Goddess of the Good Poker Hand Worked!

I finished my second doll in time for my monthly poker game last Sunday. I didn't win anything--but I only lost $1.45. What I did have was lots of good poker hands. I was having a love affair with 7s! Maybe I should have named the doll the "Goddess of the Winning Poke Hand."

The naked doll looked like spider man with the red tone on tone fabric.

The hair is beaded again. I really like doing this. It took hours--somewhere between two and three! But it was relaxing and exhilarating all at the same time. There is something meditative about retrieving the right number of beads, sewing them in place, and repeating over and over until the hair looks good.

The dress was made with a piece of fabric I painted. I used a super huge button hole to make the neck. Gathered the shoulders. Seamed the sides. Fringed the hem.

At the waist are some charms I added for luck. There's the word luck, a pot of gold, and a pair of dice. I couldn't find any charms with cards or suit images--those would be great!

Last week I also worked on making a tote bag. I sat down one evening, dug into my scrap bag, and tried my hand at string piecing for the first time. When I finished my first piece I was flabbergasted and wondered how it would ever look like anything usable. Voila, I added the side fabrics and it looked very nice. When I was done I thought, "looks like a great purse." And it is. Although small (about 9" tall and wide, not counting the handles), it makes a great little evening bag for a fun night out. It had its maiden run at dinner with two old college pals and certainly earned high marks!

Hint of the week: when knitting a piece to be felted, make sure you use wool yarn! Not acrylic yarn guaranteed to never shrink! More about that next time!

Ciao!