New dolls and a Room Box Project!

 Seeing as how I've had this blog for over a year now I thought maybe I should start using it!! This might be a long post to do some catch-up!

I've recently sold most of my resin BJD dolls for financial reasons and replaced them with some lovely vinyl dolls. I still have a few resins and hope to get back to playing with them too some day soon. For the time being I'm thoroughly enjoying my two A Girl For All Time (AGAT) girls....Sam and Elinor (Ellie). I'm going to order Clementine when the preorder opens....can't wait to add her to the family! 

I've always given my dolls personalities and characters; these new dolls aren't any different. They all have their own little personalities and quirks. I make up stories for them all the time in my head and sometimes I even manage to bring the stories into reality 😊 This is my favourite part of having dolls....that and making clothes for them. I love miniature fashions!

Through all of my doll hobby I've struggled to get settings to do the photostories. Last year I had the brainwave that a mobile room box would serve the purpose and if it was made big enough would be usable for the various doll sizes I have. My very obliging hubby made one for me out of an old metal office table frame...cut it down to size and welded it all back together, then made the basic MDF box to go on it. We made it as big as we could so it would still fit through a standard doorway. It measures 98cm wide x 75cm deep x 60cm high. So it fits up to MSD size dolls.

Then I thought about how to decorate it so I could use it for different scenes and came up with the idea of removable walls and floor! This way I can decorate a particular room and then pack it down when I'm not needing it and replace it with a different scene. So far the concept is working well....I've only done one room so far and can see that the idea will work okay.

I received Sam early March and promptly started sewing for her. The AGAT are a lovely size to sew and knit for....not too fiddly but still enough detail to keep me happy.

Sam is my 60s hippie girl 💜

Then I fell in love with Elinor (FB groups are very bad for enabling lol) and HAD to have her too. Her hair is just like mine was when I was young....same length, same amount of wave and nearly the same colour! Also, I was Christened Eleanor but never called by that name, so it seemed a given that she needed to come and live here. She arrived in the middle of March....

I made her a new dress and then saw some cute owlie flannelette so had to get some and make her a pair of PJs of course 😁 Sam has a pair of cute PJs with rabbits on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (I also received a new little family of other dolls in mid March but I'll cover them later)

Next I decided to get the room box sorted. I'd been procrastinating about how to decorate it and which 'room' to start with. A post by a lovely member of a group I'm in spurred me on to get started! I saw the Our Generation (OG) sewing set and knew right away that I wanted to do a sewing room for Ellie. Following is a photo summary of the room box progress....

The beginnings of the room box

Basic room box ready to decorate

 

 

 

Basic layout test run

Painting the walls for the sewing room

Sewing table test and work table test

Ellie ironing test and sewing cupboard

Sewing room almost completed. Still need to make a few tweaks and add a few more props.

Ellie got right in there and started making herself a dress!

 What do you think of my new dress, Sam?

It looks very pretty on you Ellie. It even goes with your new green cardi! Now that it's finished could you please make me some more pants....here's the pattern so you can get started right away 😁

But Sam, I've only just finished making you lots of new clothes! Surely you don't need any more just yet??!!

I think Ellie is going to be spending a lot of time in her sewing room, especially when the Big Sister (Clementine) arrives home!

All the boring details for those who might want to know:

* The walls and floor are 3mm panel board. The floor is cut a little smaller than the base floor so the walls sit in behind it. This keeps everything nice and snug around the bottom edges.

* The worktable is made from two sets of mini drawers from the bargain shop, with a piece of 9mm MDF cut to size and wrapped in vinyl for the top.

* The window is made using layers of cardstock so that there's a slot for the 'view' to slip into. I can print different scenes to change the view as needed.

* The sewing cupboard is a Kaiser wood kit that I've had for years, waiting to be made up as dolls furniture! 

* The fabric bolts were made by winding small amounts of fabric around cardboard (chipboard) rectangles, in two sizes.

