A change is as good as a rest

It's been six months since my last post here, so I've certainly had a rest, although I'm not sure anyone would notice seeing as I'm not a regular blogger anyway. The funny thing is that I haven't been resting from sewing - there have been fancy dress costumes (a Sith Lord and Neo and Morpheus from the Matrix!), Roman blinds, upholstered headboards, Plantains, Anna's, a Renfrew, bits and bobs from Tilly's book, plus assorted dolls clothes - but none of it has made it here.

I've been trying to work out why and I've realised that if a blog has an identity then mine is schizophrenic. There are two themes here; sewing for people and sewing for dolls, half the traffic my blog gets comes from Sewing Pattern Review and half from Flickr where my doll pictures get more favourites than the people ones. (That could just be cos the people ones are of me though! :P)

I don't want to start another blog and split the subjects up so I've decided to add a couple of tabs at the top so my visitors can choose what they'd like to see. You never know, I may get another hobby and add a third tab! ;)

Also, I've changed the name of the blog from 'BusyLizzyBee' to Sew*Jemmilly.

There are a lot of LizzyBees out there and a lot of them seem busy. Jemmilly is the name I used to sell my dolls clothes when I first started out, so I'm returning to my roots and hoping to create something that's a bit more 'me', whether I'm sewing for plastic people or real ones.

Naughty knitter?

I'm being naughty now. I'm supposed to be packing to go to the Isle of Wight for the weekend, but instead I'm adding knitting patterns to Ravelry and eating cake. Tut tut!

These are some outfits for my 12" Bethany that I finished last year.

Both knitting patterns by Becky Colvin at Sew-Cool Separates.

Dashing Diamonds for Amber

Another lovely pattern by Becky Colvin - this cardigan turned out great but the instructions needed a bit of editing for mistakes. My advice is; follow the chart for the body and it will all be fine. :)








I love the zip detail.

I need to make an outfit to go with this cardi. I don't know if it will find its way to eBay or not. I usually end up selling the things I've made but it really suits my new Amber, so I'm not sure. Anyway, I've cut out a pair of grey cargo pants so watch this space for pics :)

Frisson D'Avril - Chloe's new, er, old suit!

Frisson D'Avril, a photo by jemmilly on Flickr.
Wow, I actually finished this back in May - Chloe has been standing around glaring at me for months waiting for her photo to be taken. I bet she'd like something new to wear now! ^_^

Dressed for Spring!

When I haven't been cleaning up dust from the building work in our new house I've been busy sewing for my Les Cheries Chloe. I got her about six weeks ago and she is a real cutie. She's 13" tall and she smells of vanilla. Mmmmm....

Dressed for Spring!, a photo by jemmilly on Flickr.

One of  the things I love about these dolls is the availability of patterns, particularly knitting patterns, on the net. Both the knitted items in these pictures were made from tutorials that people kindly shared for free. I wish I had more talent for creating my own patterns so that I could give something as well  :/

Oh Sindy, what have I done to you?

Oh Sindy, what have I done to you?, a photo by jemmilly on Flickr.

So, I was browsing the net for dolly knitting patterns when I came across a website for rerooting and repairing old Sindy dolls and remembered an old Sindy stashed away in a box on top of the cupboard.
I don't think she was one of my childhood Sindy dolls, because although I chewed the feet I was never into giving them haircuts.
Until now.

Quick, put your hat on!, a photo by jemmilly on Flickr.

Someone had attempted to chop her blonde hair into a bob, but it hadn't quite worked. She also had a few hair plugs missing.
So she seemed like she had nothing to lose from my experiments.

Before I knew it I was pulling clumps of hair from the inside of her head with a crochet hook! Even her eyelashes were not safe.

Afterwards I felt guilty and made her a hat to keep her head warm until her new hair arrives.

Ever since I was a little girl I've enjoyed making things - mostly for dolls.

Over the last ten years or so I've used my skills as a professional handknitter for an English sweater company and sewn and knitted clothes on eBay for collectable fashion dolls. I haven't kept many of my own creations - imagine a row of naked, disappointed-looking dolls and you wouldn't be too far from the truth :)

But since I got married in 2010 I have actually started to keep my own work. My head has been warm this winter due to my sudden passion for knitting hats, and my dolls are dressed for the season! Some of my cross-stitching is decorating the hall in my house, and the chairs in the kitchen have been recovered.

I'm having a great time doing things for me, but I still want to share pics and chat about my crafts (my husband can only admire a dolly sweater so many times before it gets silly) and that's the reason for this new blog.

I hope you will enjoy looking and maybe leave me a comment or two.
Thanks :)