The weather is getting nicer and my dance urges are growing persistent and stronger. Luckily, this has also motivated me to do an update! I updated the ArtFire shop last night and now there is only one dress left. I simply can not say thank you all enough!
Last week, I had a day of FAIL. Whilst sewing, the dress I was working on {the one that was inspired by my previous post} developed an unexplained stain. This happens on rare occasions and usually it is a drop of machine oil. Well, I pulled out my handy dandy stain remover pen* and proceeded to blot the offending stain. Not only did the spot remain, but the stain remover also removed the printing from the fabric! Doh! I used to test it on scrap fabric every time I used it, but subconsciously ceased the precaution since I had never experienced a bad result. Lesson learned. I decided to forge ahead and sew on a snap because the dress was almost complete. That is when I turned the dress over to discover that I had somehow snagged the tulle layers on something and s 5mm cleft of fabric was missing from the hem. Out came the pinking shears and the tulle is now shorter! That dress is a hot mess that will probably live in a box with the other castaways for the next few years.
{Insert imaginary photo here}
After the dress debacle, I decided to relax by sitting in front of the computer and indulge in the newest episode of Lie to Me while knitting. Halfway through the show {which featured a prince charming psycho killer played by Jason Dohring, better known as Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars, the best show ever,*squee*} I am starting to unwind when the next thing I know, I am being hit in the head by the shelf formerly mounted to the wall above me and all of my dolls come crashing down on to my desk, my lap, and the floor. Nightmare scenario. I am very happy to report that there were no casualties and only one scare! The eye mechanism in Arabella, my Yuki, popped out of place, but is a super easy fix, especially since she is an RBL, and actually exposed that her pull string was about to break due to a snag on the metal grommet in the back of her face plate. I’m glad it ended well!
In more relevant news, I finished a new design! I decided to try combining my love of over-sized dolly collars and rounded, peter pan collars into one! Instead of having two separate sides, the collar is in one lined piece. I’m really satisfied with the result. The woven cotton solids used in this dress have been a great inspiration for me. The beautiful colours are achieved by weaving two different threads together to create multi-tonal fabric that just sings. It is really suited to dolly scale and has a lovely drape.
Crane is also wearing a Parasol Doll Diane Arbus Beret.
*Tide To Go Instant Stain Remover, not an official endorsement, heh.
When I first began consistently selling my handmade doll clothing, my packaging was really basic: a reclosable poly bag. Actually, that’s a little embarrassing now. I knew my presentation had to improve and I assumed the right idea would strike me eventually. Over the years, my packaging has slowly evolved. My most recent addition is the scalloped edge. This is the first batch of items I have packaged with this adornment and I really like the simple, whimsical look it adds. My most inspired packaging moment (you don’t hear that sentence very often!) was when I began sealing my packages with a bow. Yup, that’s a real bow! I use a little hole punch through the card stock and the bag, thread the ribbon through, and seal it with a hand-tied bow. That’s better than sealed with a kiss!
I am pretty pleased with the combination, but I am not completely satisfied. I still need to figure out a way to incorporate my logo into the packaging in a clever way and possibly figure out a way to speed up the packaging process. It takes a great deal of time, measuring and precision. It is a lot of fun to pick out the ribbons and papers to coordinate with the clothes, so it’s not all hard work! I am going to try and print out my logo on card stock, punch it out with a big, circular punch and then thread the circular logo card on to the front of the package before tying the bow. I am also thinking of trying cellophane bags.
There is a great deal of inspiration to be found in the packaging of other dolly artisans, too.
Diem of Tiny Haus hand carved a block print which she uses on recycled paper for the tops of her packages. The effect is really warm and folkloric.
Getting a package from House of Pinku is an unbirthday party in package form. Everything is pink, from the mailer, the paper header and even the bag that holds the dolly dress!
Where to begin? I have so many things to say!
First and foremost, version 2.0 of ParasolDoll.com is live! I quite literally coded it by hand, line by line. This is quite the accomplishment for me as I knew very little other than basic html when I began teaching myself CSS a few short months ago. With a little help from Mike and a gorgeous banner from Rabbitine, it is finally ready. Although it is basic, I am very proud of my handmade website!
In addition to the new website, I am also proud to debut the newest Parasol Doll knitting pattern, Écolière Beret! A .pdf of the pattern can be downloaded directly from the Parasol Doll Patterns page or from the Ravelry pattern page. I love, love, love berets!
In case you didn’t know, I am extremely excited to be hosting BlytheCon 2011 with my very dear friends and amazingly talented seamstresses, Julie of House of Pinku & Kyle of ButtonArcade!!!
I fear this post already has too many exclamation points, so I will be back soon. In addition to news and updates, I plan on really utilizing this blog to share my inspirations, construction and creation of my dolly clothing.
My blessings are far and wide. Thanks to each and every one of you!
After pouring over several of my vintage needlepoint books and drooling over beautiful photos of vintage linens on the many crafty blogs I frequent, I decided to try some new embroidery stitches! Nothing sets off embroidery quite like gingham, so I kept it simple and let the embroidery stand out.
I hope you like them!
Don’t forget: the sale is still on for another week or so! Go grab some Parasol Doll deals!
My new style of summer dresses are on Etsy!
They are simple and light with lace straps that can be worn on their own or as a pinafore over sleeved items! They are very versatile and your dolls will be wearing them all year long.