Elisabeth Bea is ready for a home

Little Miss Elisabeth Bea is finally dressed and ready to find a new mama to love her!   She has a pink and orange polka dot bib dress, with tiny lilac buttons, Swiss dot bloomers and soft lilac Mary Jane's crocheted from organic cotton. 

She also has a reversible scalloped apron that I recreated from a vintage children's pattern that I adore.  It's a bit frustrating to make, but very cute when it's done!  One side is shows a pretty Sarah Jane balloon print and the other is a Sarah Jane pink floral print, one of my very favorites.  

If you are interested in bringing Elisabeth Bea into your home, she will be listed comment style on my Facebook page Sunday night, 12/9, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm Eastern time.  She will be $215 plus USPS Priority shipping.

Thank you so much for visiting Millie's Dollhouse!

Sewing away on a rainy day...

I have the house all to myself today, and I'm working hard to get Elisabeth Bea's clothing all stitched up for her.  After making her a little pink and orange polka dot dress, I couldn't decide on what fabric to use for her apron. Such tough decisions, I know.  So I ended up making her this sweet little scalloped apron that is reversible so I could use both fabrics.  Problem solved!   

I just need to finish up her shoes, which I'm crocheting out of the loveliest pale lilac organic cotton, and add a few bitty buttons to her dress.   Also, I think she may need a pair of tiny bloomers in a pretty white Swiss dot fabric.  

I'm hoping to have preview photos of Elisabeth Bea up later today or tomorrow so that she just might have a chance to find her way into a Christmas stocking!   I'll post here and on Facebook as soon as she's ready.  

 Thank you for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!

A Smaller Size and Two New Dolls in The Shop

I've been meaning to remade my smaller 10-11" size doll pattern for some time, but as usual, extra time is pretty hard to come by in my busy house.  I finally finished it up and well, I'm completely smitten!  

I have two of these pint size cuties heading into the shop later tonight.

Ember Elyse, with light auburn hair will be auction style in my Hyena Cart shop starting 12/1 at 5pm and ending 12/2 at 10pm Eastern.  

Pepper Anne, with lovely pink Tibetan Lambskin hair, will be raffle style in my Hyena Cart shop starting 12/1 at 5pm with entries open until 12/2 at 9pm Eastern. 

This shows Pepper Anne and Ember Elyse with a 15" and 6" doll to help give you a better idea of their petite and very portable size.  

Perfect for little hands to carry around on adventures!  

I'm loving this size, so expect more little ones soon.  Have another size or suggestion you'd like to see?  I love to hear about it!  

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!

Sweet Penelope Plum...

 

Miss Penelope Plum still needs her clothes and shoes, but I couldn't help snapping a few photos of her while she's waiting.  I'm just in love with her lovely dark plum colored hair!  It's the first time I've used this color and it's a such pretty shade.  I debated for far too long on whether she needed green or blue eyes, but now that she's done, I think blue was the perfect choice.

Tonight I'll get to my favorite part, pouring through my fabric stash to find just the right fabrics to make her something pretty.  I just received some lovely Tilda fabrics that I think might go beautifully with her pretty eyes and hair.   

Hopefully she'll be ready for find her new home Monday or Tuesday, so check back soon!

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!  

Lovely Iva Rose is finally ready...

Some dolls take me longer than others, and Miss Iva Rose here took me quite a while.  Luckily her new mama was very patient!  Iva will be heading off to Canada tomorrow, but was nice enough to sit still for some photos before heading to her new home.  It's a bit chilly up there, so she needed a comfy wool coat to keep her toasty!  

Underneath her coat she is wearing a cotton pocket dress, gray ruffle pants, little blue dottie undies and her pink striped Mary Jane's.  She also has a long sleeve nightie for snuggling up on those chilly winter nights.  

As always, I hope Iva Rose's new family loves her as much as I've loved creating her.  Her sweet smile has been a little ray of sunshine on my sewing table these past few weeks as I've worked on her.  

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!

The wee ones are ready!

I finally had some time this week to sit down and finish up the clothing for the three tiny dolls I've been working away on.  Chere, Helene and Annalie were all ready to find their new homes when my littlest little professed her love of Chere, the black haired sweetie, and claimed her as her own.   She's never fallen so in love with one of my dolls, and well, I'm a sucker for her sweet smile and little "please mama, please, please can I hold her!", Of course I caved and little Chere will be staying here at Millie's Dollhouse.

The two remaining dolls are currently listed comment style 

on my Facebook page, ending tonight at 10:00pm Eastern tonight.  If you are interested in purchase one of them, please visit my page and leave a comment on the photo of the doll you would like.  At 10:00pm tonight I'll close the comments and will randomly select one of the comments to purchase each of these dolls.  

