

Step 2: We will start making the wig cap. In this version, I am using an H hook since that is what I used to make my doll. An easy way to make a wig cap is to follow the directions you used to make the doll's head. Keep crocheting in the round until you're done increasing and then do one round of single crochet.    

    

Started out with Ch2 and Sc 6 in the first chain

Be sure to match up the cap with your doll's head as you go along, just to make sure.

It's like making a little hat for your dolly. :)

   

    

Step 3: Once your done with the wig cap, finish off and leave a long strand of yarn for sewing. Sew the wig cap onto your dolls head. You can leave the left over yarn as your first strand of hair.   

     

   

  Step 4: We will be making strands of hair. The easiest way to do this is by wrapping your yarn around a long, sturdy object. This can be a piece of cardboard, a DVD case, or a thin book. It only needs to be as long as you want your hair to be. Remember: the thickness of your object will contribute to the length of your hair. Wrap the object as much as you want. When you're satisfied, cut the yarn off the book.

  

   

I chose my text book for Tech Writing! :D Anyway, wrap your yarn around the book as much as you want. I had to do this a couple of times to achieve thick hair. 

 Step 5: Take one strand of the hair and loop it in half.

Like so.

Stick your hook through the stitch where the hairline and the skin tone meet. This is where we'll be starting with the hair. With your hook, pull the looped yarn through the stitch- BUT DON'T PULL IT ALL THE WAY. Wrap the tail around the hook and pull it through the loop already on the hook. This will make a knot that will anchor the hair into place.

Continue to do this all the way around the hair line. Start and stop where you want the bangs to be. You can go all the way around to cut bangs later. It's your choice!

 If you feel this is the look you want for your doll, then feel free to stop! If not, then continue to add hair around the wig cap as you just did. If you do not want to do the full head of hair, you can "cheat" by adding a row in the middle of the cap and than another row or two around the top of the cap. Since I was instructed to add as much hair as possible, I added hair to every single row of the wig cap.

A thick, lustrous head of hair!

 Step 6: Hair cut! The yarn won't be even when you're done. Also this is your chance to give your doll some style~

Finished!

 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful. If there are any questions, please ask! This is my first tutorial.

Happy crafting!

Bertie

Maria del Rosas (Maria of Roses)

As you will see with my projects, I like to work with a variety of colors. This is no different when it comes to the skin of my dolls. We are not all white so why are our toys? I think that it's important that children have options when it comes to choosing  their friends, and there's not many options when the shelves are lined with white figures.

I try to add this variety a lot in my store so it's not overloaded by white dolls. Children deserve to have dolls that reflect themselves, their culture, and their interests.

A recent addition to my store is Maria. She is modeled after a little girl I know and her Hispanic heritage.

The white dress is based off the designs of Costa Rican dresses. The shoes are your typical 'Mary Janes.' She is wearing a green and red belt around her middle and a headband of red flowers. Her hair has been parted and braided, with her bangs cut to run horizontally.

She is approx. 16 in and is currently available for $15 here.  Maria is very friendly and a real sweet girl.

Lola Sweet Lola

 This doll is called Lola, after a doll I made for a friend's daughter. She fell in love with her and I thought this was something all young girls should have.

Lola is a rambunctious young girl who likes to go on adventures and act on her own ideas. Shortly before this photo shoot she chose to cut her hair. Her beautiful curls!! As any mother would, I gave her a good scolding, but really what could I do? The photographer was ready to go and as we all know hair takes a very long time to grow. I refuse to tell her, but it's pretty cute and gives her more of a childish charm. 

So on that day she was joined by her friend, Mia. They spent the day playing as the photographer took picture after picture. It was difficult to get many action shots, but you know how kids are. All over the place at the speed of light. I think the two had fun. There was a lovely tea party and outdoor time. They even read a book. :) Well Mia read most of the book to Lola, she's still learning, before Lola went scrambling off.

Photos:

Mia and Lola posing for the camera. 

Lola LOVES tea parties, especially when there's cake involved.

A smile between friends.

Sugar is the best ingredient of life!

 "Oh would you like a spot of tea, dear?"

"Let me help you with that, Miss Lola!"

"Oh that rascally cat with a hat!"

Lola is as cute as can be!She's very cuddly and can be anybody you want. I do take custom orders if you would like her to have a different look for your child.

Standing, she is 15". She comes with the outfit shown. The dress is removable.

The model shown is wearing a pink dress with  high grey boots. My Lola loves her grey boots! They are part of her legs and so cannot be removed. You can request shorter boots or even bare or stocking feet. My Lola was also made with a white undershirt on since she doesn't like the sun to get too much of her skin. She burns easily.

She is made in a smoke-free, but pet friendly environment. The yarn is worsted weight Red Heart Supersaver brand. The eyes are 5/8", smooth black buttons and securely sewn on. Her mouth was embroidered on.

She should be fine in a washer on the Easy/Delicate cycle, but I recommend spot cleaning when possible. Also lets be careful when drying, air drying is probably your safest bet.

When ordering please remember it may take up to a week for me to make your doll and ship it out. Also you must pay me through my Paypal during that time or else it will take longer for me to send it to you. I do not ship unless I have confirmation on payment. My shipping days are Wednesday and Saturday when possible.

I reserve the right to use pictures of your finished dolls in the future for advertising purposes.

If you want a 'hand-written' note from Lola to the recipient, I will gladly include one free of charge. Simply supply the name, age, and message. Age will only be used to determine the style of the message. For example I may use crayon and lots of backwards letters for a five year old, but for a nine year old I may op for curly lettering and a colorful pen.

To purchase please click here.

Her hair is so unruly, especially after her round with  scissors!

She loves to smile.

If you have questions, email me at chloe.gardner78@gmail.com or post a question in the comments below.

Photographer credit goes to Christine Pritchett
Model credit goes to Mia