Let there be Candle Light ...

 

... on the Christmas Tree!

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas!

Discussing the tree...

I think it looks quite pretty, although the candles are a bit wonky! Must make sure they are straight, before we light them on Christmas Eve! - Do you think the Firebrigade is on duty on Christmas Eve? - Never mind, we'll get our bucket of water ready, as per usual!

 

 

Not the sort of tree I am interested in!

 

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

 

 



The Old, Old Story...

Retold in a few pictures

Grandma (limited sewing skills) was asked to make a shepherd’s outfit for Grandson Raffay for the nativity play at his school. It got a bit too big and he’ll probably still be able to wear it when he is 20, but by way of proof that it was good enough, Raffay’s Mum kindly sent pictures. Iona was bribed with a lolly to pose as an angel (how sweet!) with her brother, the shepherd.

 The Angel leads the Shepherd

 

 

“Look at yonder star”, said the Shepherd to the Angel

 

 

There was no room at the Inn

 

 

“Sorry!”

 

 

 

“We have found him!”

 

 

All done...

 

 

...thank goodness!

 

A VERY HAPPY AND JOYFUL CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

 

 



A SASHA WELCOME...

 

...at Gillian’s House!

 

As we entered the house, we were greeted by a delightful bunch of Gillian's kids - all on their best behaviour. It set the scene for what was to follow: a really nice, relaxed day devoted to Sashas and friendship. Alas, I am no Kendal, so it is all downhill from hereon in, as far as the photography goes, folks! Apologies in advance. 

 

 

Miami Beach? You wish! It’s freezing here! Thank goodness, we have our Dollydoodles outfits to keep us snug!

 

 

Judith had brought some of her Toddlers along, which surprised us all, as we did not know she had any! They were irresistibly cute and had us all drooling!

 

 

These gorgeous girls belong to Dee. The twins looked so sweet in their nearly matching outfits. Just love them. I also love that outfit worn by that beautiful redhead! Very smart!

 

 

Here is the whole group (picture by Gillian). Judith’s babies and Toddlers  with their gorgeous  Maileg pram. A group of Dee’s wonderful girls including the twins and Gillian’s great redheads.

 

These two Götz Sailor Girls are enchanting! Another pair of twins, of course, and these belong to Gillian.  So beautiful!

 

 

What have we here? Harvey's peeping in!  Gillian’s beautiful cat - a real character. He stayed outside as he is not keen on visitors, but after having had a good look at us all, he decided that it was safe enough to join us! He came in, and greeted us individually, and then left us again. Harvey, it was nice meeting you!

 

School’s Out!!! Here is the ubiquitous School Photograph! In the top row are some real characters, all belonging to Gillian. From left to right we have: Rory, Amelia, Nell, Harry and Phoenix. They are all in Ruthsdolls uniforms, except for Harry. His uniform was made by Linda Nash, aka Woodman.

The four blonde girls standing in the front row belong to me: Imogen is in the Tiffin Girls School Uniform made by Ruth to precise specifications, then Natasha  in the basketball track suit (thank you, Judith!).  Rebecca is wearing the Tiffin regulation tracksuit made by Ruth and at the end, Iona is in the sports shirt, also made by Ruth and the hockey skirt was made by Lorraine. India and Blossom, Gillian's gorgeous girls,  are in Frilly Lilly school uniforms. The little school girl, seated, belongs to my friend (No-I-am-not-a-Sasha-Person) Wendy. April, that's her name,  suddenly lost her stringing and is going for repairs a.s.a.p. We all think she needs a brother to keep her company!

The Sasha Coven: Judith, Dee, Wendy, Theresa, Gillian (the face of the photographer will  thankfully remain a mystery. Yeah!!!)

It was a really lovely occasion. A nice lunch was prepared and eaten,  useful information was exchanged, Sashas were admired, friends were made - it doesn't get any better than that! Thank you Gillian! We must do it again, soon!

 

 

CULTURAL FUSION...

 

... a Polish Highland Fling?

 

Yasmin decided to take things into her own hands. She chose her favourite blouse to wear with her favourite kilt. Ok... now let's try adding the waistcoat from the Polish Dirndl. Hmmm... Still something missing. I know... The flower bracelet Iona left behind on her last visit and a couple of ribbons! Now that's an outfit I can live with!

