Olivia, redone

Olivia had a face repaint.  Here is a link to a photo from before.  I didn't like something about her eyes and her cheeks seemed too dull, so I enhanced the face paint by repainting the eyes and eyelashes.  I reblushed her cheeks and chin, too, and now I like her better.  I made her a dress with an Ionker A-line pattern, which I lengthened.  I decided it needed embroidery and a hat to make it complete.

Here is a closeup of her face painting.  I also re-wigged her, as her original wig was not of good quality.  I used a mohair Heidi wig and overall, I think she's much cuter.

Luke in Overalls

Luke in Overalls
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

I made some new overalls for my little Customhouse Ange Ai Uri today. I love this photo. The lighting came out just perfect. I also photographed him reading a book (below). There are a few more photos on my flickr account.

Cuteness Just for Cuteness' Sake

Alice has a cupcake
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

Alice Cherry Blossom is just too cute. It's cold and dreary here this afternoon. What better to perk the day up than a scrumptious cupcake offered by an adorable piglet?

Bookworm

Bookworm
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

This little wormy is from the Wee Wonderfuls pattern for Evelyn Inchworm. Once I got her finished, I thought she would be a great gift for my favorite librarian, so into the mail she went, to my sister!

Home Economics at Cornell in 1918

I was browsing Flickr and realized that the Flickr Commons has a number of photographs uploaded from my alma mater, Cornell.  I was looking through, and stopped on this photograph.   Click on it and view it in the highest resolution.  These were some interesting ladies.  They posed for this photo right before women got the vote in the US.  You can read their biographies here: Faculty of Home Economics at Cornell in 1918-19 school year.  You can see the second row first lady on the left is holding her glasses in her hands.  I wonder if the photographer made her take them off or if she wanted to remove them for the photo?  There are so many details present in this photograph.  The laces appear so crisp and fresh and the expressions of each of the women make me wonder more about them and their personal stories.

I find this photo fascinating, not only for the glimpse into history, but for the character and personality of each of the women pictured in it.  There's some enlightening reading on the history of Home Economics in the US here.

"Canning peaches. Sewing a dress. Making perfect gravy. These are familiar images of home economics, but do they tell the whole story? So often home economics has been cast as a "conspiracy to keep women in the kitchen," an interpretation that has overlooked its impressive and diverse contributions. New scholarship in American women's history suggests that home economics was a progressive field that brought science to the farm home and women into higher education and leadership positions in public education, academia, government and industry."

Little Hedgehogs

 

I love this Japanese print fabric!  I still have a little left.  I only use it for special projects.  I made this dress for my sister for one of her ball-jointed dolls.  It looked so good on Dawn, though, that I had to take a few photos.  I also made a little embroidered felt jacket to go with it, but I didn't photograph that.  Dawn is just the cutest, even though she is factory painted rather than hand-painted.  She's a Let's Play Dolls exclusive by Dianna Effner for Boneka.

Bitty Belle by Helen Kish

 

Here's a girl who doesn't get enough attention.  I love her hair.  This is Bitty Belle by Helen Kish, about 11 inches tall and just as cute as can be.  I made her a new outfit, because she had been wearing her previous one for way too long.   The dress pattern is from a Rosemary Ionker pattern and the fabric is a small quilting calico from Fabric.com.

Riki with Puppy

Riki with Puppy
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

Riki, by Helen Kish, is snuggling with my Toby portrait sculpture by Barlee Rumburg. I made Riki a new outfit yesterday. She looked cold in her sleeveless summer dress!  Below is the full view of the outfit.  The pantaloons are made from a Londie Phillips pattern and I drafted the bonnet and top myself.  The top is wool felt.  The embroidery pattern is based on an illustration in a Dover book of floral embroidery patterns.

Before and After

After seeing one of the dresses I sold on etsy on a Narsha, I realized that I really needed to add one to my collection.  I found the one above (upper right photo) on Den of Angels forum and knew when I bought her she would need to be repainted.  I spent the weekend repainting her (twice!) and now I'm satisfied with her appearance. She needs new hair and eyes, though, but the ones that she has are OK for now.  Narsha is about 14 inches tall, but her torso is quite delicate.  I find that she can actually wear Bitty Bethany clothing, but it needs to be lengthened.  Items for the 13" Effners and 14" Kish girls fit her, too, but they're rather baggy around the middle.  I'm looking forward to sewing for her. 

