Sending hugs in the post :: part 1

I don't live in the same country as my mother or my sister. We are spread around Europe, just a few hours away by aeroplane. We can visit the lush greenery of Ireland to see my mother, and we can bask in the hot sunshine when visiting my sister in the south of Spain. They come here (the Netherlands) to marvel at the intricate grid systems of canals and windmills that keep the fields and cities safe from flooding.

The modern world allows us to keep in touch via Skype and What's App etc, but it doesn't replace the comfort of a hug. A real, in-person, hug. Nothing ever will.

But some things can come close. Let me show you what I made as substitutes for hugs for when we are not around each other in person.

For my sister, I made a doll, using the pattern from this wonderful book, De Poppen van Tante Hilde. I love that this book gives you the basics (doll and clothing) and then the sky is the limit. This is my second time making a doll like this (the first one lives in Germany now), and I love the results.

Using an old t-shirt of mine as the body, which I dyed slightly with coffee to darken it from white-beige to a bit of a darker beige, and some interesting gold/green/beige cotton for her torso (I didn't have enough t-shirt material left due to a cutting error! Oops!), this little woman came to life.

I decided to give her a felt hair style, which I machine stitched with a decorative flower-like stitch. I ended up not including the bear ears as depicted in the middle image above...

I upcycled a thrift-store shirt to create a mini-version for the doll (again, using the pattern for the open blouse from Tante Hilde's book). I managed to keep the original buttons, so from cutting to finished product, this little item of clothing was made in a jiffy! For her skirt, I used some left over corduroy originating from an old pair of my husband's trousers. Mini-man and Big Brother contributed to the doll by drooling on, or playing with her before I wrapped her up for posting.

 

I added a box of different tea-bags for my sister's partner, and sent the whole thing...by snail mail (a self-carved stamp, inspired by this lovely book by Gennine; and she has a great online resource if you want to try it out yourself).

And I can happily say that she was well received by the recipient :) Yay! Now there's a little bit of the four of us keeping my sister company even though we are far from each other.

Another type of doll...

I promised myself that I would only start a new project, once I had finished one on my Work-in-Progress list. Well, my little man got his doll, after months of it sitting in my WIP box. So time to start a new project...

I bought this book for myself for Christmas. My sister-in-law had made a beautiful Princess doll for her daughter for Christmas, and so I wanted to give this style of doll-making a try. My experience with doll-making being limited, I found the instructions of Tante Hilde straightforward and clear. You should check out her blog and marvel over the amount of lovely dolls this woman has created...

With a clear deadline in mind (visiting friends whose daughter would be the recipient of the doll), I started tracing and cutting the fabric for this doll 5 days before we had to leave. Stuffing a doll isn't as boring when you're watching a hilarious comedian, so after two short evenings the doll was stuffed and ready to be given hair and a face. In one evening I had given her dark brown eyes, and a soft pink mouth. Her hair is two-toned, brown and cream, and gathered into two pigtails on either side of her head. She was given a batik-like torso, because I didn't have enough skin-coloured fabric for the entire doll ;)

I made her a plain khaki skirt, trimmed with orange-blossom bias tape. Now she was ready (or at least we had to leave to visit the friends whose daughter was getting this doll). Into the car she came with us as we travelled north, through Friesland and over the border into Germany, where she was well received by her new owner!

However an outfit isn't complete without a jacket and shoes, so upon my return I made her a little fleece cardigan, trimmed in the same bias as for the skirt, and completed the look with a pair of green felt shoes. 

And now there's a little package in its way to Germany. 

I've learnt that there's nothing like a clear deadline to get my creative bug rolling. Now, to instil that sense of deadline for other projects...

A Waldorf doll

About a year ago I really wanted to make a Waldorf-inspired doll for my then 1-year old son. I liked the idea of creating a look-a-like doll for him, and while I don't necessarily find all aspects of Waldorf style education appealing, I like the idea of using simple, natural materials/toys for development through play.  I found a supplier of doll-making kits in the Netherlands and I ordered this kit, which, with the blond hair shown on the kit, is basically my son in waldorf-doll format. Perfect!

The kit arrived and I got started straight away. The limbs, head, and body were made and then sat in my "work-in-progress" box for nearly a year (oh, I am so ashamed to admit that!) as other aspects of life took over (I'm this close to finishing my PhD thesis!). 

Well, my little Mister Man is still waiting for that doll! And given my crafting resolutions for this year it was first on the list to become a Finishing Object!

Then he got a cap of hair:

Using a crochet hook, I added locks of hair all over the cap, followed by a "stylish" hair cut. 

And he really came to life with the addition of two blue eyes, a little button nose, and a cheeky red grin.

Then, with the help of this book, I made a lumberjack type hoody (with Velcro along the front) and a pair of pleat-front trousers to dress this new boy. 

I'm so happy how he turned out. Here he is, enjoying the bit of sun we got in this cold winters day. Now to introduce him to my little man. 

Here's to the first item crossed off my In-Progress list! Yay!

Elizabeth