Lavender Sachet Dolls

Greeting friends. I'm just popping in to let you know about a FREE knitting pattern I have created exclusively for LoveKnitting (now LoveCrafts).

These 4 little dolls measure just 10cm (4in) and inside each is a sachet of sweetly scented lavender. They can be attached to a length of ribbon and placed on hangers in your wardrobe or amongst linen in drawers and cupboards.

To make them I used a combination of double knitting yarn in mauves, purples, lime green and white. Shown here are the lovely Paintbox yarns that used (they are available from  LoveCrafts - more details on the pattern).

You will of course require tiny sachets of lavender which are easy to make (details in the pattern). Dried lavender is easily available from online outlets and a teaspoonful is all that is required for each doll. A 10gm bag will provide you with approximately 7 teaspoons of dried lavender.

If you'd like to knit the little dolls the FREE pattern can be downloaded from the LoveCrafts website . You can also purchase the Paintbox yarn from the same website if required.

Have fun and happy knitting x

New Year Greetings

Greetings Friends

2016 was a busy year for patterns and I created several new ones which I know many of you have been busy knitting. My family of dolls and bunnies is set to grow during 2017 and I already have ideas which I'm keen to start working on. Meanwhile, if you want to contact me or find out about my latest patterns you can find us all having fun at Dollytime on Facebook. 

Best wishes from us all x

NEW - Little Angels for Christmas

Just popping in to tell you about another new pattern. It's been a busy autumn so far but this will definitely be my last pattern for 2016. Needles to say I'm already making plans for something a bit different in 2017.

 

Let me introduce you to four Little Angels

 

These cuties are only 10cm (4in) tall and so the perfect size to hang on your Christmas tree. They are quick and easy to make and perfect for utilising all those odds and ends of yarn left over from other projects. They are knitted with double knitting yarn on 2.75mm needles (USA yarn - light-worsted/Australia - 8 ply). If you'd like the pattern you'll find it in my Etsy shop (it should be available from Ravelry and LoveKnitting by tomorrow).

 

Little Angels pattern can be found HERE

 

Happy Angel knitting everyone x

 

 

 

 





More NEW faces.

Greetings friends. I'm popping in to tell you about some new little dolls that have popped into Dollytime recently. Several of you will have already seen them but if you haven't, then let me introduce them to you

The first is Dolly Rose. Measuring just 20cm (8in) she's soft and cuddly and just the right size for little girls to hold and cuddle.

 

Dolly Rose has two different dresses to wear. One has an easy to knit slip stitch pattern and the other has a pretty rosebud design. As you can see, Dolly Rose loves her tiny doll (dolly pattern included).

The second little girl is a cutie who loves Christmas. Her name is Holly Berry. She has a pretty dress with a holly pattern on the skirt and a warm hat with a pom-pom. Holly Berry loves her teddy and takes him everywhere (teddy pattern is included).

 

 

 

Dolly Rose and Holly Berry are good friends.

 

 

Last but not least let me introduce you to a busy little lady named Granny Pearl.

Granny measures 17cm (7in). She carries her bag wherever she goes as it always contains her latest knitting project.

 

Granny Pearl hopes you are all currently having fun with your own knitting projects.

 

 

The knitting patterns for Dolly Rose, Holly Berry and Granny Pearl can be found in my shops on Etsy, Ravelry and LoveKnitting.

You can find regular updates about the Dollytime dollies and their friends on Facebook.

Happy knitting everyone.

 

*NEW PATTERN* - Bo Peep and her sheep

The day started really well for little Bo Peep. She gathered her sheep and they were all well behaved.

 

But suddenly they made a bid for freedom.

 

 

Over the hill and far away.

 

Poor Bo Peep, she's lost her sheep once again.

 

 

This little girl was great fun to create and is easy to knit. She has discarded her traditional dress and straw bonnet in favour of dungarees and a woolly hat (much more practical). She measures 17cm (7in) and the sheep are just 5cm (2in).
The knitting pattern for Bo Peep and her rascally flock can be found in each of my shops.
ETSY,  RAVELRY and LOVEKNITTING.

Bedtime Bunny

I've just popped in to let you know about my latest pattern - Bedtime Bunny.

Holding her tiny toy rabbit, little Bedtime Bunny is wearing her nightdress and slippers and is ready for bed. But where will she sleep?

