Sarah Price and St Hils

It is a strange place this blogging world.  We 'meet' people via the internet whom it is unlikely we'd encounter in everyday life because we're scattered all around the world.  I've discussed dolls and miniatures through blogging and flickr for over a year now with people as far afield as Australia, USA, Brazil, Russia and South Africa, as well as the UK.  During the past 3 months I've not been in a position to keep up to date with other doll blogs and have only periodically updated the DollMum blog.  I've been so busy at work and at home with various other matters.  So I wasn't really aware that Sarah Price who created St Hilary's Miniature church had been unwell, and was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  It was only when in WHSmith in Glenrothes last week whilst on a 2 week caravan holiday in Scotland with my husband and daughters that I picked up a copy of The Dolls House magazine (September issue) and discovered to my great sadness and dismay that Sarah died on the 18th June 2010 after a short battle with the terrible disease.

Sarah was kind enough to comment on some of the posts in my blog, and I occasionally commented on her blog which was full of interest surrounding the little world of St Hils, which she had created as a way of dealing with the loss of her beloved mother Hilary, who also loved miniatures.  Sarah was inspirational, there are so many miniature houses, but very few miniature churches populated with loving attention to detail and enjoyable story lines connected with the Christian calendar which was Sarah's speciality.  She was one of the miniaturists whom I hoped to one day meet at a fair, but that will never happen now.

Rest in Peace Sarah, and may St Hilary's miniature Church be a lasting memorial to a fine, gentle and special person with a great sense of humour (and of course to her mother).

Rockstar dress pattern

I have traced out the pattern and my husband has scanned it into a pdf for the Rockstar outfit for 18"-19.5" play dolls.  I have also typed out the instructions and put them into a separate pdf.  If you would like a copy, please email me at:
dollmum at yahoo dot co dot uk
(I've written it like that to prevent spamming) and I'll send it to you.

Below are the progress photos of the second dress being made.  These might help alongside the written instructions pdf.

The two halves of the dress with the yoke pieces pinned ready for sewing

Front yoke with the outside and inside pieces sewn on their top edge,
before turning right side out

Back yoke pieces after turning, before pressing and hand stitching

Sleeves pinned in place ready for stitching

Sleeves stitched in place, side seams sewn

Close up of sleeve before it was turned right side out

Headband, ends folded over and long seam stitched

Headband being turned right side out

Samantha and Harriet

To get a guitar you need to search ebay for 'miniature guitar' and buy one which is about 25 cm long.  There is a whole range of them at this size, they are made for collectors who love different styles of guitars and display them as ornaments.  They range in price from £4.99 to £19.99, and I've checked overseas ebay as well, so know they can be obtained in the US and Australia etc.  Sometimes you can find them in their own case, but mostly they come with a display stand.

Rock group grows

This evening I finally finished Samantha's rockstar outfit.  I bought more shoes from releaserain on ebay (all the way from Hong Kong), and had previously bought the glittery tights (which are for American Girl) from a US seller based in London.  The tights are a little short for Samantha but the dress and shoes hide that minor issue.

Here she is wearing her new rockstar outfit, and posing with the flying V 'Jimmy Hendrix' guitar which my elder daughter bought on her music trip recently.  I have taken some photos of the progress of the dress to show how it is constructed, and will post those up tomorrow.

Samantha and Harriet rock!