As always, thank you for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!  

Natural yarn dying with walnuts

This past weekend I traveled back home to Michigan to visit my family and meet my new niece for the first time.  It was a chilly, but still beautiful Fall weekend, and we had a blast hanging out, visiting and playing outside in the country.  While we were there, the kids collected some of the walnuts from the giant trees in my father's front yard.  Walnuts are easily found and are a simple to use natural dye.  The bonus is that the kids love running around seeing who can collect the most!

Once home, we gently washed the walnuts, and then sliced through them with a sharp knife to open them up a bit.  I found this much easier, and a lot less messy, than removing the husk completely from each nut.   I put these into the water in my big 'ole enamel stock pot and heated it up to boiling, then let it simmer for a few hours as the dye seeped into the water.  

Once there was enough dye in the dye bath, I removed all the walnuts and used a fine strainer to remove any small pieces.  When the dye bath was the same temp as my yarn (which was soaking) I added the yarn to the water and brought the temp back up until the it was just starting to steam.  Then I added a bit of vinegar to help the yarn set, and let this simmer on the heat for a few more hours while the yarn slowly soaked up the dye.

The next step is essential to yarn dyeing.  I swear.  Really.  You MUST sit down and enjoy a piece of apple pie while your yarn is simmering.  I don't know how it works, but some things it's best not to question!   Right?  Right!

After I finished up my pie and the yarn looked to be about the shade I wanted, I took the pot off the stove (carefully!), covered it and let it soak overnight.  In the morning, the boucle was a nice, richer brown than the night before.  After removing my yarn, there was still plenty of dye left in the dye bath to save for later if I wanted to use it again.

The next step was to very gently wash and rinse the yarn several times, to remove any excess color in the yarn and to make sure it was nice and clean.  I like using the Eucalan delicate wool wash for my yarn, it has a faint eucalyptus scent that I really love.  After rinsing and squeezing out the water in a towel, I hung my yarn out to dry.

Here it is, almost dry and soon to be wound up!  It's a rich, nutty brown yarn that will make such a pretty brunette in the next few weeks!    This batch turned out much darker than my last batch and I'm very pleased with the lovely color!  

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!  

Bernice and Brigitte, a perfect pair...

Bernice and Brigitte were meant to be together. They could be sisters, a mommy and her baby, a little girl and her doll or anything else their new mommy dreams up for them. 

  

 While making them, I was reminded of how much I wanted a doll that looked like me when I was little girl.  She would have had fair skin, blue eyes, auburn brown hair and of course the freckles that embarrassed me so much way back then.  I was lucky to have many dolls to play with, but I never did have one that looked like me.   Fortunately, with a mother who makes dolls, my little ones all have a special dolly friend that looks like them to keep them company and receive their sweet snuggles.  Now sweet Miss Bernice will too!

 Bernice and Brigitte will be listed together, auction style, starting on Saturday, September 29th at 6:00pm and ending on Sunday, September 30th at 10:00pm Eastern time in my Hyena Cart shop.

Both dolls dolls have mocha colored cotton skin and are stuffed with clean, carded wool.  They have soft green eyes and pale blond Tibetan lambskin hair.  

Bernice will arrive with two complete outfits including a dress, leggings, blouse, bloomers, undies and crochet Mary Jane's.  Brigitte's matching outfits include a dress, tights, peasant dress and undies.  

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

A wee friend for dolly

I've had a few people ask about this sweet blondie, who I've been calling Cream Puff, that I previewed last week on my Facebook page. 

I had intended to have her ready by this past weekend, but sometimes these dolls just have they're own ideas about when their going to be ready.  I made her an outfit and it just seemed as if she wasn't quite done.  So I made her another outfit, then a nightgown, but it still felt like something was missing.  Well, this morning I finally figured out exactly what she was missing.  A tiny little friend!  She's a chatty little thing and just needed another doll to talk with.  

Now that I know what she needed it should take me another day or two to finish them up and get them listed.   Here's a little peek at her with new little friend, who still needs to be stitched together.

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!  

I can't wait to show you completed pics of this darling pair!

Introducing Mireille...

I'm so happy to finally have sweet Mireille all dressed and ready to meet you!  It's been such a busy week here that it took me a bit longer than I expected to finish up her outfit.  Mireille is a 15" Millie's Dollhouse doll with beige skin, blue eyes and a lovely mix of handspun, dread and mohair yarns.  She will arrive wearing her cotton patchwork dress, polka dot bloomers, cotton knit undies and crochet Mary Jane's.  She also has matching crochet hair ties.  

