Sasha Doll Style

1 November 2011

I am working on the new Sasha doll collection at the moment - Winter Shoreline...

The colours are beautiful...  taupe, sand, cream, sky blue, sea green, greys...  some are subtle and muted whilst others are strong and dramatic reminiscent of a stormy day...

The lovely new Marmalade Compote Collection is now available at Sasha Doll Style

It has been an absolute treat creating this collection and I am delighted with the finished outfits.

There are twelve delightful outfits in this collection...

And two duffle coats... 

one a very pale blush pink and the other the colour of summer berries...

Of course, I always end up with a couple of favourites in any collection and the first outfit in this photo is one of those...  I love everything about this outfit...

I love how the colours have worked together to create this collection...  

pretty and pink... without being 'too' pink...

9 November 2010

I have finished all the photography for the new Amethyst Dreams Collection of Sasha and Gregor clothing.  The website should be updated by tomorrow morning.  The first half of the collection was placed on Sasha Doll Style website last night.  Amethyst Dreams Collection

Sasha (fringe girl circa 1968) is wearing a richly coloured wide rib sweater knitted in Araucania hand painted wool.  I used the same lovely wool to knit her ear flap hat.  Her scarf and socks are knitted using a dark indigo wool.  I used the same wool to knit the edge on her hat and both wools are used for the plaits.  Her bootleg style trousers are made using a lovely Amethyst coloured finewale corduroy.  Gorgeous outfit.

David (my 1972 gregor) is wearing a cute outfit.  I used crazy zauberball sock wool for his sweater and hat.  I loved the long repeat in this yarn which gave a very modern look to the graduating colours.  His socks are knitted using a lovely lace weight shetland wool which picks out one of the colours in his sweater.  His straight leg trousers are made from mid blue denim.  The trousers have pockets at the front.  The outfit really suits David.

Sasha (Jeans 1968) is wearing a lovely striped sweater dress.  I have used the same lovely Araucania wool and indigo wool to knit the dress in fine stripes.  I used the indigo for her cuffs, polo neck collar and welt.  Also used the indigo to knit her modern style hat.  I spent a lot of time looking for fabric to make her tights.  Couldn't find the right colour anywhere and then I saw a woollen sweater in a shop that was just the right colour.  I brought it home and cut off one sleeve.  Perfect.  The outfit is completed with chestnut Uggs.

Sarah (mid 70's brunette) is wearing a beautiful outfit.  Her sweater is a gorgeous mix of purples and magentas.  Wonderful depth of colour.  Her earflap hat is made using a Lorna's Laces Sock wool.  Her bootleg style trousers are made using a gorgeous mauve needlecord.  Her socks are made using the same wool as her sweater.

I used this outfit for modelling the duffle coat which is a wonderful magenta needlecord lined with a darker contrasting mauve lining.  Mauve leather thong used for the loops and wooden toggles.  Beautiful duffle coat.

My brunette Sasha re-root is wearing the cabled sweater.  It has two cables at the front and double moss st for the background and sleeves.  A polo neck collar and rib cuffs and welt.  I have used the same lovely 4 ply dusky pink wool for the double moss st socks.  Her bootleg trousers are also mauve needlecord.  I have used a lovely Fyberspates hand dyed sock yarn for her hat and scarf.  Very soft.

Katie is wearing a beautiful sweater dress with polo neck and front pocket hand knitted using Lorna's laces wool in Black Purl colourway.  Her earflap hat was knitted using the same wool and edged using a lovely pinky/mauve bamboo yarn.  I has a gorgeous sheen and the colour sets off the dress and hat perfectly.  I used both yarns for the plaits on the earflap hat.  Her leggings are made from pinky/mauve cotton jersey.  A very attractive outfit.  She is wearing black slip on shoes. 

8 November 2010

It seems like a long time ago that I began choosing the colours and looking for inspiration for my new Amethyst Dreams Collection of new clothes for Sasha and Gregor...

These are some of my very favourite colours and I have found it very difficult to stop...

In the end the collection has 12 knitwear outfits...  I do have several other outfits that were started and are in various stages of completion but I realised that I found this collection so inspiring that I could continue working on it forever... so a halt had to be called... 

I shall revisit it at a later date with the other outfits when they are finished...  but for now I have some very patient people awaiting their commissioned outfits...

I had intended most of these outfits to have little black ankle boots with them... then I realised that I had forgotten to order them... oops... ordered now but will take a couple of weeks to arrive...

I couldn't resist photographing these two outfits together.  Sasha waif who is as yet unnamed - used to be a 1972 Gregor but his falling hair became a real issue so has been rewigged with a lovely Trendon Sasha Princess Wig.  She is wearing a White Horses in Starlight sweater with a matching hat and socks... Her bootleg style trousers are a lovely mid blue denim.  I love knitting this sweater... Fairisle is such fun to work.

Greg (from 1970) is wearing a sweater knitted using the same lovely Trekking sock yarn as the background yarn used for the White Horses sweater.   I teamed it with a contrasting pale blue 4 ply wool for his hat, scarf and socks... He has straight leg mid blue denim trousers.  A gorgeous outfit on him that brings out the lovely colour of his eyes. 

