Wildwood Walk comments: 43

***T H A N K  Y O U  so, so much for your kind words and the Dovegray Doll orders!*** I am so excited about these and we are working to get everything organized and starting to assemble the parts and pieces of the kits. The pattern has been sent off to the printer and now we are just waiting for supplies to be delivered. We are on track to start shipping in November and I will keep you posted on our progress! I will refund excessive shipping costs after we ship; I have my eye on this and will adjust. Also, I had a question about skill-level needed to make these dolls. You do need a bit of hand-sewing and machine-sewing experience to make these dolls and clothes. I would not say they are beginner projects, though it depends on your determination, of course. I had plenty of people tell me that one of my little animal dolls was the first thing they had ever made and it went just fine — but they really wanted to make it! :) So it just kind of depends. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and it's true here, too. Doll clothes ARE a bit tricky because they are small and can be annoying! But if you're in the right mood, they can also be really, really fun. You just kind of settle in with it and take your time. The pinafore is the hardest part of any of these projects but it is quite fancy and needs some patience. I'm always here to answer any questions you have if you get stuck, so just email me and I will always help you if you run into problems!

We have a super busy month coming up and things are buzzing around here. I'm spinning plates and juggling at the same time. Mimi has her "friend" birthday party here next weekend and then her family birthday party the weekend after. She has invited ten kids to her friend party and the house is small. I don't know most of the kids or their parents, because, new school, new friends, etc. EXCITING! Mildly terrifying. Small house. She wants to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Bozo's Buckets (she's never played either of them, I don't think), have a pinata, and decorate cupcakes. Any advice on having a kid party at home GRATEFULLY RECEIVED. Tell me everything. All I care about is that she and the kids have fun. I'm going to try to get the parents to drop off, first of all. Does that seem rude? I have no idea. I just literally don't know where they will stand. . . .

The photos above are from a walk we took last weekend on the Wildwood Trail. They re-routed my favorite little part of the walk (the beginning, by the archery course) but it was still just so nice. Mimi wore her Shimmer cowl that I knit a few weeks ago. This is the third time I have knit that cowl and for some reason I never enjoy knitting it. I love having them, but I don't enjoy knitting them. I think it's because I find it almost impossible to count my rows when I'm doing cables if I forget to put one on the counter. I just can't figure out how many rows go in the cable. I don't know why.

After the walk we stopped at Vista Spring Cafe and this is one of my very favorite places for a Saturday-afternoon lunch in Portland. I had this lasagna and it was literally the best lasagna I have ever had besides my mother's in my life. I could only even finish half of it. I highly recommend it after a lovely autumn afternoon in the woods. You may even get to watch the guys washing the firetruck at the tiny little fire station right across the street as we got to one time. I love that place.

This was good. ↑

Dovegray Doll Kits (and Supplies to Make Them) Now Available for Pre-Order! comments: 14

Allow me to introduce the Dovegray Dolls, whose kits are now available for pre-ordering!

These little dolls are entirely stitched by hand and made of wool-blend felt with wool or mohair-wool yarn hair (fiber content depends on which color you choose). They wear a (machine-stitched) camisole and bloomers made of cotton muslin, decorated with tiny silk ribbon bows. The dolls are about 14" (35.5cm) tall.

There are ten different dolls to choose from. Each doll kit has one of three skin tones (dark, medium, or light) and one of five hair colors (black, dark brown, red, auburn, or blond). Let me show them all to you and then we will talk more. Pictured above is Bridie, who has light skin and brown hair.

 

This girl above is Dorie. She has medium skin and black hair.

 

This girl above is Honey. She has light skin and blond hair.

 

This girl above is Mollie. She has medium skin and auburn hair.

 

This girl above is Sophie. She has dark skin and brown hair.

 

This girl above is Poppy. She has light skin and red hair.

 

This girl above is Hollie. She has medium skin and brown hair.

 

This girl above is Lucie. She has dark skin and black hair.

 

This girl above is Rosie. She has light skin and auburn hair.

 

And lastly, this girl above is Sylvie. She has light skin and black hair.

