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

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.

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

 

 

 

Alice in Wonderland

This year, 2015, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll celebrates it's 150th anniversary. It was first published in 1865 and has been a popular children's classic ever since.

 

 

The story has been illustrated many times over the years by a wide variety of artists, all with their own individual styles and interpretations of each character.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most recognisable illustrations are the originals done by John Tenniel in the 1860s. He produced satirical cartoons for Punch magazine and this style is evident in his Alice in Wonderland illustrations which were originally in black and white. Later they were tinted with colour.

 

 

 

Tenniel's tinted illustrations became very popular and were used for a number of children's games and toys (see above).

 

 

It is the brightly coloured Disney cartoon illustrations that today's children will recognise (see above).

 

 

 

If you would like to make a Wonderland Rabbit like these you will find both colour combinations in my knitting pattern. There is even a template for the pocket watch which is of course an essential addition!

The doll in my Alice in Wonderland pattern has yellow hair (tied with a ribbon). She wears a blue dress and white apron just as the Disney Alice did. The original Alice in Tenniel's tinted pictures wore a yellow dress but somehow I think blue suits her better.

Knitting patterns for Alice and the White Rabbit can be found in my Etsy and Ravelry shops and on Loveknitting where patterns are prices in GB pounds.

More Bunnies

A number of nice people have recently asked if I ever list sewing patterns alongside my knitting patterns. So far I haven't, but this week I decided to create some cuddly bunnies and the sewing pattern for them is now in my Flutterby Stitch shop as an instant PDF download.

 

These colourful little rascals are all made from the same pattern and they are great for using up all those fabric odds and ends we all hoard. They make ideal soft toys for very young children and wouldn't mind the occasional wash if too many kisses and cuddles have made them a bit scruffy.

VIOLET is the little girl on the far left and is made from soft flannel and printed cotton.
RAINBOW is made from multi coloured cotton and could help young children with colour recognition.
LOVELY ROSE stands proudly in the middle. For the millions of little girls who want everything to be pink I had to make a perfectly pink rabbit and she's very proud of her pinkness as you can see.
LINDEN is a cute little fellow made from natural linen and printed cotton. I hope he will appeal to little boys.
PETAL is the little girl on the far right and it looks like she will be the one keeping house for the other four.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.
Until next time x

Cosy daffs and cottage bags

All I said was, "I bet the daffodils are feeling cold, poor things" and the dolls in the playroom went into action. Scarves were hurriedly collected and then a happy little rascal braved the cold weather to bring the chilly blooms a bit of comfort. What a kindhearted lot they are!!

My sewing room here at Flutterby Patch has been buzzing with activity this week. With such a cold, dull start to spring I desperately needed to surround myself with bright sunny colours. After much planning, snipping, and stitching the result was . . . . . . . . . 

 

. . . . . . . . .  three colourful little 'cottage' bags for tiny tots to enjoy.

Each crooked door has a button knob and a tiny bell (that really works) for visitors to ring. The little girl looking out of the window was created with freestyle machine embroidery. She is looking for the friendly gnomes who live in the wood behind her cottage. Every day they bring nuts and berries and she thanks them with a cup of tea and big pieces of home baked cake.

You can turn the bags over to reveal the friendly gnomes in the wood behind the cottage.

Such happy little fellows.

 

I hope you have a happy weekend and the sun shines for you.

Playroom mountaineer

The first day of 2013 and playroom antics are already in full swing. The bunny boys decided to build a castle from bricks and being quite fearless one of them decided to climb to the topmost brick.

 

But inevitably disaster struck. The haphazardly balanced bricks wobbled and the little mountaineer tumbled to the floor and landed on his head.

 

 

Luckily kind Kate was on hand to comfort the invalid who was feeling very sorry for himself.  

 

 

She bandaged the bump on his head and the scratch on his leg and then took him to Merrily Ann who is always happy to read a story to anyone in the playroom  

 

Sitting snugly in the big chair with Merrily Ann the poor wounded bunny made a speedy recovery.

 

Of course it wasn't long before all the other bunnies noticed the special attention you can get if you are wearing a bandage.

And so bandages became the fashion of the day and luckily Merrily Ann was happy to read stories to a whole armful of bandage wearing bunnies.

Happy New Year everyone.

I hope 2013 will be fun year for you all.

Jolly chaos

After several weeks of grey skies and rain I felt I needed to put some extra colour into my life. So I spent last week in the sewing room and made a few little smiling cuties like this.

I ended up making four and once I've added lining and handles they'll become little tote bags.

