Quiet Book - Part II

Clothes! Little tiny vintage-style clothes!! YIPPEE!!!

Ummm...can you tell that I am excited about this project??

 Okay, so the dress-up doll was always going to be on the first pages of this quiet book. But my initial (very bad) sketches have turned out to be quite different from the end product. I am ashamed to show them, but here are my initial sketches (sorry they are so faint).

The problem was, I just could not get inspired to create that in felt. After a quick Google search for 'felt dolls', I found this blog post, that referenced this Flickr photo by Olivia Mew, shown below. WOW! I wanted to do that, but with little girls' clothes!

I have always loved paper dolls and their cute little outfits, so I decided to draw inspiration from the paper doll concept. I did some research online and found this awesome site featuring the Betsy McCall doll from several decades of McCalls magazines. JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!  I have used the shape of one of the Betsy McCall paper dolls and used the basic shapes of several of the dresses and other little outfits.


The dress on the bottom right is the inspiration for the teal dress shown at the top of the post. I have cut the outfits out of felt and then added detail in embroidery and embellished with beads, ribbons, and so on.

I am really, really, really, REALLY enjoying this phase of the quiet book project!! It brings out the little girl in me...probably a little too much. My husband suggested that I would enjoy playing with it as much as our daughter would, and that I would probably cry if our she loses or damages any of these little clothes - that's a bit too close to the truth for comfort! But I really want it to be something that she loves and gets use from for years to come.

We had a quiet book growing up, which my mother still has. We always loved it, and now my daughter and niece and nephew love to play with it when they visit Grandma. There is something special about handmade toys that are loved over generations. Maybe I am being too ambitious, but that is what I hope to create.

My hubby arrived home as I was working on this the other night...while simultaneously breastfeeding. He thought it was too funny and actually went to the trouble of locating the camera and snapping a pic to document the moment - this is rather out of character for him!

The process of making these little clothes is rather time-consuming, but OH-SO-FUN! It feels even more drawn out, as I start it, then get called away to help Miss E on the potty, then return to do a few more stitches, then have to tend to Mr T who is squawking for food and so on. So why not keep sewing while he feeds, hey?

Now my big dilemma is WHERE DO I STOP?? Ah, the age-old question - how many clothes does a girl need? Or probably, in this case, how can I force myself to stop making these adorable and addictive little bits of craftiness??

This particular girl's wardrobe currently contains the following completed items:

 And I already have another eleven items cut out and ready to sew...