PLEASE NOTE that we are planning to ship all Dovegray Doll kits (and any supplies ordered to complete them) by MID-NOVEMBER 2019. After we get a good idea of the pre-order numbers we will be ordering the rest of the specific supplies we need to complete these kits and get them ready to go. I really did NOT want to guess on these numbers as I have no idea what people will like, so we want to make sure we have everything available for everyone for at least the next couple of weeks.

To make one Dovegray Doll, each kit includes:

For Doll:

• One 12" x 18" (30cm x 46cm) piece of wool-rayon felt from National Nonwovens in color TOY002-0615 (Champagne) for light skin, TOY002-0624 (Camel) for medium skin, or TOY002-2655 (Safari Brown) for dark skin
• 1 skein DMC 6-strand cotton floss for all body stitches in color 945 (for light skin), color 3863 (for medium skin), or 869 (for dark skin)
• Small amounts of various colors of DMC 6-strand cotton floss for facial features, including eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, eye highlights, and lips
• 14 yds (14m) Brown Sheep Co. Lanaloft single-ply worsted-weight yarn in color LL41W (Buckwheat) for blond hair, LL69W (English Saddle) for brown hair, or LL03W (Black Bear) for black hair; or Lamb’s Pride color M-154 (Rooster Red) for red hair, or M-89 (Roasted Coffee) for auburn hair
• 3 yards (3m) DMC 6-strand cotton floss for tacking down hair in color 739 (blond), color 310 (black), 355 (red), color 3371 (brown) or color 3857 (auburn)

For Camisole and Bloomers:

• One 9" x 44" (23cm x 112cm) piece of 100% cotton muslin fabric
• 1 3/4 yards (1.6m) elastic thread
• 8" (20cm) 4mm silk ribbon

 As well as:

• Stitching instructions with photos
• Embroidery tutorial
• Pattern templates

 

You will need a fair amount of supplies to make each doll. Check your sewing kit to make sure you have everything else, or order some of them with your doll kit and we will ship everything together.

You will also need:

• Dritz brand large-eyed sharp doll needles #D157, in three sizes from 3"–3¾" long
• Size #5 embroidery needle for stitching doll
• Dritz brand Fray Check seam sealant
• Water-erase fabric marker
• Paper scissors, sharp fabric scissors, and sharp-tipped embroidery scissors
• Hemostats for stuffing doll
• Sewing machine and thread to match Camisole and Bloomers
• Iron and ironing board
• 6 oz. polyester fiberfill
• Pink stamp pad and small, short-bristled paintbrush
• Spray bottle with water
• Tweezers

 

As I've mentioned, probably more than you can stand, all of the clothes designed for Dovegray Dolls and animals in my Little Animal Family are interchangeable and will fit all of the dolls and softies in these collections.

To accompany the Dovegray Doll kits, we are also offering the Peasant Dress, Pinafore, and Stockings kits in so many different prints and colors:

To make one Peasant Dress, Pinafore, and pair of Stockings each kit includes:

For Peasant Dress:

• One 18" x 18" (46cm x 46cm) piece of calico 100% cotton vintage fabric
• 1½ yds (1.4m) elastic thread

For Pinafore:

• One 6" x 44" (15cm x 112cm) piece of solid-colored 100% cotton fabric
• DMC six-strand cotton embroidery floss in various colors, including two shades of green and other colors to compliment dress and pinafore fabrics
• 2 snaps, 3/16" (6mm) wide (also called 4/0)
• 2 buttons, 1/4" (6mm) wide

For Stockings

• 40 yds (1g) lace-weight wool yarn

 As well as:

• Stitching instructions with photos
• Embroidery tutorial
• Pattern templates

You will also need (not included):

• Dritz brand Fray Check seam sealant
• Size #5 embroidery needle
• Fine-tipped water-erase fabric marker
• 4" (10cm) embroidery hoop
• #18 darning needle or other large-eyed sharp needle (for threading elastic thread; can use medium doll needle if you have it)
• Sharp fabric scissors, and sharp-tipped embroidery scissors
• Yarn needle to stitch up back of stocking
• Size US5 (3.75mm) straight knitting needles
• Sewing machine and thread to match fabrics
• Iron and ironing board
• Spray bottle with water
• Ruler and rotary cutter
• Marker to match color of dress

* * *

So, as you can see, there are actually TWO separate kits you will need to order if you want to both make a doll and dress her in this sweet outfit.