* The 'patterns' were made by printing the cover page of some of my digital patterns at 30% and making them into little envelopes, like a real paper pattern comes in.

* The little wall quote was found on the web, printed to the size I wanted then mounted on two cardstock mats.

* The wire manequin is a novelty candle holder that I picked up a few years ago.

Have a wonderful day 🙂

Lynne xx

Attic24 Jolly Chunky Bag with lining tutorial

I made this bag for a friend's birthday.....

The pattern is the Jolly Chunky Bag by Lucy over at Attic24.  I've made it up in Stylecraft Special DK, in left over colours from my Cosy Blanket....the first of Lucy's blankets that I made.  I stumbled across Lucy's blog about two years ago and fell in love with her crocheting....she has an amazing eye for combining colours together :) I've been a regular reader ever since and have now made seven!! of her blanket kits!!  I love going to Lucy's blog to have a read....it's always uplifting and her photography is wonderful.

I wanted to make a 'yarn project bag' for a friend who also crochets but I don't have any of the chunky Stylecraft yarn, so I decided to use the DK and adjust the pattern to suit.  I did two rows of pattern per colour for the base, then switched to single rows for each colour.  The base measures the same as the base in Lucy's pattern....I kept increasing until it measured 23cm.  I increased until there were 10 sts between increases for my base, using a 3.75mm hook.

​I'm really happy with how this turned out and hope my friend likes it too. 
I made the sides high enough to hold 100g balls of Stylecraft DK vertically....it holds six full balls.  I also wanted to line this bag and put a small pocket in it to hold a crochet hook, tape measure and small scissors or snips, so everything needed for a project is all in one handy place.

I thought I'd post the process of making the lining here, in case anyone else would like to line their bag and wasn't sure how to go about it.....it's really quite easy.

First step is to work out the base piece for the lining.......for this you need to measure across the diameter of the circle you've crocheted for the base.....mine measured 23cm.  Then you need to add the seam allowance to this measurement.....I added 2cm to allow for a 1cm seam.  So my fabric base circle is 25cm.  I found a cake tin that was the perfect size and traced around it to get my pattern piece......

 
The next step is to work out the circumference of the circle to cut the side piece.  Maths has never been my strong point so I resorted to Mr Google for the formula and found a Circumference Calculator .... YAY!!  Just click on the link and enter your radius measurement into the box, click on Calculate and the measurement will appear in the bottom box....easy peasy :)  (The Radius is half the diameter of your circle measurement.....so my radius measurement was 12.5)  Once you have the circumference measurement you need to add the seam allowances to it.....my measurement was 78.5 ... plus 2cm (for two 1cm side seam allowances) = 80.5.  So my side piece had to be cut 80.5cm wide.

To calculate the height of the side piece, I measured from the bottom of the gold scallop edge to the bottom of the Lime row (near the bottom of the bag), which is the first row worked without any increases.....this is the first row of the bag sides.  My  measurement was 20.5cm so the side piece had to be cut at 22.5cm to allow for a 1cm seam to sew to the circle and a 1cm turn over at the top of the lining, where it gets sewn into the bag.

SO.....my lining side piece was cut 80.5cm wide by 22.5cm high :)

I wanted to add a pocket.....I cut a piece of fabric 17cm wide x 22cm high.  Fold the pocket piece Right Sides together and sew down each side with a 1cm seam......photo below

 
After sewing the seams trim the corners as shown and then turn through to the right side.......

 
Press the pocket flat.

