Playing with Dolls

It is so funny how things come about. I was with good friend Eileen Hull last week and she mentioned the upcoming 'suitcase' project for the Fresh Vintage bloghop. I had participated the previous week and was not planning on going another round of hopping but since my new book, Love to Dress Up 18" Dolls, was just released and would be the perfect fit for the suitcase, I thought it was a wonderful fit. I decided to dress my doll in the Outdoor Explorer outfit which went perfectly with some Monarch butterfly fabric I already owned in my stash.

Here is how I created my suitcase so full of butterflies, that some seem to be escaping.

Fuse Steam a Seam 2 to the back of your chosen fabric.

Remove paper backing from the fusible web and cover a piece of matboard with the fabric.

Create the magic sandwich: cutting board-die-fabric covered matboard-cutting board. Slide the entire sandwich through the Sizzix machine.

I colored the edges and inside of my suitcase using my Mepxy markers.

I added brads to the corners and a 'lock' shaped brad to the front of the suitcase.

Using the project photo as a guide, create your suitcase.

Use leftovers to create a mini luggage tag, adding some embroidery thread as the hanging loop.

Cut out two Butterflies, once again a great die provided to us by Eileen and Sizzix.

Create wire coils and attach them to the back of the butterflies, attaching the opposite end inside the suitcase using foam tape.

What fun!

Be sure to click on the Hop Forward button on the Fresh Vintage logo at the side of my blog page. Thanks for stopping by.

Making a living playing with dolls!

If you would have asked me a few years back if I could possibly make a living writing books about doll clothes, I would have laughed. Yes; it is true that I was one of those children who created clothing for my one doll out of old socks, old clothes, even fashioning a costume made out of leaves and sticks one time but paying bills while playing with fabric and dolls. No way..... It just goes to show that if you can think to imagine it - you can make it happen. Of course designing clothes for dolls is not the only item I work on at a time but my new book brings the total to seven pattern packs and three books on doll clothes. You can imagine I have quite the collection of clothes at this point and with no grandchildren or small children in my life at this moment I am quite the hit with my friend's children. My last Christmas party involved bringing out a box of dolls and a wide variety of clothes and the three youngsters attending the party were totally involved in dressing and undressing the dolls. What a life!