We are assembling hundreds of Peasant Dress, Pinafore, and Stockings kits out my personal stash of vintage calico cottons that I've been collecting from eBay and estate sales for years. These fabrics are just so lovely and they are getting very hard to find. I have spent hours and hours searching them out and have been holding on to this stash for a long time, intending to use them for these doll kits. I'm so excited about them. Here is just a small sampling of fabrics you can choose. Keep in mind that because these are all vintage fabrics (mostly Peter Pan and Joan Kessler fabrics, if you remember those names), there are a totally random number of each fabric combo available, depending on how much of that fabric we have. There are anywhere from 2 to 38 kits of each of the fabric combos listed, and they are first-come, first-served!

There are so many more. Look through all of them here.

We also have some new supplies that you will need in order to complete your doll (see the full lists of supplies needed above). We are taking pre-orders for these now and will ship them with the kits. They include:

Dritz Doll Needles in three sizes #157

 

Dritz Mark-B-Gone fine-tipped water soluble fabric marker

 

Dritz Fray Check seam sealant

You will also definitely need hemostats for stuffing, and a #5 embroidery needle, and scissors and hoop, and other notions that we also carry. The supplies lists will link to all of the supplies that I also carry in my shop; check out my supplies page for everything I carry. I will ship anything you order together with the kits.

 

We do ship overseas! To place your order, you will be required to read this information, which contains details about international shipping and customs fees you may incur when ordering outside the U.S. (If you are overseas, the shipping cost charged by Posie does not include any further charges you may incur when importing goods.) To see the shipping-only costs for your order and location, just place the items in your cart and choose your location (or enter your zip code, if you are in the U.S.) and it will tell you how much the shipping is. As usual, I have a sincere request: Please check on and update your shipping address correctly in your Paypal preferences so that there is no confusion when we go to ship. If you do need to add things to your order or change your address after you've placed the order, just email me and we'll figure it out, no worries! I just like to remind people of this ahead of time, because it's a bit easier. International shipping has gotten very expensive so please check things carefully.

Yes, PDF patterns for both the dolls and the dress kit will be available in mid-November, when we are planning to ship the kits. I will make an announcement here, so please stay tuned if you are interested in those!

Also: The Dovegray Dolls are special and are not meant to be played with by unsupervised babies or small children who might swallow the small pieces of their wardrobes, or chew off an arm or a leg. Please use your judgement and watch your baby or child carefully when they are playing with handmade softies, or any toys with smaller parts. Thank you!

* * *

I know there is an absolute ton of information in this post. Take your time and read through everything, and please let me know if any links are broken, anything is confusing, or if you have any questions. I've done all of this computer stuff myself so do let me know if you need me to correct or clear up anything and I will do it as soon as I can. Thank you again so much for your orders and your interest in what I do! It means so much to me that I keep getting to design these patterns and kits and I am sincerely grateful to you for all of your encouragement and support! Thank you! XOXO

Dovegray Dolls Coming Soon comments: 41

Well, hello there! How are you? It is raining here this morning and I am well. It's been a busy, exciting, intense couple of weeks since school started. All is well and we are each getting used to our new routines, together and on our own. Kids are so dang brave. It's really incredible to watch, isn't it? It's beautiful. I'm constantly in awe of their abilities to do things they've never done before, go places they've never gone, walk into rooms filled with people they don't know, and basically figure it all out within days. If that. It's so inspiring.