I also made three cheery bunny pencil cases. A small bunny can be seen peeking round the door with a cup cake (from the pantry) or a ball (from the toy shop). Mother bunny as might be expected is looking far from pleased!

 

This needle book has a stiff card interlining so that it'll be easy to flip open. Quick and fun to make I think I'll do some more of these.

 

Before I'd had time to fill the house with needles some mousy visitors took up residence.

 

 

These scamps belong to my daughter who is currently in the process of moving house. Things are chaotic with her at the moment as she has urgent arrangements to make and lots of packing to do so I suggested she let me look after the rascals from her Toyshelf shop until she is settled in her new home.

 

The visitors, living in the playroom with my family of knitted scamps, behaved well at first.

 

 

However, over the weekend things got a bit chaotic when my two mischievous bunny boys escaped from the playroom with a number of the Toyshelf visitors and they all found their way into my sewing room. The result was a jumble of rascals having enormous fun with the newly made pencil cases and little house.

 

 

Luckily help was on hand. Two of my 'sensible' dollies (Kate and Tilly) were quick to spot the rascally runaways and wasted no time in gathering them up and depositing them in a basket.

All are now safely back in the playroom with the door firmly closed. If you're a knitter you'll probably recognise these scamps, if not you can find them here.

 

Busy days

September, and a new school year is just beginning. Of course it's many years since I was in the classroom but there's something about the golden glow of shortening September days that gives me a renewed energy and a need to start something new. . . . . So this year I decided we'd decorate our bedroom as it's needed some TLC for quite a while.

 

The first job was to empty everything from the bedroom shelves. Pieces of china were washed and then put into places of safety until the decorating work is over. The Brambly Hedge looks rather nice on the downstairs dresser so I might leave it there for a while.

 

Other precious pieces, like this dolls Victorian tea set, have been placed into my glass cabinet along with a few other treasures.

 

 

Next the curtains came down and after washing they looked as good as new. I'm happy about this as I've always liked them but I suppose it would have been nice to have an excuse to buy new ones so if they'd emerged from the machine in a dilapidated state I wouldn't have minded too much!

 

 

Hubby and I have always shared decorating jobs. Thankfully he's happy to strip off old wallpaper (which I hate doing) and paint ceilings and walls. I do all the remaining paintwork and then hang new wallpaper. Whilst he was taking off the old paper I was able to spent time considering new colour options.

Previously I'd hung wallpaper on all four walls but this time I plan to do just one feature wall behind the bed and then get hubby to paint the remaining walls. We used this jade white in the cloakroom recently and it matches the stripes on the bedroom curtains perfectly so it might be the right choice. I've painted a small patch on the wall so that I can make a decision.

 

With a few days of much needed sunshine the bedroom windows have been wide open and yesterday this pretty little butterfly flew in for a look around. It wasn't one I was familiar with so before setting it free I took a picture for identification purposes.

 

 

Out with my trusty 'Reader's Digest Guide to British Butterflies' and I was soon able to identify the 'Speckled Wood'. Looking at the map of Britain on the page it was obviously not found anywhere near our area when the book was published several years ago but during the intervening years has presumably colonised further north. I suppose the experts would say the butterflies' gradual move north is due to 'climate change' (it's the usual reason given). Anyway, the Speckled Wood butterfly is very welcome in our garden so I'm not complaining!

 

 

If you are hoping for a new knitting pattern to appear in my Dollytime shop soon then you'll be happy to hear I'm finding a bit of time to knit during the cooler September evenings. I'm never 100% certain that items will be good enough for patterns until they are complete so I won't give you any clues about what I'm making until I've finished. I must admit it doesn't look very exciting at the moment does it, but hopefully the result will be quick and easy to make and a useful 'stash buster' (dolly related of course!)

 

 

Thinking of dollies! I made another item from my Liberty Lawn at the end of last week. A zipped pencil case with another little 'Jolly Dolly' on the front.

 

With the start of the new school term fast approaching I asked Lucy Lavender and Kate to sharpen some pencils and pop them into the new pencil case.

Everything was going well until . . . . . . . . a head with long ears suddenly popped out and surprised them both. One of the rascally bunny boys had obviously fancied setting up home for a while in the pencil case. Usually this could have resulted in playroom antics and eventual chaos but not this time. . . . . .

 . . . . . . the little fellow behaved like a very sensible bunny and, without any prompting from the girls, began passing pencils when they were required.

I can't believe this much improved bunny behaviour will continue for very long but for now all is peace and tranquillity in the playroom!