“Ooh, ooh, ooh, she's a rag doll, such a rag doll ……… la la la la”

A good title for a song that!! Yes, I know, I’ve nicked it :0)

You wouldn’t want to hear me singing! So, here’s the latest of my, as I’m now calling it, ‘Corona Crafting’!

A week or so ago, I was sitting in bed with my cup of coffee (at silly o’clock in the morning as usual) looking at my new (ish) bespoke chest of drawers with Ikea mirror on top and decided it needed a little something by way of décor …. and that décor needed to be ‘me’. It’s only a small space, but it didn’t take long before the idea of a very long skinny rag doll popped into my head to hang on the mirror. My next Waldorf doll can wait a while longer I decided ……. 

A slight digression here, but with reason …….

For want of much decent to watch on TV the evening before (I’m really not into all of the reality shows), I’m going through my favourite DVDs, of which I have quite a few! And I’d decided to watch Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ starring Kenneth Branagh (of course), Emma Thompson, Richard Briers, Denzel Washington (scrummy!) and many other big names. I just love this 1993 film. It’s fun, and with gorgeous costumes – flowing full skirts and corset bodices and filmed entirely at the Villa Vignamaggio in Tuscany …… just call me a romantic! Anyway, those beautiful costumes I’ve referred to above became my immediate inspiration for dressing the doll – the part I always love best about making a rag doll. 

The doll itself is based on the Tone Finanger ‘Tilda’ doll, but with some modifications. I used to have a couple of the ‘Tilda’ books but sold them during a clear-out a few years ago. So, I had to freehand a pattern based on pictures I found on Pinterest. I used some lovely pure white lightweight 100% cotton/linen mix fabric for the dress and added some pretty lace at the cuffs. The bodice is made from a very delicate antique rose stripe fabric (had it in my stash for years), which I carefully inserted some antique style brass metal eyelets (love them). The hair is some felting yarn I had in and then I tied a piece of cheesecloth fabric in a lovely plum colour around her hair. She’s then finished off with painted shoes (to match the hair tie) silk ribbons and a little bit of gold glitter.

All in all, I’m rather pleased with her:0)

AND A SECOND PROJECT

Yesterday, I completed a ‘Reticule’. A good friend bought me a kit at Christmas, which I hadn’t yet got round to making. As you can see from the label, it came from an Alpaca Farm in the Cotswolds. Everything, therefore, is 100% alpaca wool, with added buttons and beads for decoration and is all stitched by hand and was relatively quick to make. I’ve decided for now to keep my dpns knitting needles in it. I wonder what’s next on my ‘Corona Crafting’ list …………….