a play diaper bag with all the necessities

For my niece E's birthday, I sewed her a diaper bag with all the necessities: diapers, bib, diaper pad, wipes and toy!

Just like I did for my niece K when she was a toddler,

a while ago as she is 10 this year!

I followed my own tutorial from Paris bag to make the bag,

using only happy, pretty fabric:

Then I played with more pretty fabric,

and sewed a diaper pad

and wipes of course.

The wipe container is fleece and the wipes are flannel.

(Here for my previous pad and wipes)

No diaper bag would be complete with multiple diapers,

with adjustable Velcro,

perfect for various doll sizes,

a bib and a little toy with many tags!

(previous diapers here and bib and toy here)

And it all fits very nicely in the bag,

perfect for any doll lover!

Happy sewing!

a little baby doll basket

It is Baby E's first Christmas,

and almost birthday.

I know she will receive a baby doll,

so I could not help myself and made a baby basket!

(not the actual doll, but the only baby left at home,

Miss C.'s days of dolls are long gone!)

I used this pattern from Made Every Day,

a well written pattern, and quite easy to follow.

Dana (from Made Every Day) was my inspiration for starting 

this blog almost 9 years ago...

So yeah, I was happy to buy her pattern!

I used a pink/white/yellow and green striped fabric,

between a canvas and a regular weight cotton.

It has not too much pink as my sister did not want too much of it.

The lining is more pink, with large daysies.

For the interfacing, I used some iron-on foam, usually used for bag making.

It makes the basket stable but still very soft, perfect for a one year old.

In the basket, there are also a mattress and a pillow 

made from the same lining fabric,

and a double sided blanket.

I hope she enjoys playing and carrying her baby doll

around with this sweet little basket.

Happy sewing!

my little Dandelions are coming along

My new set of Dandelion doe(s) is really coming along, I have now 4 new friends

who will be leaving me shortly.... well one is staying with me, but to keep everything a secret as much as possible, I will not say with one!
They are still missing their little black nose, but I have already sewn their little Liberty of London dresses.

Some have laces (heirloom or regular), some are more simple, and of course there are the boots. I still have 2 more pairs to make, I love adding the embroidery details on the side of the boots and of course matching them to the dresses.

Aren't they so cute with their little Liberty of London ears?
Next time you see them, they will be all dressed up, but only after Christmas.
Happy sewing!

a year in review

This year was a pretty good year for us as a family and for me personally, work has been going well with interesting prospect for the future (more research on vaccines for developing worlds), but this little blog had a mid life crisis.... Hopefully it can get over it without a sport car! Now let's review this year top 3 favorites: My kitchen remake from a few years ago was #1, more specifically this post here.

It is still actually a work in progress since we just finished adding a back-splash, I will blog about it later next year.... #2 was again as my brownie vest, everyone's favorite: here for the tutorial
.
Oh I do miss sewing for the dolls! #3 was this cute plush macaron I made for Miss C. as a sweet treat to get over her new braces.

My favorites for this year were: the outdoor couch, the entryway storage and the sewing configuration book.

For the nest year, I see a few more house projects, like redoing the coffee table (I received the wheels for Christmas), some sewing of course, and probably a few odds and ends things, the usual really!
Thank you for reading.
Farewell 2015.

a little deer, a book and a bag

I had so much fun making my first little deer, that I made another one of course!

This deer (Ms Dandelion Doe) wears also a Liberty of London dress. Because I sewed this one for my niece K (who will be 5 next March), I have added so more deer goodness as the handmade deer is more for looking than playing.

I found this beautiful book about sweet animals in the wood/ Miss C. totally approved of the book, she is even looking forward to seeing her cousin to read it to her!

And to make it even better, I found a little tote bag illustrated by the same person: Teagan White, it is just the right size to carry the book, the deer and other very important treasure.
Happy sewing!

a little deer

I have had a fascination with deer for a long time, starting with Bambi of course

 to the painful ones that live in our neighborhood (and eat all the plants in spring/summer/fall!) 

to the ones I used to decorate the house for Christmas with print, pillow and ornament.

It just seems that it was only a question of time before

 I made a super cute felt deer in a Liberty of London dress!

I followed Ms Dandelion Doe pattern from Posie by Alicia paulson.

I had admired it for a while, and just could not resist any longer.

It is fairly easy to make, the explanations are quite clear.

 I used regular felt (from Joann), I do not have large pieces of fancy felt.

 I just made sure to use the denser part of the craft felt

 (it is not always even when you purchase yardage).

For the dress, I used Liberty of London fabric, as I have a nice little collection.

 But it is not necessary, any thigh weave print would probably work just fine.

I had not made a doll/doe dress in a long time since Ms C. doesn’t play with dolls anymore.

The boots also extremely cute, I choose green felt to match her dress
and embroidered the flowers with matching colors.
This little doe is supposed to be wearing a scarf, but I cannot knit,
so instead I made her a cute hair flower,
with 2 colors of felt and a little jingle bell!

It turned out so cute that I am planning on making at least one more!

Happy sewing!