On the face of it......

Hello. I do declare that I have the best readers ever. Look what arrived in the post yesterday, a fantastic goody bag containing felt, wool, and beads in luscious colours. J you are so very kind, you didn't want these so you passed them on to me, and I am so chuffin chuffed. It's like Christmas and birthdays rolled into one. I am very lucky, thank you.  

Linda asks......Hi Ilona x please can you post a bit more detail about stitching the dollies face? Many thanks x

My faces are not perfect. This is the one I am making at the moment, I have put some eye shadow on it, a felt tip pen. Check first on a piece of spare fabric, some inks bleed into the fabric. My glitter pens don't bleed. The blue eyes are felt with black stitching in the centre. 

I draw two eyes with a pencil, then outline them with back stitch, and add lashes. I add two dots for the nose (French knots), and the lips are cut from a small piece if felt with back stitch across the middle. I have red felt with a sticky back but you can use any felt. The head and arms on this one are made from a pink tee shirt, I think cotton gives a better finish.

I have added eyebrows, with back stitch.

Brown embroidery thread for this one. Fill the pupils in with any colour you like. You can see the dark shadows of the stitching at the back, I am now making them with two layers.

There are lots of variations. Have a look at these on Pinterest, scroll down for more.

Just a quick note on assembling the dollies. There is a slight error in the video. When you have stitched the legs to the bottom of the dress and sewn up the sides, and stuffed the dress, you then add the arms with hand stitching.

I had a lovely walk with Bailey poodle this morning. Haven't been to the fishing ponds for ages. It's all lovely and tidy, grass mowed, fences erected, litter bins, wild hedges cut back, and swans with seven babies paddling around. Bailey hasn't been down there at all, so he was a bit confused, kept stopping to look around, couldn't work out where he was.

Time for lunch, it's going to be a nice day here, whooopeee. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip