Whimsical play clothes

I discovered Wovenplay, through Jess Brown (she joined them for her limited edition dolls). , Wovenplay is a line of imaginative children's play clothes inspired by nature, arts and crafts and music, based in Manhattan.
Their collection crosses the line between clothes and costume encouraging children to play and wear pieces anyway they like for free creative expression. Their aesthetic is a mix of vintage, bohemian and children's books illustrations and their clothes are exactly what I think children's clothes should be, comfortable, made of natural fibers and most of all creative, so kids would love to wear them.
Most pieces are either handmade or hand-finished, tinted in natural or low impact dyes, their packaging is recycled and/or biodegradable.
This is something Neena should carry for sure, I will order a few pieces from their collection for the shop, although they are not cheap, they are worth every penny.

Vali's dolls

We have our own thing going on at Neena too. Vali, a good friend of us, is making these cuties for our store. Each of them has its very own personality, some are funky and revelious and others are sweet as honey. Vali uses old cotton shirts, torn jeans and wool and cashmere sweaters that have seen better days, and finds them a new life transforming them into this beautiful dolls.

Even more dolls

Liliana the doll made a big impresion on me when I found her in Kristina Snerling's blog, she is just one of Kristina's creations who, based in Australia makes the most stylishly dressed dolls, many of her doll's dresses seem to be taken out of an Audry Hepburn film. And her dolls are well traveled too, just look at this one getting a glimpse at Magnolia bakery in NY!
You can buy one of her girls at her website, and treasure it for life.

Rag dolls for you and for me

Since we've been talking dolls, here are a few more. Please meet, Jess Brown and her adorable, one of a kind rag dolls. Each doll is hand dyed in persian black teas to create variations in skin tones. They are all made of cotton muslin and linen, primarily recycled and antique fabrics and findings. Each doll is stuffed with a sustainable corn fiber stuffing. Jess recently joined Wovenplay in a limited edition of Wovenplay dressed dolls and it worked out beautifully, since they both have a strong aesthetic connection. I find them so whimsical and intriguing, I'd love for Leah to have one of them to play and own for life.

Handmade for a good cause

I read on allsorts blog about Craft Hope, a love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate, which has begun its second project, collecting handmade soft-bodied dolls to send to the children at the Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua.
Many of the children come from abusive situations and the dolls will allow the children to develop the mothering and nurturing instincts that most little girls have. Its such a good idea and the people participating are really taletented, the dolls and the pillowcase dresses from the first project are more that beautiful.
There's a Craft Hope flickr pool where you can see the dolls that have already been completed as well as previous projects. If you're interested in participating you can sign up at Craft Hope. They will need the dolls by June 13th, so you better start stitching (or knitting if that's your thing)!

If you are in need of inspiration or guideance, take a look at this hand sewn felt doll tutorial from the purl bee, it is a pattern created for them by Mimi Kirschner or visit Mimi's blog "doll" at mimikirchner.com/blog/

Odd Molly shop in Stockholm

It's been a while since I last published. I've had my plate full with classes, the shop and then the Influenza! I've had for a few weeks now, this entry about one of my favorite clothing brands. And yes... it had to be scandinavian.
Swedish brand Odd Molly opened its first concept store last february, in Stockholm, Sweden. Unfortunately, their clothes are very hard to find in the US and inexistent yet in Mexico.
The new colorful shop looks great from the pictures and it provides the label with a way to demonstrate what the brand is all about: Feminine bold, ethno and boho-inspired patterns and prints that are mostly all hand made. Their creative director Per Holknekt says they like it this way because handmade is imperfect and adds lots of character, many of their designs cannot even be done by machine. He also admits Odd Molly is slightly allergic to black, their collections are all about color and texture although they do have some "almost black" pieces. I wish they open a store in the US soon! You can visit www.oddmolly.com to get a grasp on what the craze in Europe is all about.