Doll Restoration

Over the past month or so, I've been cleaning & renovating some of my 1950/60s vinyl fashion dolls. Here's the most impressive one before I started work.

She's a "Miss Rosebud" bridal doll: the body had white marks on it & was grubby in places, her hair was very flat & dusty & the dress was very grubby with some staining to the lace & net. She was washed using Ecover washing solution & her hair washed with Johnsons Extra Sensitive Baby Shampoo. The dress was left to soak in Vanish & then washed in Stergene. Here's the finished result.

The 2 dolls in the background were also cleaned - they too are Miss Rosebud dolls.

Step 5 - Finishing & Stitches

Here's just some of the stitches used for joining the pieces together - plus a personal name tag!

 

Step 4 - Making "Edges & Joiners"

These are the squares now complete with their joining fabrics placed ready for stitching.

After joining the main central pieces, the next step was to edge the quilt on the long edges using small strips & then binding all outer edges. Below are the 2 edging strips at either side of the long edges joined to the central panel.

 

Step 3 - Making squares

One main consideration in making this quilt was to ensure it didn't become too heavy. Being cotton fabric, the smaller the pieces & more joins there are, the heavier it gets. Too large pieces, then the cover can begin to look "scrappy". Below is the first set of squares made & layed out on a double bed to see what they look like. (the underlying black is an existing duvet on the bed).

On second thoughts, I decided to turn the squares as the overall length would be too long when finished left at the angle originally planned.. They also looked better this way. Looking at the remaining "border fabrics" resulted in planning colours to enhance those already in each of the squares. However, with insufficient sized remnants & to maintain minimum cover weight, these had to be made more as strips. 

I moved these joining pieces several times to retain the overall colouring effect - mainly equal distribution of pinks & blues.

This is the final layout plan - now onto making these inserts & edgings.

 

Step 2 - Cover designs

The next step after the initial samples, was to get some designs on paper - the first is below.

Checking on the fabric sizes, I was unsure if there were sufficient pieces that would allow me to complete some of the longer length strips either side of the central panel (above). Another design was then worked:

This appeared to fit the fabric pieces better & could also assist with assembling individual squares. With this in mind & working with the first 2 fabric samples, I decided to 'mount' the pieces in a fabric surround as below:

This would also enable me to use some leftover plain batik fabric as the outer square strips - these ultimately being stitched like log cabin.

Step 1 - Organise fabrics

The first part to the bed cover was sorting the many cotton fabric leftover pieces into some semblance of order & to ensure there was sufficient fabric. As the main colours ranged generally into pinks, blues & purples, it was decided to use this as a start with a backing lining chosen as being lilac (this was purchased as a flat double sheet in 200 count cotton).

After organising the fabrics, their sizing was next to be reviewed & at this point to start with (because of their varied shapes & sizes), try & join them into a radiating type of square - below are the first ones.

A "Summer Garden" is finished

Covid has meant that I've finally been able to finalise some projects that have been waiting to get completed. One of these was a way of using up a rather large pile of small cotton remnants that I thought would be a perfect "thank you" gift for one of my long-standing customers who I thought needed cheering up. Over the years, she has had many blouses & kimonos made - it seemed a pity to not use them up in some way. So armed with my recent Janome sewing machine, I asked the customer if she would like to have a single quilted throw made. She did - but not a quilted one .... just a cotton throw & here's the result (on a king size bed for the image) - all pieces have been stitched together using different pre-programmed machine embroidered stitches.

Full details will follow in due course as I've only just finished it!

Covid Lockdown = TIDY UP !!

Here I am at the start of 2020 getting slowly organised ... Cover lockdown has given me an excuse to do this!! Above image (from one end of the studio) doesn't look very roomy .. but once things are fully away in cupboards & on shelves, I hope it will be!! Some curtains are ready for stitching on the island unit - it's an excellent height for doing this & with its stainless steel top, means it will be perfect for any paints or similar.

However, I doubt if I will be using this as a main studio blog anymore ... unless I have something related to its use as a 'working studio' (i.e. for use & equipment only). The reason is I'm trying to co-ordinate things better so that certain blogs become "more specific & dedicated" ... so if you want to read more of what I'm actually doing, please click here so that you can "follow my journey".

New Studio for 2019 ..

Above is the new studio ready for painting last year ... it's since been decorated & now has cabinets & equipment in ... BUT it's now in the process of STREAMLINING inside !!

Shawl finished with Dog Paws !!

The dog fur shawl was finally finished over a year ago & if you want to see it click here. Below is a close-up of the stitch pattern & if you look closely I think you can see a dog's paw (well I think it is!).

