He’s done… although looking at this picture maybe I should do something about his bad hair day. I’ve named him “East”. I will take more, and better pictures next week.

Tomorrow, early, I leave for Philadelphia and NIADA. I am nervous and excited. I will have the opportunity to have 2 of my dolls critiqued by NIADA artists and it has been a difficult decision to choose what to bring.

I am making progress on this doll. I have decided that yes, it is a boy. I went to the library and got several books of Chinese folktales to see if I can find a name I like. I will have to work on the base and do a few more fiddly details before he is declared finished.

Here is the bag I made him-

I am also working on this doll’s clothes. It is really helpful to be able to go back and forth between projects.

This is the doll I’m almost finished with.
These are my stumbling blocks.
I showed it to a friend who started referring to it as he… I had never thought of the doll as a he, and it’s got me all confused. I’ve got to choose a name, already a problem because of the ethnic look of this kid, but now I don’t even know if I should go masculine, feminine or gender nuetral!

I’ve got to figure out a base/stand for it. I’m thinking about a hat. I’m not happy with the hair yet.

This is the doll I’m almost finished with.
These are my stumbling blocks.
I showed it to a friend who started referring to it as he… I had never thought of the doll as a he, and it’s got me all confused. I’ve got to choose a name, already a problem because of the ethnic look of this kid, but now I don’t even know if I should go masculine, feminine or gender nuetral!

I’ve got to figure out a base/stand for it. I’m thinking about a hat. I’m not happy with the hair yet.

This is the doll I’m almost finished with.
These are my stumbling blocks.
I showed it to a friend who started referring to it as he… I had never thought of the doll as a he, and it’s got me all confused. I’ve got to choose a name, already a problem because of the ethnic look of this kid, but now I don’t even know if I should go masculine, feminine or gender nuetral!

I’ve got to figure out a base/stand for it. I’m thinking about a hat. I’m not happy with the hair yet.

shoe making- I’m loving my new little alligator clip clamps.

Here they are, all done. The red leather is from an old glove- very thin leather, so nice to work with.

vest- mink trim- the mink was a gift from Lois- Thanks!

Here she is in her finery.

I have to sew closures on the tunic, pants and vest. The wig needs work- either remaking it from scratch or redyeing the one I’ve made or something.

I will be away for the rest of the week- too bad, since I feel like I’m on a roll.

I am working on 2 dolls right now and I am getting very frustrated with both of them. This is S. The idea with her is an over-abundance of lacey-ness. I’ve made her a slip and am now working on her dress, but they are not working together the way I want them to…

slip-

bodice-

the dress is reworked from a vintage baby dress. I thought I had it all figured out, but after sewing the sleeves on, I discovered that the neckline of the bodice is higher then I planned- totally hiding the lace of the slip. And there is a lump where the lace is under the bodice. Something is going to have to be redone.

This is B. I want to make a vest, but the design is not gelling in my brain…

I’ve started in on 2 dolls-

doll b (my working name) has pants and shirt started-

doll s is still in the fabric sorting stage-

Starting in on a new doll means making lots of piles of fabric and trims, lots of boxes and drawers sorted through. The piles on my desk are getting high. I also pull out fabrics for other dolls as I go through all the bins. Those fabrics sit on top of the doll that they will eventually (maybe) go with.

This is my desk right now… well actually it’s worse since I took the photo.

I dropped off Ione with the photographer today- she gets her official portrait (slides). That meant I had to make a stand/seat for her.

This is the chair in progress. It is made of iron wire- I love working with wire; it’s like 3D line drawing. I’ll post a finished picture when she gets home again.

Okay, for all you who were actually trying to guess- her name is “Ione”. I choose the name from that list and then looked it up in my baby name book. It means violet mineral- which seemed perfect!

She is getting her hair done- her wig glued onto her head- so I’ve taken some pictures of the detail work. I made her 2 necklaces-

Mini frog closures on the front of her coat. They close with a sewed-on snap because I thought it would be impossible to actually button them.

Here are her shoes and socks- I ended up making her a new pair of socks- these are a better color.

I was trying to make her shoes look real for a girl (not too babyish), so I put a heel on them.

She should be ready to photograph by tomorrow. Right now I have to go and glue the back half of her wig to her head.