Sasha Christmas Day 2016

On Christmas Eve my girl and I had fun dressing all our Sasha family in their Christmas clothes (yes, despite it being a day which is always extremely busy with preparations for Christmas day, we found time for dolls).

Nicholas James very generously invited our newest boy Timothy to wear his treasured polar bear sweater which he received in last year's Sasha Secret Santa, as Timothy had no other clothes apart from his original outfit and the striped t-shirt I gave him when he arrived.  The girls put on their best Christmas dresses, the boys Christmas sweaters or t-shirts (Edmund was allowed to wear one of the Gregor Christmas t-shirts we received from Dorisanne in 2012) and babies Leo and Mabel put on the reindeer and snowman outfits.  However our newest babies Amy (the Christmas day doll from 2015), Nina (who arrived in January) and Daisy (my daughter's raffle doll from the 2016 Sasha Celebration) did not have Christmas dresses, so stayed in their current outfits.

On Christmas morning they all came downstairs to see what was inside the Secret Santa parcels.

l-r: Miranda, Reuben, baby Daisy, baby Leo, Nicholas James, baby Amy, Timothy, baby Mabel, Trendon Elliott, baby Nina, Florence, toddler Edmund, Laura, Melanie in their Christmas outfits waiting for the opening of  the Secret Santa gifts.

In their letter to Santa (via Lorraine) was the following message:

Edmund would love his very own Christmas motif knitted sweater (Toddler boy, red hair)
Amy would love a Christmas dress (Baby Ginger - red hair)
Daisy would love a Christmas dress (Baby girl with blond hair)
Nina would love a Christmas dress (Baby Little Flower, dark curly hair)
The babies would also appreciate some tights (any colours, patterned or plain)
Any 3 of the above would be great.  If a dress could be smocked (simple smocking) this would be very much appreciated as my girl loves smocked dresses for the dolls.  I will teach her how to do smocking seeing as she is managing cross stitch very well.

4 exciting little packages arrived in the mail from the USA from Mary R, one of them labelled to my daughter and I, the others had no labels. 

Inside the three unlabelled packages were delightful Christmas dresses and one of them was smocked, much to my daughter's delight.  There was a green dress, a red dress with white snowmen and a red, gold and green dress (smocked), all three had matching underwear.  In the package for us was three pairs of baby tights: green, red and white, perfect for matching their dresses (worn underneath the knickers).

We soon worked out who suited each dress best, with baby Amy receiving the smocked dress, baby Nina the red dress with snowmen and baby Daisy the green dress with gingerbread teddies.

Nina wears her red dress with snowmen

Daisy wears her green dress with gingerbread teddies and Amy wears her smocked red, green and gold dress while holding Timothy's hand

l-r: Miranda, baby Leo, Reuben, baby Daisy, Nicholas James, baby Amy, Timothy and Trendon Elliott in their Christmas clothes

l-r: baby Amy, Timothy, Trendon Elliott, baby Nina, Florence, Edmund, Laura, baby Mabel and Melanie in their Christmas clothes

All the Sasha and Gregor children and babies in their Christmas outfits

We are thrilled with the new dresses for the babies and Edmund loves the t-shirt from Dorisanne (it has 'Hug me its Christmas' on the front) especially as he likes hugs.  Thank you to Mary R who sent them to us, the babies look lovely in these outfits.  And thank you Lorraine for organising the swap again - we do enjoy participating in them.

What we sent to Ursula in Germany will be in the next post.

Sasha Secret Santa 2015 - what we sent

I've participated in every Christmas Secret Santa Swap which Lorraine has organised since the first one in 2011.  This year I knew I would be up against time for making outfits as I was away for a week during November in Vancouver for a work conference and I was also completing some outfits for a doll which we raffled at our church Christmas fair.  As a result Lorraine made sure that I would send to a UK based person rather than overseas (the deadline for sending gifts is end of November).  In the event my parcel (which our dolls unwrapped on Christmas day) arrived on the 27 November (from the USA) and I managed to sew and send gifts to Rosie L a week later.

