Doll

I am hoping to have 6 done by Monday and then post them all on Etsy.  Here they are, in progress, this morning.

I got one finished today-

I thought I’d ruined him with the acrylic wash, but I love how he turned out.

Vintage bias tape, rick rack and snap belt-

Back view-

I finished him at about 5:30 pm and then took him outside to photograph.  The light was just right and I got lots of photos that I really liked- not the usual situation- hurray!

Who needs fireworks!  This is a beautiful asiatic lily, amazingly not devoured by red lily beetles.

And this is my new tool/toy-  a needle threader from Clover.  I am loving it.  And yes, I can usually make it work with one or two strands of cotton embroidery floss.  Wool crewel, no.

It looks like I will be in Ithaca, New York in 2 weeks.  Anybody out there?  Any recommendations?

Things seem to be moving slowly around here. It was incredibly hot for a few days, better today. Also, Eleanor is home from Cape Town- horray! I am working on this female version of a robot, a fembot I guess. A number of people suggested that my dalek inspired robot was female- I thought I would try to do it on purpose. She is coming along slowly. She is of the Rosie school of robot.

Some random robot parts on my desk-

and a tool I already had but just discovered works really well with the wool and felt-

It is a hole punch. I bought it to use when putting in eyelets. You hit it with a hammer. Perfect little holes!

I got a few more of these sizzix punches on Mothers Day. I made the flower with a heart and little circle punch. I backed it with a cut-out called “Sun”- a notched circle. I was having all sorts of trouble with the sun punch and then I realized it was defective- the cutting blade was upside-down. Now I have to go return/exchange it, which sort of takes the fun out of getting new toys- humph!

Sometimes I just have to give it a break…

I’ve been struggling with this Robot 2 to try to get “arms” that I like. My desk is piled up with rejected parts. Time to do something else.

Some of the tools I use for cutting circles out of felt and wool-

A while back I bought a sizzix’s cutter to try, not realizing I needed a kit to use it properly. I was a little reluctant to spend more then $20 on something that might not even work. I cut my risk by buying it on ebay for a lot less. Anyway, it turns out it is great! It cut the felt very cleanly. You can place the cutter anywhere on the fabric and then you hammer it to cut through and get the shapes. It is easy to cut 2 at a time. I haven’t tried more layers then that. I wonder how long the individual cutters will stay sharp.

Here are some of the other less successful tools I use-

I have bought several of this type of punch, but the small, inexpensive ones don’t work at all. This one is pretty good. The problem with it is that you have to squeeze the felt into a slot to punch- this often causes a misshapen circle. Also, it limits the felt to the thinner pieces. It does not cut completely cleanly, but that is easy to fix by going over the circle with scissors.

This paper punch is one of many that I use. As you can see, it also doesn’t cut a nice clean circle out of the felt. I have to trim them out and I’m not very good at it when I am doing the smaller sizes (1/4″). I know the sizzix comes in a 1/4 inch circle so I will probably buy one of those.

I like using repeating shapes to decorate the dolls. If you know of some other good shape and/or die cutters that work well, I’d love to hear about them.

these are probably my most important tools-

my sewing machine- Bernina 930, bought used a few years ago-

I also have a Bernina Nova that I use when I am doing a lot of sewing- I thread it up with black and just use it for that.

My scissors and forceps (hemostats).

I get at least one pair of my scissors sharpened once a year- that way I can usually find at least one sharp pair! The little scissors are so sharp right now that I have to be careful not to cut myself. Sharp scissors make any project easier. I use my forceps all the time- I use them for stuffing, for clamping, for turning fabrics, for pulling out tiny threads that I can’t pinch with my fingers and so much more. They are easy to get on ebay if you want to get a cheap pair.

I’ve been getting the supplies together for my gourd head doll class. That means I’ve been shopping for art materials. That means I’ve been tempted, and have succumbed, to new toys ahh… I mean tools!

I am always a sucker for buttons. My latest search has been for tools that will cut out a nice circle from felt. When I combine my circles with one of my favorite toys, my scallop edged pinking shears, I can get all kinds of fun shapes.

And, I couldn’t resist when I saw that floss was on sale…

I’ve been thinking for a long time that I want to put up a free pattern on my blog. Then, I get overwhelmed at the idea. So, I’ve decided to try doing it in baby steps. First I will post about the tools I use. Let’s see how far I get with this- ha!

The first tool is my camera- I just got a new one, a Canon A610. So far I am very happy with it. I had a Nikon 5400 before and was never able to get it to take photos the way I wanted- I thought I was inept until I read all the reviews on Amazon and realized a lot of other people had the same focus issues that I did- phew. This new camera makes this project seem a lot more doable.

This is my light box- my newest favorite tool-

it is one of the many things I picked up from my parents house in the big clear out. It is an old x-ray viewing unit. I use it to make patterns which always seem to involve a lot of tracing. And here is what I am often tracing onto- freezer paper-

This is an old roll that I also got from the parents house, but it is available in supermarkets in the US. I have heard it is called deli paper in other parts of the world. It is paper on one side and plastic on the other.

What I love about freezer paper-
-It sticks to your fabric by ironing it on- Any fabric from bulky felted sweaters to slippery light silky stuff.
-You don’t have to worry about seam allowances.
-You can reuse the same piece several times- I usually ruin the paper before it gets to the point where it won’t stick to the fabric anymore.
-It is cheap so it’s not precious.

Freezer paper saves a lot of frustration from patterns slipping around. I always use it for my wool dolls. The photo of the hands show another tool I use a lot- the darning foot for my sewing machine. When I make the hands for my wool dolls, I do a free-motion embroidered outline on the machine. Then cut close to the stitching, around the edge.

That’s all for today- any questions?

Favorite tool of the day-

I’ve never used these before- they’re great for sanding little doll parts!

and, I have a very good friend who knows how to make me so happy on my birthday!

I take all the fabric out of the closet and the kitty decides the bolt of beautiful black wool is the perfect bed for his orangey self.

Yesterday I was working on shoes-

Today I went to Radio Shack and bought myself some new clamps- doll size. Smooth alligator clips are a great tool- I can’t believe I didn’t discover them sooner!

Well, I bought a machine with 24 presser feet, most of which I have no clue how to use, so obviously what I needed was another one! When I picked up my machine yesterday, I bought this one… at least I know how to use it!

Thanks to lots of helpful people, I’ve got the answer to my question. Of Course the answer was on the web… how could it not be? Someone from FOCD directed me to this Yahoo group-
BerninaThirtySomethings@yahoogroups.com
It is for people with older model Bernina’s. They have a list of all the feet with the old and new numbers. Now I just have to figure out how to use them.