Happy days..........

Despite the gloriously sunny weather the past two days, I have been cocooned in my workroom for much of the time, sorting through fabrics, trimmings and ribbons and organising my toy dolls workbox.

I found the merest snippet of a wonderful silver/rainbow hairstripe silk, from a piece I bought nearly 20 years ago. Because I have only a tiny amount left, I have been hoarding it, unwilling to use it as I know I can never replace it.

However yesterday I decided to throw caution to the winds, and used a piece of this precious fabric to begin work on these two little toy dolls, which I finished late this afternoon.




I am so pleased with them.........aside from the gorgeous silk fabric, which I used for the bustled jackets, I have teamed one with a very pale aqua, and the other a soft pale cornflower blue and both have accents of contrasting colours in the costume/bonnet.

Each doll measures less than 1 3/4" tall and has jointed limbs. The costumes are completely hand sewn, using a tiny needle only slightly thicker than a human hair. The diminutive shoes are made from tissue-thin silk and have real leather soles. The tiny jackets have six individual pieces. Viscose for the minute ringlet wigs is meticulously wound onto the finest piano wire..........

Every element of the costume, every painstaking stage involved in making these little dolls should have me tearing my hair out, but strangely, whenever I sit down to make one, I can feel the stress and worry of everyday life just drain away, and a sense of peace, calm and contentment enfolds me. I become lost in the creative process and the hours simply melt away, till finally I place the last silk ribbon bow in place and sit back to admire the finished doll.

Happy days...........