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Monday

Poor Patsy

I thought I'd share someone different today, she is a doll from my childhood which I discovered in a box, (recently delivered to me from my mother). There were three and this is the one who is most in need of tender love and care.
 
She is a 15 inch Palitoy Patsy drink and wet baby doll from the early 1950's. Her head is marked, "MADE IN ENGLAND PAT. NO. 535811" and her torso is marked, "BRIT. PAT. 600270, MADE IN ENGLAND, AUSTRAL. 135724, S.A. 813/46, CANADA. 466981".

The doll's head is made of hard plastic and her body a soft rubber. She used to drink, cry and wet, however, this is no longer the case.

Patsy has brown moulded hair, a very cute face with light pink rosy cheeks and a feeding mouth with faded pink lips, nice eyebrows and blue sleep eyes. I think her eyelashes are missing, but maybe they are just pushed in and could be pulled out with tweezers to normal length. Her eyes are pushed back slightly into her head and could use a little adjustment.

Patsy's cute, chubby rubber body really needs a good clean, her crier is missing from her back, but her fingers and toes are good. Although she's a little a worse for wear, I think I will give her a bath and knit her some pretty clothes. I might even have a go at fixing her eyes.

Wednesday

Lazy Days and Daffodils

I have been feeling like I needed some R&R this week, so today hubby and I decided to take a drive through Gippsland to one of our favourite towns . . .  Yarragon. It has some lovely shops, amongst my favourites are Candleberry Country where you'll find a  vast array of pretty fabrics to tempt even the most discerning sewer and Carousel Cottage a lovely shop full of decorative items for the home. Needless to say, I made a small purchase from both of them. :)

We then lunched at Gippsland Food and Wine, where my sweet little Pippin (LF Pipi Girl ~ Tan Skin) became very curious about everything.



After lunch we drove down roads we hadn't travelled before and came across the Blyth Brothers farm . . . and what a spectacular sight to behold it was!


Row upon row of magnificent yellow daffodils and fragrant jonquils. It reminded me of William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".

 I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Little did we realise that this beautiful farm in Ellinbank is Australia's largest daffodil growing business, family run and dating back three generations to 1947.

New Wigs


Monday I received my latest order of wigs from For My Doll. I couldn't quite remember which I ordered for who at first, but it finally all fell into place.

Four of them were for PukiFees. The pink updo was for Macaron, the yellow pigtails for Cookie, and the other two for the PukiFee faceplates I have yet to find bodies for. One 8/9 Carrot wig ready for Verity Delamore-Larkin (April Story Ishyllia) my #2 steampunk sister on order and a 6/7 Pink for Atargatis (Impldoll Baby Gela), my mermaid, who I am currently making a tail for.


Today, I gave Macaron (PF Dony), Cookie (PF Bonnie) and Biscotti (PF Cony) a sort of makeover. Firstly, I swapped Macaron and Biscotti's eyes over giving Macaron the blue and Biscotti the green. Next, I added kips to both their necks as they were nodding quite uncontrollably and then I trimmed and styled the two new wigs. Finally I brushed Biscotti's hair and added a hairclip to keep her hair in check.

I also finally received the boots that should have arrived 15 days ago. Makes you wonder about these postal services and whether they travelled via Austria to get here!


Sunday

Weekly Update

This morning hubby and I attended a planting at the park across the road from where we live. It's not something either of us have done before, but it's a lovely park which we use daily to walk Coco, so we thought we would do our part. Though we didn't really have a great deal to do, because our local Council gardeners had already dug the holes for us to plant the grasses and groundcover, so we were home for lunch. However, it was nice to see so many of the multi cultural mix of people from our neighbourhood attending the planting and to watch the children enjoy themselves.
 
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Just lately I've been thinking about all the fabric and threads I have just sitting here doing nothing. There are so many, I will never use them in my life time. So for the past few days I  have been busy making a new Etsy Store to sell them on to people who can put them to good use.
 
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/MySewingQuarters
 
All the fabrics are like new, many of them have very cute designs on them, but are too large for what I'm currently working on. Others are fabrics not suitable for the dolls clothes I make.
 
The threads have never been used and are still in the boxes they came in, though people may purchase them by the reel. Gutermann threads are made in Germany and are really strong, so they are perfect for crafty people, especially those making teddy bears or felt softies.
 
I am offering a Grand Opening discount of 10% for purchases over $10. Just type this code "OPENING2015" in at the checkout to receive it.
 
Please stop by and add me to your favourites, so you can keep up with the new items I will be adding over the coming weeks, you may just find something you really like.
 
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On the doll and sewing front, it's been a little quiet mainly because I have been waiting on boots to arrive from MoriTime. Unfortunately, it looks like they are lost. She has promised to send them again this coming week and will make a claim for reimbursement from Hong Kong Post. However, it's put me way behind on sewing my steampunk outfits as I need to know how far up the leg the boots are going to sit before I can complete drafting my pattern!
 
Well that's about it my lovelies, I will be back posting dolly stuff shortly. :)
 

Tuesday

Tagged!

I was recently tagged by J.S. from Toy Box Revenge with this question meme, and as I very rarely reveal anything much about myself or my reasons for doll collecting, I thought it a good opportunity to share, so I'll just get on with it.

1. Do you collect anything other than dolls? Yes, teddy bears, books and odd pieces of antique furniture. And fabric of course!

