Sasha Doll Style

Step into Spring sample pages in my sketchbook. A great way of comparing fabrics and colours and wool to help choose which combinations to use for the outfits.

I wasn't sure how I would get on with yellow. It has never been a favourite colour of mine although I do love it in nature from the cheerful daffodils to the winter jasmine. Lovely tones of yellow.

From my notice board I chose several images that particularly appealed to me for this colour scheme.


There is something particularly elegant about the yellow and blue combination particularly when ivory or white is included. Very fresh and clean.

With this selection the fabrics are mainly pretty cotton prints but there are a couple of fabrics which are silk/cotton mix.

Many of the knitted samples use lace weight shetland wool as I wanted light weight knitwear for this collection.

The notice board for a forthcoming collection develops before I start work on the sketchbook and sampling.

For Step into Spring, I have been collecting images of spring narcissus, primroses, tulips, wintersweet, magnolia, cherry blossom. I have been particularly attracted to the sky blues, whites, and shades of yellow with hints of spring green.

While the images on the noticeboard keep the new theme in my mind while I am working, it also helps me with choosing colours and collecting the fabrics and yarns. I collect fabrics and yarns that work with the colours like a magpie until I have a whole box full (see photo 2), then when I am ready to start work on the new theme, I start on my sampling, to see how the materials work together with different textures, patterns and designs.

This beautiful collection was started late in the Autumn and has been a pleasure to work on. I loved working with the lovely warm colours through the chill of the winter while it was icy and snowy outside.

There are a few new styles featured in this collection including the lovely alpaca sweater dress with the pocket on the front worn with leggings, the modern ear flap hats, my white lace weight gansey and I made the bolero cardigan with long sleeves for the colder weather and the cute shoulder bags.


The image of the witch hazel in its full autumn glory was so inspirational because there were such an amazing range of colours to choose from.

Winter Warmth Collection

Inspired by the cold weather outside, venturing out for walks wrapped up in scarves, mittens and cosy coats, and snug indoors in woolly sweaters and sitting by cosy open fires toasting our toes...

As Christmas approaches, I am putting up my Christmas tree but I love the old traditional Christmas decorations, the dark green holly with shiny red berries, little bunches of mistletoe hanging from the kitchen door frame, the contrast colours of the Golden Heart Ivy by the door, the last of the autumn colours clinging to the Japanese Acers and Witch Hazels.












These outfits are the start of the Winter Warmth Collection. I have been working on this collection for a while, although the custom orders are at the moment placing it on the back burner.













I loved working with these colours in my ideas book and have ended up with 4 pages of ideas for this Collection. The colours are such a pleasure to work with. I love the huge range of reds, plum, greens, golds and browns with the touch of ivory contained in my inspiration images. I enjoyed collecting the beautiful selection of wool, silk, tweed and bamboo yarns and the beautiful cotton fabrics and colours of corduroy.













I have not decided on all of the outfit styles yet so some of the colourways do not yet have notes beside them.

Winter Frost Collection for Sasha, Gregor and toddlers.

Some of the styles I have made before in different colour combinations but several such as the two toddler outfits, the knitted jacket with the belt, the waistcoat, the striped shetland wool jacket and v-neck blue cardigan with drop waist dress are new to this collection.

My inspiration for the Winter Frost Collection came from a photograph I found in a gardening magazine. It was of yew berries on a yew tree covered in sparkling silvery white frost.














The colours were exquisite and I found myself putting together a collection of materials and wools that worked well with the theme. I love blues and Winter Frost has been a pleasure to create.

Autumn Landscape Collection for Sasha, Grego, Toddler and Babies.

"Autumn time, thy scenes and shades,
Are pleasing to the tasteful eye."
Autumn by John Clare (1821)











The Landscape in Autumn is mesmerising. I love to walk on the Cavehill in the early morning with the shadowy shapes of the trees shrouded in mist.

High on the heathland the grasses take on rusty hues. The autumn colours glow against the blues and stormy greys of the Autumn sky. The inspiration for this collection of outfits came from the image I found of a tree in late Autumn on a hillside much like my beloved and much walked Cavehill.














"The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."

By John Muir

For a while now, I have been thinking about a new way of working on my designs. I love to use an inspirational images to base my designs upon. Usually, I took one idea from the designs and created one outfit at the end. Sometimes I would come back to the theme at a later date.

I decided that I would like to work on small "collections" using my themes.















The Lilac Collection

The Lilac Collection is the first of these to be completed.

The colours are shown in my photo at the top of this blog. The photograph is of lilac blossom. I adore lilac blossom, the colours, the scente and the beauty of the blossom and the trees. I have 3 lilac trees in my garden. It was great fun finding the fabrics, wools and accessories for this range. I chose to create 6 outfits for this collection.

This dress is a beautiful floral cotton fabric. I used a lovely mauve plain cotton for the belt and the fine piping accentuating the cuff. Her tights are made from a new pair of mauve toddler's cotton tights.

I love this outfit. Ffyon my Limited Edition Pintucks is modelling it. The larger photo above shows the duffle coat with this outfit.

The sweater is hand knit using lace weight shetland wool in 4 colours. I love knitting fairisle it is wonderful seeing the pattern developing. I softened the look of this sweater with a pretty collar using the pale pink edged with blue.

Her trousers are a sea blue colour with a lovely sheen to the surface of the needlecord.

I used the pale sea blue colour of lace weight wool to knit her ankle socks. The outfit is completed with a beautiful pair of Boneka leather laced shoes.

Beautiful lilac smocked dress. The smocking is worked using a pretty hand dyed cotton embroidery thread. It is in shades from lilac through purple to turquoise. The dress is made from a beautiful plain lilac cotton fabric. Her pants match her dress fabric.

I used a pretty soft sock yarn made from 75% bamboo for her lovely short sleeved bolero jacket. This yarn has a wonderful sheen that looks like silk.

Her ankle socks are hand knit using lilac lace weight shetland wool. I used this wool to knit her hair tie. To complete this outfit I bought a pair of t-strap sandals that remind me of the Clarks sandals I used to wear every summer when I was young.
















I think this is one of my favourite of the outfits. I love the contrast in the colours.

The smocked dress is made from a beautiful floral cotton fabric. The background is a pretty lilac colour. The flowers are shades of pink outlined in maroon. The smocking picks out the leaf green and these shades. Her pants match her dress.

Her bolero is hand knit using lace weight maroon shetland wool.

I chose a pretty pale lilac lace weight shetland wool for her ankle socks. It matches the background colour of her dress. I also used this wool to knit her hair tie. Her Boneka t-strap shoes are a good match to the colour used for her bolero jacket.


Maya is wearing this lovely outfit. Her hair is held back with a pretty little purple butterfly clip.

Her cardigan is hand knit using a pale lilac lace weight shetland wool. The buttons were hard to find. I kept looking for the right size and colour everywhere I went. I wanted the buttons to match the lavender colour of her trousers.

Her blouse is a pretty dainty floral cotton fabric which buttons at the back.

Her socks are hand knit using the same wool as her cardigan. The outfit is completed with a pretty pair of lavender shoes with little bows.


The final outfit in this collection is a gorgeous traditional style yoke dress. I used the contrast fabric for the yoke, cuffs, pantalettes and her waist slip.

The dress fabric is a beautiful floral fabric with a darker shade of mauve for the background and lilac, pink and ivory flowers. The leaves match the same shade of aqua that I have used for the contrast fabric.

Her ankle socks are hand knit using a lovely pale aqua colour of lace weight shetland wool. Her beautiful cream coloured leather Boneka ballet style shoes set the outfit off perfectly.