Howard Family, Party of 5

It's a Miracle (with a big, fat, huge capital M)....

In ONE week, this:

became these:

Now I know they don't look that labor intensive and when I have all the time in the world to do them, they're really not. They aren't difficult to do either. But when I wait till the last minute and have to finish 3 in one week, every single stitch seems to take FOREVER!!

Several times I just resigned myself to the fact that finishing them in time was not possible. I cursed myself with every stitch: why did I wait until I only had 1 week to finish them when I knew 3 months ago when I needed them done by, whyyyy. Well anyhoo, I spent every spare moment (few and sparse as they are) knitting, and I got 3/4 of the way done with TWO COMPLETE dolls when I decided I hated the colors and started from scratch. But since I had no Plan B, I just pressed on and I did finally finish these two. Their names are Avery & Quincey, cause those are the names of their soon-to-be recipients:

According to the pattern, they're fairies. But I like to make them just sweet little girls wearing fancy party skirts:

I use this same doll pattern a lot, for lots of things. For Drill Team dancers:

And Presidents:

But I do think the fairies are my favorite. :) I think it has to do with the tulle skirts.

Much as I love them, I can't take credit for the crocheted flowers...I bought them off Etsy:

I've used them before on hats that I've knitted and I didn't plan on using them for these dolls but I when I reached into my sewing bag and pulled them out by accident, I thought they looked so pretty and were just the perfect colors:

These girls are sisters, and best friends as well. They love to hold hands:

The skirts are attached to their bodies and then I tied a ribbon around their waists, just for good measure. I love the details on this one:

As someone who makes lots of stuff and also takes photos of the stuff I make, I've learned that if you take too long doing it, other people will inevitably want to join in on the photoshoot. Usually in my case it's a little girl that creeps in, but this time it was Missy.

I don't think she was real thrilled about the dolls themselves (she stayed away from them and was totally uncomfortable when I introduced them to her)....but I think she did enjoy my background prop (which was a blanket I made):

How cute is she.

As of now, the little party-skirt-wearing girls are packed up and ready to make the 800-mile journey to their new homes.

Funny (and embarrassing) how strange it feels to pack them away. I've spent a LOT of time in the last week and a half working on them, stressing about them, hoping and praying they would be finished in time. But I do feel a little sad letting them go!