june at noon

You may remember a little over a month ago I wrote about my new Matryoshka embroidery patterns that were developed out of necessity for a swap. I had approached the lovely Alison of Tweed Delights fame with ideas for a custom gift for my sister, and she suggested we make a trade. At the time I was only able to show you a teaser photo, and someone recently asked if I could now show the whole gift.

What better time to feature another crafter and blogger I admire? So, here it is.

I had asked Alison to design a set of tweedie Russian nesting dolls, something my sister collects. (In return Alison requested an embroidered Babushka, which you saw here.)

And this is what she came up with:

Aren’t they sweet?

Part of what makes these items so special is that the Harris Tweed Alison uses is woven by hand in the Outer Hebrides, where she lives, and that’s the only place it’s made.

I didn’t open the package to take pictures, because I didn’t want to disturb the wrapping, and I neglected to take photos after my sister opened the gift. Fortunately, I still have the pictures that Alison sent to me pre-swap, and that’s what you’re seeing here. (Thanks, Alison!)

Not only are the little dolls lovely and tweedie (you can see better photos of the tweed on my flickr page), they also came neatly packaged with a Hessian bag for storing.

Alison was the very first person to ever comment on my blog, back in the day when I was publishing at “the old site,” and she has been a faithful supporter and encouragement and fabulous bloggy friend ever since. All that said, it makes the gift extra special having been made by such a wonderful person.

So, do you want some of your own? Alison makes a lot of other plush tweed items both as toys and decor. (Make sure you check out her newest creation, an amazing little art doll.) Check out her shops here and here and here, and her blog here.

And now, as Alison would say, Cheerio an Drasda!