Practice Makes (almost) Perfect: Therapy

So, I have decided I need to share and continue to focus on crafty goodness and the like, or the hope that ran through my last post will be trampled under the stampede that is the doom of impending monetary diarrhea (not to be confused with verbal diarrhea which is rather like this "sentence") in the form of an extremely likely tooth extraction and implant (read as: I currently have a rather bothersome toothache in a baby tooth (yup, I still have two of them) that has no big tooth to replace it) a recently recovered old van that is BLEEDING oil and is up for an inspection in not too long, vibrating brakes in the other one, two little boys that are eating like teenagers and growing like weeds.... oh my.  Let me stop now!

Instead, meet Charlotte Rose.  My dear friend, Meg, made her for Ellie last year around this time.  She is made from a free Ruby Doll pattern over at One Red Robin.  Isn't she perfectly sweet?

Last week, having been invited to a two-year-old's birthday party and finding a post-holiday black hole in my wallet, I stitched up this little chick to give away.  I didn't name her, even in my head.  I think I was mad at her for giving me such a hard time.  Those skinny little legs about gave me carpal tunnel trying to turn them out (I knew those new tweezers I got for Christmas would come in handy!) and I made her neck WAY too long (can you say swan?), turned her around, tried to fix it and gave her some sort of crazy crooked neck that DID save her from looking like her arms were coming out of her waist but failed to look human.  This time, really don't look too close and whatever you do, don't lift up that lace collar!    

Still, I found her rather fun and satisfying to whip up (in spite of the fact that I doubt the little girl who got her will ever look at her twice amidst all her talking babies and Disney Princess paraphernalia).  And I was pleased with giving her a whole head of big hair (rather what mine looks like right now.  I did get it cut, but since I don't love it, I don't have to keep it!  Aha!  Slacker perfectionists unite!  Or, don't, if it's too much work.  Whatever ;-)  So, I decided to give it another go.

This time, I left off the round face piece as it looks a bit ghostly without the little "hood" around it, gave her some fringy bangs and paid a tad more attention to where I pieced the neck together.  It's still wonky, but WAAAAY better so I felt free to leave it naked. Probably a good move; the lace might be itchy.

I have secretly named this one Violet.  But it's going to a slightly disgruntled 4- year- old new big sister, so I imagine she can come up with her own name.  I can see though, that these little dolls will be HIGHLY addictive for me.  I can sew one in an afternoon, use all scraps that I have lying about and NOT spend that time thinking about the hole in my wallet (nor make it any bigger in the gift giving process).  So, anybody I know that's got little girls, these are probably coming your way at some point.  And Charlotte Rose is going to end up with an army of buddies around here too.   

AH.... good session.