My Rag Doll Blog Hop + Giveaway

Today I'm very pleased to introduce you to a lovely new book called My Rag Doll.* My Rag Doll is written by Corinne Crasbercu. Corinne is author of Everything Patchwork (part of the 'Made in France' series), has a background in dressmaking and worked as a costumer for film and tv. All that experience in sewing and dressmaking, combined with a wonderful attention to detail has come together beautifully in this book.

The photography, the projects and the materials used have a clean and timeless feel to them. I'm particularly partial to the simple, classic look of the materials used throughout the book: dots, gingham, stripes and pretty florals. However I can imagine these projects would look fabulous when made in other styles of fabric as well. One of my favourite items from the book is this Kimono-style dress. I wouldn't mind wearing that myself (in a bigger size obviously)!

As you can tell from the photos the attention to detail is amazing. Each doll is styled and dressed to perfection. There are instructions for  bags, wands, tiny cupcakes, hair clips, a tiny teddy and much more. Just look at the outfit and accessories for a 'Little Red' Style doll:

I read through various pattern descriptions in the book and I do think it's an advantage if you have a little sewing experience when you take on projects from the book. There's no separate sewing technique section in the book or added visual 'help' in the instructions. Not that the projects are incredibly complicated but it does help if you know about the grain of fabric, seam allowances, or how to handle notches for example.

To sew (and sometimes knit) the projects you work from descriptions and use the patterns which you can find in the large pattern section in the back of the book. You will need to enlarge the patterns to get them to the right size.

There are 11 different 'types' of doll you can make from one basic doll pattern including a ballerina, fairies and the 'outdoor' type you see pictured above. Their faces, hair, clothes and additional items give each doll a different look. Obviously you can choose and mix elements from different dolls to create your own unique doll. It would make a fabulous gift for a small girl (or perhaps a boy although there are no specific boy patterns in the book) especially when you adapt the doll to their style with some serious doll couture. :)

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of this book (of course you do!), then please leave a comment on this post before 12 AM, 22nd of April (Amsterdam time) Thank you for reading this post. Comments are closed, winner will be announced on this blog on the 23rd of April and tell me who you would like to sew one of these dolls for and how would you style it?

The winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog on the 23rd of April. Please make sure to check the announcement and/or leave your e-mail address in your comment (or some kind of trail that leads to it) so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. If I can't find you I'll choose a new winner. Good luck everyone!


You can find more information about the book here. For previous and future 'hops' with more reviews and giveaways, please visit the following blogs:
April:
Sun 13th - Kestrel Makes
Mon 14th - Dolls and Daydreams
Tue 15th - my blog!
Wed 16th - Whipstitch
Thu 17th - A Spoonful of Sugar
Fri 18th - Feeling Stitchy
Sat 19th - House of Pinheiro
Sun 20th - A Stitching Odyssey
Mon 21st - iCandy Handmade
Tues 22nd - Shimelle
Wed 23rd - Heather Bailey
Thu 24th - Emma Lamb


My Rag Doll is now available for pre-order.

*I received a PDF version of the book for review, as always everything I write here is my own opinion.