Hyacinth is the smallest of the girls at 17 inches tall. She is made of woven wool. Her face is a twill and the body is a Pendleton fabric that a friend gave me. Neither of these fabrics changed texture after machine washing and drying. The body fabric has very little stretch, which is why she came out the smallest.
Her hair is made from a sweater. Her skirt and hair bows are cotton.
I stuffed her hair- that sounds funny, doesn’t it!
I was planning on (hoping to) finishing all the girls this week but … didn’t happen. I have finished 3 so far. It was a beautiful day today. Excellent for taking photos. Spring was here. But before I introduce the girls individually, I’ve had some sweet treats this week.
On Tuesday, a wonderful write-up on Turkey Feathers to celebrate the first day of Spring. It made my day! Wednesday was spent at the Flower Show. On Thursday, I went out to Wellesley to see Abby and her show. The show was fantastic- so many pieces! It is always interesting to see a large body of work from one artist. It tells you so much more about what they are doing then seeing just one piece. It is also interesting to see pieces in life that you’ve seen in photos. I realize that there is so much you don’t see in the photos. It was great- if you can get there you won’t be disappointed. Then today, I just found out that I’m here on PlushYou blog!
Now onto girl doll #1. All the girls will have flower name. This is Rose-
She is all wool with a recycled and felted sweater body and and hair. I used black sweater ribbing for her hair- I thought the ribs looked like hair. Her flesh tone is wool knit fabric. She is 20″ tall.
She has rickrack embroidered at her neckline. And, a polka dot tutu-
Here is a side view-
I will post more dolls tomorrow- I’ve run out of steam tonight, after accidentally deleting this post and having to start over- arg!
Here are all eight dolls lined up, next to a 15 inch ruler. I used basically the same pattern for all of them. #1, 7, and 8 have bigger heads. Some have sleeves, some bare arms. The bodies and legs are all cut from the same pattern pieces. As you can see, there is a range of sizes. That’s what you get when you use a variety of fabrics. I would have guessed that the knits come out bigger then the woven fabrics, but that turns out not to be true. I also would have guessed that the linen doll would be the smallest- wrong again.
I try to use woven fabrics together and knits together, don’t mix materials that I’m going to stuff. Now I’m wondering if it really makes any difference.
This is one of the challenges I think about when I consider making patterns. How do you design clothes for dolls where every one might turn out a different size?
I’ve posted an annotated photo on here on Flickr.
The girls are coming along. I’ve got 8 that I’m working on. They now all have faces, hair, and stitched fingers. Next comes clothes or whatever extras they each need.
faces-
this is the round head style-
and this is the VERY round head style!
This is a photo of my worktable today- I love the pile of dolls-
The one on the far right was the last to get hair so she isn’t in any of the other photos. Actually, she had hair but I wasn’t satisfied so I redid it. My challenge on these dolls (so far) has been the hair. I wanted to make fabric (wool knit) hair and I was able to come up with a pattern/style that I’m very happy with. It is flexible enough that I can make different hair styles, but still use the same basic idea to cut out the fabric and attach it to the dolls head.
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 thought I’d show you how I do the hip joints since people commented on them. First of all though, I have to give credit. I learned this technique from a Judi Ward pattern. Judi Ward’s patterns are about the best way to learn dollmaking that I’ve come across. Her directions are clear, the pieces fit together, she invents techniques that are so useful, they become part of your design thinking. I would highly recommend her patterns as a learning tool, although she also teaches online classes, another excellent way to learn new skills. I think her babies are especially endearing. Here is a doll I made from her Emma Rose pattern. **Disclaimer- this is my way of doing this technique- it might not be exactly the way Judi described it originally, but how it works for me.
I’ve got the legs lined up, ready to finish. They are sewn and mostly stuffed with an opening at the top. The buttons used are the metal shank buttons – the kind you can cover with cloth, but not for this project. I buy them online from Joanns, because I can never find them locally when I need them. And, I like to have them on hand. You can use either the flat or domed style. I usually use 7/8 inch or 1 1/8 inch size.
