from Santa's Workshop

When I asked Dag what he wanted for Christmas this year he said, "A doll.  A boy doll."  Fortunately, he didn't shame me by saying "One with two eyes."  Alas, Poppy still has one eye and no mouth.

I was so happy to hear this request. I ordered Wee Wonderfuls this fall because I knew, as soon as I saw the cover, that I had to make Eddie, the boy doll:

Inside the book, Eddie is a bit naughty, drawing on the wall:

Dag loves this picture and he likes to point out that the doll has done something he's not allowed to do.

I used a cotton knit interlock ordered from A Child's Dream Come True.  The hair is some kind of faux-fur fabric bought locally at the market (the shop owner wouldn't sell me a small square so I have a half-meter of this crazy fur fabric).  The shirt is made from a shirt purchased in a clearance bin (the B was on the sleeve) and the pants are made from leftover fabric after I hemmed a pair of my pants. As you can see, little B has, like his friend Eddie, been a bit naughty. (Actually it was Dagim -- see in the bottom corner where it says "Goodah"?  He thinks he wrote "Dagim's world." How was I supposed to be mad about that?).

He was so much fun to make -- especially on the sly!  Little B's head looks a bit alien-shaped compared to Eddie, but I hope Dag doesn't mind.  This pattern calls for embroidering the face before you stuff the doll. I found this to be a lot easier than the Poppy doll pattern. But Little B is smaller than Poppy and because he needs to stay sort of flat, he didn't take as much stuffing as Poppy. As a consequence, he feels a bit less substantial. But I think he's cute and I hope he's much loved by his new owner.

And now, for my favorite project of all time (seriously)...  The other weekend I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I wanted to whip up the child's apron in Sew Liberated. This project has been on my to-do list since the book came out. And, I decided to finally cut into my beautiful stack of Far Far Away II fabric by Heather Ross.

I have such a hard time cutting into the "good stuff" but I'm so so glad that I did.  I wish I could leave this apron hanging in my workspace until Christmas but since it's a surprise, it was promptly wrapped up and placed under the tree.

We've been doing a lot of baking together -- trying our hand at bread in particular. Today he requested that we make scones. "And cookies!'" he added. I wish he could wear the apron today -- it's so hard to save it for Christmas. Perhaps the best thing about this apron pattern is that children can take it off themselves -- it closes in the front with velcro. That's the one complaint I have about normal aprons. He gets frustrated when he can't take it off by himself. Well, come Christmas, he can do just that!