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Yarn to Dye For A yarn store in an old funeral home, in Chrisman, Illinois. Yarn & Yak Tuesdays 6 pm - 8 pm and Saturdays, Noon - 8 pm

I made a chest for Delphine Marie‘s clothes. I was originally going to paint it to match her bed, but now I‘m thinking a...
09/25/2026

I made a chest for Delphine Marie‘s clothes. I was originally going to paint it to match her bed, but now I‘m thinking about stain. Opinions?

09/20/2026

Delphine Marie has a dress that doesn't make her look like a football player! Yay! Just finished it yesterday. The lace collar is her slip peeking out, but it looks like part of the dress. The red fabric and print are from the stash. The background of the print is black, but I decided to wantonly ignore that and trim the bodice with brown. Dress is based on previously-used patterns, with tweaking for fit.

And now my doll has her own dolls. I wasn't up to making Saami or Inuit mini dolls (why those people? Headcanon). Laser engraving and then painting (ala Flatpack Farm animals) was more detail work than I was up to, so I tried gluing paper printouts (images licensed from Adobe Stock) to laser cut bodies. Worked great. I had the sense to try using a glue stick, so no wrinkling! I have a can of satin spray finish, so the little dolls will get also get a coat. And if it messes with the printing I can sand them down and re-glue. Yes, they are double-sided, but I didn't have the gumption to create back views. I did give the Saami girl a face. :)

Looks like the weather the rest of the week is going to be nice, so maybe I can finally get to a crochet project I've got waiting. Here's hoping!

*Finally* finished Delphine Marie's green gingham dress! plus a slip and drawers. The dress is made from the Mary France...
09/12/2026

*Finally* finished Delphine Marie's green gingham dress! plus a slip and drawers. The dress is made from the Mary Frances book/pattern, and is too big. I shortened the skirt and sleeves, reduced the diameter of the sleeves, and went looking for 1910s images and found the one here. It's Close Enough to gingham, so I added a sash to control the fullness, and make it look less like a sack.

The slip and drawers are made from Delphine Marie's actual measurements, using the guidance of "Sewing Without Mother's Help" by Clara Ingram Judson. I added the lace around the arm openings and neckline, and doubled the hem rows. They fit, not surprisingly, pretty well. And the bits of the slip and its neckline lace look like they're part of the dress. Yay me.

Delphine Marie does look like a linebacker in the dress, until you pull her hair over her shoulders to the front. 😏

Today I also cleaned up my corner of the Big Room, and helped Ron with a Seekrit Projekt by cutting out leather parts.

I decided to do a faced hem on a doll dress, and since another layer of quilting cotton would be too heavy/stiff, I cut ...
09/05/2026

I decided to do a faced hem on a doll dress, and since another layer of quilting cotton would be too heavy/stiff, I cut some 1-1/2" bias strips of white lawn. When I get them all sewn together it should be about 4 yards worth. The two strips below the pile were accidentally cut at 1", oops. I don't think they'll be enough to hem the dress I'm working on, but will be useful sooner or later.

Normally I machine-sew bias strips, but I don't want the extra bulk that machine-stitching will add, so I'll put these together by hand with a running stitch. Tedious? Yeah, but I'll be happier with it.

I also have a pattern to crochet a dog for Delphine Marie, and shopped the stash for yarn, but it's still too hot/sticky to start. Even with the air-conditioning on I have tension issues because of how the yarn won't slide across/through my fingers.

Doll bed paint job done (except for a not-too-shiny clearcoat). The revised paint color matches the bedspread much bette...
08/30/2026

Doll bed paint job done (except for a not-too-shiny clearcoat). The revised paint color matches the bedspread much better. The bedding is finished, *and* I even ironed everything. So let‘s make Delphine Marie‘s bed!

Mattress, a mattress pad, and then the bottom sheet. I didn’t do elastic, so I cheated and pinned things in place on the underside. Top sheet and plaid blanket, and finally the bedspread and pillows.