Clicking on the above link will also update on what has been happening to me but importantly, the studio is on the move again. MORE NEWS to follow in due course.

Poorly made & badly fitting ...

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a customer who had purchased a 'Mother of the Bride' dress on-line. As is usual with garments like this, there are many factors that cannot be seen 'in the hand' & as a result, only the written information provided on the web-site can be used as a guide to ascertain the quality of the garment. Additionally, only on-line information can determine certain aspects regarding the company who is supplying the garment.

In this example, my customer purchased the dress after reading all the on-line company guidelines and seeing descriptions such as "hand stitched .... by experienced tailors ... personally made to your measurements" available on the web-site in question. She was extremely disappointed when the dress finally arrived & looked nothing like the garment she was expecting (incidentally full payment was requested when ordered). She tried to return the garment & obtain a refund but unfortunately, like many companies like this one, 'returns for poor workmanship were not catered for' ! She showed the dress to me for my opinion - here briefly outlined are just a few of the problems described in a report I sent to her:

• only a single front view of the garment was displayed on-line with no explicit description for it
• specific garment detail did not exactly match with the on-line image
• no fabric content label was evident for the garment - a legality for the UK
• various basic garment measurements/shapings were not identical on left & right sides of the garment
• all visible seams had been poorly stitched with extra long stitch lengths being used
• pleating at the waistline's centre back/front was excessively bulky & uneven

The moral of this?

If you are thinking of purchasing your garment on-line, CHECK & DOUBLE-CHECK all the information being provided .... especially regarding fabric, any descriptions & all company details. Also look at customer reviews - not just the first ones listed but look at many. And check on the SKU code ... see if the garment is listed anywhere else for sale. 

Otherwise you too could be the proud owner of a badly fitting & unflattering garment

In my customer's case, the dress was listed at another 8 sites (with different names but all having similar prices) - all displaying an identical web-company format !! & no doubt having the same returns policy!

Incidentally, there are many companies who have a reputable & trustworthy on-line business ...

just make sure you purchase from one.

Dog fur knitting - problems resolved ...

The last problem was finally resolved after several hours rewriting plus checking & verifying stitch counts etc etc. And guess what it was? ... my error as I had missed out a 'yarn over' 2 rows earlier to where I was!!! I also will put my hand up & add that in trying to save time, I decided to omit adding stitch/pattern markers. NOT A GOOD IDEA as it was this omission where I think I may have missed the 'yarn over'. Anyway now I'm back on track but still writing out in longhand all the charted pattern.
And this is where I am now at:

Dog fur shawl begins ... BUT with some initial problems !!

THIS IS WHERE I NOW HAVE STOPPED TO VERIFY YET AGAIN !

The saga so far......

Before using my dog fur yarn, I began knitting a sample from the lace shawl pattern in some 4ply as I wanted to try the stitch pattern out. The shawl pattern was a charted one - appeared reasonably easy (which it stated on the pattern) & as I have knitted for many years, thought it would be not be any challenge for me although thought it may take be some time to finish between other things I have on the go.

After beginning twice (see samples below) ...

... I initially began to have some doubts regarding my experience!! On closer inspection of the charts, I noticed ...

Problem 1:
The pattern contained an error regarding stitch counts either side of centre!! (lower sample above shows correct stitching) - the mirror-imaging of the lace had one more stitch on the left!! Working many years ago for a knitting company, this is not unusual so decided to rewrite the charted pattern accordingly in "longhand".

Problem 2:
Next, believing the pattern to start at the base of the shawl (the pointed end of the triangle) with the instructions not advising otherwise, I began work using the darkest of my yarn as I wanted a striping sequence ranging from dark to light. As I VERY SLOWLY worked the lace pattern (double checking stitch counts on alternate rows & writing it in longhand), the apparent 'point' began to even out as the lace pattern expanded. Suddenly I realised, that the cast on edge (beginning with just 2 stitches) was in fact the upper neck edge & the lace pattern was slowly transforming the 'point' into a straight edge!! Undaunted yet again, I slowly unpicked my work even though I had now knitted 20 rows. Expecting the yarn to be quite matted, I was nicely surprised. - my dog yarn unpicked very well!

Problem 3:
And so I began again - this time using the lightest yarn & worked from my new set of pattern instructions complete with the alterations. Then as I began to knit the next chart ... another problem appeared to arise!! The lace pattern did not seem to work on the repeats!! So now I'm back to the drawing board to rewrite the charts in full & see what has happened !!!

