Meet Sadie, Mae, and Elsie

First off, I'm working on new toy patterns!  It's been awhile since I've been so inspired.  My husband claims he hasn't seen me this excited about a project in well over a year.  I only have sketches right now, but the ideas are clear.  And cute!  Now it's time to start drafting and sewing...and redrafting and sewing.  I actually like this part.

I'd love to be able to offer these patterns as PDFs in the future.  Hopefully, in the coming months.  Stay tuned!

Until then, I thought I'd occasionally post a few of the book projects that I typically receive emails about.  I've had several inquiries asking whether the doll pattern I use for my larger dolls is in the book.  The answer is YES.   

I made three dolls for the book using this pattern, shown up above.  Meet Sadie, Mae, and Elsie. 

Sadie

Sadie was named after and made for my oldest niece.  My niece doesn't want or need a doll at her age...but I wanted her to have one to pass along to her own daughter or niece or Granddaughter someday.  (I gave her the doll last month in a storage box so she can stash it away until then).   I used Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in "Tan" for Sadie's body and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky Yarn in Cafe Au Lait for her hair. One skein is more than enough for those ponytails!

Mae

Mae, pictured above, was named after and made for my youngest niece, who is just two years old.  Her shoes are 18'' doll shoes found here.  (Sadie's shoes were also found on this site).  Her body is Kona Cotton in "Wheat".  And I used a Lyra Rembrandt Aquarell white pencil to shade the outer white parts of her eyes.

Elsie

Elsie, named after one of my husband's grandmothers, was made from Kona Cotton fabric in "Sand".  Her hair is Crystal Palace Iceland Yarn (bulky).  The basic pattern for her felt shoes is included in the book, as well as instructions and patterns for all the dolls' basic shirt/dresses and bloomers.  My oldest daughter has claimed Elsie as her own.  She makes a natural "sister" to her Marie doll.

There is also a marionette pattern in the book that is a similar, but much smaller version of Sadie, Mae, and Elsie.  I actually used the marionette pattern to make my youngest daughter's Gumdrop Doll last summer (sans marionette strings, etc.).  In fact, the doll's dress, bolero, and shoes were also made using the clothes patterns for "Jill".  I just added straps to the shoes, fastened by a few stitches and a little button.

Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions.  I got behind there for a few weeks, while our family dealt with the flu/winter colds.  Hopefully, we're done for the season.  I'll catch up soon on the emails.  I'm happy to help.  Thanks to all of you who have sent such kind words :).