Ack! It's been so long!

Two months without a blogger post! I am so behind. The good news is that's because I have been sooooo busy. I've been making undies like mad, both child and adult size. Like these, see?



I've been experimenting with different fabrics and elastics and I think I finally understand the nature of the beast, so to speak. The ones pictured are cotton/lycra fabric, with picot edge elastic. Low rise bikini cut, and very cute I might add. Too bad they are too small for me, or I'd keep 'em! I guess I'll have to make another pair (my daughter is begging for a pair of cherry-pants in her size, too).

I also happy joined the Venus Vanguard congo, where I'll be stocking on the new and full moons.

My other awesome congo, Artiste, is holding a membership drive for our Yahoo newsletter group during September, so if you haven't already entered, you should!


Be one of the first people to hear about Artiste
stockings, sales, and special events!

Join our Yahoo Group in September and be
entered into a drawing to win

$25 in merchandise from any of our Artisans!

Craftaluma

Craftaluma was a lot of fun! Some photos of my table from the event:









I learned a ton about what it takes to do a craft fair, and will probably do it again! I love selling in person, in large part because it avoids the environmental impact of shipping goods hundreds or thousands of miles.

Where have I been?

Sewing like mad for Craftaluma! I'll be there, sharing a table with Unpaper. I'll have lots of Plain Jane dolls, plushrooms, pocket gnomes, mini matroyshkas, and UNDIES! I'm soooooooo excited to do my first craft fair.

Happy Birthday USA

The Artiste stocking theme for June 5th is "Happy Birthday USA". I am not too keen on patriotic colors/motifs, so I went with the Happy Birthday part. I intended to do a pair of cupcake twins and two sets of birthday crowns (one boyish and one more girly), but with family visiting and my other cart(s) stocking last week, I just didn't get to it all! So one Plain Jane and one birthday crown set. This Plain Jane was the most ill-fated project; I think everything that could go wrong, did. I remade her legs three times! But in the end I think she turned out very sweet.

Stocking June 5th at Artiste.

under where?

Stocking Wednesday 5/29 at the PBJ HyenaCart.

New Plain Janes

A boy and a girl, Henry and Hazel. They'll stock the 25th at Artiste!





I have to say, I love the bun hairstyle the best. It may just end up being the signature hairstyle for the girls.

Plain Jane cloth dolls

While I love Waldorf dolls, they don't always have the "spark" for me that some other dollies do. I think it's the simple faces, although I appreciate that Waldorf faces let children use their imagination. I love the Waldorf dollmaking methods because they include such beautiful, natural materials. However, they are also extremely time-consuming to make. I wanted to make a doll that retained the beauty, natural materials, and simplicity of Waldorf dolls, but added an element of fashion and spunkiness (informed by my interest in Japanese fashion dolls). I also wanted to find a way to make a nice doll in less time, so that I could pass the lower labor costs along to the customer. This is what I came up with, the Plain Jane! She is made of linen "skin" with cotton velour hair in various styles, long thin arms and legs, and cute cotton print clothing. She's stuffed with pure carded wool. Her face is embroidered in a simple style that still has a lot of life and character. Click pictures below to see larger versions.







I have one dolly left in stock at Artiste, as well as a custom slot, and I'll be stocking a few new dollies on May 25 (spring-themed) and June 5 (birthday/cupcake-themed).