The next bit sounds a bit tricky but it's really quite easy.....position the pocket with the raw edge facing up, where you want it on your lining.  I positioned mine so it would sit in between two of the handles and would be about 4cm from the top of the lining.....so I placed the raw edge of the pocket 15cm from the raw edge at top of the lining fabric.....like this below

 
I hope you can see this okay....it's not the best fabric print to be using for demo purposes :(

​Pin the pocket with the raw edge facing up and then sew a 1cm seam across this edge, sewing through all layers.  Once the seam is sewn, clip the corners on the raw edge and then flip the pocket up towards the top....shown below

 
Press the pocket in place then pin to hold.  Top-sew close to the sides and across the bottom of pocket to attach it to the lining.  Give it another press.  If you prefer you can add a little hooky pocket like I did....I sewed another row of stitching 2cm from the top-stitching on the left side of the pocket to create a perfect size holder for a crochet hook.....so it's easy to find in the bag and you don't have to go hunting for it :)

 
Next you need to prepare the lining side piece so it's ready to attach to the base circle.  Zig-zag or overlock the sides and top of the this piece, then press the top edge 1cm to the wrong side.  Open out the pressed edge and sew the sides of the lining together with Right Sides together using a 1cm seam. Press the seam to one side (or open if you prefer) and re-press the top folded edge where the seam is.
Your piece should now look like this....see below

 
Now it's time to attach the base circle to the rest of the lining.  Mark out quarters on your Base piece and Side piece with pins.....as shown in the photos below.....the pins are placed on the (bottom) raw edge of the side piece.

 
 
Once you have both pieces divided into quarters you need to pin them together.  Right Sides together, put the circle into the open 'tube' of the side piece and line up the pins on each piece.  It should look like this....

 
Now you need to pin the two pieces together all the way around.  Placing your pins vertically will make it much easier....as in my photo above.  It's also much easier if you have the Base piece facing down with the Side piece facing you.  The side piece will need to be eased slightly as you sew, to avoid any puckers.  Sew with the Side piece facing up and the Base underneath.  If you sew with the base facing up you are more likely to get puckers in the side piece.  Once you have sewn the two pieces together, either zig-zag or overlock the seam allowance to reinforce it and deter fraying.  Your lining should now look like this.....

 
Now top-stitch around the folded top edge of the lining.

The next bit is a bit fiddly but does make a difference to how the lining sits when in the bag.  Press the seam towards the Base of the bag lining by lying the bag on its side and holding the 'tube' up with one hand while putting the iron into the bag and pressing down into the bag.....you will have to move the bag around in a circle to press the whole seam.  It's much harder to explain than actually do!!

Once your lining is all pressed you're ready to attach it to the inside of your gorgeous crocheted bag.  Sit the lining inside the bag, lining the pocket up where you'd like it to be, and pin the top edge of the lining to the top inside edge of the bag.....I sewed mine to the bottom of the Gold scallop row.  Hand sew in place with small whip stitches.  The inside should look like this......

 
The last step is to turn your bag inside-out so the lining is on the outside and smooth it down so that it's sitting on the base of the bag correctly.  Then I like to attach the bottom of the lining to the base with a few stitches....so it stays in place when putting things in and out of the bag.  I hand sew through the lining at four points around the base, just catching the crochet bag, and then tie off firmly.

Voilà.....congratulations.....your bag is all finished.  Give yourself a big pat on the back :)

 
I'd like to send out a BIG thank you to Lucy for all that she shares on her blog.  ALL her patterns are FREE!!  And they are all wonderful.

I LOVE this bag and love how it turned out.....I'm not always thrilled with my creations but I am with this one!  I'll be making another one soon for another pressie.  Maybe one day I'll even make one for myself lol

Thanks for hanging in there through this long post......I hope it helps someone to have a go at lining a bag.
Have a wonderful day
​Lynne xx

ETA: I've finished the second bag....here it is

I used a cute owlie fabric for the inside of this one and the colours are leftovers from Lucy's Sunny Granny Stripe blanket, minus the Bright Pink (which I'm not that fond of).  I followed Lucy's colourway until the bag was the right height, using 2 rows for each colour on the base and one colour per row for the body of the bag.....same as the first bag I made :)

Love these bags......wish I had more friends I could make them for LOL  I have quite a stash of leftover yarn and these are great stash busters!