Andy is back at work today after a few days and an entire weekend off, which was so nice. He was home for three weeks on vacation in August and I got used to that. I was antsy to clean the house while he was home. But once he had gone back to work and I had done that, I really missed him and Meems and the long, lazy days of summer, and all the summer things that I've never missed until this, the Summer of Perfect Weather. Suddenly I'm having the summer's-over emotions that most normal people have. I'm looking longingly at the sodden cushions on my front-yard chair, where I sat and read for countless hours, Mimi swinging from the branches of the tree beside me, and I will miss those afternoons. I'm usually just so ready for fall to start that I don't care what's gone. But this time it's a little different, and I am feeling all of the changes.

Thank you so much for all of the Leaves by Hundreds Came orders! They are sold out now. I am busy trying to get my dolls finished and photographed and ready to launch, probably next week. Andy has been in the office during his days off, cutting fabrics for me and generally helping out. We are hoping to have them available for pre-order next week. I first started working on these dolls a couple of years ago. They are based on the animal-doll patterns, and they all share the same body and construction. They can all wear the same clothes. There will be ten different combinations of three skin colors (dark, medium, light) and five hair colors (blond, dark brown, red, auburn, black) you can choose from. Each doll kit comes with a pattern for the doll and her muslin camisole and bloomers and many of the supplies needed to make those things (I'll share full lists of contents at the launch).

There will also be a separate kit (with pattern) available for a calico peasant dress, embroidered pinafore in solid-colored cotton, and knitted wool lace stockings. I'll show you the dress next week. All of the calico fabrics we are including in these kits are vintage calicos from the '70s and '80s, mostly Peter Pan and Joan Kessler that I've spent the last several years collecting either from eBay or estates. It's been such a labor of love and I really have no words to tell you how excited I am to be able to share all of these things with you soon. This is going to be such a cool collection. We will take pre-orders next week and are planning to ship doll kits and dress kits at the same time, by mid-November. We aren't sure how many orders we will get for what skin/hair combos, so we will order supplies on our end after we get the pre-order numbers and begin putting kits together and shipping as fast as we can.

I'm naming the collection the Dovegray Dolls. I wasn't sure what I was going to call them until earlier this summer, when I was starting to work on them a lot. And one night, Mimi and I were sitting in the front yard and we heard a mourning dove.

The sound of the mourning dove is one of the sounds (along with freight trains and thunder) that I miss so much from my childhood. We had them in River Forest (a western suburb of Chicago where I grew up) but we do not have them here in my neighborhood in Portland. (My sister regularly hears mourning doves right across the river in Lake Oswego, but we don't have them here.) If you don't know what they sound like, here is a sample. It's a pretty unmistakable sound.

When I heard it, I couldn't believe it. Mimi cocked her head and listened, too. After just a few calls, she could imitate the dove perfectly, much better than I could. We went and got Gretchen, our next-door neighbor, who also grew up in River Forest (I know, crazy right? Total awesome coincidence. We both graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School in the same year, too, though we didn't know each other. [The high school had almost four thousand people in it, and she and I had gone to different grade schools.]) We all listened. I texted Andy (at work) to tell him what we were hearing. I was excited. It had been decades since I'd heard a mourning dove. We sat out there for a long time, but eventually he stopped cooing and it got dark.

The very next day, the weirdest thing happened: We got a postcard (pictured above) from our local bird shop with a mourning dove on it! (It was a coupon for bird seed.) Andy came home from work that night and saw the post card on the table and said, "OH my gosh, you got a really good picture of the mourning dove!" I started laughing and told him I hadn't taken it, that it was a postcard that had just happened to arrive, etc. We continued to hear the mourning dove for a few days. Mimi and I took the coupon and went to the Backyard Bird Shop and got some special bird seed that mourning doves supposedly like. (She also broke a glass thing while we were there and the ladies at the shop were so incredibly kind and generally cool about it that we will be customers for life.) We put the new seed (I think it was millet?) in the flat feeder right away. Naturally, the minute we did that, we never heard the mourning dove again! Granted, he was never actually in our yard, just somewhere near. The bird shop said that sometimes they sort of find their ways over to this side of the river, but they don't often stay very long. Sad face. I'm still hopeful! I love them.

Anyway, in honor of the summer days we spent listening to the sweet cooing of our mourning dove, I named my little dolls the Dovegray Dolls. The one pictured above is Bridie.