I had received the following message from Rosie's boys (via Lorraine):

Dear Santa

We have been very good and hope we're on your nice list.
This year the Laird Gregors would like a reefer jacket in navy or grey (if
that's possible) or another style of jacket without a hood.
We would also like a Star wars t shirt and a messenger bag.
If that's not possible we would be happy with some shirts. please don't send
us knitwear as our Mum knits ALL the time!

Thank you

The Laird Gregors

I found some Star Wars fabric online.  The motifs on the fabric were the largest I dared use on a Sasha doll sized shirt so I adapted my dashiki pattern to make large t-shirts for the boys.  Sending them one Star Wars themed t-shirt seemed silly, much better to send three, to prevent arguments.  I cut out the motifs and stitched them onto plain polyester non stretch fabric using a fine zigzag stitch.  From the fourth piece of fabric I made a messenger bag.

Nicholas James, Trendon Elliott and Reuben model the Star Wars shirts

NJ, TE and R tried very hard not to feel jealous of the Laird Gregors who would receive these Star Wars shirts, even though none of them had ever seen a Star Wars movie.

Trendon Elliott modeled the red light saber shirt and carried the messenger bag

Reuben modeled one of the blue Star Wars shirts

Nicholas James modeled the other blue Star Wars shirt

The Star Wars messenger bag

The open Star Wars messenger bag

I suggested in a note to Rosie that the boys would need some popcorn when they went to see the new Star Wars movie.

A few days later the following email arrived from Rosie L:

I just wanted to say a really big thank you for the super T shirts and Messenger bag you made for me. We are delighted with them. When I asked for a Star Wars T shirt I didn't really know if it would be possible - but to get 3 and a matching bag is just amazing. Your sewing is so neat I am envious! You are right - all my boys need now is some popcorn to munch while watching.

As you can see from Lorraine's blog, Rosie's Gregors are delighted.

I still have some Star Wars fabric (I bought a fat quarter of 4 different patterns).  None of my family have ever watched Star Wars - I could make more shirts if anyone wants one for their Gregor doll.

Sasha Christmas day 2015

On Christmas morning the Sasha and Gregor children and babies gathered around the new fireplace to find the sleigh bearing Secret Santa gifts.

Nicholas James and Reuben were wearing Christmas t-shirts from the 2012 swap (from Dorisanne)

Florence was glad to greet the reindeer (she was wearing her dress from the first Sasha Secret Santa we joined in 2011) 

Edmund toddled in still wearing his dressing gown and pyjamas.  "Merry Christmas, sleepyhead" laughed Miranda when she saw him. "Mewwy Cwismas Miwanda" mumbled Edmund, who was still tired from his Christmas Eve climb down and up the stairs.

Edmund's stocking was bulging with gifts from Father Christmas

"Pwesents!" cried Edmund in delight as he clutched his stocking (and showed off his pyjamas made by his girl from fabric bought at Dressew)

The others gathered around to watch as Edmund pulled a candy cane out of the stocking

This was swiftly followed by a model aeroplane kit.  Reuben offered to help Edmund assemble the plane later.

Edmund discovered a dinosaur stencil in his stocking

"A wacing car" yelled Edmund in delight as the next gift emerged from his stocking

The last gift from his stocking was a rubber ball.  Edmund was thrilled and asked the others to play ball with him later.

After Edmund's excitement, the Sasha and Gregor's turned their attention back to the sleigh full of gifts. They were all presented beautifully in draw string bags. We had requested gifts for the boys this year when Lorraine organised the swap.

Reuben carefully lifted down from the sleigh a gorgeous polar bear with chocolates

There was a lovely pair of black shoes in one of the gift bags

A superb hand knitted sweater with a polar bear motif and matching socks was in the next bag (made by Halyna)

There was also some dark chocolate (sea salt caramel) in the wonderful collection of Secret Santa gifts

The boys decided that Nicholas James would wear the sweater, socks and shoes first.  NJ was so pleased he tucked his jeans into the socks to show off their stripes

Mabel, the polar bear, Edmund and Trendon Elliott (wearing the 2011 Secret Santa sweater) were pleased to pose for a Christmas photo.

