There once was a dolly called Dolly, who lived in a cute, little cottage...........

Hello lovely lovelies♡ Christmas has shone it's light brightly and twinkled away, fading for yet another year. It's been busy, busy, busy here at the bottom of the world, with both frantically finishing Christmas gifts, and entertaining my sweet Riley and her mummy and daddy. 'Twas such a joy to spend precious days with Riley, my daughter and son-in-law. Truly, it was the most precious Christmas gift. But goodness me, this caper they call granny-ing is for a younger age, me thinks. =) I'm exhausted, but oh so contented.

 I hope you had a lovely Christmas day celebrating with your loved ones. For some it would've been a difficult time. The festive season can be bittersweet can it not?? As we age and grow older and our loved ones pass from our little world, it seems to me ambivalent emotions, both sorrow and joy, sit on our shoulders concurrently, to-ing and fro-ing. It's never easy. 

There was much joy in our little home this Christmastime♡

For weeks before Christmas I locked myself away in my sewing room and stitched away on Riley's dolly and the fabric cottage. But oh my, even though I started this pretty many, many weeks before, it still came down to the wire when finishing for the big day. There was soooo much tiny intricate stitching to be done. Dolly is only six inches tall and it took seven hours to create her alone. Then there was the clothes to be fashioned. Oh dear, the tiny armholes, the waist and the hems of the pants.......goodness, they all took an age. So finicky. So time consuming.

But, the architects and builders, and designers and decorators have picked up their tools and have waved goodbye to Dolly wishing her fun, fun, fun in her new cute, little cottage.

And what a cute little cottage it is. The walls of each room are prettily patterned, and coordinated furniture, furnishings and tchtochkes abound; all the pretties that make a home....home. Dolly has all the comforts of home. It is a wee cottage though, with only four rooms. But to Dolly, it is her Goldilocks home.....just right.

Inside the walls of the cute, little cottage there is an oh-so-comfy bed covered with a pretty hexie quilt and a pillow to rest Dolly's weary head after an exhausting day. A wardrobe too, bursting with pretty garments....pyjamas, blouses, pants, dresses....and there's even a knitted little sleeveless sweater. Dolly is known around town as a fashionista so she likes to keep abreast of fashion trends. There's a pretty lamp to cast light upon Dolly when she snuggles down in bed and escapes within the pages of a book. A teddy bear, too. Oh look, there's a kitty snoozing happily in the sunny window.

Across the way there's a bathroom with a clawfoot bath in which Dolly can soak, relaxing; putting at rest her concerns for another day. There's a toilet. Well, every bathroom has to....just has to have a throne......a vanity and a mirror. There's a washing basket that can be filled with clothes waiting to be washed in the washing machine. An ironing board and iron are always ready to be put into action because Dolly rather loves to iron. She is that dolly who loves all her pretties to be neatly pressed.

Downstairs there is a kitchen where Dolly loves to cook up a gastronomical storm in her oven for her friends. She loves to bake. There always seems to be yummy cakes as there is many a visitor popping in to spend time with Dolly in her cosy home. I mean.....just look at those cakes in the fridge! It makes me want to rat-a-tat-tat on that pretty front door. Some chocolate cake smothered in chocolate frosting would go down very well, right about now. But then, there's strawberry pie, too. Oh, what the heck, Dolly and I can enjoy a slice or two of each cake; can't we?? Oh, may I have a glass of icy, cold milk with my cakes, please, Dolly??

Dolly has decorated her kitchen with pretty plates, teacups, a clock......as Dolly can lose track of time while cooking up a storm. And, as she washes the dishes she can look out her window to the view beyond.

And, after all the baking and tidying up of her pretty kitchen is done, Dolly can collapse on her pretty blue sofa and squishy, squashy cushions and read a book with the sunshine beaming through the prettily curtained window. Dolly does love a good read. Of course, on the coffee table nearby there's a teapot filled with English Breakfast tea to enjoy in a pretty teacup. When it came to purchasing the perfect dining setting, Dolly went all out and splurged on a Saarinen, Tulip table and chairs. After all, nothing but the best will do. She's glad she spent the big bucks as the suite does rather 'maketh' the room. Oh...and there's a tulip armchair, too. Nothing but the best for our Dolly.

But....there's one glaring omission though. Can you spot it?? There's no garden!! What??!! Really??!! Not one single flower sashaying in the breeze. "How can that be", I hear you ask. I mean, I'm the flower lady who overdoses on all things flowers; right?? There was always the intention to have both a front and back garden blossoming with many a flower, but I just ran out of time. I don't think Dolly will mind though, as she would much prefer to whip up gastronomical delights in her kitchen, or laze around on her comfy sofa reading a good book or two, rather than weeding in a garden.

I enjoyed designing, problem solving and stitching Dolly and her cosy cottage. Would I fashion another? Probably not. =) As there weren't any patterns I made it up as I went along. At times, it took a lot of time throughout the process to figure out how I could accomplish what I envisaged. Everything is so tiny. Dolly is only six inches long and she took an age to make. Seven hours....and yes I was counting. =) Turning the arms and legs inside out created a bit of angst and stuffing these components were a nightmare. Then there were the clothes which  were a pain. Ordinarily one would think one could whip up a collection of garments quickly. Not so. Being so tiny there were a lot of bumps along the garment making road. But, I persisted, and I must say Dolly's sweet garments do make me smile. Stitching the miniscule details.....the teapot, cups, plates, books etc etc took an age, too. The sewing machine dawdled, the needle barely moving as I navigated around each item. There is so much detail in the little cottage which took oodles of time to complete. A friend, when seeing Dolly and her little cottage said "oh, you should really sell these". Of course I replied with a resounding "Nooooooooooo". There is not enough money to induce me to fashion another. One dolly and her sweet, little cottage is quite enough for my lifetime.=)

But, Riley loved it, though I don't suppose the enjoyment of playing with Dolly and her little cottage for hours will come until she is a little older. I wanted to create something special that she would enjoy when she's able to sit by herself and escape and have fun with Dolly; dressing her, putting her to bed etc etc. Riley has so many toys to play with at the moment that I wanted to make something that will last the length of time and which was a little different from gifts purchased from a shop. A fun pretty which she can sit for hours and play 'lets pretend' with Dolly.

Dolly and I are wishing you, lovely lovelies, a beautiful day♡

See you next year. Until the next time......

Linking this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching because, with hand on my heart, I very slowly  stitched, from dawn to dusk, on many a December Sunday. =)

Linking also to Frédérique's Quilting, Patchwork, Applique.