Ragtastic!

Here is a rag doll I made from a pattern Sharon sent me, you can find it on http://www.kingpod.com/; click on mailorder; click on pattern six (currently sold out, unfortunately). This doll was certainly one of those projects that required faith to continue. When I first started making the doll, it initially looked like the kind of doll Sauron would want to play with, if he was interested in dolls or had a body. I didn't want to go to bed with it in the apartment....But I pressed on and it took shape quite nicely! I had seen elsewhere that it was good to cut the dress longer than the pattern indicated and had good luck with that. I would also recommend cutting everything slightly larger to facilitate larger seam allowances - the dolls shoes, for example, ended up being quite small because the fabric I was using was prone to fraying and I had to use rather substantial seams to make the shoes sturdy. It's a great way of using odds and ends of fabric, buttons, ribbons etc.

Sassy fruit and veg tea towel

This is a tea towel I embroidered for Ellen and she kindly sent me this photo. Primarily I want to showcase her very cool stove. The towel I embroidered was a bit too loosely woven, I think, and was consequently more difficult to work with for embroidery and more prone to shrinking/curling from washing and drying. I would recommend sticking with tightly woven cottons for real durability and ease in embroidering.