So good to be appreciated

Here's my little old dog, Toby, curled up on the bed I made for him.  His old bed was pretty icky, so today he had a bath and while he was drying off, I made him this bed from some leftover fleece.  About five minutes after I set it on the floor, he curled up on it and he's been sleeping there ever since.  He's a sweet little doggy.  Those are appliqued hearts in the corner for him to rest his head on.

Oregon and Pennsylvania

Finally, I have finished a few more blocks on the State Flowers Quilt.  I'm resting at home for three weeks after having foot surgery, so I have time to embroider!  These are from Vicki's free patterns.  I should have taken the iron to them prior to photographing them.  They're not as uneven as they look!

Doll with Doll

 

April is playing with the 1:12 scale baby from my Edwardian dollhouse.  He is dressed in a little dress I knitted when I was crazy.  (It was really difficult to knit that tiny and I wouldn't attempt it again!)  April is wearing a dress similar to the one I made in Little Darling Effner size.  I was asked if I could make a similar dress in yo-sd size, and I did and it's already mailed out to the recipient.  I hope she enjoys it! 

Little Middleton Toddler

Little Guy Closeup
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

This is a little doll I redid recently. The head came with another doll I ordered, and once he arrived he needed some fixing up. I wanted to take him off the too-small body he arrived on, so I posted a want ad on Doll-Fan and a nice person sent me a standing toddler body for him. Finally today I reassembled him and I think he came out pretty cute. He had extensive re-painting. The whole original face was stripped and I redid his paint from a blank slate. I also re-wigged him. He's funny and he makes me smile!  He needs a name, though.

Today's Sewing Project

 

I've had a thing lately for drop-waist dresses.  I have a feeling there are more to come, too.  I will eventually list this one on etsy, but I want to make some accessories of some type to go with it, first.  My Rosen Lied Tuesday's Child Beige is modeling.  Her red hair seemed just the thing for this outfit.  It will also fit 10" Effner dolls by Boneka.

Zoe Effner in Blue

Zoe Effner in Blue
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

I made Zoe a new dress. We were going to list it on etsy, but the back of the collar came out a little off, so she's keeping it. That's a good thing from her perspective, because she needs more clothes!

Dennis Hopper the Bunny

Dennis in springtime
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

It's been a sad year for me. My bunny, Dennis, passed away on Monday night. He'd had a thymoma (large mass in his chest) that was diagnosed in spring '09. He had radiation to shrink it last summer, which gave him more than a year of extra, happy life. It grew back and he started to have a bit of trouble with it this summer. He was still happy and eating and playing up to Monday night when he suddenly became much worse and died before I could euthanize him.

Dennis was a good little bunny and a good little friend. Brother Cat liked to sleep in his exercise pen with him and keeps looking in his cage to see where he is. Dennis was always friendly, loved treats and carrots and had the softest fur. He was sometimes naughty and chewed up my woodwork, but that's what bunnies do when you don't watch them! His passing was not unexpected, but he will still be missed.

Kitchen Wainscot

dollhousekitchen
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

April Cottage, after a stalled summer of work, is under construction again. Yesterday evening I finished applying the wainscot to all walls of the kitchen except the wall with the door, which will have to wait until I install the door and the door trim. Next up is the parlor, which will be painted in a soft blue with stained wooden wainscot. I'm a little afraid of wiring this house, as I've never electrically wired any houses before, so we'll see how that works out!

Zoe Effner in Purple and Lace

Zoe Effner in Purple and Lace
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

I'm working on how to blog directly from Flickr and thought I would share this photo of Zoe, as well. She's easy to photograph!

Late Summer

It's getting cool at night and the local kids all go back to school in just two days.  This time of year always reminds me of stronger colors like dark purples and golds.  I made Zoe Effner a dress inspired by the season.   The lace is a lovely lace I found on etsy and the ribbon is silk.

Bunny!

I love bunnies.  I have had a bunny as a pet since my dad brought me home Butterscotch when I was four.  I still have a bunny, Dennis Hopper, who is now seven or so (old for a Netherland Dwarf) and still a happy little guy.  I have wanted Curo Bunny from Pipos since I first saw her and I finally broke down and ordered one and she came the other day.  She's so cute!  Her outfit is up on etsy, though--she told me pink is not her color, really.  She would prefer something in light carrot.  Or grass green...  She's so cute I can barely stand it.