Marie Mouse has an up-hairdo. I has not been easy as I have had to add hair : ) lots of it- to pouf out the top knot.

the back view showing the gold ribbon and pheasant feathers that hold the braid in place

 

The front/side view of the knot

 

After gluing on and needle felting a few more hair pieces, Marie had an awesome amount of hair. I took some from the one side, about 1/6 of her hair, and braided that. I tied the braid off with delicate gold cord. I then took the rest of the hair and twisted it into a top knot. I wrapped the braided hair around the base of the twisted knot and that helped hold it all in place. There is currently a pin holding the braid in place as I intend to stitch it. The gold ribbon has real pheasant feathers glued on. This too is pinned in place. It is a bit to one side. I need to decide if I am going to put it totally to one side or centralize it.

 



Gluing in leather insole

Gluing on leather outer sole.

 

 The shoe making has been fiddly at best. Working in small sizes is never easy. The sole is leather and the upper is felt. I plan to embroider the tops and add bead embellishments. Court shoes were pretty fancy. I also need to figure out how to resize the shoe a bit as they are a bit big for Marie Mouse. I made them pointy from a pattern meant for round shoes....Although I tried to trim the length it did not work. I will have to adjust from the back.

Another project I took on to see how tough it would be- making covers for a composition journal. I ended up making a few for E's friends. Here they are in progress. I am thinking I may make some for my site. I would like to keep the background simple and applique an animal on. Dogs, bears, cats and birds. I am thinking of felt to do the applique in. Maybe a monster for the guys? Personalizing them with a letter is also great, but not for etsy.com unless I add it as an option.

I am also thinking of useful things- cell phone covers, a jewelry roll, roll up pencil cases and maybe a "book" made of fabric for people who quilt. A book that can hold pins, slots for scissors, pencils, stencils- all these things that we use to create. I am always losing my scissors. A place to put them all the time seems like a good idea for me! The brighter the better so I do not misplace my storage book.

This weekend will be spent finishing the tiling job in the bathroom. I will be so glad to get the use of my bathroom back!