 

Very pretty, Yasmin!

跆拳道 Tae Kwon Do

 

Raffay has earned his Yellow Belt

(DAN-GUN)

Remember when Raffay started Tae Kwon-do a few months ago? He proudly showed us all the moves he had learnt. Well, now he has progressed to the Yellow Belt. Congratulations Raffay, well done! I wonder what comes next? Ah... The Green Belt! Will probably take a while!

Here he is in his splendid Yellow Belt. Did you tie this yourself, Raffay? Amazing!

 

 

One quick move to show the audience how good he is and then...

...he bows down before receiving his certificate

Of Kilts, Tartans and other Checks...

... AND MOSTLY GILLIAN NASH!

 

 

I have always liked tartans and checks, even when I was a small child. No wonder then, that I have acquired a whole lot of Sasha clothes with checks in all kinds of colours and styles. Here is a wander through my Sasha Wardrobe. See whether there is anything to like.

 

 

 

Yasmin is wearing a black and white kilt by Hagnolly and a stunning black polo-neck jumper and black socks by Gillian Nash. Possibly my favourite outfit! Yasmin has something of a Dusty Springfield about her, I always think.

 

 

This is a delightful dress by Stela (Aletsa) and perfect for Tagan’s colouring I think.

 

 

Here is Zoe dressed in another kilt by Hagnolly and a gorgeous bobble sweater and matching socks by Gillian Nash.

 

 

Jadzia’s clothes have a very distinctive look about them. I love this little dress. It has puffed sleeves and a swingy skirt. A little like a dress you might go ice skating in! Not too happy about the white tights. I think skin coloured tights would look a lot better. Does anyone make these?

 

 

 

Here is sweet little Molly in a pleated skirt, again by Jadzia. Sweater by Gillian Nash. Shoes by Ruthdolls

 

 

Hanna is in a delightful kilt by Hagnolly and the sweater and hat were made by Gillian Nash. Hanna has just come back from re-stringing by Brenda Walton. Brenda has dated her as a 1972 Gingham Girl!

 

 

I love these colours on Aysha! She is wearing a skirt (part of an outfit) made by Stela - or Stomar – I forgot to make a note! The sweater is from Nadia, in Switzerland. The boots are ‘Lisa Hartley’.

 

 

Here we have another Hagnolly kilt and one of Gillian’s gorgeous sweaters. Pheobe thinks she looks extremely stylish in this outfit! I tend to agree.

 

 

This is an outfit by Stomar. I love this dress and little jacket. It also came with a cute little knitted basket, which Iona (my Granddaughter) pocketed for her Sasha doll.

 

 

Lissi is enjoying modelling this outfit

 

 

Last but by no means least, Tabatha is wearing another one of Jadzia’s creations. a lovely tartan pinafore dress. This little dress came with a gorgeous short sleeved blouse edged in red, but since it is now getting colder, I thought I’d put her into a long-sleeved blouse also made by Jadzia..

 

The little munchkin creating mayhem with my photo shoot is 'Rosie', my new baby! She is now worn out and will hopefully sleep well tonight!



NOT GILLIAN NASH...

My Gillian Nash knitwear collection is getting bigger all the time and I love every single item in it,  but there are other wonderful Sasha knitwear designers out there and I was lucky enough to secure the outfits you see here being modelled by Natasha, Peter and Imogen. Wotan is hanging around in the hope of a walk. He feels they are dressed warmly enough for the day! After all, the sun IS shining!

 

 

Here is a gorgeous sweater dress and hat outfit by Sacksac. Natasha looks really great in it I think.  The boots are commercially made and very easy to put on even by small hands. Important when you are dressing a Sasha for a child.

 

 

Peter is wearing a sweater and pompom hat made by Fairylaine. I downloaded this pattern once from a Sasha site hoping to have a go myself. I was lost as soon as I read that the sweater is knitted from the neck down!!! So glad to see it on eBay the other day and to be the successful bidder. It is great.