 

Her bed is a cosy sleeping bag with pink daisies and a bunny appliqued on the front. She snuggles down inside with her tiny friend and very soon they are both fast asleep.

 

 

Bedtime Bunny measures 18cm (7.5in) and her tiny rabbit is 7cm (3in).
Knitting is done on two straight needles. 3.25mm needles (US 3) used for largest items and 2.75mm needles (US 2) used for smallest items.
Small quantities of DK (double knitting) yarn required in beige, pale pink, pale blue and cream (or white) (US use light-worsted/Australia - 8 ply).

Bedtime Bunny is easy to make and the pattern contains lots of photos and tips to help you.

The pattern can be found in each of my shops.
ETSY, RAVELRY and LOVEKNITTING 

Bunny's cute little slippers will also fit my Rabbit Rascals. Their pattern can also be found in the three shops above.

Knitted doll making tips

Tilly has just popped in to give you a tip or two about stuffing dolls. She's heard that some little dollies are looking a bit thin so she hopes her ideas might help you to create plumper ones.

 

Polyester toy stuffing is very light and fluffy and Tilly is demonstrating just how much you would need to fill her head. You'd need four times as much to fill her body, arms and legs as well. It might seem a lot but it's amazing how much you require to make a nice plump doll. 

If the dolls you make look rather thin then you probably aren't using enough stuffing. Hopefully the following tips might help you to get it just right.

Pictured below you can see a knitted piece from one of my dolls. The head and body are knitted as one. The knitting is then folded in half (lengthways) and the seam stitched. I think you’ll agree that at this stage it bears no resemblance to a doll.

When insufficient stuffing is added a sausage shape is created, and when yarn has been tied round to create the doll’s neck it resembles two sausages! This is definitely not the shape you want.

I've put a face on the sausage shaped doll and you can see that a long thin head and body do not create a cute doll.

The solution to banishing the sausage shape is to add more stuffing and make the doll plumper. However, to avoid unnecessary lumps and bumps I advise stretching the fabric to make it wider before you stuff. If you simply add more stuffing without stretching you could end up with an even longer sausage!

Wait until you’ve stitched the seams and then push your thumbs inside the head and body and firmly but gently stretch outwards to make the doll wider as opposed to longer. Now you can add more stuffing and easily make the doll plumper.

It might seem a bit brutal but it will give dolly a much more pleasing shape and she won’t become limp and bedraggled later on when she’s enjoyed some boisterous play with her new owner.

Continue to stretch if necessary and push plenty of stuffing into the sides of the head and body before closing the end(s). Viewed from the side the doll should appear flattened from front to back.

 

 

 

With eyes and mouth in position you can see the difference made by a bit of stretching and extra stuffing.

 

 

Many of my patterns have the head and body knitted as one piece but if I want my little characters to have heads that are wider than their bodies I make them separately (Lucy Lavender and Little Belles are typical examples). If your pattern has the head and body knitted as two separate pieces then stitch the seams and then stretch using the method I’ve described. Remember to stuff each piece really well before joining them together at the neck.

Don't forget to add rosie cheeks to your doll once she's finished. You'll find more information about this in my ROSIE CHEEKS blog post.

I think many of you will know I recommend using Hayfield Bonus DK 'Flesh Tone' as the thickness is just right and the colour isn't too strong. A 100g ball will be sufficient for several very small dolls and two or three medium dolls like Tilly. It's inexpensive and widely available in the UK. Many UK online yarn shops will mail it overseas and you can also find it on Ebay.

If you want regular updates about my dolls and their life in the playroom you'll find them on Facebook - DOLLYTIME

All my doll patterns are available from my Etsy, Ravelry and LoveKnitting shops (see links above left in the blog sidebar).

Happy doll making everyone.

New patterns

Greetings friends. I know many of you have been popping into Dollytime on Facebook and will have seen my regular posts. I visit my Flutterby Patch blog less frequently these days as unfortunately the rural area of England where I live has an annoyingly slow internet speed that makes blogging quite a lengthy process. Doing short posts on Facebook is quick and easy and so that's where you'll usually find me.

At the beginning of the year I decided to restock my yarn shelves with scrumptious colours from the Stylecraft Special DK range. This yarn is available in many countries and I've found it to be perfect for knitting toys. As you can see, several dolls decided I needed help with the unpacking. The bigger girls are all reasonably sensible but I had to keep a watchful eye on some of the smaller rascals who love nothing more than tumbling about in heaps of springy soft yarn.

