Kumi has two best friends. She's known them since she was born, and she's played with them almost every week. For most of their first year, Aya, BJ and Kumi ignored each other. There may have been an accidental head loll in the direction of one of the other babies, or sometimes they cried in unison.
But it wasn't until a couple of months ago that they started to really play with each other. It's been a joy to see them develop and interact, to watch them voluntarily hug and kiss and chase after each other with glee. "Kumi come over here!" Aya says. "I want to see BJ," Kumi says. "You're kind of like funny," BJ says to both Kumi and Aya.
So for Kumi's birthday, I made her an Aya and BJ doll. I plan to make more outfits like I did for the Kumi doll but for now they're stuck with this one (the BJ doll ended up with unintentional hunched shoulders, giving him a shoulder-padded look).
It's amazing how two dolls made from the same pattern came out so differently shape-wise...
Here's the dress I mentioned the other day. So simple to make -- from start to finish, it only took me about 20 minutes. It's the same pattern as the one I made for her birthday. I tweaked it a little so that the back isn't so low and the hem is a bit shorter too. I also omitted the pocket since the colorful birds seemed enough. The pattern is from another lovely Japanese craft book (ISBN978-4-579-11054-4)
This is what the fabric looks like close-up:
With continuous 90 degrees plus weather, it's the perfect little dress. Tomorrow it's supposed to cool down significantly and rain. I can't wait.
Getting back to our regularly scheduled programming, here are a couple of things I made for Kumi recently. I made a new dress today as well, but I'll post that later.
The patterns for both the top and shorts are from my stockpile of Japanese craft books but I will have to dig through some big messy piles to find them...
I am in love with these shorts. I like the top fine, and I really like the fabric (from my mama) but these shorts are fabulous. I'm not sure what the fabric is, but it's a thin, feathery light material with iridescent highlights in pinkish, purplish hues. The blue trim on the pockets is from a gift wrap ribbon that was part of Kumi's birthday stash. These shorts go with everything and is the perfect summer garb.
With that whole shoplifting debacle, my spirits had felt broken for awhile, but I feel my energy returning and am itching to create a gazillion things. I'll be back shortly with that dress. Have a good day!
