The Topsy Turvy doll is a doll that has a sad face at one side and a happy face at the other.  Traditionally, they had a coloured face at one side and a white face at the other but these have fallen out of favour to be replaced with sad/happy face.  Normally the sad doll was dressed in rags and the happy doll dressed in gowns.  I had one as a child that was Cinderella in rags and Cinderella at the ball.  She was beautiful.  I don’t know if she was made for me or if she had been bought but I loved her all the same.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make one for quite some time now and never quite managed to get the arms right.  Recently though, while looking through books in a charity shop, I came across an old series of books called Stitch By Stitch (which, by the way, reminds me of the song Step By Step by Annie Lennox and now I can’t get that song out of my head).  Within the pages of this book was a pattern and instructions on how to make your very own Topsy Turvy doll.

Happy

Shortly after I also bought a copy of the stitching magazine, Inspirations, which also contained a pattern and instructions for a far more elaborate doll that I might try one day.  This doll is from the pattern in the book.

Surely this was a sign, so I have been making my very own doll this past week.  It’s a lengthy process, not least of all because I don’t have a working sewing machine and have to hand stitch it all, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end.

Sad

I’ve been working from home the past two months, which has saved a couple of hours (and more) on my working day, allowing me some crafting time in the evening.  Tomorrow I go back to work in the office so I doubt this will progress any further until the weekend.

I’ve promised it to Iona when it’s finished.  She wants me to dress it in a kilt and jumper…not at all a girly girl!

I know you also need to hear Annie Lennox so you too can have that song stuck in your head.  Right now I’m alternating between this and Van Morrison’s Moondance, which Alasdair is learning to play on the trumpet.

The idea of printing on fabric has been something I’ve been wanting to try for some time now.  I’ve neither had the time nor the inclination until this weekend, when the urge suddenly took me to get my finger out and make something for a change.

In my head this was going to be a quick craft that would satisfy the need to have some cheap Christmas ornaments for sale at our upcoming craft fairs.  In reality it took me all day to find a suitable image and even longer messing around with different techniques of colouring the image and transferring it to the fabric.  As they say patience is a virtue and in the end I was rewarded with some pretty special hanging dolls.  The most recent ones such as the one second from the left have a watercolour appearance.

Here they are all printed up and waiting to be sewn.  I think I’m in love – is that a bit narcissistic?

As promised here are the two mobile phone cosies I made for a commission.

I’m not sure which was more challenging – embroidery on black fabric or getting a semi-decent photograph of it.

Hopefully, you can just about see the matryoshka doll embroidery on this one.  The fabric is red wool.

I just couldn’t get a good enough individual picture of the dragon on the black fabric.  Any photography tips would really be appreciated.

These phone cosies are not available for sale but I will be making a range of iPhone and Blackberry cases for the Christmas Craft Fairs we are attending…more on that later.

Over the past few weeks I have been busy with a couple of commissions and finalising a new idea for Christmas tree decorations.  I’m reserving the commissions for a post of their own because they took me so long that they deserve a gold plaque, never mind their own post!

I know it seems too early to be talking about Christmas but it will be here before we know it and last year it totally caught me off guard so, like all good girl guides, this year I’m being prepared…besides we have a mega craft fair two weeks before Christmas and we don’t want to be embarrassed by a lack of stock.

The christmas tree decorations started life months ago now as a rough idea for bodies and I’ve had these embroidered bodies lying around in my sewing box all summer.  With the closing in nights it was time to finish the job.  They are now a mixture of felt bodies and polymer clay heads, hands and feet.  I think the picture speaks for itself.

At this stage I have 18 of these delightful little girls.  Each one is different.  I just need to think of a name.

A while ago now onecrazywoman contacted me with the proposition to swap dotee dolls.  She is making me a dotee doll with a Texan theme and I am making her a dotee doll with a Scottish theme.  I’ve been making this doll on and off now for the past month and finally last night I finished.

This is Morag – she is a traditional highland Scot but a bit kooky at heart which is why she wears a traditional plaid outfit but it’s pink!  She her unruly hair – she never brushes it and the wild Scottish winds have whipped it into a bit of a bird’s nest!

She’ll be on her way to join onecrazywoman’s dotee collection in Texas next week.

~ You can also find onecrazywoman as lovetoquilt2 on SwapBot.

I made this lion dotee doll for a swapbot tag.  I’m having trouble parting with this one.

It’s felt with embroidery thread and seed bead detail…quite simple really.  It was really windy when I took this picture so I had to hold onto the tail to keep it steady…it’s a basic tassel.

Dotee dolls are small fabric dolls with a face, hanger and tail (no arms or legs).  They are often also decorated with beads.  This style of doll is based on the work of a blogger called Dot and has become popular amongst the SwapBot community where many crafters join to swap dotee inspired dolls.

I have joined a number of these swaps now, the latest one being a Matryoshka Dotee Swap.

I’ve never tried to replicate the style that Dot has used for her Dotees; to be honest I would rather adopt my own style for crafts.  So, with a nod in the direction of Dot but with a personal twist I give you my dotee inspired doll collection…it’s quite small and actually not my collection because these all have new homes in America, but I hope you get the idea anyway.

matryoshka dotee

new year dotee – she’s got her PJs on because I tend to go to bed at New Year

the very first dotee I made

If you fancy having a go at something like this yourself, well, I’m not going to insult anyone with a pattern and besides mine never follow the same pattern anyhow.  What to do is take two pieces of fabric and adorn one with a face and other embellishments, attach to the other piece of fabric (wrong sides together), turn and stuff.  Sew on a hanger and tail….done!  The  first ever dotee inspired doll I made was just a square piece of fabric folded over and sew around the open sides.

Seriously, anyone who is willing to give it a go can make these.  In fact, many people who have never sewn a stitch in their life are joining in this craze with some good results.