Dolly Donations Ragdolls

Crafters all over the world have been making dolls to send to an orphanage in Haiti. Here is my very own contribution to the fantastic initiative by Sarah at Dolly Donations. The deadline is almost upon us, but these chaps were posted quite a while ago, so hopefully they have reached their destination by now.

I was searching for patterns and tutorials for making ragdolls, and I stumbled upon this site. It really resonated with me, not because I am an orphan (I'm not!), but because I had a special mouse-teddy that went everywhere with me and knew all my secrets when I was a child. Hopefully these pesky dolls will bring a smile and some comfort to some little people in Haiti.

Thread card key ring

I have been making a fabric cover for my sewing machine, and decided to use the scraps from that project to create something else. The print consists of lots of different vintage French thread cards, so I thought I would do a bit of fussy-cutting and make a thread card key ring. It was a little tricky to align the design on both sides (the fabric is quite heavy), but it was really easy to sew and stuff. Now I have a nice, chunky key ring that I can find easily in my bag, and it reminds me of sewing!

The Lady Singer

To begin with, I should introduce the lady of the house, Ms. Singer Sewing Machine model No. 99. According to her instruction manual, she was born in 1933.

I suppose I have just shown how unlady-like I am by revealing her age. Oh heck, you might as well know who you are dealing with right from the start.

I found her in an antique shop many years ago, and she has been sitting patiently in a corner of our living room ever since. A few months ago I finally decided to be brave and learned how to thread her, and now we play almost every day. I was so scared of her. I was afraid because I did not understand sewing machines.  But they don't answer back, or tell you that your sewing is rubbish, so you are quite safe with them.