 

 

Imogen’s dress and hat are knitted by Postiesbabe. She is another favourite of mine! She has kitted out my entire cricket team with her wonderful cricket sweaters. Imogen has teamed the dress with Jeggings from Dollydoodles. I love the grey colour on a blonde.  Boots – a little on the large side – from All About Dolls.



A FUN TRIP OUT...

 

 

A Tuesday morning during Half Term

   Toby James has noticed something pinned to the wall. ‘Hey Benjamin, have a look at this!’

 

Benjamin comes running. ‘It’s a leaflet advertising something. Let’s see...’

 

 

Dominic comes to have a look, too. He spells out the words: ‘ it says ‘ In S-earch of Im-mo-rality, I think’. 
 

Raffay who has now joined the group can't believe his ears. 'What? Don't be stupid. Let me see.  It says ‘In Search of Immortality. Tomb Treasures of the HAN Dynasty in China!’

 

 

 

'Oh boy! You know what that means! A trip to the Museum! That's worse than being at school! I knew something was up when we had to change out of our Dollydoodles outfits!

 

 

A PEEP INTO MY CATALOGUE

No. 1 – Vintage Sasha: Button-through Smock, Pants and Shoes, October 2012

 

 

I have decided to keep a record of most of the Sasha clothes and their designers in my collection. I thought I’d start with Vintage Sasha, as this outfit arrived only a few days ago and is the first and only outfit of hers that I have managed to bag for my Sashas so far! I seem to be always too slow off the mark. My model is Molly, who came with a really bad haircut, which has since been transformed into a cute little bob by Gillian’s daughter, Zoe.

 

 

Disaaaaaaaster Darlings!

Erstens kommt es anders, zweitens als man denkt

(Wilhelm Bush – German satirical writer)

In other words...

Don’t think your plans are necessarily going to work out!

 

My Granddaughter, Hanna - the Tiffin Girl

Well, one can want a thing too much, I suppose. I was so looking forward to Judith Easthope’s Sasha Saturday. I was going to meet all those lovely people I have come to know through their blogs and through Ebay (yes!!!). I would meet the person who has brought Dollydoodle street-cred to all those Sasha boys and I would finally meet Gillian who has become a real friend thanks to our daily email correspondence. I had also planned a nice little exhibit entitled ‘HANNA GOES TO TIFFIN GIRLS SCHOOL’! (Hanna is my gorgeous, beautiful and clever Granddaughter who had just recently started at that school). Wonderfully kind and skilled people (we all know who they are) had worked hard to create all the various items of an authentic ‘Tiffin School Uniform’ (I don’t sew or knit for Sasha – we all know perfection is aimed for here!!!) and the results were both accurate and stunning. I had also gathered together all kinds of Sasha sized items to show Hanna’s interests and hobbies outside school hours. In other words, I had put a lot of thought into this and couldn’t wait for Saturday. Alas, it was not to be! First my husband and chauffeur became ill, but not to worry, my son said he would take me. Then he fell ill, and finally I succumbed as well. The disappointment was huge! I had, however, taken some pictures for a display board, and here they are. My Sasha, Hanna, who was supposed to model the uniform suddenly became very limp and wouldn't pose (re-stringing needed), so I have used Imogen to model the various outfits.
 

 

 



Extremely smart Tiffin Girls Uniform, including badge on blazer, perfectly made by

Ruth (Ruthdolls).

 

 

 

 Here she is with her continental satchel. Children should not carry bags heavy with books, other than on their backs!

Now, doesn’t that make sense?

 

 

She has chosen the violin as her preferred instrument
 

 

 



The school jumper – knitted by Gillian Nash

Basketball tracksuit made by Judith Easthope
 

 

 

 Hockey-skirt by Lorraine Tyler, T-shirt by Ruthsdolls, Hockey-stick, Nick Cooper

 

 

Love this Tracksuit made by Ruthsdolls. It is an exact replica of the real thing.  

 

All the Uniform items are extremely well made and as accurate as could be gleaned from photographs. Hanna has not yet seen the Uniform, but I am sure she will be as delighted with it as I am. It will be hers in due course, to remind her of her school days at Tiffin Girls School. Many thanks to the lovely people who have done such an amazing job!