Working on a Crocheted Doll by Sue Pendleton

The crocheted doll by Sue Pendleton I started months ago is screaming for attention!  I finally found the started doll, threads and pattern at the same time.  So before I lose something, I started working on it again.  The doll is really cute!  So far the body, arms and head are made.  Currently I'm working on the clothes.  Can't wait to finish it and put up a picture.

Cleaning and sorting had to wait a bit.  But I have finally started sorting through the beads!  I've sorted two boxes so far.  Once the beads are sorted into colors I will start sorting by type and size.  Putting away the beads is a big job.  Then I want to start making jewelry for the Fair.

Yesterday I found two Barbie dresses that are close to being finished.  Unfortunately I don't have matching threads to finish them.  Lee said to make the missing sleeves in another color.  The blue dress is fine without sleeves or I could make the sleeves that match the underskirt.  The red dress really needs sleeves and I don't have that color of red thread.  They are both pretty but I really love the red dress.  It will feel great to finish them and have more clothes for Barbie!  Hopefully it won't be hard to find the red thread.

 

Blue crocheted dress,

 

Red crocheted dress.

 

Haven't Posted in a While

Recently I have been pushing myself to get the craft area cleaned up and organized.  It is really coming together after a lot of hard work.  Most of the work has been sorting through stuff.  But it has been hard to do especially the bending down part!  But it has been worth the effort!  Being able to find supplies is wonderful and gives me more crafting time.  This lovely Barbie sweater set was in with the doll making supplies, I made this years ago.

 

Knitted Barbie sweater set.

 

Mountmellick work at padding stage.

In the last few days I have been working on the Mountmellick embroidery. It is coming out very well but being whitework is hard to photograph.  Apparently part of Mountmellick is heavy padding.  The padding starts with seed stitch, then two layers of satin stitch and then a final layer of satin stitch.  All the layers make the embroidery quite thick and the fabric needs to be strong.  The pattern I'm doing is Dog Roses and Blackberries, from "Mountmellick Embroidery" by Pat Trott.  It is a beautiful pattern and I may try making it as a Crewel embroidery next.  I thought it would be really pretty having the same pattern with and without color as matching pillows.  The curtain scarf I've been working on has finished edges in crab stitch now.  I plan on adding a border in crochet lace and maybe a few crocheted flowers, all in white of course!

The last couple of weeks I have also been doing research on Hedebo embroidery.  Hedebo seems to be an obscure form of embroidery.  It is a form of white work that is roughly similar to Schwalm.  When I'm finished I will post links to the few links I've found.  While doing all this research I found the best site www.archive.org  Some libraries having scanned out of copyright books and made them available for downloading in several formats.  I've had lots of fun at the site getting access to old books.  This is especially helpful when researching needlework.  So many embroidery and lace instructions are hard to find in modern books.  In fact I had to purchase two magazines from 1906 and 1916 to find detailed hedebo instructions.  Hedebo was already obscure by the early 20th century.

With some luck I hope to make a tutorial on Dorcet Singleton buttons.  I've made a few and want to make a set for a shirt.  These will have to be washable so it limits the supplies and embroidery used.  Button making is really fun and a good skill if you make 16th century style clothing!  Now to get back to some research!

Cleaning and Sorting

The last few days I have been sorting through crafting supplies.  With the addition of so much floss to my collection I needed new boxes.  So I went to a sale at Beverly's and got a 3-pack of round boxes and covered them with paper.  Now I'm not quite sure where to put the larger boxes but I now have enough box space for the overflowing ribbons and embroidery floss.

I also found my doll making supplies and with them 7 beautiful Barbie dresses that I had crocheted.  I was anxious to find them because I wanted them for the Barbie Altrusa tree.  Unfortunately I didn't find the wedding dress, I must have given it to someone.  So now to decide on a wedding dress design.

A lot of the books are better sorted, but I'm still missing a few. Working on so much embroidery and lacework, I decided to put those books in the bedroom.  That gave me a lot more bookspace in the craft room.  The bead sorting hasn't even started!  But it is possible to walk around in the room and even sit on the floor.  Lee bought me another 200 page covers so I can organize the patterns I have downloaded from the Internet.  But I need some more binders!

The Richelieu work piece is coming along.  The final decision was to work it on a bleached muslin using a fine silk thread.  Instead of working buttonhole bars I decided to use woven bars.  The woven bars are a little more work but they look bolder.  I've almost finished the running threads and should start the buttonhole edges and satin stitches soon.  I've started lesson on from the needle painting book.  Monday I practised needle tating with some of the new needles.  It is wonderful having a variety of needle sizes to work with even yarn tatting.  Yesterday I spent time working half throws and cloth stitch samples.  Using the back of the ribbon board for bobbin lace worked great.  But I need to cut the rest of the wall insulation into movable sections so I can make a bobbin lace scarf.  A bobbin lace scarf would be a great project for the Fair.