Introducing Rosebelle

Hello! My name is Rosebelle. Beth made me with the help of a very talented lady named Juliane. This is me in summer looking at all the pretty flowers in our yard.

Beth and all the other ladies in the dollmaking class decided to have a little swap. Everyone was assigned a secret partner to send a gift to. They all had to make an outfit for the dolly and send some little treats and sewing supplies by December 6th. That way we would all have a special present for Christkindle/St. Nicolas Day!

Here is what a nice lady named Nathalie sent to me all the way from Lebanon! Aren't I lucky? I love my warm, furry cape and my soft pants. As soon as I was dressed in my new outfit I was ready to go outside and play in the fall leaves.

Hello little bunny. What shall we do today?


Hmm. Bunny says I should climb the tree and he will find tasty leaves to eat. I'm good at climbing trees so that sounds like fun to me.

I climb very high in the peach tree and find a nice little spot to sit. I look up and remember the peaches we picked this summer and the ugly black bug that was crawling on one. I also remember the birds that shared the peaches with us and built nests in the tree.

I think I can climb a little higher, up to where the nest used to be. But it is hard work and I begin to get hot in my warm cape and hat!

So I let my cape drop down...It catches the air and floats right onto a rock! That's a good spot to leave it.

Now it's time to climb down, but going down is much more difficult than going up! My pretty dress gets caught, and I get bark on my nose!

I drop into a big pile of leaves and lose my hat on the way down. The leaves are fun to jump in!

I sit very still and the Bunny doesn't even see me. But now it's getting cold again and I am ready to go back inside and warm up.

Inside, I sit at my little table by the Christmas tree and drink warm apple cider and eat the yummy Baklava that Nathalie sent from Lebanon. My cheeks get very rosy, and my tummy is warm and happy! I watch the little Santa on my schwibbogen go round and round...

Later, I am very sleepy, but I look at the Christmas tree all lit up and think about Santa again. I wonder what he will bring me for Christmas....

Will You Walk Into My Parlour...(Halloween 2010)

...said the Spider to the Fly,

'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;

The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,

And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."

"Oh, no, no," said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair, can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
..."Oh, no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed."


..."I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome--will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh, no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"

Our Halloween Party this year was a Spider theme...it was as creepy as we get around here! I didn't take pictures of the mummified (fake) owl and skeleton - eek!
The very weird big spider was made by Lucy out of a large, standing ghost we have. She took it apart, made spider legs out of wire and fake fur, gave it a big beach ball under it's cloak for an abdomen - ugh! I don't like spiders much!
Our entire orchard was wrapped in spider web to make a spooky den for the kids to explore. It was complete with a big web tunnel entrance, a foggy graveyard, spider eggsacks, and the web-wrapped mummies. All the kids loved it!

Click on the top picture of Lucy to see the amazing spider coat she made! She designed and sewed it herself, spun blue wool for the decorative stitching, added angora fur cuffs and netting collar, peacock feather epaulettes, and a pair of spider legs coming out the back.


The little girl cousins divided and swapped candy for hours!

Our party was on Saturday night, so on Halloween itself we had another celebration at Gramie's house. The teenagers and Robin all coordinated with Steampunk inspired costumes. They made quite an impression on the neighborhood! Apparently Barry was proposed to several times by admiring neighbor girls...he's sure it was just the vintage tailcoat :)

Mushrooms, Cupcakes, and Vintage Sweetness

A little peek at some sweetness I've been working on.

Vanilla Cupcakes filled with Lemon Curd.

Wee chairs and vintage hankies.

A bit of lace and a peek of a hem...

A sleeve...

...maybe it will go with this!

It's looking like it will be a perfect outfit!



Last week I visited some antique shops and found some very sweet vintage finds. The most exciting was the little embroidered blouse, shown above, which fits my little elsa perfectly! Not only that, but matches just perfectly with the linen pants I am sewing her inspired by the book "Carefree Clothes for Girls". Do you see the little friend peeking out of the pocket? She's a tiny German dollhouse dolly that Elsa's sharp little eyes spied at the antique shop!

Summer Days

I know, I have been absent for a long time. But the days have been so full of summer fun that it's been hard to sit down at the computer. Here's a little glimpse of what we have been up to....

...our days have been busy with new pets, birthday celebrations, midsummer festival, some crafting, some acting (Elsa was in two plays! She was adorable as Cinderella's stepmother and the Magic Mirror in Snow White.) and even some sewing inspired by the ripe strawberries growing in the garden.

Hopefully your summer days are just as full and fun. I will try to post a little more frequently, especially with all the exciting activities going on this month!

Prom 2010

A couple of months ago Jill came to me with this picture of a calla lily turned upside-down and said "I want to make a prom dress that looks like this!" .....ummm...ok.....I was overwhelmed to say the least...

