Okay, you all convinced me! And thanks so much for your feedback. I’ve chosen 6 of the babies and they are at the printers now. I hope the cards will be done by this time next week. And, now I’m working on another postcard series- reading-
I think spring is putting me in the mood to work with my cotton prints right now.
I’ve been inspired by all the beautiful babies showing themselves in my blogs and in flickr!
Ten fabric postcards-
1. Skirt fabric last seen on this kitty–
2.
3.
4. This one has a baby gown made from an old embroidered piece of fabric-
5.
6.
7. My mom had a dress made from the background floral fabric. It feels like Liberty, but I don’t know if it is.
8. Hey Eleanor- see what I did with that fabric you left me?
9. The background is chita fabric that Rosa set me-
10. The background on this one is some 70’s Laura Ashley fabric. I have a lot of vintage Laura Ashley fabric scraps…
And on another note- my naked robot is making a tour of sex blogs. My husband figures they must be desperate for content! As a result, checking my stats has become a LOT more interesting- ha!
I finally finished these postcards and have put them in my Etsy shop.
I thought I’d highlight Judi’s comment to make sure that everyone sees it. I love the story of how she invented the hidden button joint technique-
“Hi Everyone:
Thank You Mimi for the great explanation of my invisible Jointing method. It is such a great method for jointing and safe for children.
Safety for children was what made me invent it in the first place. I had a doll and craft shop in Idaho, and a customer came in and was exclaiming over the dolls, but would not buy on because the covered buttons were on the outside of the limbs. (I covered them with the dolls skin fabric so they didn’t show much)
She said they were dangerous…soooo….a bit of serious thinking transpired, inside they went, and WOW! What a better way to do it, unless the buttons are for decoration of course.
Mimi, your Emma Rose bears no resemblance to the “real†Emma Rose….WOW! what an adaptation! A combination of a Vintage style with contemporary. Love It!
I hope all who try the inside jointing will persevere through the part where you are pulling the joints tight….That is the hardest part as Mimi says. I have done it for so many years (1975 or 76) that don’t even think about it,,,,but here is a hint…Pull, press the dolls body with the thumb on your right hand without letting up at all on the pulling. Then with the cords in the left hand do the quick wrapping between the body and limb, …Then tie…
It is the Pressing down on the body that makes it a one person job. BUT…If you have a second person, they can press the joint area down after you pull, for the same result.
Dolly Hugs, Judi”
I’ve gotten a little done on the pears. Here they are, all basted down. They are made from 5 wool recycled sweaters and one piece of woven wool.
I am appliqueing them, using that method I learned at Purl last summer-
and now they are sewed down. That’s a piece of cashmere that they are sewed onto, from my Mom’s stash.
I’m sorry about all the problems with the blog and comments and all. Hopefully we will figure out a way to get things running smoothly and consistently again.
I finished my valentine/ heart themed postcards. I wanted to make note cards from them. I also wanted to donate one to our local Art Center February show. I ran out of time. It took longer then I expected to make the cards. The time at the printers overlapped with the deadline to enter into the show- then I was paralyzed. What do I do!? Through shear ineptness (is that a word?) I managed to miss the drop-off deadline which helped me make a decision. The cards are at the printers now and hopefully I will have sets of the 6 images in my etsy shop by the end of the week. A bit late for Valentines Day, but really I think these cards would be good any old time.
We are having winter today-
It was cold in my studio, but it was cold everywhere else too, so I worked anyway.
Here is the one week update on my blanket project-
technical information – I cast on 155 stitches with worsted weight wool. I am doing only garter stitch. I am using size 10.5 plastic circular needles, 29 inches long. It is about 50 inches wide and so far about 18″ long. It weighs 1/2 pound so far. My design- knit irregular rows (ie 3 or 5 rows of each color except when I run out of yarn), 2 shades of similar colors and a dark brown stripe between. The goal- use up what I already have.
I am working on Valentines with several thoughts in mind. I am thinking of doing the cafepress cards. And several galleries I know are having small works February Valentine’s themed shows- some for charity, some not. We’ll see where I end up going. These are similar to ones I’ve done before-
and here is an idea I’ve been playing with with the robots- sweetheart robots?
This is my desk after I cleaned up. Yes. It is.
I know it really isn’t cleared off. It must have been for a minute or two, but then I got started on something. While I was clearing things, I kept finding little sketches that I’ve done in the past few months- things I was thinking about, but I was in the middle of something else.
Now that it is time to get back to work, there are so many possible directions to go in. Which ever one I chose will very likely lead me down a path where these other ideas get forgotten or at least delayed a lot longer. They are all calling to me! So, I freeze up. But I know it is important to do something, anything, start somewhere. Start on the thing that has a deadline of sorts. So I am making Valentine postcards and Valentine robots-
above, that is my work table. Below, the ironing board. All surfaces are covered again. In my studio, that seems to be a good thing.
and here are the rest of the seasons-
Summer-
and Fall-
I’ve done with postcards for now- I’ve run out of Peltex 72, which is what I make the cards on, and my local fabric store says they sell it out as soon as it comes in. I’ve ordered a bolt and now can stop thinking about the postcards and get back to work on the dolls. I went out to some of my favorite local thrift shops this week. I got a load of nice sweaters in wool, cashmere, angora and mixes of these. I needed some bright colors for the babies. I was also able to get a nice old wool blanket and some fun, vintage woven wool yardage. I am always on the look-out for stripes in colors that I like, but they are very hard to find. I’ve been giving the washing machine a workout since I brought it all home.
Spring-
Winter- I really like these. I used a few sequins on each one to add a little sparkle.
I like how on this one, the sky fabric has nothing to do with snow and yet that’s what the design turns into-
I like how the face on this one is painted- pink cheeks, chin and nose- so cold!
and in this one, I used some wool blend felt which I’d washed and it puffed up- I like how it looks for the jacket.
I guess this fits into Summer- it was the first one before I’d really thought things out. The birds are printed on the fabric- I didn’t do that part.
I’ve finished the rest. I’ll photograph and post them tomorrow.
I had a great expedition up to the Fiber Studio. It was a beautiful day for a drive and so after scooting up on the highways, we meandered back to Boston on back roads. I bought wool roving and batting to do wet felting. There was such an amazing assortment of colors and types of sheep and all kinds of other variables that I don’t know how to figure into the equation… so I chose solely based on color. Well, actually I bought a bag of assorted colors (the smaller balls) and then filled in with what wasn’t in that. I like playing with felt for doll hair and embellishments. I was inspired by these juggling ball also, so who knows where I’ll go with it.
Now I’m back to work starting with postcards. Here is what I’ve done in the past 2 days- 7 postcards, ironed onto the backing but I still have to satin stitch around the edge and then cut them apart. I’m working on a “Seasons” theme.
