I just loaded up the trunk of my VW station wagon with some of the fabric that I ended up with from my mom’s vast collection. Donated to the Fashion Institute in Boston… young creative minds can figure out how to use gigantic and heavy plaids and checks, blue wool challis with large flowers printed on it, linen navy and white houndstooth and all the other fabric not suitable for dolls or anything else in my life. I am so excited to find a place to donate these fabrics and maybe someday, if I keep clearing things out, I’ll be able to find the fabrics I do want and can use! That will be 4 or 5 more carloads at least…
Monthly Archives: February 2004
gourds
gourd head dolls are coming along. Yesterday I was dyeing fabrics for hair and skin. I am not certain about the skin color… it might be alright if I am going to paint the hands. The brown is not rich enough. I dyed 2 sets of hands… hopefully I won’t destroy more then 2 arms when I trying to turn the fingers.
The bald girl in the middle went through 3 arms to get 2, not bad! And it took me 4 legs to get 2 good ones… twice I poked my screwdriver (stuffing tool) through the fabric- argh! I am still trying to figure out how to place her legs. I am thinking of her as a sitting doll, but they also have to look right standing up.
I have started knitting a sweater for the toddler- no name yet. I couldn’t find a knit fabric or old sweater in my stash or at Salvation Army, that matched what I have in mind, so now I’ve got 2 mini knitting projects going. Raglan sleeve designs work really well for dolls.
Folk portrait
I’ve discovered I can get pretty good pictures out of old magazines with my camera… cool!
listening to …
I am listening to “To Say Nothing of the Dog”. Excellent fun! Great name for my collection- Verity.
Womens Home Companion doll
I have started knitting pants (knickers) for my Womens Home Companion Sailor boy. It is great to have a little knitting project to carry around. I am almost sorry to finish the project… but always anxious to see how it will turn out so I rush through!
Haze – progress
I finally got the shoes done today- ended up redoing them about 3 times. They are made from a little suede pouch that one of my kids threw away. Just the right color.
I put beads around the collar and the 2 layers of hem. Lighter color beads on the top layer, darker and smaller (tiny!) beads on the bottom layer. Adds depth?
Tomorrow I will attempt to attach the wig I made…
easy part finished
Baby/toddler body is done. Now he can sit a stare at me…
Gourd head doll
thoughts on hands
when sewing finger tips, pull bottom layer forward, so that when sewn it is shorter then the top layer – like when making socks. Will this make the fingers curl under slightly?
just keep moving
I am stuck on several dolls that I should be working on… those 85% finished dolls. All the details that are the most important/difficult part are going no where, so… Hey, just do something. I haved moved on to the baby gourd head. The path of least resistance?
I am working with a wool knit fabric- from Mom’s stash. I fight with the fabric to keep control. It balloons out if I’m not vigilant. I sewed the arm 3 times, getting thinner each time, to finally get a satisfactory shape, gave up on fingers, and then the stuffing is really a challenge. I guess it is all what you are used to.
I got the materials list for my WOW classes… can’t wait!
Agnes
I finished Agnes today. She is named after the heroine in Wilkie Collins’ book, “The Haunted Hotel”. I was listening to it on tape when I was making her. She is inspired by American folk art portraits, and dressed from about 1860’s. Since my goal in the doll-making seems to be always use what I’ve already got in the house, I did pretty well with her. The only material I needed to search for outside of my stash, was for the socks. I could have used something I already had, but I really wanted the stripes. I went to Salvation Army and bought about 5 different striped t-shirts. I did some testing with over-dyeing and ended up using a med brown to get what I wanted… perfect!
I made her shoes using an idea I got from Lois. I painted some light canvas with gesso and then a few layers of black acrylic paint. I cut out the shoes from that fabric. It is a great weight and texture- I could use that idea a lot. The shoe design is based on the ones the children were wearing in a book I looked at of photos by Lewis Carroll.
The dress and hair is based on the Folk Art paintings I looked at.
2 great books- Dressed For The Photographer by Joan Severa
and American Folk Portraits – from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center- this book is out of print but I got mine at half.com .
I don’t think I ever would have attempted to make such a big doll (33″) if I hadn’t made Judi Ward’s “Emma Rose” pattern. It gave me the confidence to try it, and I learned from some of the mistakes I made doing that doll. When you make a bigger doll, you need to use a fabric with more body or substance, otherwise when you stuff it, it sort of turns to mush- it won’t hold it’s shape. I made this doll’s body out of cotton duck (from Joanns fabric)- I don’t really know why this is different from canvas, it looks pretty much the same. It worked well and was great to paint on. I will probably try it with some smaller dolls, although I love working with the Southern Belle.
I posted photos of her on my gallery here . I need to get a good face shot though…