Jill's senior prom was April 17th, she was not going with a date, but rather with two of her good friends. The theme of the prom was Masquerade, and the girls decided to be the elements - earth, wind, and fire. Jill would be earth and her idea was the calla lily. So. She drew some designs, we bought fabric, and began to sew. Well, we did not get it done in time for senior prom! The innovative design really was almost beyond my abilities. I was stretched to the limit and just did not have enough time to finish. We had the top about half done and were still trying to figure out the logistics of the skirt when the big day arrived. Thankfully, I have a bridesmaid dress that Jill has always loved and wanted to wear to prom, so she decided it would work instead.


She did beautiful facepaint and hair to match the dress and go with her theme of earth.

The other two girls made their dresses - and they were all so pretty! They had a great evening and all had many compliments!

We did not give up on the calla lily dress as there was still "Mormon Prom" the beginning of May. So...back to the sewing room! Jill figured out the skirt finally, by drawing a pattern based on a silk calla lily. She made a tiny version, then drew the pattern on graph papaer and enlarged on to newsprint. She carefully cut it out of white silk and we stitched the two layers together and began to pin and tack it around her. We didn't figure out how to actually fasten the thing! It ended up being hand sewn in strategic places and tacked on to her slip. We also didn't get the boning in the hem to make it flare out like the lily. But, it turned out to be very beautiful and unique, and Jill still has plans to work on it some more!

The jacket is forest green brocade lined in hand-dyed yellow silk. The slashed sleeves are also lined in the yellow silk and the collar is hand-dyed silk chiffon left unhemmed.

Lucy had a completely different idea for her dress! Lucy's date was her dear friend Barry, who is just as creative and crazy as Lucy and totally willing to get caught up in her "steampunk" vision. Lucy wanted a victorian look with a modern steampunk flare, and decided to start out at a vintage clothing shop. So. We all drove out to Glendale (about 45 minutes away) and had an absolutely fabulous time hunting through the truly amazing and enchanting antique stores there. We had so much fun that we had to go back again a few days later and look some more. We ended up in a treasure trove of a shop called Matilda's Closet where Lucy literally spent 2 hours trying on clothes, hats, scarves, gloves...and finally bouncing ideas off the sweet shop owner Rose. Incredibly, Barry was just as enthusiastic as Lucy in this adventure, and was ecstatic when he found a tailor-made tail coat from 1940 (the tag in the pocket had the date, tailor and customer!) It fit as though it was tailor-made for him! All navy blue wool, lined in silk, high waisted, long tails...perfect!! With that settled, Lucy began to think navy blue too. She tried on this and that, we talked about how we could alter or change things, but nothing was clicking. Finally, dear Rose brought out an old navy blue velvet dress from perhaps the early 1930's that she had just picked up at a vintage clothing expo. It was faded in spots and a funny fit, but it had some really intriguing details...

A row of covered buttons down the back, the cool V waistband in front, smocking on the shoulders...turn it around and cut it up, make it into a jacket with tails maybe...yes, we could see the possibilities! Rose mentioned a victorian styled blouse underneath and I remembered that I have a real victorian blouse - and we were off and running!

The result was so cute! We cut the velvet dress all apart, took the front skirt and sleeves off, folded to make lapels, re-sewed the back-now-front with princess seams for a fitted shape and it was perfect! My Victorian blouse added the needed lacy touch, and we made a new skirt out of silk and silk chiffon, hand gathered up in front to show off the amazing boots Lucy borrowed from her Young Women's leader. Barry's mama made him a velvet vest and black satin cravat to go with his gorgeous tailcoat. She then pulled out a ruby brooch originally owned by his great-grandma for the cravat and a cane from the 1800's that the original Barrington (Barry's namesake) used!!

Barry and Lucy ordered welding goggles from Amazon and spent a fun couple of evenings customizing them with leather, paint and wire to turn them into the awesome steampunk style. All together the outfits (and kids) were absolutely adorable!!!

My Sister's Shop

My sister has a delightful etsy shop that she has put so much love and creativity into. Why am I posting about it today?

Well, she has graciously agreed to put a couple of my sweet little snuggle babies in her shop! I am not quite ready to open a shop of my own, so she is helping me to "get my feet wet" so to speak...

Here is a sampling of the things she makes that can be found in her shop:

Isn't this the most adorable shamrock? I am seriously considering buying it myself!

She makes beautiful holiday kitchen towels, absorbant and sturdy and so pretty in the kitchen!


And here is where she really shines! Missy makes absolutely gorgeous heirloom dresses for babies!! Wouldn't this be the sweetest Easter dress for some lucky little baby? You should see the detail that she puts in these dresses - french lace, hours of delicate embroidery, vintage buttons, and every dress comes with a dainty little slip!
Hop on over to her shop and take a look at the other fun goodies waiting there!