Category Archives: Handmade

Crochet Doll Toilet Roll Cover

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I get more requests and click-throughs on this website and my Etsy site for this one thing – crochet toilet roll dolls!

I first started making them quite a while ago and blogged about how it was impossible to find a good pattern. That started me on making my own pattern for these retro dolls. I’ve been making the dolls and selling them on my Etsy site and various vintage and craft fairs for a while. They are always popular. I make them in all sorts of custom colours!

I’m constantly asked where I got the pattern and the dolls from. Well, I’ve finally got around to writing the pattern up. It’s now available for immediate PDF download on my Etsy shop. Happy crocheting!

I might eventually get around to writing up a few more of my patterns… maybe it will be the zombies next 🙂

 

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So, I’ve just dyed a doll’s hair…

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Bride crochet toilet roll dollAs you know, I make all sorts of things. Some of the most popular of my creations are the toilet roll covers and toilet roll dolls.

I have been using the same dolls from the same supplier for quite a while now. It can be quite hard to find the right size (at the right price). The dolls are all white and blonde and I’ve just not seen any others.

A couple of weeks ago I had a custom order from my Etsy shop for one of my bridal toilet roll dolls, but a brunette. Well, I searched and searched and managed to find one but the price was ridiculous!

So, I had a sudden flash of inspiration – could I dye the doll’s hair? I tentatively started to Google, thinking I wouldn’t find anything, and low and behold found quite a few links to how to do it. Mainly on how to create a goth doll, but I didn’t let that put me off 🙂

Anyway, a couple of links were suggesting acrylic paint for vinyl dolls and I used to do quite a bit of painting so dug out my acrylics. I chose a raw umber for the dye and gave it a go. The first attempt was a bit wishy-washy, but I tried it again with a bigger blob of paint and less water and it seemed to work quite well. What do you think?

The biggest tips I can think of for doing this is:

  • Pop the doll’s head on something like a pencil if you can – it makes it much easier to handle
  • Pop some vaseline on the dolls face so you don’t dye her face too
  • Use a brush or something similar to do the roots
  • Comb the paint through before it dries, otherwise it clumps and is a pain in the bum to sort out.

I’m really pleased with the results and it wasn’t even difficult to do – every day’s a school day!

First sewing projects

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Well yesterday I had a play around with my new sewing machine. It’s been years and years since I had a decent machine. For my first project I chopped up an old dress and made a simple skirt.

Today I wanted to try something different. My little girl loves all things ‘taggy’ so I thought I’d have a go at a taggy blankie.

I’ve used soft fleece on one side and cotton on the other. I think all little ones like different sorts of taggies (silky, textured, knotted etc) so I tried to come up with something different to the usual bits of ribbon that you see on them. I’ve noticed at the moment my little girl likes knotted things as she’s teething, so I included a few of those too. Also, as crochet is my usual weapon of choice, I crocheted a few taggies too.

One thing I find useful with toys is to have something to attach them to the pram with. Imagine losing their favourite toy or blankie! So, I made a little strap and I just need to pop the Kam popper onto it. Actually, it will have a dual purpose as my little girl currently has an obsession with all things strap-like. I guess you could also use it to attach a dummy?

Anyway, I also top-stitched it so it has a double set of stitches to keep the taggies safe and I think it makes it look better too. Oh and I had to use a scooter fabric 🙂

What do you think?

I’ve bought a new sewing machine!

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Woo-hoo!

I have finally stopped procrastinating and bought myself a new sewing machine! Yes, that was another exclamation mark. Look, there’s another one!

Brother sewing machineDo you get the impression that I might be excited? Yeah, I am just a little bit.

I’ve just finished my first little project on it. I just wanted something simple to get used to the machine. I’ve got a dress that I like the pattern of but never wear it as it just never seems to fit right. I’ve chopped the top off and turned it into a simple skirt. Looks OK too. It’s nothing special, but it’s helped me to get the feel of this fab machine.

Did I mention that it threads the needles for me? Oh, and the geek in me is pleased too as it’s also got a touchscreen. My other half saw it this morning and said “Oooh did you know that it’s got a USB slot?” Dur, yeah, that’s why I bought it 🙂

Anyway, must go and check out some YouTube videos on how to use all the fancy features…

Too busy to post? Put out the bunting!

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Yeah, that’s me!

I’m not quite finding the time I used to find to do little things like posting on here. It’s not even that I don’t like doing it, but I just don’t seem to find the time recently!

My little girl seems to have such a busy diary, I have enough on just keeping my Etsy shop open and keeping up with orders, and writing my regular articles for the Nottingham Post.

P1020201The main orders that are keeping me busy at the moment are for my handmade bunting. It’s all crocheted by me, including the letters so it’s quite time-consuming. It would probably be quicker to use felt letters, but I quite like the look of the crocheted letters. They have a much more 3D effect. The first one I did was something for my little girl’s room and I had so many queries I thought I start to make them for the Etsy shop.

And yes, my little girl’s room is purple…. she can’t choose colour schemes at the moment, so I choose them for her 🙂

I’ll post up some pictures of some of the other ones I’ve made as soon as I get around to it. I’m thinking they might work quite nicely for weddings, birthday and housewarming pressies.

 

 

Halloween hats!

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I did a little post a few days ago about a tea cosy that people kept asking me if it was a hat. Basically, I ended up making hats too as they were quite popular – here’s the post.

