Skip to main content

Flashback Friday


Here is a blast from the past .... While cleaning up the spare bedroom, I found a photo of  some of the first dolls I made - cloth dolls  from 1980-1981. Dating them has been fairly easy  from the photo below.  I am sure the location is Bombala ( heavy blue curtains)  and my daughter, pictured below with the dolls  had lost her front teeth. ( Naomi was born in February, 1975)
The doll on the left was from a Simplicity pattern, the next one is an attempt at a sock doll, and the other two were made from a Style pattern. In those days, Bombala was  a small, fairly isolated town (no sewing shops) and there was no internet  or online shopping, so the patterns were mail ordered, or perhaps I had brought them with me from Tenterfield where I would have ordered them from the local haberdashery shop. I do remember at least making a few of the large "Simplicity " doll while living in Tenterfield, and I am sure my niece, Melanie owned one of those.


Cleaning up is not only good for our living environment, but it's good for the spirit. Amazing -  this morning, I actually found the pattern for the boy and girl dolls - all still in tact - Style pattern #2011. I wonder if it is still available today, and how much it costs. When I bought it, it was $1.80 ( or only $1.50 in New Zealand!)  


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stitched Gardens and Magpies

  Magpies are always around  in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath.  They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of  recent little works in the stitched garden series.  I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features  my husband's great aunt,  Sarah Ann Bath.  I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality,  she grew up  in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK  See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts:  How does your garden grow with stitch?  How does your garden grow with crayons? 

Dotee Divertissement

Dotee by Wendy Anderson  What is a "dotee' doll? ...  A dotee is a mini art doll, meant to be traded or swapped. The dolls 6 inches /15 cm tall or smaller, but the hanger or tail can exceed that measurement. They have a face, but do not require arms or legs. Dotees have a loop for hanging, and come with tails (tails are fibres, ribbon, charms or other string-y things that add to the theme of the doll). Dotees can be made from a variety of materials - fabric, felt, paperclay, yarn, beads, gourds or any other material/media that you can make a doll from. Most dotee makers add buttons, beads, sequins, embroidery, or charms to embellish the doll. Dotee dolls by Wilma Simmons At the February meeting of Gumnut Dollies Newcastle, the group activity was to revisit these little dolls, which were very popular for doll swaps around the world about 10 years ago. As our theme for 2020 is The Twenties, the little flapper girl face buttons were a good start....  Dot...

How does your garden grow with crayons?

How does your garden grow with crayons? With a little bit of imagination and lots of stitches!  Why does your garden grow with crayons? Because that was the challenge of the monthly assignment of my creative embroidery course.  It was a surprise to open my package and discover a packet of twelve coloured crayons, some white cotton fabric and lots of coloured stranded embroidery cotton. The task was to create a stitched garden, after colouring the fabric with crayons. I have always loved the impressionist Monet gardens, so I approached this task happily.... until I realised how long it takes to fill a space with stitches! Crayon applied to cotton fabric with texture ( rubber stamp under the fabric) - Empress Wu Designs 2015  Stitching the "distant" spaces first - French knots, Lazy Daisy stitch, fly stitch, straight stitch. Empress Wu  Designs 2015  Detail  1 - Crayon Garden - Empress Wu Designs 2015 (French knots, fly stitch, straight ...