She will be available comment style on my Facebook page on Sunday, September 16th from 9:00pm until 10:00pm Eastern time.  At 9:00pm I'll put up a post her photo and anyone interested in purchasing Mireille can leave a little note there.  At 10:00pm I'll close comments, randomly select one and announce it on my Facebook page.  That person then has 24 hours to purchase Mireille if they would like. 

I kindly ask that you only enter once per family and do not use angels on comment listings.  For those outside of North America only who will be sleeping during the upload, please message me through my Facebook page in advance for a proxy comment.  She will be $275 plus USPS Priority shipping.  Thank you all so much!

Listing Details for October Custom Doll...

After reading though all the great suggestions on my Facebook page about how you would like to see a custom spot listed this weekend (thank you so much for all the feedback!), I decided to list it in my HyenaCart store raffle style, but with the shorter time frame that many people suggested.  So, if you're interested in a MDH custom spot, you'll find all the details below!

The spot will be for a 15" custom Millie's Dollhouse doll, to be completed in October.  The total cost is $320.00 plus USPS Priority shipping.  There will be a $20 non-refundable deposit to start work on your doll.  After seeing completed photos of your doll, if you are happy with her, you will have the option to purchase for the remaining balance of $300 + shipping.  If you decide she is not the doll for you, you will not be required to purchase her and I'll list her as a RTG.  It happens, and I would never want anyone to feel committed to purchasing a doll they don't absolutely love!  

The  cost includes a 15" girl doll, one complete outfit, nightgown, undies and shoes.

You will have a choice of skin color, eye color, hair type (TLS, boucle, yarn or brushed mohair), hair color and your choice of one of three outfit types.  The fabrics for the outfits will be chosen by me to coordinate with your hair, skin and eye color choices.   

Outfit choices are:

1. Dress with cuffed pants or ruffles, nightgown, undies and shoes

2. Dress with removable apron, bloomers or ruffles, nightgown, undies and shoes

3. Peter Pan collar blouse, corduroy/linen bloomers, nightgown, undies and shoes

I truly enjoyed creating my last custom doll and am so excited to get to work on another!  Completion time will depend on shipping of any supplies needed and I will keep you updated on times as your doll is created.  Please keep in mind that while I am looking forward to working with your hair and coloring selections for your doll, it is impossible for me to recreate any exact doll.  Each doll is unique, even those with the same coloring, and things like face shape, and exact placement of features will vary from doll to doll. 

The listing will be in my Hyena Cart shop and will be open for comments for 20 minutes from 9:00pm until 9:20pm Eastern time on Sunday, September 9th.  To enter the raffle, you will need a Hyena Cart account which just takes a moment to set up and can be done here. I ask that you please respect the intent of the raffle and not use angels or multiple entries.  One per family should be enough for anyone interested. Any questions?  Feel free to e-mail me at milliesdollhouse@gmail.com. 

Thanks you so very much for taking the time to stop by!

Katie

Introducing my darling Bunny.....

Well, reintroducing her I guess, this time all dressed up in her lovely new clothes.   This sweet girl was named by my son who thought her little pigtails looked just like bunny ears.  

Bunny is 15" tall with tan skin, steel blue eyes and a black brushed mohair cap.  She's entirely handmade from 100% cotton from the Netherlands and lovely, clean wool.  Her eyes and mouth are embroidered from cotton. She comes with her pretty pocket dress, pink knit leggings, little floral undies and cotton crocheted Mary Jane's.  She will also bring her pale blue ruffle collar wool coat to keep her warm.  The coat is fully lined and coordinates with her dress fabric from Sarah Jane's Out to Sea line.  

Pretty Miss Bunny will be available auction style in my Hyena Cart shop starting Saturday, 9/8 at 6pm and ending on Sunday 9/9 at 10pm Eastern time.  

You can find my Hyena Cart shop here.

Thank you so much for stopping by Millie's Dollhouse!  -Katie

Add caption

This weekend I worked on something been wanting to make for quite some time.  A sweet and fuzzy little brushed mohair wig.  I've made them for smaller dolls but never for doll this size, simply because they take me so long to crochet.  I think this one took me somewhere around five and a half hours to make.  It's made from black Dolly Mo brushed mohair and looks adorable with little piggies or a headband.  I love the way it shows off how round their little faces are and makes the doll look a bit younger, more babyish.  I'm working on her clothing today, so hopefully I'll have finished pics up tomorrow!  

Introducing Annabelle Rose, a custom doll

A few weeks back I listed my first ever custom doll spot.  Now that completed doll, Annabelle Rose is also the first doll to appear on my new blog!  It was such a great challenge for me to follow someone else's vision to create the doll they were dreaming of.   I hope her new mama loves her every bit as much as I have loved creating her!   Annabelle Rose is a 15" doll with beige skin, pink boucle hair and brown eyes.