Sasha is modelling the 3rd outfit in this group.   I was inspired by the lovely 4 ply multi colour sock wool...  As it was quite a "bright" wool I wanted to tone it down so teamed it with a gorgeous dark teal 4 ply wool...  This has been used as the main colour for her sweater.  I also used it to edge the fun ear flap hat and for the plaits...  I decided that it would be cool if her hat and socks were  bright and cheerful...  I couldn't find the right shade of teal corduroy so opted for a very dark green needlecord for her bootleg style trousers.  A very cute combination.

I love this group of outfits...  It has the two pale coloured outfits within it... 

Ffyon my lovely Trendon Pintucks from 1982 is wearing a gorgeous Fair Isle yoke sweater... The main colour is worked in a 4 ply ivory wool which sets off the light blue, denim blue and pale pink used for the colourwork.  She has mauve/pink lace weight hand knitted socks.  Her trousers are mid-blue denim bootleg style trousers.  Her outfit is completed with a lovely ivory hand knitted hat.  A lovely outfit.

Gregor (from 1968) is wearing one of my favourite outfits from this collection.  I really love how this sweater turned out and the gorgeous colour combination... of the mauves, purples, lavender, denim blue and zesty green.  I used the same sock wool for his hat.  His trousers are sewn from lavender coloured needlecord and have pockets at the front.  His striped socks are knit using two colours of lace weight shetland wool that pick out colours from the sweater.

Natalie looks very pretty wearing this sweater that features a pretty multi coloured fairisle zig zag edging pattern worked in a lovely Jitterbug sock wool...  I love the ivory setting off the pretty colours... It works really nicely...  I made a hat to match the sweater using the lovely fairisle rib for the edge.   After trying the sweater with a few different colours I settled on a strong magenta needlecord for her trousers.  They are straight leg style with pockets at the front.  Her sweater fastens at the back with two buttons that are exactly the same colour as her trousers.  This allows for the sweater to be worn with the buttons to the front for a different look.  I waited until I had chosen the trouser colour before choosing the buttons as I thought it would be nice to have them matching.  She has pink and white track shoes.

6 November 2010

I don't usually take photographs of my workspace as I am not the tidiest creative worker on the planet... the boxes contain custom orders in progress and the beginnings of future collections while I collect together colours, fabrics, threads, buttons, shoes and inspirational images...

The last pieces for the Amethyst Dreams Collection are under way...  cut out and in the process of being made... It has been a wonderful collection of outfits to work on and I have really enjoyed the process...

Work would have been finished today... but I had a stressful day so the sewing will be finished tomorrow and photography will start on Monday morning... I like to take photographs in natural light... so most photos are taken in the morning... I shall be putting this Collection onto the website in a slightly different way... hopefully about 4 outfits per day over the middle of next week.

16 September 2010

This collection is still very much at the in-progress stage... but is coming along pretty well...

Isn't this the cutest Gregor?  He is so handsome... bought him on ebay a few months ago... I need to restring him but haven't had the time yet.  He has beautiful eyes and dates from 1968...

I haven't decided upon the socks or accessories to go with these outfits yet but I definitely know the yarns I am using and have thoughts and rough ideas sketched out in my notebook...

I love the colours I have used in these outfits.  I adore using textural patterns.  The hand dyed wool used for the scarf and hat is truly beautiful and very soft...

14 September 2010

The new Amethyst Dreams Collection is coming along nicely...

I am at the stage of knitting little socks... hats... bags...  I love the hand dyed Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock wool that I used for the earflap hat... it complements the wool used for the sweater so perfectly...

In the case of others... sewing trousers and choosing footwear...

For some of the outfits I have finished the jumper and am deciding on the best choice of contrasting yarns to create the accessories to go with the outfit...

Need to start sewing the dresses soon as I have completed the smocking...  I have loved working with these colours they are a dream to work on... hence the name...

Initially when I started work on the Step into Spring collection I wondered how the colour scheme would work translated into outfits.   I really enjoyed planning the new styles and thinking about the look of each outfit.

There are 3 swimming costumes as part of this collection.  They are part of the outfits and can be carried in the Sasha dolls shoulder bag when not being worn.   The yellow swimming costume is part of the outfit that Gotz Anna is modelling.

I designed several new items of knitwear for the collection.  One of my favourites is the pretty yellow top worn by Anna knitted in lace weight shetland wool.

Another favourite is the lovely fairisle cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves.  The five colours of lace weight shetland wool blend through each other beautifully.

I found it difficult to find sandals that were right for some of the outfits so made my own.  They are made completely from leather and are based on the style of my Frido white sandals.  The pale blue leather is very soft. 

I shall photograph the outfits over the next few days.

I have just finished the Step into Spring Collection and am now ready to take photographs of all the outfits for Sasha Doll Style.   The light quality is awful this afternoon so I have just taken a few preview photos to let you see the new outfits.

I have had a huge amount of fun planning new styles for this collection.  

Some of the outfits have several different ways in which the doll can wear them.  The outfit that Keira is wearing is an example of this.  She can wear the dress with the jumper tied at the front and carrying the swimming costume in her bag.  Or she can wear the dress without the sweater with just the bag and her bead necklace or she can wear her swimming costume. The pants that go with the outfit are my usual style that can also pass as shorts and they look very cute worn over her swimming costume.