He is a birthday gift so I had to wait to post him until he was delivered-
Happy Birthday Eleanor!
I am now working on Mermen so hopefully will have some to show by the end of this coming week. I will put the other 4 fellows that I made this week into my etsy shop this weekend.
Another white-haired man. I love this white fabric and it is so perfect for the hair that I can’t help needing to make some more of these handsome fellows.
This French General toile is perfect too. A family portrait on his chest and a dancing lady on his back.
He’s got arrows on his pants.
Rooster on his back.
Here is the big picture. It is hard to see the toile images in the blocks, so I have put some detail photos at the end of the post. I am very happy with it! It is all made out of fabric from my stash: mostly from my scrap bins. I will admit that I cut out a few larger toile images to have some bigger blocks in the center.
And the back is made of more toile scraps; mostly from the slipcovers from the sofa in my childhood home (60′s – 70′s). Amongst the scrappy bits of red and white toile, was a different pattern than the slipcover. I am guessing it was a sample piece that my Mom was trying. I had to piece the backing since there were damaged areas and some of the color differences are due to fading. I love the story it tells.
Here is a close-up-
On a bed-
Some details-
Thanks Ben!
In case you are wondering about the toile scraps- I use toile to make the tattooed people. I buy fabric that has a white or cream background, with black, brown, or blue printing. I cut out the doll pieces and then I dye it to various skin tones. Most of the toile in this is off-cuts or scraps that I couldn’t bear to throw away. I don’t use any red on white toile for my dolls.
Just some party-ing skeletons, all over his chest, back, and arms.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Time to love on some handsome fellows :-)
I got a little packet of antique/vintage star buttons at my favorite place for such things- Vintage and Antique Textiles in Central Massachusetts. Here is the first one I found a use for.
Today! It is my blog’s 16th birthday! How crazy is that and even crazier that I remember each year. I have a clear memory of deciding to start/try and what was happening at that time in my life. This blog didn’t start at the very beginning of my doll journey but has documented every doll I’ve made since 2004. I’ve never tried to monetize my blog, except for some Amazon affiliated links and I don’t think I ever made more than about $20 total. But I keep doing it because I think of it as my online record of my art life. And what a crazy, wonderful, and unexpected journey it has been.
It’s been a weird week. I’ve been a bit under the weather and everything is going slower than I would like. Firstly I was cleaning and sorting to switch gears from kitties to tattooed men. I pulled out a pile of sewed up fellows and stuffed up a grouping. Okay, yes, that sounds a little naughty.
I also spent all of yesterday dyeing body parts, mostly for mermen.
As you can see, I want to experiment with some non-natural skin colors for these fellows.
I know I’ve mentioned that I am no expert when it comes to dyeing. I tend to just wing it which often doesn’t work out that well and makes reproducing results very difficult. This time, I went to the RIT website and studied their color formulas (recipes). I picked out ones that looked good to me, bought some new dyes, and I think got much better results! Of course I still had a hard time sticking to the actual recipes and ended up doing a teeny bit of winging it but all in all, I am very happy. So, now I have to sew up all these handsome mermen!
And the quilt is coming along. I am at the very end- putting on the binding.
Have you watched Next in Fashion on Netflix? I’m loving it- so much talent!
This is the last kitty for now. Yes, those are little mice on her dress.
Silk bow at her ear-
Some details- Vintage cotton rickrack at her hem. Antique buttons on her jacket- I think they are some kind of nut shell? Antique shell button on her purse.
I will be putting the last 2 kitties into my etsy shop today. I have pulled out a pile of already-sewed-up tattooed people and have started to stuff them. I also need to pull out the dye pots and dye up some more mermen. Onward!
He is a fancy Professor- bright jacket, bright cashmere sweater, bright briefcase. Also, black and white kitties… so graphic.
He carries his briefcase by having a little hook up his cuff which connects to a loop on the briefcase handle.
Here is #3 Kitty.
She has a hot pink sweater with antique, 3-hole, glass buttons. Here is a close-up with her purse too.