Dog fur spinning to beginning knitting ...

During the past 2 weeks I've been starting on knitting the fine dog fur but to date had not detailed what had happened so far. Over a number of years, I'd saved our longhaired GSD fur brushings & had a box of over 1kg of it!! After contacting a spinner in Devon last Autumn, I sent her 3 'collections' of the fur (light & dark see below) & collected it as spun hanks ready for knitting with.

Light fur

Dark fur

I proceeded to wind each of the hanks into skeins - appx 320 yards per skein.

Winding the light 'fur' - dark & medium skeins in background

I then began a tension square - the spinner had recommended quite large so that the yarn could retain a mohair/angora look to it.

Wound yarn in the 3 colours

On a visit to Knitting & Stitching Show last year, I came across a triangular lacy shawl pattern - ideal as a basis to start from. After an initial inspection of the pattern, I decided to knit a test sample in a 4ply yarn - mainly to look at the charted pattern plus ascertain a possible needle size. On first inspection of the pattern, there appeared to be an error & my test sample confirmed this. A decision to rewrite the instructions in long-hand would now have to occur!! & decided this should be done as I knitted using my GSD yarn. (By the way, at this stage I knitted on 2 needles.)

The pattern appeared to begin at the lower back edge - in the middle of the pointed edge. The lace pattern appeared to radiate from this point upwards - gradually increasing in size. I therefore decided to begin knitting with the darkest yarn using a 4mm needle. After working appx 20 rows, 2 noticeable facts became apparent: firstly the knitting began at the upper & longer edge & secondly the knitting was too firm.

Somewhat apprehensive of unpicking the yarn (in the event it broke or would not easily unpick), I slipped the stitches off the needle & proceed to unpick ... all went well. I started again on 5.5 mm needles & this time used the light yarn. This would mean the long inner neckline edge (from where the pattern began) would be the lightest colour & darkest would be at the hemline.

This is where the actual knitting now starts!!

Dog fur to shawl !! ...

In April this year, we lost our German Shepherd (pictured left) & at 14 she'd lived a long life despite having several recent health issues as well as a skin condition for many years which involved having regular baths. For any non-pet owner - long-haired GSD's have double coats & are constantly loosing fur!!! With the extra baths, this generated a lot of fur which I collected over the time we had her.






On an experimental textile course several years ago, I came across references of spinning pet fur & over subsequent years tried to locate a local spinner. Unfortunately I had no luck but still continued to collect all our dog combings & by April I had a large cardboard box full. Now living in another part of the country, I decided to try again & find a spinner.


After sending samples to 2 different spinners, one retuned exactly what I had in mind - pictured right is her test swatch of my combings. It was perfect for what I had in mind.

I located my old 'wool winder' (see left) in readiness for when my fur was spun & skeined.

My next series of posts here will detail this 'knitting journey' as it slowly takes place in between my other activities.

Wedding dress details ...

Finally, all information has now been included for the making of the Black Wedding Dress (click if you want to find out all about it) & a special "THANKYOU" to the bride 'K' who permitted me to do the write-up & use photos.

One of my special designer touches ! ...

One of my special "designer touches" is to stitch the wedding date into the dress - a nice easy finish with freehand machine embroidery! This was completed for the black wedding dress currently detailed here: Black wedding dress

Boning a bodice ...

A boned bodice is being made for the wedding dress - if you want to find out how it was done, please click boning a bodice. If you'd like to see more about the making of the actual dress that the bodice was made for, then click how the Halloween dress was made

Diary Date: Hobbycraft ...

I'll be here in Bristol at Cribbs Causeway) between 11am & 1pm - Friday 4 July.

This time I'm having an "Advice-cum-Open Surgery" session so if you want to bring along any stitchery problems that need help or guidance, I'll be pleased to help - if you can, bring the stitching with you too!

Alternatively, I'll be able to just provide some in-store advice or answer a textile related query you may have.

See you there!

Patchwork / Mesh sample with added lace ...

I'm trialling some MESH samples for use in my on-going projects (more samples are here: http://stitcherydoodaasamples.blogspot.co.uk).

Some small off-cuts from the earlier patchwork waistcoat have been cut into strips & 'woven' together to create a 'mesh' like fabric. Stitched using a variety of utility stitches & using several different colour threads, some short left-over lengths of old lace have also been included. When completed, a 'free machine embroidered' edge was stitched around the edges for later working.

woven strips of cotton fabric

section of 'mesh' being worked

final strips of lace with cream stitching

completed (so far) with outer free machine edge