Felicity's parlor....

I am beginning to re-vamp the design of this blog and give it a more pleasing template that is more restful on the eye. I have been working on a number of projects for the dolls- both the American Girls and more recently, sewing for the Silkstone Barbies and my Fashion Royalty dolls. I have recently downloaded a ton of Liberty Jane clothing patterns and I can hardly wait to work on the prairie dress bundle that was such a generous giveaway. The jean skirt that showed how to upcycle old clothing as well as the Tshirt pattern are on my to do list for Rebecca and Kit. (Felicity loves the 18th century, I cannot drag her out of her period, lol) 

Here are some older photos from a few years back of Felicity's parlor I set up in my shop when I was gathering her collection just before she was retired. My Felicity was purchased on Ebay and is a Pleasant Company.

The table and chairs in this photo are from Felicity's retired collection. The fireplace and curio are Bespaq, no longer manufactured and what I used to sell in my shop King William Miniatures & Collectibles when it was open in 2009 to 2011. Regretfully, we had to close as overhead and operating costs were too much for a doll and dollhouse shop. These pieces are still in my collection; I hope to do some more scenes with them soon.

One reason I love this furniture so much is it fits in with the furniture found in many colonial mansions in Williamsburg, Va where Felicity was from. Her tea set resides in this cabinet. 

The portraits in frames, the wreaths, and silver chocolate pot , candlesticks and toile plate on the wall are all from the Williamsburg souvenir shops. The wreaths are actually napkin rings! They have such a Williamsburg look to them. One of my goals this year is to start sewing on a more regular basis, and make Felicity more clothing, I love the styles of the 18th century. I have sewn in 1:6 scale in this period, but never in American Girl doll scale. 

I will also be adding more of the AG blogs I am following to the sidebar here, so hope you follow back!~Lisa

Large scale Bespaq auctions on Ebay

I have some large scale Bespaq listed on my Ebay auctions many are good for 1:3 scales and 1:4 scales. Below are a few listed on auction as well as in the Ebay store The curios measure 19 1/2 inches high, 12 inches wide, 4 inches deep. Various prices differ on ebay auction according to how much damage they may have. As you can see, they are perfect for fashion dolls, American Girl- doesn't Felicity and Rebecca look wonderful next to them? I use mine for Felicity's tea set as well as other china items, makes a wonderful china cabinet for the large scale dolls.
The 1:4 scale armoire is 18 inches high 11 inches wide and 4 inches deep. I have shown it with Ellowyne but on a stretch it could be used with American Girl or MSD sized bjd's.
All for now, thank you for browsing my auctions !

New projects, New Directions...

I recently with the new year of 2014, looked at my to-do list, or 'goal' list of things I would like to do. I never make New Year's resolutions, but I do make a list of goals that I would like to actually accomplish. One of them, after all of my charitable organization obligations were over, was to learn to sew for not only my 1:6 scale dolls but my American Girl dolls as well. I have sewn for my Soulkid MSD bjd, Gracie, and my Sybarite, but never the American Girl dolls. Or the MY Twinn, Miss Ashton. 
This weekend I did some research in the AG Playthings Forum and especially paid attention to their Home Ec section, what patterns are easiest to learn by, etc. Everyone has raived about Liberty Jane Clothing and so I downloaded the free pattern from one of their sites called Pixiefaire. It was a cute little drawstring dress and I changed it up a bit by using ribbon instead of sewing the straps of the fabric. I have been browsing the patterns for 18 inch dolls in Hancock Fabrics and Joanns' and was a little intimated by the instructions. I have a sewing machine but have never learned to use it...I think I am backwards. I can take the doll, put her on the cloth, use a picture, take paper and 'create' a pattern from her arm, body, etc but using a regular pattern throws me, especially a commercial pattern. Sewing for the smaller dolls is easier for me than the big girls! I have downsized Gildebrief patterns from the french fashion doll size to Fashion Royalty/Barbie size but that is easy compared to sewing for the AG's...yes, I'm weird. All of my sewing is handsewn, no machine. 
But back to my project. I started downloading and getting items together and the fabric pressed, and cut out. I started it yesterday and finished this morning. It turned out better than I thought it would.

I think the dress turned out rather well. Kit looks bright and cheerful! I have missed playing with the AG's, I have three of them and they have been sadly neglected. I am hoping with more practice I can make more complicated outfits for them, as it was fun.