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Sunday 16 December 2012

I've been absent for a few months as the opportunity arose, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, to move to a new area.

I'm now living - and loving it! - in a tiny, remote, rural village in the Ribble Valley. We have five buses a day, very narrow broadband and in September I planted several hundred daffodil bulbs in the long-neglected garden which is now my responsibility.

My sewing machines live permanently on a large table - yes, over the summer they managed to breed! - and I can sit looking at beautiful sunsets, woodland, moorland  and fluffy sheep as I sew.

I've also taken up corset construction. I've always liked Meccano and d-i-y - and sewing, of course - and on making a lightly-boned bustier for a friend's anniversary party, thought 'Hey, getting more into this might be interesting ...'

And it is, oh yes it is.

Thursday 19 April 2012

Back on Twitter

I'm back on Twitter - no reason given for my suspension, other than a half-hearted 'whoops, sometimes we make mistakes' generic apology. I told myself I'd give it to the end of the month and I will, but I seem to have lost interest in it, to be honest. What chance is there of another 'whoops!' - at a time when I might have invested a lot more into it than I had done a week ago?   
  

I've had a friend staying for a few days, so what with taking her to local 'attractions', being as  busy as I could manage to be on the sewing machine and with the knitting needles, too, I've had no time to blog. Helen was very taken with my doll's clothes, and tomorrow I'll put up photos of some the outfits I sent back with her for her granddaughter's dolls. 


Abakhan fabric shopWhen I visited Abakhan last Friday, I found some lovely fabrics in their craft cotton bargain bins - some of them are famous US brand names, and would have sold for around £12 -£15/metre. I've paid less than £3/m! Again, photos tomorrow. I love that shop - I'd like to live there!                                                                                                                                                                              


Wednesday 11 April 2012

Twitter annoyance

Suspended from Twitter -and can't find out why!

About ten days ago, I was persuaded, by the members of a forum in which I participate, to set up an account on Twitter. I'd been putting it off and was reluctant to get involved, but decided I'd give it a try. I said on the forum that I'd give it to the end of April to see if I enjoyed it, or saw its 'point'.


Well, I joined, and after I'd begun to decipher how it worked, followed some of my forum friends, and they followed me back. I also found some other 'tweeters' who I thought might be interesting - crafty folk and organisations - and a couple of 'thought for the day' type tweeters. I sent out a few tweets, and started to find a few things of interest in it. Hmm, I thought, this is time-consuming, but might not be quite such a time-waster as I had imagined.


I had sent out the grand total of about 15 tweets, had maybe a dozen 'followers', and was following about 20 myself. On the bank holiday Monday evening I came in after spending the day with friends, and logged onto Twitter - only to find my account was suspended. I can find no reason at all why this has happened, and every time I attempt to contact them  - their motto being  
'Have no fear, Twitter Support is here!'
I get a message reading
There was an error preventing ticket submission. Please try again later.
Well, Twitter Support, you're clearly not there and haven't been there at all.  I've tried 'later' - up to 30 hours later.


What a waste of electrons, time and effort Twitter has thus proven to be. 


I could have spent the wasted time of the past week far more constructively and enjoyably at the sewing machine, making chocolate cake, learning the rudiments of Mandarin Chinese or just lolling about on the sofa, thinking. 


I wonder what I did to upset the Chief Twits so much that they threw me out? Whatever it was, it seems to have been very effective!

Thursday 5 April 2012

How can sunshine be so cold?

Brrrrrr! It looks gorgeous outside - sunshine and blue sky just like last week when the temperatures were in the upper teens and even 20-21 degC - but it's bitterly cold. 


With that in mind, instead of posting sunny photos of BabyBorn in new spring outfits, and Barbie in the sundresses and shorts I've been making, I thought a more cosy pic might be in order.

Baby doll and all her handmade clothesThis little cutie on the left was a donation to a local charity shop which raises money for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. 

The doll was given to the shop naked, in 'as new' condition, and was handed to me to increase her value. Dolly and Ted – House of Fashion was very happy indeed to help raise more money for this very worthy cause.Naked dolls sell for very little in charity shops, but well-dressed ones fly out of the door as real paper money is exchanged for them. As well as the 'blue hearts' summer outfit, I made her the cosy pink reversible top and trousers she's wearing - with pure wool hat, cardie and bootees - and the red-and-tartan fleecy jacket and poly/wool trousers. You can just see her pillow and blanket under her feet. 

I think fleece and wool is what I need to wear if I venture outside today!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Welcome to Dolly and Ted - House of Fashion

Hello! and thanks for visiting.

My name is Eena and I'm the owner, buyer, designer, pattern-cutter, machinist, compliance officer, book-keeper, general dogsbody and chief bottle-washer of Dolly and Ted – House of Fashion - the home of modern fashion for popular UK play dolls.

I design and make clothes and accessories for children's - and my and your! - favourite dolls - from Barbie and Bratz to BabyBorn, Corolle and the 'Annabell' series. I make them all myself (except for a couple of accessories, clearly labelled) in my clean, pet-free, smoke-free home here in leafy Prestwich.

I sell these items at craft markets in north-west England and locally through personal contacts;  follow my blog to find out where I'll be selling next - do come and say 'Hello!'

If  you can't get to a fair I'm attending, why not contact me through the blog? I'd love to hear from you!