Coraline Complete

    I didn't see it coming to an end so soon, but I completed making the Coraline doll early this evening. My eldest is simply rapt. She hasn't parted with the doll since I handed it to her. I am glad she likes it so much.
    What will I do now?

Knitted Top Done

    I made a knit pattern for Coraline's top. I was going to make sleeves, but decided against it. I will be making a raincoat jacket for this doll and I was concerned that with knitted sleeves underneath it would be too bulky for the doll.
    Oh yeah! And for those following the progress of this doll you will have noticed she has had a haircut.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Next stop, making Coraline's raincoat.

Coraline's Clothes

    I was tossing up whether to paint a top onto the Coraline doll or knit one. The knitting idea won out and I began planning and knitting the top.

 

    Oh yeah! And I just had to share a photo of this delicous dinner from last night. It was an Indian dish of butter chicken, with a side of rice, brocoli and cauliflower. We sat outside and ate dinner with a glass of Penfold's wine. I think having dinner outdoors is simply the best way to eat? Do you agree?

Blue Hair & Mike's Cat

    Here is a peek at my current craft projects...
    This morning I glued down the hair for the Coraline doll. It all looks straggly and like she needs a haircut. Which is precisely what I'll give the doll once the hair is firmly glued.
    Additionally my eldest has been invited to a birthday party for another little girl. So I am making a cat doll for the birthday present. I found this lovely cat doll pattern in Pip Lincolne's Meet Me At Mike's: 26 crafty projects and things to make.


Sew Turn Stuff

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Hey, look at that will ya! The Coraline doll has been sewn, turned, stuffed and closed. My next step will be attaching the blue yarn for hair.

Post Script: And I just noticed that I forgot to sew on the bloody ears.

Further Progress

    Well this is certainly surprising. I made a lot of headway with the Coraline doll. This morning I visited a fabric store and bought some yellow fabric. The fabric is for the shoes and the eventual raincoat that will be made.
    In a continued effort to use material that I already have, I pulled my fabric box out from under the house. This is quite funny because I only quite recently put this box away to make space in the house. Anyway, I pulled out the stuffing [doll filler] and left over blue yarn from last years granny square project. I'll be able to use the yarn for Coraline's hair.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Coraline WIP

    And now the latest for my Coraline doll project. I have been taking quite some time to get this one done. Mainly because I wanted to avoid having buy a lot of new materials to make this doll. My aim is to cannibalise materials already lying around the house. Yeah, we're talking upcycling.

    I was able to use a pair of baby jeans that no longer fit my baby. I even found a piece of linen in the girl's bedroom, which judging by the size could not have been used for anything that was actually useful. So I found a use for it.

    Today I began working on the face of the doll, embroidering the features.

 

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Coraline Progress

Design work by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Thought I'd share the early progress of the Coraline doll, which my eldest asked me to make for her.
    I have done the first draft, but after cutting it out I have realised the legs will need to be widened. The legs do need to be thin to a degree. But any good doll maker will have a melt down trying turn through limbs that are just not wide enough. Believe me, I've been down that path, and I'm not goin' back [unless I'm working with super strong, super stretchy material, then maybe...].

Coraline Challenge

Image from the Coraline film.

    I recently introduced my eldest to the Coraline film and since then we have watched it almost every day. She absolutely loves the film. The kid has great taste. So much so that she has asked me to make a Coraline doll, just like the little doll featured in the film.
    I smell a challenge.

{Image Source}

Knitting into Finity

Here is one for knitters, and fans of the film "Coraline"...

When you were a child did you ever look at your dolls, toy cars, and doll houses and wonder what it would be like to walk around in the micro world. I sure did.  Well, Althea Crome is a woman who considered what it would be like to take normal, every day objects and scaling them down exactly into miniature.

Althea and her craft first came to my attention while reading Knit Knit. Since my teen years I have had a fascination for the art of miniatures so I was naturally curious to find out if Althea had a website, to look at more of her work.

Did you know that the collection of miniatures was initially a serious hobby for adults. That is, for those who had the financial means to do so. My understanding is that the crafting of miniatures was so specialized that it was an expensive hobby. Now today, it can still be expensive, but with the crafting renaissance, and more people going DIY, miniature collecting need not be for an exclusive club.

I highly recommend you check out Althea's website at: http://www.bugknits.com/