Category Archives: progress report

big man 7- boyfriend 2

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hmm, my numbering system is getting away from me. As I worked on the last batch of postcards, I was also thinking about and starting these boyfriend dolls-

wip men

this is the first of the 4 to get done-

big man 7

I tried a different way to make his face – I’m not sure if it looks too much like a mask? Is it weird looking? I made a flesh colored head and then added the hair and face after. In the earlier men, I made a hair colored head and sewed on a face.

face

detail of flowers and candy box-

torso

The beige check is recycled cashmere from a poncho (actually sort of a short cape) of my mom’s. She made one for me too- it was brown and white checks. I wore it in Junior High School. I still have it up in the attic somewhere- it has buttons with horses on them- I loved that when I was a kid.

and here are some pics of the others in progress-

wip b

wip c

more postcards- eventually

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I am working on postcards now. But there has been so many steps between the intention and the end product! I spent a lot of last weekend, cleaning up in my studio. A friend was suppose to come for a visit and I realized it was so bad that 2 people could hardly fit in the room together, let alone actually sit down and visit. So- step one, find the floor-

floor

well, you can see I’ve already started to lay out new projects in that picture.
Step 2- cut out the sketches from my fabric sketchbook. I washed them because I used a water soluble chalk pencil on some of them. Here they are, drying on the edge of the bathtub-

drawings

Oh No! Now the floor is completely covered again!

I worked on the floor for a day- boy, was I sorry though. My back was killing me by evening. The next morning I cleared off a table (i.e. piled everything up on top of any other clear surface) and layed the project out so that I could sit at my chair and also have decent light.

ah, much better. And here we are today-

d

the floor is not too bad- at least I can move around and find stuff… Hopefully I’ll be able to show some finished postcards in the next few days.

One of the people in my doll club, brought this book, Kokoro no Te by Kumiko Sudo, to show us. I ended up buying myself a copy- it is fantastic! It has some inspired sewing kits- I might have to try making one, instead of just admiring the beautiful photos.

fairies- wip

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I was hoping to have finished these fairies by today, but that is unlikely with family and life and house and all.

crown

free advise- don’t sew on an embellishment with lots of little beady things until you have finished all the rest of your sewing- your thread will get tangled in it with every stitch!

bust

I love making these little flowers.

hair

I am having trouble with this one’s hair- sometimes it feels like the doll is arguing with me… argh!

more on the fairies

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I worked on these all day yesterday. Stuffed with wool. Wool dust is everywhere now. Sewed closed on the back-

sewed

Next they got their sexy figures and a start on their faces. I put pins in for their eyes before I embroider them in. It makes them seem more alive.

5dolls

I’m very fussy with the faces so I do a lot of picking out stitches. The purple/lilac body doll is one of the fairies from the first series I did in February. I embroidered a face, gave her some hair and embellished her with trim… but it wasn’t working for me. First she sat around for 5 months or so, then I took off the trim. More waiting then off with the hair, and finally yesterday, as I was working on these other ones, off with her face. Here we are, starting over.

face1

And another. I am happy with the lips and the noses so far today. I am working on the eyes. Next it will be eyebrows and hair.

face2

thinking about…

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musicians-

sketch

and working on fairies-

fairyparts

I had a wonderful surprise yesterday. Last month I cleared out a container full of old cassette tapes. I threw some away, others I piled into a box and brought up to my studio. Slowly I’ve been listening to them and deciding if they are worth keeping (a lot are damaged in some way- they sound like a warped record). It has been a strange trip back to other times in my life, as far back as the early 70’s. Yesterday, I tried out a tape with no label- I thought it might just be a blank tape. Little kid voices started singing “Happy Birthday to you”, slowly. Eleanor and Julian, I think. They got to “Happy Birthday, dear (who was it going to be for???) mommie/ mom” -they hadn’t agreed on that part I guess- I got chills! They went on to sing several more songs- talk about being sent back to another time! I could picture the whole project being organized and excecuted.

and now…

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This is what I brought home from NIADA-

church hat

It is called “Church Hat”, is about 6″ tall with the pedestal, and is by Annie Wahl. If you are interested in seeing some more photos from NIADA- much better then mine- Deb Wood posted her’s here.

Since I’ve been home my mind has been spinning with ideas. I am inspired to do another gourd doll… a bit late for the NIADA show, but I don’t do well when I feel I am trying to fit my work into a challenge prompt. I cleaned a bunch of gourds and who knows, I might get around to painting them…

gourds

I had several things on my list of things to do, even before I left town. I had promised my sister a “make-do” pin cushion. She picked out the glass and the colors when she was visiting me last month.

pin cushion 1

I got it finished today. Here it is in bondage, no I mean being glued in place-

pin cushion 2

and now another Red Riding Hood. I’ve got to work through some of the bits I’m not satisfied with on the first one-

hood 2

I was so excited to see that my first Red Riding Hood was on Whip Up! Welcome anyone that has found me through Kath’s fantastic blog!

wip’s

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working on-

it is clearly time to move on from the robots. I’ve lost all my enthusiasm for now. I have been working off and on with this one- maybe she’s finished, maybe not… I’m stepping back to look at her for a while.

fembot

Instead I’m going forward with little red ridinghood. I drew this in my sketchbook months ago, inspired by this diorama by Natascha.

wip