Doll

It’s that time of year. The studio needs to be cleaned and the Stuff needs reorganizing. I try to figure out what I am actually using and make it easily accessible. I also try to go through all the fabric regularly, getting rid of things I will probably never use. I call this turning the compost. It’s only kind of a joke. I now have three bags of fabric that I’ll be taking to my crafty meet-up next week. Give-away time!

Here are some in progress photos because it’ll be a while before everything settles into place again.

It all started with a large bookcase that needed to be moved out of another room. I always need more shelves so I took out the measuring tape to see if I could fit it into my studio. The reshuffle began! I moved the bureau towards the window (of course there was already something there- out into the hall that stuff went). The bookcase that was already in my room was emptied and moved across to it’s new place by the closet.

It is now filled with books, tea cups and cotton fabrics, mostly toiles and other tattooed people components.

The new (to my room), bigger bookshelf fits perfectly. I’m filling it back up with the books that were in the other bookcase plus other things of course.

Then I decided that I needed a new way to store all my other cotton fabrics. I have been using them a lot more this year and the bins under the table system was just not working. One trip to Ikea later and you can see my new drawers. Here is a better photo-

This is great! I can see all the fabric easily and there are enough baskets to put all kinds of goodies that have been in piles or in bins that I trip over every time I walked through the room.

The plastic drawer bins and the small wooden bookcase on top of the fabric drawers used to be where the bureau is now. Are you confused yet?

I have had this little set of metal drawers sitting on the floor for about 1 1/2 years and I now finally have a place for it. I filled it up with beads, charms, sewing notions I’ve collected for robots and papers for making tiny books.

There are lots of little problems that I haven’t quite figured out yet. An example is my thread rack- I like it where it is but I know it will slide right off at the worst possible moment so I need to figure out how to attach it to something. And then actually do it.

And some real life desk pictures. I started working on some tiny worlds. Then I moved on to something else. Yep, I just piled them up, as much out of the way as I could push them without bothering to put them away. Because I’ll get back to them any minute, right? Okay then.

And that poor tattooed lady. I have a ridiculous number of unfinished dolls in my studio right now. I should try to focus on finishing them up. Somehow it is sad to see them all waiting for me. If I just worked on finishing things I would probably be busy though February at least! It’s good though too- it is an easy way to start in again because a lot of the decisions are already made. So, time to get back to work!

I’m very impressed!

This was taken at night, with one fluorescent equivalent to 75W bulb. And everything is in focus. Cool!

And this one too-

Fun!

I feel like I am moving in slow motion. I’ve been working on a few things. Some of the poor tattooed men on the table  went down to Connecticut and back, several times, hoping to get some stuffing. But no. They are still as flat as I seem to be feeling.

I am working just as slowly through all the emails that backed up in the week of distraction. If you haven’t heard from me about something, you might want to try again. I may have lost track of your email.

I did have a birthday recently and bought myself a new toy… um, no, I mean important tool for my business.

An IPad! And I made my present a present! I tend to get a bit overwhelmed when confronted with a new electronic toy so I tip-toe around it for a while. But, hey, I know how to make a felt sleeve. We are bonding.

And, I’d love to hear about your favorite apps for crafty biz and for fun.

And lastly, thank you so much for all your kind words and condolences regarding my Dad. I added a link to his obit at the bottom of the post.

and not much is happening around here! Things are going on in my life- they just aren’t showing up here.  I’ve been doing boring projects like cleaning and weeding, projects that I forgot to photograph before I sent them out- sleeves for some computers, and secret-for-now projects- gift type things.

The garden is looking amazing. So many colors!

Lavender-

Poppy season!

The crocosmia are just starting.

Coreopsis “moonbeam”

and Butterfly weed.

Daylilies-

And in the back, my favorite combination. Blue lace-cap Hydrangea and anything.

And an oakleaf hydrangea.

My desk is not completely bare of dolls. Now that I finished the *secret project* (I’ll tell later), I pulled out some partially finished dolls from before Brooklyn and I’m giving them faces, and hair. And life.

Speaking of Brooklyn, I will be going to Renegade Chicago in September- hope to see you there!

