Doll

Liberty of London, that is. I used some of the Liberty fabric that I bought in Paris.

She is a girl with “stuff”.

She has a heathery purple cashmere sweater/jacket that buttons up the front-

Wool felt trim and pocket.

And an olive green bag that matches her collar-

and here she is, all put together.

The back, because I always want to see the back.

Collar detail-

and in the garden-

It is the end of July. Time to move on. Next week brings (a) my birthday and so the Mimi’s birthday giveaway! Check back here on Monday. And (b) away with the wool and pull out the toile so that I have some tattooed men for RenegadeCraft Chicago- which is in 6 weeks!

Wow- I just realized that this is #50 doll of 2010!

The dotted netting is from my Paris shopping.

And a cashmere cape with middy tape-

A tassel hanging from the peak of the hood.

A white cashmere petticoat with a ruffle edge.

And here she is, in the garden.

Here they are- the mermaid girl gang-

and I did make her a little shawl.

I have listed all these girls in my Etsy shop now. Maybe tomorrow I will get to the princess girls.

This doll went through some big changes before arriving here. I had 2 dolls all planned out to use with the unicorn fabric. I thought I’d picked out colors for the dolls’ bodies that would compliment the fabric. Nothing looked right when I started putting them together though. I was feeling very frustrated by the end of the day yesterday. In a flash of inspiration as I lay in bed last night, I realized that I should take the legs off both dolls and switch them. Then put the finished dress onto this doll and go somewhere else with the other doll. And that is what I did this morning. I finished up all the little details and here she is. Phew- I am happy!

The other girl will probably have a dress made from some of the Liberty fabric I bought in Paris. *Reminder to self- don’t get bogged down or blinded by how I meant it to turn out. Be able to see what is happening and change the plan*

This little princess has a dress made of some more Heather Ross Far, Far Away fabric. Here she is with her other princess friend.

I will be posting these latest girls into my Etsy shop over the weekend. I put a note here when they are up.

Why do I make dolls? Because every time I finish one, I fall in love.

I spent way too much time making this dress. But, I DO like it!

Hmm. Now I am remembering that I was going to make her a little shawl. I have just the right color- an ochre. Maybe I will go do that now.

she just looked like a princess to me. And the frogs, you know. Of course the story is called the Frog Prince.

More Heather Ross fabric- this time, Far, Far away double gauze.

Another girl with a dress made of Heather Ross Mendocino fabric. I love her fabric.

She has a cashmere shawl with silk ribbons-

that wrap around and tie in the back.

Here she is without her shawl-

It is a girl with mermaids!

And, the Heather Ross fabrics are out again.

Back of the pinafore- button and sash.

A double underskirt with ruffles at the hems.

I’m out of practice. I took her outside and took a number of photos, but couldn’t choose the one I liked best. This one shows her hair the most clearly.

I like the pose of this one.

And I like the color contrast on this one.

Any opinions?

This was my studio, mid-afternoon. She was finished but I put her in the window to look at and be sure. There are 2 more girls on the desk, waiting for their dresses.

I do love it.

The Tuilleries-

From the top of the Musee les Arts Decoratifs-

At a random bus stop-

The top of LaFayette department store, in the rain-

and a few other things. I love the car with the trailer-

Tour de France in a toy store window-

and really, this made me laugh-

And now for where I went and what I bought! Firstly, a HUGE thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions of places to go. I laid them all out on a Google Map and used that map to plan every day. That map is here. I’ve added notes to many of the addresses.

It was very hot while I was in Paris and so I didn’t run around quite as much as I might have if it had been cooler. There are a lot of wonderful shops in Paris that cater to people who do needlecrafts- mostly cross-stitch. And, there is a wide variety of beautiful threads in most of the shops- some of which I haven’t seen here. The stores I visited had cotton floss, linen floss, wool, silk, blends, thick threads and thin threads, crochet cottons in all colors, and on and on- WoW! But, the threads that are the same as I can get here (DMC floss for example), are much more expensive there. Here, I spend .39 a skein, in Paris it was consistently 1.30 euro. So, I didn’t buy any threads. I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful linens to use for embroidery- every store had a great selection.  I thought this shop- Des Fils et une Aiguille- had some very pretty finished pieces on display-a tree design stuck in my memory- but maybe it was that they were displayed well and I noticed them more!

I spent some time in the fabric block in Montmarte. That was great fun! First stop, Marche Saint- Pierre, six floors of fabrics. Next, Moline, where I bought some wonderful dotted netting on one side of the street and a bit of toile in their shop on the other side.

The other big store is Tissus Reine, another multi-storied fabric paradise. This store had a table of Liberty fabric (at 22 euro a meter) and I looked it all over but none of it needed to come home with me. There were a number of other stores that had cuts of fabrics, folded and stacked, apparently individually priced. These stores were a mystery to me while I was in the neighborhood though- it was only when I read about them on another blog that I understood how you were suppose to buy anything. The idea of messing up the stacks by pulling out the fabric to check the prices- no way would I be willing to do that! They have wonderful fabrics in all of these stores- not just fabric for quilting or home decorating. Although I didn’t buy much, I enjoyed my morning of eye candy. And, I enjoyed watching what other people were buying.

I did find some Liberty fabric at Entree des Fournisseurs that it turned out I need. And a little bit of something else too. I think the Liberty fabric was 20 euro a meter (25 euro on their website), which seemed like a good price, considering the current exchange rate.

The bottom piece is very wide and I am considering making a shirt with it. They had some very cute childrens clothing samples on display, some Japanese craft pattern books, adorable kids clothing patterns and this very sweet clothesline with doll clothes-

I asked if it was alright to take a photo and the answer was no. I explained (as well as I could considering the language barrier) that I had a blog about dolls and I wanted a photo of the doll clothes. I showed her my Moo cards and let her pick one… and she conceded. Just one photo. I don’t get it. What is the problem with pictures? I wonder what they are worried about. Anyway though, this is a charming store and well worth my visit.

My last purchase was felt-

It is thick (but not dense), slightly rough textured and has a handmade feel to it. It is different enough from standard felt that I think it will be fun to play with. I got it at Pain D’epices, which specializes in everything for dollhouses, but upstairs has supplies for teddy bear making, needle felting, and this felt.

That is all from me, but here is a list of some other helpful posts about Paris shopping from other blogs.

Townhouse from May 2010

Sew Stylish from February 2007, but still useful.

Kitty Couture, whose use of the word SEX for Stash Enhancement Experience made me laugh out loud!