This wasn't the end of the Sasha Christmas surprises. In a basket belonging to her big sister my younger daughter discovered her new baby. She came (via Shelly's site) with a hand knitted sweater and original Sasha baby Ginger trousers.

After dressing her new baby ginger in the clothes

The only blue eyed red haired Sasha baby (made by Trendon) is an unsexed baby, it is described in the Three Ann's Sasha Identification book as 'she' however the baby comes wearing trousers. After some thought my girl decided the baby would be a girl and she will be called Amy.

Florence, Laura, baby Leo, Nicholas James, baby Mabel, Miranda, Reuben, Edmund and Trendon Elliott meet baby Amy

Leo, Mabel, polar bear and Edmund say hello to Amy

Welcome baby Amy

Thank you so much to Halyna for the gorgeous collection of Secret Santa gifts and Lorraine for organising the swap again this year. We enjoyed participating and I'll blog about the gifts we sent to Rosie L in the next post. Our Sasha and Gregor family (now 10!) wish all our friends and other readers of this blog a Merry Christmas and happy 2016.

Secret Santa Swap 2014 - part 2

In part 1 I explained what we sent to Canada for Lorraine's 2014 Secret Santa Swap.  My younger daughter and I asked for the following:

a classic coat and hat for Sasha (Laura)

a pair of white Mary Jane type shoes for baby Mabel

a pair of lace up shoes for baby Leo

a bright coloured sweater for baby Leo

a yoke style dress for Laura in fine corduroy (patterned or plain)

For anyone who isn't familiar with dollmum's blog, Laura has red hair (Sasha white dress), baby Leo is an early sexed blond boy and baby Mabel is a an early sexed brown haired waif.

The parcel arrived in early December and I saved the individual gifts for opening on Christmas day.

On Christmas morning Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer arrived with a sleigh full of lovely parcels for Laura, baby Leo and baby Mabel.  We did manage to unwrap the gifts during the afternoon however there wasn't time to do more than a quick photo of the three dolls (and my younger daughter) with the gifts before we went to stay with family and it was only 2 days later that I had a moment to edit the photo, followed by a photo session today of the dolls wearing their new clothes.

Rudolf delivers the Secret Santa gifts 

The gifts from Rosie L (Secret Santa) in the sleigh 

Baby Mabel was thrilled with her white Mary Jane shoes - she has been asking for a pair ever since she arrived in our family.  Rosie L had knitted baby Leo a wonderful multicoloured sweater and provided a gorgeous yoke style green dress with a white collar for Laura who with her red hair looks wonderful in this colour.  There was a fourth gift to unwrap addressed to me and my younger daughter (she unwrapped it) and we were very pleased with the lovely felt Christmas tree decoration of a fox and a fox cross stitch kit, which my daughter will stitch.  Rosie L had also thoughtfully enclosed mini candy canes for the dolls.  Thank you Rosie for our lovely gifts - we're delighted with them.

My girl with Mabel, Leo, Laura and all the gifts

Leo in his lovely sweater from Rosie L

Leo and Mabel, who is wearing her new Mary Jane shoes
with the Christmas dress I made for her last year

Leo, Laura and Mabel in their Secret Santa gifts

The fox cross stitch kit which my daughter will stitch

The fox Christmas tree decoration

As it happens, I had ordered a coat and hat set from Vintage Sasha at the Chat 'n Snap after my daughter tried to get a set from Sarah's table but wasn't into rugby tackling all the bigger people who had longer arms to reach through the crowd.  Sarah found some more velvet to make the hat to go with the dog tooth coat (although she said it was just as slippery to sew as the other velvet she had used).  On Christmas day my girl was delighted with the coat and hat set and it went with Laura when we visited family later that day.  On Boxing day evening there was snowfall all night so on the 27th we had a morning of fun in the snow (nearly 4 inches) before returning home later, where no snow at all had fallen.

Laura in her Vintage Sasha coat and hat
with the snow reindeer and a Team Santa Reindeer from Build a Bear

Under the coat in the snow picture Laura was wearing her blue velvet dress, sparkly tights and blue satin ballet shoes!  We'd forgotten to bring some outdoor footwear on this trip to go with the coat.  So she didn't stay outside for long!  My girl transferred the 2012 Olympics pin badge to the collar of the coat from the blue dress.