Jack O'Lantern hatA similar thing happened a few times at fairs with my Jack O’Lantern tea cosy. Kids would rush up and then look a bit disappointed that it wasn’t a hat. This year I’ve decided to create a hat based on the tea cosy design. What do you think? I think it looks pretty cool 🙂

It’s clearly getting closer to Halloween as I’ve had a couple of orders for the Jack O’Lantern tea cosy, so rather than finish the TARDIS coffee cosy I started on, I’ve somehow become side-tracked and been working on Halloween hats. Yeah I know, I should finish what I started first…

So far I have a Jack O’Lantern, a zombie, a scary ghost and a skull hat. What do you think?

Halloween hats

These can be made in 0-3, toddler, child or adult sizes. You can find them on my Etsy Shop.

Crochet toilet roll covers

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I made some crochet toilet roll cover dolls a little while and blogged about them here. They are quite popular at fairs or on my Etsy shop. I also get quite a few emails from people asking where to buy the materials or for patterns.

Crochet toilet roll doll Crochet toilet roll dollI decided a little while ago to try out some different crocheted toilet roll covers. Clearly as I make a lot of zombies, the first one I tried was a zombie:

Zombie toilet roll coverI’ve also made some Pac-Man ghost toilet roll covers, which have been more popular at fairs – they look great when they are stacked together.

Pac man toilet roll cover

I’m just working on a TARDIS coffee pot cosy and when I’ve finished that I think I’m going to try to come up with a TARDIS toilet roll cover. I’ll post up some piccies when I come up with a design.

I know they aren’t all to everyone’s taste but I like the retro look of them and I like mixing up the retro look with something a little different. They certainly make a talking point in the smallest room in the house!

Tea cosy or hat?

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Granny chic tea cosiesI made these granny chic tea cosies a little while ago. I think they are pretty cool and look great on a tea pot. Imagine a lovely plate of homemade cookies next to them and some Earl Grey in the tea pot….

But, for some reason people keep asking me if they are hats. Every time I do a vintage or craft fair people are drawn to them and then say “Oh, I thought it was a hat”. Even when they are on a tea pot 🙂

Well they seem to be much more popular now as hats and I’ve had a couple of custom orders to make them as hats instead of tea cosies. Isn’t it funny how things turn out?

Here’s a little baby hat I made for a boy, replacing pink with bright greens and blues. I also added a nice big rainbow pom-pom!

Granny chic baby hat

Summer of vintage and handmade

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Summer of vintage and handmadeThe sunshine this week is starting to get me quite excited about the Summer of Vintage that’s about to descend on Derbyshire.

Let me explain…

The lovely people at The Vintage Suitcase have organised a whole summer of vintage and handmade events across Derbyshire. These fairs are at really cool places like Matlock, Buxton and Bakewell. Hmmm, Bakewell tart…. 🙂

The sunshine has rally energised me into sorting through all my goodies to see what I will be bringing along to the fairs. As usual, I’ll be bringing along a mixture of vintage, handmade and remade. I’ve been working on some new sugar skull goodies, so I’ll be launching them at the first fair in Matlock.

Matlock eventThe dates and locations are:

  • Matlock – Saturday 15th June 2013
  • Buxton – Sunday 29th July 2013
  • Bakewell – Wednesday 7th August 2013

Less than 2 weeks to go until the first event at Matlock. Can’t wait. Hope to see you there!

Crochet toilet roll cover doll

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Quirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverQuirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverWell, I blogged about these a little while ago in Crochet toilet roll dolls.

The dolls arrived a couple of weeks ago so I had a look around online for some patterns and they were sadly lacking. Lots and lots of pictures of various styles of these dolls but hardly any patterns. I’d already got some wool that matched the doll’s eyes – that’s not weird is it?

Quirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverIn the end I found two. The first one I tried just didn’t seem to make sense. I crocheted a few rows and couldn’t work out which bot of the dress it was! It didn’t help that there weren’t any pictures with the pattern, just the finished article. The second wasn’t much better. I started the bodice of the dress and it quickly became apparent that it was wayyyyy tooooooo big for my dolls. Also, again it was just a pattern and no real explaination of which bits of the dress you were doing.

Quirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverQuirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverSo, like I usually end up doing, I made it up as I went along. And it came together pretty well.

I liked one bit of one of the patterns and kept that. Quite nifty idea that I’d not tried before. You do your first chain around around a small elastic band. You end up with a stretchy piece of crochet. I used this to make the very top of the bodice so that it would fit nice and snug. It also means that the dress is removable and not sewn onto the doll.

Quirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll coverSo, I worked the bodice in a singe crochet until it reached the waist of the doll and then started to increase until the circle sat in top of the toilet roll and reached the edge. The I just worked the rows the same size in double crochet until it reached the bottom of a toilet roll and then for the final row I did a scalloped edge

The it was just a case of doing a strap for a halterneck and doing a few daisies to sew onto the dress. I also did a belt around the waist and a headband with a daisy.

This is what she ended up looking like – not bad eh?    Quirky Purple crochet doll toilet roll cover

I think I’ll sort out the pattern next and I’ll post it up. Let me know if you want a copy. I’ll try and make it easier to follow and with some pictures 🙂

If you would like one of these dolls to grace the smallest room in your house – then you can find it here Quirky Purple crochet toilet roll cover doll on Etsy.