2. Why did you start a doll blog? I wanted to write a journal of sorts and have a place where I could share photos and day to day happenings with my long time friend Diane, who lives in the country and my favourite aunt in the UK. Though with the addition of more dolls, it's evolved quite considerably into what it is today. Blogging has opened up a new world filled with other likeminded people, who I really enjoy chatting with almost on a day to day basis.

3. Do you have one particular doll that is the favourite in your collection? Not one in particular, more like PukiFees in general, they seem to like following me around the house a lot and I often find myself talking to them when no-one else is around. I'm sure if anyone, other than a dolly person, saw me they would think I was completely bonkers!!

4. Your favourite doll accessory? This one's an easy one to answer . . . shoes and wigs, I have a pretty great selection of both. I consider myself to be the Imelda Marcos of dolls shoes. The PukiFees have the most shoes and wigs, but the others have their fair share too.

5. Do you know exactly how many dolls you have in your collection (you don't have to tell the number of course)? Yes I do, but I dare not mention it here. I began by telling hubby I will just order one, a PukiFee and of course everyone knows you can't possibly stop at one PukiFee!! I have made a firm decision though . . . I WILL STOP THE PF's AT AN EVEN DOZEN. You may notice I said little about all the others. :)

6. Do you play any instruments and if so, what? No, but I always wished I had learned to play the piano when I was young. Unfortunately, at my age now, I don't have the patience to sit still long enough and practice every day, so we have a pianola instead. My hubby usually plays it on Sundays and there is something quite relaxing about the tinkle of the ivories.

7. Where is your most favourite place you've ever been? I have travelled overseas, but nothing compares to Australia, there is so much to see and do here. I enjoy the warmth of Queensland in the winter, cruising on the Paddle Steamers along the Murray River, the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the wonderful beaches of Western Australia, especially those around Albany and Denmark, the fine restaurants and live music venues of Melbourne, but most of all the quiet pace and scenery of Tasmania.

Gardens just outside of Burnie

Darwin Dam

Between Derby and Bridport

8. What is your most favourite thing about yourself? My imagination!

9. Favourite book or movie? This is a hard one to pin down, but I do like reading about fashion designers from the past, and watching movies that take you back to your childhood, or another world. More recent movies I enjoyed were ~ "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and it's sequel, I have to admit I am very partial to movies with Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy in them, and having all three together in one film is absolutely superb!

10. If you could design your own doll, what would it look like? It would probably be an older girl or young lady who was tall, slender and elegant, so I could dress her in something really stunning.

Now I am supposed to tag five more people, as always, no pressure to do it if you're not into doing these things, after all they are supposed to be fun! Here we go in alphabetical order ~

Alasse at the Wayward Inn
Alejandra at Fantasy Woods
Lene at Dustbunnie's Dusty Doll Dungeon
Lily at Genwaku
Sam at Days of Our Little Lives

If you are interested in playing along (and this is for anyone else who enjoys these and wasn't tagged as well), the questions are:
1. Do you collect anything other than dolls?
2. Why did you start a doll blog?
3. Do you have one particular doll that is the favourite in your collection?
4. Your favourite doll accessory?
5. Do you know exactly how many dolls you have in your collection (you don't have to tell the number of course)?
6. Do you play any instruments and if so, what?
7. Where is your most favourite place you've ever been?
8. What is your most favourite thing about yourself?
9. Favourite book or movie?
10. If you could design your own doll, what would it look like?

Saturday

8th August Doll Meet

 
We took a few photos using  backdrops at today's meet.







 

 



Thursday

Sew Happy

The grey and milk chocolate crepe de chine I ordered for the steampunk outfits arrived yesterday and it's everything I imagined it would be. There is something special about the feeling of silk and it drapes so well, it should be perfect for the overskirts.

 
Sometime back I ordered pyjama/jumpsuits for all my Pukifees as well a couple of spares for the two PF's to come. However, I couldn't order a yellow set for Cookie, because the supplier didn't have the colour. Well I used one pair to gauge the sizing and I made a set for her myself. Not the most ethical thing I have done, but I shan't be making them to sell and I couldn't see Cookie miss out could I?
 
Making them entirely by hand has helped me overcome my trepidation of working on such small outfits using stretch fabric. Even though I have made leggings before quite successfully, I have always worried about the fabric stretching too much as I sewed the seams. Now I feel more confident, I may even attempt a few casual tee shirts and dresses, as my Pukifees mostly own clothes which are quite dressy.
 

Monday

Mad Hatter

Sometime ago, I put together a hybrid, using a Volks Cyndy body with a Napi Doll Rogebell head, but never quite got round to completing her. Then recently, after putting an April Story Ishyllia on layaway, I decided to make these two SD girls my Steampunk sisters. They are a good size, which will allow me to put a good amount of detail into their costuming.
I have had some lovely striped silk pieces sitting in my stash for years, just waiting for the right project to come along and I knew they would be perfect for my Steampunk theme. I began by sketching a couple of different designs, one with knee length pants, the other without. Then, after ordering some coordinating crepe de chine to compliment the striped silk and some gorgeous boots from Etsy in similar tones, my thoughts turned to their hats.
Millinery has always been something I have loved making, and before long my hands had began busily working on these ~


Surprisingly, everything I used, I had on hand and I am pleased with the way they have turned out, although I may still add an embellishment here or there, depending on how they look with the rest of their costumes when completed.