When Laura tried on her lovely new green yoke dress today she put the coat and hat on over the top of the dress and I took another photo.  She wore the white socks which Sarah included in the set, and her black Scottish dancing shoes by Lisa Hartley.

Laura wearing the Vintage Sasha coat and hat
with Lisa Hartley dancing shoes

Thank you Lorraine for organising the swap again - it was great fun to take part and we're very pleased with our gifts.

Secret Santa Swap 2014 - part 1

I participated again in Lorraine's Secret Santa Swap for Sasha dolls this year, even though I was really short of time to make things.  In the event I was a week late posting the items I made for Marijke in Canada, however fortunately she received them before Christmas (and the parcel got through Canadian customs despite the dire warnings I had received at my local UK post office about customs and importing toys to Canada).

The following message came to me from Marijke about what her Sasha and Gregor family hoped to receive:

Dear Santa,

My Sasha family consists of 5 girls: Sasha blonde blue gingham, Kiltie, Pintucks, Cora flower dress and Sasha red hair white dress; four boys: Gregor dark blue jeans, Gregor schoolboy blond, Caleb (early, small) and Gregor red hair blue suit; and two babies, Baby Bear brown hair and Baby white suit (also early), both girls.

Five of the family arrived quite recently, and are in need of clothing like jeans, shirts and hoodies for the boys, and overalls or sleepers for the babies. None of the dolls have pajamas as yet, although there is quite a bit of flannellette (winceyette?) hanging about my sewing table. I very much enjoy sewing for my Sasha family, but time can be a deterrent; for example, at the moment the sweater knitting has had to be put off as there is a wedding shower gift being made for next week, and I signed up for a Christmas bazaar at the end of the month. My real life daughter has bought all kinds of sock wool, for Mom to knit up for her, and there are sweaters for both my daughters’ BJD’s partially finished that need to go off to their owners.

My Christmas list would include: a boy’s shirt

                                                      unisex jeans (fake fly fronts most welcome!)

                                                      a masculine hoodie

                                                      a baby overall

                                                      a baby sleeper

If there are non-sewing Secret Santas,  a ball of fine yarn would be wonderful as it is very difficult to find that here; also, enough fabric to make a pair of jeans or a sleeper. The kids are collecting toys at the present, but toys are weighty, and these kids live in Atlantic Canada, so mailing costs need to be kept in mind. There is only one book at present in their size. Colouring pencils would be great, as would backpacks or school bags. Another useful item would be tiny hair clips, all those girls have so much hair! And wool felt for berets, which has to be ordered via the internet here; the shops only carry polyester....

Thank you.

In the event the clothes I made were unisex jeans and a baby overall. I also enclosed a Passion for Sasha long sleeved t-shirt which I'd bought at the Chat 'n Snap in October (I didn't have time to make a shirt or hoodie to go with the jeans).  I included one of my model sailing boats (the one with the dolphin on the sail) and one of my skipping ropes and some mini Christmas chocolate eggs.  Fortunately these toys were not too heavy to post.

Nicholas James and baby Mabel model the clothes,
with the toys and chocolates for Marijke 

baby Mabel wears the overall/romper

The pocket detail on the back of the jeans,
the front had an opening fly (fastened with a press stud)

As you can see from Lorraine's blog post about what people received, Marijke's Sasha family are making good use of the toys and have worked out who wears the clothes.

My daughter and I compiled a wish list for Secret Santa which I emailed to Lorraine.  When our parcel arrived, we put the little presents in my sewing room to wait for Christmas day - see my next post.

Christmas Day arrivals

Rudolf arrived with a special Secret Santa delivery

some exciting packages (from Rosie L)

Baby Jesus has arrived in the manger,
however can you spot who else has arrived in the DollMum house?

Lady Crazie from Germany is perching on the mantle piece with the Christmas stockings

Lady Crazie hops down to visit Baby Jesus

Lady Crazie and the crib scene

Jenny gets to know Lady Crazie who is inquisitive about the ice skating penguin on Jenny's dress   

Lady Crazie is pleased to meet Lexie as well