-Snap the 2 parts of the button together- the top and the back. Slip the button into the opening at the top of the leg and safety pin into place. I don’t worry about the direction of the shank when I pin it- it can shift around a bit. The green legs on the right show the finished leg with the button sewed inside.
-finish stuffing around the button/hip area and sew shut. I use a ladder stitch to close the leg.
-I use nylon upholstery thread to make this hip joint- it is super strong and is available at my local sewing stores. I’ve switched doll legs here, because the thread shows up better on the green. Measure off a long piece of thread- at least 36″. Double it up (I cut it into 2 pieces at this point) and stitch through the shank of the button. Center the thread and then stitch around the shank one more time. Even up the 4 ends of the thread. I am using a doll needle here- it is about 3 inches long.
-Take the four ends and thread them through the eye of the needle-
-Pull the 4 threads through the hip.
-Remove 2 of the 4 threads from the needle. Stitch through the shank. Unthread the needle and rethread with the other 2 ends. Sew through the shank going in the opposite direction. Hopefully the picture makes it clear.
Now this is the really hard part because I couldn’t take a photo! Pull the threads tight. This is one of the reasons you wanted a long piece to start with- you might want to wrap the thread around your hand for leverage. When you think it is tight enough, wrap one side of thread around the joint once or twice and then tie a solid knot. Clip off the excess thread, leaving about an inch. I usually just leave it like that, although I suppose you could sew it back into the body where the thread came out at the hip.
If you get it right, and it is usually a matter of getting the thread tied tight enough, your doll should be able to sit up, very nicely, all by itself. It takes me 2 tries about half the time.
In case you can’t figure out what the heck I’m trying to say, I found another description of this technique here.
It is a beautiful day here in Boston today. I took a walk and happened upon a neighborhood yard sale- very unusual for a weekend in March in New England. The person in charge must be an eternal optimist, and and lucky too. I’ve been on the look out for some tea cups to make some more pin cushions and was very pleased to find these. So, I was lucky also! It is amazing what a sunny, warmish (relatively) day, with spring in the air can do to lift the spirits. Even when you have to leap over icy, rock hard snow banks to cross the streets.
We watched Bride and Prejudice last night- Fantastic! So, so funny- and as true to the story as most movies. I loved it enough that I might have to watch it again before it goes back. I keep thinking of funny scenes and laughing again!
Here are some etsy shops where I’ve spent money recently- Novembermoon and Sara Lechner Fiberart. Beautiful artwork.
Lots of comments on the hidden button hip joints- I will do a post to show what I’m talking about. I need to go take more photos though.
I’ve been working all week on little girls.
I posted a partial photo of these girls on Flickr last week. They were not right but I was happy enough with the direction they were going in.
I got the purple one on the right put together after numerous rejected leg designs. It is a battle to keep it simple and get it right. I liked her enough that I decided to try the pattern out in different fabrics. (I have been very scattered lately and not finishing any of them is one of the signs, but anyway… ) I’ve got a bunch cut out- one from linen, most from wool, felted and not felted , some knits and some woven.
I’ve got a pile of legs to work on- time for knees!
This doll design has a concealed button jointed hip. Good motion. The dolls in the top picture will get new legs like these.
Here is my scraps from today, and stuffing that I keep pulling out of the rejects-
btw- I did enter Mr. Kitty into the Softie Awards. I liked Miss Dot’s comment to think of it as participating instead of a contest. That made sense to me. Thanks everybody, I really appreciated your opinions.
I was having a heck of a time this morning, trying to find light in the right place to photograph this guy. It was way too cold and windy to try outside. I made this kitty before Christmas, but never finished him up. Yesterday I gave him a new face, a vest and a book bag.
I love the bow tie. I think it goes well with his vest. He is made out of a boiled wool sweater. When I washed it, it became even denser and small- it was tight getting one kitty out of this perfect color wool. His book bag is wool felt.
back view-
and the inside of the vest-
here is another view of his whole self.
I keep thinking about entering the Softie Awards but have been holding back… I’m just not sure I want to enter a contest. The Month of Softies was fun because it wasn’t about somebody winning. I am afraid I might actually care too much. I guess I’ll have to make up my mind soon- the deadline is Friday.
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.