Wow, what can I say...it's been a very busy year.  We decided to downsize our home & ended up moving across the country.  The house sold faster than anticipated, so off we went.

Currently in the midst of renovating a 1950's bungalow from it's "original" everything!  It is an exciting process but taking a bit longer than one would hope.  Necessities first like kitchen, bathroom...  

I can't wait to get started on building my new studio & unpack my creative world!  It will be a while, perhaps some reno updates until then?

I  re-discovered in my stash of goodies some hair that I put aside to make Yur a wig.  A couple of bags of human hair that I had saved from my daughters last major hair cut when she went from long hair to a short style.  What a find!

I searched through my "wigging" box and there was a hard cap already made!  I decided to get another hard cap started & drying in case there is enough hair left for a second wig but if not the cap will be ready to go for a future project...

"Wigging" tools at the ready...  

Yur is completely covered & protected from any dripping glue as well as from any of the tiny cut bits of hair getting into her shoulder or neck joints.  Some plastic wrap & a simple bag slipped over the head works well for this purpose...

Yur has some new accessories.  A girl can never have too many stockings...

Now that I have my space in a workable arrangement, I decided to start building Yur's wardrobe with the essentials.  I've made a selection of stockings for her.   A basic set of white lycra ones for wearing underneath gowns to protect her resin legs & feet from shoes.  Then three sets of sheer stockings for outfits that will show off her lovely legs.  The sheer sets are made of nude mesh, black mesh with ruffled chiffon at the top & shimmering white with a scalloped trim.  I have dozens of stretch fabrics in a variety of colours of solids/patterns/sheer & opaque...something for every outfit is very likely.

I thought I would share the pattern for the stockings with you.  Happy sewing!  It can be found on the Tutorials page or select the photo below to go directly to the download...

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday filled with laughter, joy & treasured memories!

Phew! a couple of moves done & family members starting to get settled into their new places.  Our own progress on the house is moving at a snails pace shown in super-slow motion.  My beautiful studio is partially dismantled & the space seems to be becoming almost a storage unit.  

To combat the symptoms of "artist withdrawal",  I've decided to set up makeshift workspaces for patterning & sewing.  First steps - some extensive rearranging now that I no longer have the same storage options or space. Although I will have to "Tetris" (move things about & re-stack) to get at anything, my tools/fabrics/notions/etc. are sorted again & at least accessible with a bit of digging.  

The cabinets that supported my island worktable are gone but I still have the table top, so my solution is an improvised set of legs using a couple of tall plastic drawer units.  The table surface sits on the units & is buckled against a wall to stabilize it a bit, since it can't actually be secured - no leaning on the table though or the whole thing will topple!  The height turned out to be perfect for work while standing (drafting/cutting) eliminating the back & neck strain one gets standing hunched over a standard height table.

I've reallocated a small dining table for my sewing machine next to a window, a few extension cords & power bars and it's ready!!!


Next steps ... what to make first?

The wee break was refreshing - quite lovely.   

On the home front, we have several major family house moves taking place at the moment.  As well my husband & myself are getting our house ready to sell & then will be moving.  A lot of change taking place in our lives.  Most of my time for the remainder of this calendar year will taken up with packing, searching for new homes, possible renovations, etc.

I can't wait to get back to the creative endeavours of designing & publishing patterns as soon as I possibly can...in the mean time, email delivery of patterns has resumed & in full swing.  As always, I look forward to hearing from you & will gladly answer any questions that you may have.


Cheers

Going on a wee cruise...just a little R&R to recharge the batteries!  

Email delivery only of ePatterns will be suspended the week of September 16th to September 22nd.  This service will resume on September 23rd. 

The Candy Cane stocking pattern is whimsical yet traditional & appeals to all ages.  I designed this for the Fun at heart!  It is generously sized to hold an abundance of gifts!  The stocking is trimmed on both sides so that it can be hung facing in either direction.

I have had the pleasure to make this stocking numerous times over the years.  It was wonderful to see the delight & excitement in people's faces - young & old - when they get their stocking.  Enjoy!

It's great to have some feedback about my BJD patterns - many Thanks!  I have added a section in the Customer Showcase gallery for these.

Further to the post title ... the next pattern  (Candy Cane stocking) is indeed "Almost there!"   The short trip away, & wonderful it was, set back my schedule just a tiny bit.   I am just processing all the construction photos & filtering them through Photoshop.  It is surprising to see the difference in image colour for photos taken on the same day.   Light varies so much on any given day from the morning to the evening & the brief glimpses of sun followed by clouds & shadow.   The images then need to sorted, labelled & resized for inclusion in the pattern document to keep the overall pattern size under 10K.  Just need to write up all the steps & add some diagrams for clarity then it will be ready this coming week!

My blog is the main conduit to communicate with readership to let you know of what's planned, what's in progress, or what's new - such as tutorials, patterns & finished items available for sale.  I'd like to share with you a couple of options that will let you get the latest updates to my blog delivered to you.  Opting in or out of either of these delivery mechanisms is at your discretion & can be updated at any time.

The first is a new blog feature that lets you have new posts blog delivered directly to your email inbox.  This email subscription service is strictly to deliver new blog posts to your inbox for your convenience & to save you time.  

The second blog feature is a RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed.  This service allows you to subscribe to the blog & using a feed reader, such as Google Reader, to deliver the most recent content.  I have added a link beneath the RSS feed icon that gives a brief overview & explanation - What is RSS?.  As well, Wikipedia has a related section & here is the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS.  

Weebly has had the RSS feed option available since I started this site but it did not allow you to select a reader.  So for example, when using Google Chrome as your browser the programming code is shown rather than the blog content.   The new improved RSS feed icon will allow you to subscribe & choose a reader.

The last option available is "Bookmarking" this blog in the various browser windows of your computers. Looking forward to staying connected with you ...

A wonderful opportunity arouse this week - tickets to two NHL playoff games.  It's very exciting to be able to attend a playoff game!  The atmosphere & pace of games in the quest for the Stanley cup is electrifying.  So a spur of the moment trip for a couple of out of town games.  Such a treat to get away for a few days & do a bit of sight seeing while we are there.

As soon as I return, I will tackle the the remainder of the new stocking pattern.  It's coming along nicely.  Creating designs for my own purpose is significantly different from designing for a pattern release.   I usually work directly from bolts of fabrics/trims (not pre-measure quantities) & sewing adjustments are done on the fly - it is much more free form & flexible.  I am presently re-engineering the construction process of the candy cane stocking to make it easy as possible to describe & sew.  I like to ensure that customers using my patterns have all the information needed to successfully complete the pattern in the easiest possible manner.

Back shortly