I hadn‘t originally planned lace on the pillowcases, but I made them a bit short, so the lace helps. I debated lace on the top sheet, but I decided not to (and I can add it if I change my mind).

Painting almost done! The original pale green wasn‘t a good match for the bedspread fabric, so I got a more gray-green. ...
08/27/2026

Painting almost done! The original pale green wasn‘t a good match for the bedspread fabric, so I got a more gray-green. I cut it with white to get the light green, which I painted yesterday (I mixed more than enough). Today I bit the bullet and did the darker base green on the posts and X-beams. It was a pain, but I like it better with the darker accents. I do need to come back and touch up the lighter green, but not today.

And now Kaiju is perched on my foot offering polite opeepions.

Today I finished Delphine Marie‘s nightgown, and gave her hair. Yay, no more bald nekkid doll! Will probably braid and/o...
08/24/2026

Today I finished Delphine Marie‘s nightgown, and gave her hair. Yay, no more bald nekkid doll! Will probably braid and/or trim her hair, or maybe not.

Also sewed her bed pillows pillows shut. Next things to work on will be finishing off the mattress and other bits of bedding while I wait for more paint for the bed.

Today I got the first coat of paint on my doll‘s bed, assembled the mattress I cutnout a couple days ago, and made a fla...
08/22/2026

Today I got the first coat of paint on my doll‘s bed, assembled the mattress I cutnout a couple days ago, and made a flat sheet and two pillows.

Another coat or two pf paint will be needed, and the mattress and pillows still need to be sewn shut. Also need pillowcases, another sheet, blanket, and bedspread.

Squee! My Fat Quarter Shop order arrived early! Squee!First up, we have solids in "Maple" for the doll herself, and "San...
08/18/2026

Squee! My Fat Quarter Shop order arrived early! Squee!

First up, we have solids in "Maple" for the doll herself, and "Sand Dollar" for bedding and possibly clothing trim - I didn't want screamingly bright white, but didn't want too far off-white, either.

For clothing we have:
A very small green & white gingham, and a solid, both called "Alpine", but from different product lines. If you get right up to them they don't quite match, but they look good from a couple feet away. Probably an everyday-ish outfit.

slightly larger diagonal "Cherry" red & red gingham, with "Washed Black" solid. Another everyday-ish pairing, I think.

Small floral in "Light Denim", and solid "Denim Blue", which I think is going to be a party or dress-up outfit.

Not shown from my stash are a shirting weight white with blue pinstripes that the blue should go with; a solid brighter white (my brain is saying Kona cotton), and a larger red to almost-burgundy dark floral on black that the washed black should go with.

And finally, the useful bits of my receipt, in case you neeeeeeed one of these fabrics yourself. 🙂

I assembled the doll bed last night, as you can see from the pictures.I glued up the posts first, making sure I got the ...
08/18/2026

I assembled the doll bed last night, as you can see from the pictures.

I glued up the posts first, making sure I got the front posts correct - they're mirror images of each other. The collars on the posts were to help keep them square while the glue set. Then I glued the panel layers together. I decided the glue was set enough, and assembled the ends, once again ensuring I had a left and right to allow for the smaller front panel. Those also went together nicely.

I had to do a little trimming to the front panel lugs, and the back panel sockets needed a little sanding; but overall not a big deal. Putting the front and back panels into one end was fine. At that point it was standing on that end, so it could be capped off with the second end. Not being an ambidextrous octopus, I needed Ron's help for that.

Finally, I flipped it upside-down and added the bottom panel. I'll be adding a center leg or two because the bottom panel is only a single layer of 3mm plywood, and more importantly: 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙨. In 20-20 hindsight The X-bars could/should have been a little wider, but I'm not displeased.

The holes in the bottom panel making it look slatted are not just cosmetic, 10 of the 16 post pieces were cut out of them. The post caps and temporary collars were cut out of the square windows in the ends and back.

If I get time today I'll work on glue cleanup (there's always some squeeze-out), center support legs, and *maybe* get an undercoat layer of paint on. I won't pick a final color until I have the runner to match it to, but I can start with a coat of good-enough green.

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