doll & pincushion making

A few years ago, I made my daughter a doll that she named Julie. Julie is definitely homemade, but my daughter absolutely loves her. That's all that matters, right? Last week, the day before the kids went back to school after Christmas break, we made a friend for Julie, named Jennifer.

Jennifer is admittedly rustic, but again, my daughter loves her! The pattern is something I made up years ago. Originally, I made a pair of bears, named Milly and Melvin. Turns out the pattern makes cute girls, too! (Although the ears were much easier to make and attach than sewing on all that hair, one strand at a time....)

It seems like anytime I make something, I want to make a hundred, so, of course, there is another one. This is Jasmine! I LOVE her hair, especially! Both of the dolls' hair has tinges of pink in it, which is super fun!

Now, it's time to figure out some doll clothes, which is not my favorite part. I have a feeling that the best part about having a doll is all the accessories, so I will do my best! One good thing is that any of the clothes that I make will fit any of the dolls OR bears. Hurray for that!

Over the weekend, I did some scrap sewing, which is always delightful! I made several (tiny!) log cabin blocks, that will be turned into pincushions.

The pieces aren't cut precisely, rather I try to use the scraps "as is", to use up as much of the fabric as possible. Each piece is chosen on the fly, so there is a lot of decision making, but it's also fun to see each block change as it grows. Working on about 4 blocks at a time is my limit, otherwise decision fatigue sets in!

I decided to make a whole batch of pincushions at once...so there are 11 in this picture. I can't wait to show them all to you, complete! This is one of my very favorite ways to use up my smallest scraps.

I do have a plan for all of these, lest you think I am completely off my rocker for making even more pincushions! :)

Happy Monday to you!