Okay, what else? I’ve been going through my scrap box, thinking quilt thoughts. We’ll see if anything materializes. Tomorrow I am driving up to Vermont for a few days. I am going to visit the Shelburne Museum. It looks like there is a lot of interesting goodies there- I’ll give the report when I get back. I think that’s it for now. Hope you had a great long week-end (in the US). The Boston fireworks were amazing!

Remember this lady? She was one of my favorite dolls of last year. Around Christmas time, I cut out all the pieces for this new lady, stuffed her, pinned on the birds and started doing the applique. Then, I put her aside. And there she lay for these last months. Finally, last weekend, with a vow to finish up some of the many partially finished dolls that I seem to be stockpiling, I got back to work on her.

The funny thing is that I would never have chosen these colors to work with at this time of year. She is most certainly a winter palette.

And this is what is on the work table now-

Hmm, which ones are boys and which ones are girls?

Once the doll is stuffed, most of the rest is hand stitching. Breasts sewed on with a ladder stitch.

The face is sketched on with water-soluble marker.

Figure out what kind of hair-do she needs and then draw up a pattern. I always draw a pattern because if I love how it comes out, I want to remember how I did it!

Pin the hair in place and stuff.

Sew.

Stitch the face.

Hah- That makes it sound so easy! I often cut the embroidered faces off several times before I am satisfied.

Stuff the arms and stitch the fingers.

Arm to shoulder.

Hmm. She needs a belt. Pull out a variety of trims and hope I have the exact right color.

A strip of vintage cotton bias tape-

A length of vintage cotton rick rack.

And a button.

Spritz all the blue lines, let her dry and she is done!

Thanks for all the comments so far- I’m glad everyone is enjoying seeing how I put these together. Tomorrow I hope to take her “beauty” shots. It was too wet outside today for a photo shoot.

I have a plan to put together a process book or slideshow so that when someone asks me- Why are these dolls so expensive? – I can show them. I’ve been trying to remember to take photos as I am working on some new projects. Here is what I’ve got so far.

Making a tattooed doll.

The project starts in two places. The fabric-

I am always on the lookout for appropriate fabric. It needs to be the right scale, the right color design,and  images that I like. I buy mostly on Ebay and Etsy. Besides the toile, I need plain fabric for the head and hands and fabric for the clothing.

Next, I over-dye all the fabrics. Every pot comes out slightly different! One challenge is to get some of the plain fabric to match some of the toile.

And the design is the other starting place. I have an idea in my head and I need to get it out on paper.

From the paper, I make muslin models. Tweaking is almost always needed.

When I get a design that I am satisfied with, I trace out various parts of the original to make the pattern pieces. The pieces for this one are- head, upper torso, shirt, breasts, pants, boots, arms, hands. Later I will figure out the hair.

I trace the pattern pieces onto the fabrics.

Sew everything up and when I turn the doll right-side-out, it is so exciting to see how she looks!

Next, stuffing. And then all the details. First, the breasts.

That is what I’ve got so far. Now back to work!

On the cleaning up of the workspace-

Hello Floor! I haven’t seen you in a LONG time! I needed to get the clean-up done to make room for other people in the studio.

Kerry came over to help me with the pattern and she took some amazing photos.

The pattern is now basically done. I printed out the second draft before dinner tonight and then spent an hour or so after dinner trying to figure out how to make a small enough pdf to email to my proofreader/testers. I DID IT! Honestly, I was so amazed at my success, I felt like running outside and yelling!  I will spend the next few days posting all the owls, starting now. Here is the star of my pattern-

Tomorrow I am starting with a new intern. It was suppose to be today, but another Nor’easter came through and gifted us with another 12+ inches of snow, so we declared a snowday. Ah well, I needed to finish the pattern anyway.

does anyone know what the official names are of these stitches?

This one is sort of a back stitch but looks like a running stitch. Unlike a running stitch, it doesn’t pull out. I think of it as a locking back stitch.

And what about this one? I think of it as an overcast stitch but not sure if that is right. I couldn’t find anything in all the embroidery books I have. And I have a lot.

It is for my pattern. I want to use the correct terms if I can figure out what they are!

the owls are piling up as I work on the pattern.

And, we got another 8 inches of snow this morning. I’m glad I don’t need to commute anywhere.

btw- I am trying to figure out a good name for my owl pattern- all suggestions will be considered! And, if I use your idea in any way, I will send you a free pattern when it is done.