I completely forgot to post a picture of this. I finished up the tic tac toe board. It’s from the Japanese craft book, ISBN 452903559X. I used invisible thread to sew up the pieces and ummm NEVER AGAIN. I couldn’t see what in the world I was sewing. I thought oh that’s a great idea so I don’t have to use different colored thread. Yeah…bad idea.

Here’s a close up picture of the pieces. And you can see Isabelle’s hand in the picture again. She couldn’t keep her little hands off. Do you know how hard it is to get a picture with her grabbing?

Oh and the final picture. We were at a restaurant the other month and they gave Isabelle one of those activity papers (even though she is too young). It had tic tac toe on it. Me and Alan were playing while waiting for our dinner so when I was making this I had that in mind. The directions in the book were only for the board and the game pieces so I added the backing and button loop so we could bundle it up and take it with us.

Update: Hey Kayte, I got it from Amazon Japan. The isbn is 452903559X. I did a search on Yesasia. There is no picture but it is the same isbn so it should be the same book.

With each nubby doll I make they evolve a little, my sewing gets better and I learn more. They inspire me to think of new dolly designs. I have sketches of dolls with real clothes instead of wraps and floppy bendy arms. So in my quest to learn more I thought I would try a real dolly pattern instead of one made up in my head. And here she is.

I love her! She was supposed to be completely practice just to get used to some new techniques. I used scrap fabric and I wasn’t planning to finish her at all. She was going to be this faceless hairless practice doll.

But as soon as I saw that curve in her back, I fell in love. She was headless and limbless and I adored her already. Ask Alan. I hugged her to me and told Alan how beautiful she was and she didn’t even look like anything yet. I have to finish her now. The girl needs some clothes!

Last year Isabelle was so small. She’s gotten so big. She surely has to weigh more than a turkey now right, right?

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Here is Dolly in clothes. She is just the kind of doll I’ve always wanted, with a dress and an apron.

Here’s the back of her apron. Her clothes have snaps so they’re removeable.

And she even has drawers and a petticoat!

I used garbage fabric for her clothes. I call it garbage fabric because my dad gave it to me. Three garbage bags full of fabric from some closed down factory. I chose the fabric for her petticoat and drawers because of the color. That was a big mistake! It was this slippery nightgown like material, really hard to sew with. That’s not really the best idea when you’re trying to learn something new. I was making shoes for her but I don’t like how they’re turning out so maybe she’ll just be shoeless.

Now back to my own dolls with some fresh ideas of where I want to go.

When I cook I like to have Alan watching Isabelle. But sometimes it’s just not possible. While I don’t like her to be in the kitchen when there is actual cooking done I do let her in while I’m doing the prep. Lately she has been quite happy to rearrange our cupboards. She will take items out and move them from one cupboard to another. Or arrange them along the floor. Or stack them on top of each other. She’s my little kitchen helper.