I can never remember seeing summer flowers throughout the winter but this year the weather remained so mild that our roses never stopped blooming which felt very strange. The picture below was taken in January.

As Easter approached my thoughts went to warmer days and . . . . rabbits. I made this little bunny for my new doll Betsy. Betsy loves her bunny and takes it with her wherever she goes. To avoid her little friend becoming lost I stitched a loop of elastic to the paw.

 

The elastic slips over Betsy's hand and the bunny is held securely.

 

 

Betsy wears a cosy pair of bunny slippers when she's playing indoors.

 

 

 

When she goes outside she wears a pretty pair of Mary Jane shoes and a pink hat with a blue flower on the front. The knitting pattern for Betsy and her bunny can be found in all three of my Dollytime shops on Etsy, Ravelry and LoveKnitting.

 

 

Earlier this week Kate discovered some tiny bunnies who were looking lost so she popped them into tiny baskets to keep them safe.

 

 

Much to her dismay, the little rascals suddenly sprouted wings and flew away into the garden. Kate hadn't realised they were fairy bunnies.

Luckily they weren't too difficult to spot and we quickly gathered together a group of eight. Seven of them wear bonnets but the eighth seems to have lost his.

The bunny without a bonnet is Kate's favourite and she carries him in a basket wherever she goes which he seems to enjoy as it makes him feel special.

These sweet fairy bunnies measure just 7cm to the tops of their ears. Quick to make as small gifts, I know any little girl would love one. So if you'd like to knit one (or maybe a few) you'll find the pattern in my Etsy, Ravelry and LoveKnitting shops.

 

Please don't forget you  can find regular updates on Facebook

Enjoy your weekend everyone. Until next time X

 

 

 

NEW - Little Skipping Friends

Greetings friends. I've just popped in to tell you about a second 'Little Friends' pattern. This one is named 'Little Skipping Friends'.

 

 

Four cute 15cm (6in) knitted dolls with their skipping ropes. Maggie, Mary, Milly and May are made from the same basic pattern but their pretty clothes and hair styles give them a very different appearance.

 

 

 

 

The easy to follow knitting and sewing patterns will utilise lots of odds and ends of yarn and fabric.

 

 

 

Milly can be made with a sweet blue cardigan

 

Or you might want her to look more like Milly Molly Mandy in the famous story books. You will find instructions for both options in the pattern.

 

The traditional Milly Molly Mandy wears a pink and white striped dress with short sleeves.

 

You'll need pink and white striped cotton. The stripes should be approximately 3mm wide.

 

Imagine living in Milly Molly Mandy's little white cottage with a thatched roof. There are roses round the door and hollyhocks peeping in through the windows. . . . perfect.

 

 

You'll find the 'Little Skipping Friends' pattern in my three shops -

Etsy, Ravelry and LoveKnitting

NEW KNITTING PATTERN - Little Friends in Autumn

Greetings friends. I've been very busy recently creating a new pattern for my 'Little Friends' and if you've been popping into Dollytime on Facebook you'll have already seen some of these little dolls.

 

You are invited to take a trip down Memory Lane and meet five Little Friends - Tina, Anne, Josie, Linda and Bobby.

 

They attend a 1950s village school where little girls like to have ribbons in their hair and wear short skirts and dresses.

 

 

And little boys wear short trousers.

 

 

And children have rosy cheeks because they play outside in all weathers.

 

The dolls were inspired not only by fond memories of my own school days in a small English village but also by Miss Read's wonderful stories about day to day life in her village school during the 1950s.

 

 

I have a strip of knitting and some buttons that date back to the 1950s and so I was able to select colours that would have been worn in those far off days before synthetic yarn was available and everyone happily knitted 3 ply and 4 ply wool. (Never fear, I used modern DK yarn for the dolls!)

 

 

The Little Friends measure 15cm (6in)

and are knitted on two 2.75mm needles (US size 2).

 

 

I'm happy to tell you that the knitting pattern is now complete and available from my online shops.

 

So if you are looking for small items to knit with odds and ends of yarn why not take a trip down Memory Lane where autumn days are growing chill and the children love to run through crunchy fallen leaves. Knitting by the fireside seems a very inviting prospect.

 

LITTLE FRIENDS in AUTUMN knitting pattern is available from:

LOVEKNITTING (my UK shop) and from ETSY and RAVELRY

 

I hope you have fun making your own Little Friends. Happy knitting everyone.