i have been working on this hand-painted shawl, wrap thingie for my mom since her birthday in january!
i finally got motivated (ie: she wanted to wear it to a gallery opening) to finish it on saturday.
although i somehow managed to break my sewing machine while stitching the border, i am very pleased with the way it came out!
the fabric is hand-dyed and hand-painted cotton gauze, with machine stitching around the bones and features.
^ in progress picture
i am a part of a FABULOUS group of doll makers on facebook. there are complete beginners and superstars in there together, and everyone is super supportive and helpful!
someone linked a doll tutorial last week that i had seen before, but wanted to revisit.
not surprisingly, it was on the living crafts blog, the blog of a magazine that i really want to subscribe to!
the blog suggests that when attaching the arms to the muff (teehee, using the word muff makes me feel like i am 12 again) you actually slip the fabric between the arms, over the muff, instead of sewing them to the back like most instructions suggest.
i have really been thinking that my arms sit too far towards the back of my dolls, giving them somewhat awkward posture, so this common sense tip came at a perfect time! i can’t wait to get this doll finished up and see how it all works out!!
even though the skellies are my first love, most people actually want to purchase more traditional waldorf dolls. i have made a few 12″ and 16″ dolls, which for me really mean 14″ and 18″, because my dolls have big heads….
but i had a request for a smaller doll, for a younger child. i resized my pattern in photoshop, to try to get the proportions correct……
it still took me a few tries to get what i wanted.
this one had a lot of potential, and i love the chubbiness of the body, but somehow the neck wasn’t small enough (it is a tricky balance to get the proper stability some times) and so the chin was lacking….
i think i am going to try to peel back the head skin and needle felt on a chin implant. i’ll post pictures if that works….
this little guy has a cute face, but his arms got a little wonky, and his hip seam is too high. i’ll probably finish him out though….maybe i will do a giveaway…
please check back to see the finished little! i am hoping to get her all primped and ready for photographs today!
coral has officially undergone a makeover, and i have to say, i think she was a boy all along.
the process mainly involved re-doing the hair. first i took the long hair off. then sewed on a crocheted cap and attached the new hair.
for some reason it takes me forever to attach the hair to the cap, but i was extremely pleased with the results. the colors and textures in the hair are amazing! i wish i could pinpoint one source for you guys. but i used yarn primarily from funky yarns, syrendell, and babester.
i think the rainbow colors really bring out the glow in his yellow eyes, and the wild and woolly hair-do emphasize his mischievous grin.
my next challenge was dressing this young man. i had a pair of pants from petite ame that i knew i was going to use, but i haven’t really mastered tops for boys.
i had been wanting to experiment with making clothes out of felted sweaters, so i decided to take the plunge. i had felted up my favorite sweater from college, i wore that thing all winter for almost 20 years!
i wanted to make something open enough that the bones would show through. but, since this skelly was to be a gift for a five year old boy, i didn’t want him to look like he was out clubbing.
i settled on a vest, and i am quite pleased with how it came out. i used a couple of buttons to hold the whole assembly together. i think snaps would have been perfect, but i don’t have snaps for my new pliers yet.
i am definitely on the look-out for more sweaters for my arsenal!
these little ladies were created for a day of the dead exhibition at riverbend fine arts here in marble falls! there was a group of four ladies in the show!
iris has gone to live with my uncles, dale and tommy, and possibly on to bigger and better things in new york! hopefully i will have an update on that soon! coral, is going to undergo gender reassignment surgery this week to make a little boy who needs a skeleton doll happy!
both dolls are 16″ tall, made of black cotton interlock and stuffed with carded wool. the bones are screen-printed front and back on to the fabric before the body is sewn. faces are hand embroidered and painted. the dresses these ladies are wearing were made my dear friend erica at petite ame.
pardon my virtual dust! i am working to get this blog underway!!
leap phrog design 