• Home
  • Shop
  • Illustration Portfolio
  • My Books
  • About

Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Dolls

November 13, 2012

I am still very much under the weather, but am pushing through and making active plans for a handmade holiday season. I have a couple of advent calendar ideas in the works, and I’m drawing up a list of things to make for Christmas.

As I sniffled and contemplated, I remembered that I used to make dolls. See her above? Her name is Colette. Here’s a close-up:

I created her about four years ago, and she was my first foray into doll-making. I didn’t use a pattern or anything and just winged the whole shabang. She measures about 12 inches in height, and she is still around, nestled in one of K’s toy baskets. I was so thrilled when she was done! I made many dolls and stuffed animals back then, and I had forgotten how creatively satisfying they are to stitch together. I even whipped up a K-inspired doll around the same time, complete with dress-up clothes.

There are a lot of purple outfits because it was a gift for a sweet little friend obsessed with the color purple at the time. And the little friend still has the doll, though the pigtails are worse for wear…

Hmmmm – I think I’ll have to rekindle the doll-maker in me and add at least one dress-up doll on the Christmas to-do list.

Filed in: crafts, sewing โ€ข by sanae โ€ข 3 Comments

Comments

  1. robin

    November 13, 2012 at 7:30 am

    Such awesome details! Did you make the hot air balloon as well? I hope you feel better soon… I’ve been battling a cold as well, and it’s not doing anything for my sewing!

    Reply
    • sanae

      November 13, 2012 at 8:08 am

      Nope, the balloon was a store-going-out-of-business-sale find ($10!). We lost it when we moved though ๐Ÿ™ So sorry to hear that you’re not feeling well either – it feels like the cold/flu season is in full force. Such a bummer…

      Reply
  2. Bikbik & Roro

    November 13, 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Ah, adorable! I am under the weather too, and have certainly NOT felt like crafting. Get well soon!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to sanae Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address below to get blog posts delivered to your in-box. I'll occasionally include fun digital goodies!

Order My New Book of Illustrated Essays!

Order My Newest Kidsโ€™ Book!!

Order My Latest Sewing Book!!

Archives

Categories

I just realized that this week marks 10 years sinc I just realized that this week marks 10 years since my first craft book Sewing Happiness was published. Iโ€™ve sewn literally thousands of garments and other textile projects in the last decade! I included a Sashiko primer in the book, and Iโ€™m delighted that this humble Japanese embroidery practice has stood the test of time - if anything, Iโ€™ve noticed that thereโ€™s an ever growing enthusiasm for hand stitching. Fun news: Iโ€™ll be teaching a virtual Sashiko workshop for @tatterbluelibrary on Thursday, April 30th at noon ET. Link in profile! Would love to see you there! ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2026 · Theme by Blog Pixie

© 2026 Sanae Ishida