REBECCA COTTONTAIL'S NEW DRESSES

 Rebecca Cottontail was very pleased with the first dress made for her, and after wearing it for some time agreed this style would be suitable for the adult lady Cats and Rabbits in the dolls house in Wellington. It opened all the way down the back making it easy to put on and no problem with their tails.  The ease of putting the dresses on is important as Eve will just be three years by the time she receives the dresses for her Sylvanian families.

Next need was suitable fabric, Fiona gave us some small prints and laces and Ann sent a collection of Liberty prints, all to the delight of Rebecca, who now was more interested in her own wardrobe rather than the wellington families needs. The dresses in the first two photos will be part of the Christmas box for the doll's house animals. and here are the first of the dresses for Rebecca.

                    the hat was rescued from one of Fiona attempts and adapted to fit Rebecca, and now the                                                                     dresses have sleeves 

  

these two are Liberty prints, I really enjoyed working with these lovely fine fabrics.

This was Rebecca's dress for Easter. All the dresses are hand stitched as I no longer have a sewing machine and to be honest I prefer hand stitching,  guess that is being an embroiderer who loves fine work. Maybe I will need to make her an embroidered dress sometime. 

THE TALE OF A TAIL OR TWO

With both Rabbits and Cats living in the dolls house in Wellington, I realised there could be a problem of tails and fitting dresses over them.  At Rebecca Cottontail's suggestion I invited Miss Kitty Cat to come for a visit.  Here they are lined up to show the tail problem. And we agreed that dresses that opened all the way down the back would be best.

Before Kitty goes on her way, she leaves tomorrow, we thought it most fitting to give her a few dresses for her wardrobe.

Thank you Miss Kitty for coming to visit and helping us with our dressmaking problem.

 The Tale of a Tail is done.

THE PLANNING SESSION.

 Rebecca Cottontail and I met to discuss dresses for her daughter and also for the family that live in the dolls house in Wellington. News has it that the family of cats that live in the doll's house have been joined by a rabbit family too, so plenty of dresses will be needed.  we agreed on a simple shift pattern, that will open down the back making it easier for small hands to dress the animals.

She selected some bright shades of felt. to which I approved of.
I have read on line that some folk are having problems with felt fluffing and colour rubbing onto the animals., but do not expect this problem as I am using good quality merino felt, also all necklines and armhole with be finished with buttonhole stitch which will along with giving a good finish strengthen these edges.

We met again later and Candy Cottontail modelled the first of the small dresses for her mother, along with dresses for candy . six to eight dresses this size will be needed for the doll's house families Christmas box. The tiny dresses will be ideal stitching while watching the TV in the evening.

Our photography session did not go unnoticed  with Kaytu walking through the set a couple of times before agreeing to watch from the side.

BACK AGAIN AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

 I have decided to keep records of my newest project separate from my main blog, so it’s time to visit the "other side of the mountain" again.

This story starts when we refurnish Jan’s dolls house for the littlest member of the family. The house bought 50 years ago in Melbourne Australia for Jan was later handed on to her daughters, both now in their twenties and the decision was made to hand it on to their young cousin  two year old Eve. This time a new family was added to live in the house, and it was the  Sylvania Persian Cat family.

I kept  finding on Pinterest lots of ideas for clothes for Sylvania families and having decided to it would be fun to make some- for sometime in the future when Eve is a little older, came the need to own a family myself to use to model the creations I plan to make. So on Friday a Cottontail rabbit family came to live with me.

Mrs Rebecca Cottontail is to be my fashion adviser and we will work together first on a collection of clothes suitable for a small girl to be easily able to dress her doll's house  cats  and later  a collection for the Cottontail family. Rebecca wasted no time in selecting for her self a simple day dress with matching hat. The skirt is a autumn toning  Liberty print with a bodice of cream merino wool felt

We are now looking at style and colours for dresses for her daughter's age group. and will be back in the next post to share with you our choices.