It is pretty darn hot here but maybe not so much where he is from which might explain his hat.
Here he is without his hat-
His kilt is removable and he has navy and white shorts underneath.
sailor man
Such an awesome toile and perfect for a sailor’s tattooed chest. I love this fabric. I got it off of Ebay- it was a 70’s linen curtain panel, never used, with it’s labels still on. Of course it wasn’t peachy colored; I over-dye to get the skin tones.
Here he is without his hat-
dark tattooed man
Working on these fellows is definitely more fun than the fiddly work of the pattern making so more men ahead!
His trousers have tiny stars on them. Love that fabric. His hair is dark brown and is over-dyed grid pattern but so dark that it doesn’t show up in the photos.
summer Santa
I have been working on some ornament designs but it goes slowly and gets frustrating and I just want to finish something! But, I have bins with sewn up but not finished inventory so this fellow got finished with a satisfied sigh from me.
Here is a detail where you can see his belt. I embroidered on top of the rick rack and added an embroidered white dot on the belt tape.
a newsy post to start July
I am working on more ornament designs (although I hate calling them ornaments since they are just little felt figures and could be lots of things- such as tiny toys, a baby mobile, a decorative bunting… ) and as you can see, this tray of first-try prototypes are fairy tale girls. I’ve got a lot of drawing and I’m going to work on 3-d-ing a bunch of them and we’ll see what makes it to the pattern stage. These little projects mean that my sewing machine is getting a break-
and so has immediately gotten covered with supplies. And my work table- looks like it has exploded with thread, felt, and paper!
Speaking of patterns, I have printed up paper copies of my non-ornament patterns and am now selling them in bulk, wholesale on Etsy. This is so shops, and doll or quilting clubs can buy them. The listing is for the Tiny World pattern, my most popular, but I am happy to do bulk orders for the fish, owl, kitty, or swaddled baby, if that’s what you’d be interested in. Send me an etsy convo or email (mimik@pobox.com) if you have any questions.
And here is a funny story. My daughter was out for a walk in Chicago where she lives. As she was walking by a playground, she saw this so she snapped a photo and texted it to me-
Now I know that most of my tattooed person art get hung up on the wall, but this lady is out and about, seeing the world- I LOVE it! Art in the wild= the best!
If you live in the US, have a wonderful long weekend! I need to get down to my library today to pick up a museum pass for the ICA in Boston. Hopefully I will get some art viewing on my long weekend.
butterfly girl
So, so summery! I love this butterfly fabric, designed by Geninne for Cloud9 fabrics. She has a linen jacket to wear on top.
I was very proud of myself for finally researching how to sew up a lined sleeveless bodice with no hand-stitching. Yep, I did it. Because Google, you know, makes it all very easy. After all these years! (Sometimes I wonder about myself- always doing things the hard way!)
All her things- pants made of cotton shirting- navy with a white grid, an organic cotton dress, a linen jacket with a red check kerchief, and a purse with a notebook and coin.
I am finished with the girls for a now. The girl doll bin is getting packed up with all the clothing patterns and miscellaneous girl doll specific materials. I spent this afternoon trying to uncover the surface of my desk and I’ve make quite good progress. There was at least a few hours of button sorting involved so that is always an afternoon well spent.
Folktale girl
She could be a lot of different heroines from Grimms’ Tales, don’t you think? I love playing with the classic folk dress designs. Her shirt and dress have laces for closures/adjustments and I didn’t want to mess everything up for the photos. Under her dress, she is like the other dolls but with her red and white striped tights instead of bare legs and anklets. She has a white undershirt that is part of her body design. She is a “big girl” design, ie her arms, legs, and body are all a bit longer and thinner. She is about 23″ (58cm) tall.
Her apron is made of a vintage embroidered hand-towel.
blond girl, paper cranes
Isn’t this fabric dreamy? Paper cranes on double gauze make a perfect early summer dress.
This little girl is dressed perfectly for the summer weather we’ve been having here- you are never quite sure if you’ll be hot or need a sweater. She is prepared for a chill with a cashmere sweater.
Her toy bunny is safe in her purse.
School Girl in Red and Green
It feels a little odd to be making a school girl dressed in wool and corduroy, with mittens and a scarf, when the calendar says June. Luckily, the weather has dipped and I was inspired to finish her up today.
Here are details of all her belongings-
Her school bag-
tiny world- Castle!
These two are the last for now.
I love topiary- And felt topiary is SO much easier to deal with than the living kind!
My studio needs a massive clean and so that is going to occupy at least some of my (US) holiday weekend. If you are having a long weekend, hope you are doing something fun!