***By the way, that picture above with all the little white dots on it? Does anyone want to take a guess what’s going on there? :)

The Leaves by Hundreds Came Kits Still Available comments: 5

I just wanted to pop in quickly because I was just looking at the inventory for this kit and realizing that I wanted to let you know that there are still 24 kits for this design left in my inventory. Once they are gone, they are gone! This is such a fun kit to do on autumn evenings. It fits into a ready-made 8"x10" frame. You can purchase the kit here. And if you'd like to read the original blog post about it, that post is here! Thank you! More blogging (and info about my new dolls) from me soon. I'm just starting to get caught up, yippee. Xox, a

End of Summer comments: 24

The end of summer is so bittersweet, even for a winter-lover like me. Dahlias, these exquisite state-fair square-dancing skirts, are the perfect finale. We went to their festival on a red-hot blue-sky day a few weeks ago. I'd never been before and had always wanted to go. It was too hot to be in an open field, but oh, my, it was so worth it. What a voluptuous display of summer's finest bounty, these petal-heavy beauties. We grew a few of them in our little parkway raised beds this year and I am well and truly hooked. Andy and Amelia and I started making a list of our favorites and then we just gave up; there were too many to love.

School started last week and it has been life-changing for all of us. The first day was much anticipated and was a great success. The teacher was amazing and the playground is fantastic. The school garden is teeming with fruits and vegetables and plenty of places to hide and shade and play. The parents are awesome. The kids are great. It's just all been — astonishingly and unexpectedly, in some ways — great. We are really appreciating everything about it, even the things that I thought would be really hard about it. The playground has a picnic shelter, right in the midst of everything, so you can actually hang out there and linger, and linger we do. Every day after school, even though it's been some of the hottest weather we've had all summer, Amelia runs and jumps and hangs and swings and slides and chases, everywhere and on everything, racing around, making friends, wiping out, getting upset, working it out. And this is just brilliant compared to last year, where, at our old school, there was zero playground culture; literally zero. People didn't do it, because it was a commuter school with a locked campus. I didn't know how important it would be, and it turns out it is super important to her and to us. Some kids go right home. Our kid has always, always wanted to stay, no matter where she is or who is there or what's going on or whether it's pouring rain or blazing sun. Even in preschool, we had some epic leave-takings. They still make me shudder. I can't find that one post where I wrote about her tearing through the rose bushes in the play-yard as if on fire when it was time to leave school, a small ball of pure fury. I still remember what it was like to stand there, catatonic, totally out of tricks, utterly unable to convince her to leave by any rational method, watching her throw handfuls of pine needles at me from the top of her hill, breathing flames like a tiny dragon. Oh my lord. It cracks me up, now. At the time I remember thinking, "I literally have no idea how to get this child off of that hill. At least this place is mostly fenced." It can still be very hard for her to leave. I still feel a mild pang of panic every time it's time to go. However: this, yesterday, to her younger friend (kindergartner), who was having her own hard time leaving: "I know it's really hard, and sometimes you get really cranky when it's time to go. I do that, too." And then she tried to aggressively wipe her friend's face with some kind of paper towel (she pulled from out of nowhere) while her friend ran circles around her mother to get away. (Ack.) But THEN she (Mimi) pulled herself together and proudly marched right out of the playground, as if remembering she was going to try to model some good behavior for the littles. And good lord, it was JUST SO HOT. I stood there melting in the late-afternoon sun, carrying backpack, lunch bag, water bottle, my bag, hoping they would both just depart without drama. And then . . . wow . . . hugs . . . goodbyes . . . they did!

Got lucky there. But the first week of school has just been really great. I couldn't be more proud of her, or happier to be exactly where we are. (Her first-day-of-school dress was made from Butterick pattern #4833, from probably somewhere around 1977.)

***

The stories and images from The Bahamas right now are just so incredibly tragic. My heart is breaking for everyone there who is suffering these most unimaginable losses. I’ve donated to MercyChefs.com. If you have good suggestions on how else to help, please let me know.