SMockerySmArt's Dolls - my cloth doll making blog

Santa's little helper

2011-12-13T19:05:00.000Z

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Christmas Elf Stanley. I think I made his hairline too high. Back to the pattern drafting!

Let it snow!

2011-12-06T17:58:00.001Z

The other day, I was asked by someone in receipt of one of my Santas if I made snowmen. Well, the seed having been planted, it had to bear fruit! Here's the result, made in a similar style to the Santas:

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I think he is what my grandaughter would describe as "well cute". He is nine inches tall and was made in much the same way as the witch I described making here,
here and here.

It's winter!

2011-12-04T13:54:00.000Z

Here's Miss Tippett out for her regular stroll on a cold and frosty morning:

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To be perfectly frank and honest, Miss Tippett started out as Good King Wenceslas, to be accompanied by the Poor Man. But early on in the project his majesty asserted his authority and insisted on a gender reassignment!

Yet another example of how what's in my head doesn't always come out through my fingers!

Price of handmade goods

2011-11-19T20:01:00.001Z

How many of us have suffered like this blogger, I know I have:

http://whatthecraft.com/overpriced-cant-afford-handmade-pricing/

Blog flog for any other embroiderers out there

2011-11-18T15:33:00.000Z

Sharon B is asking if people would like to have another TAST Challenge next year.

I had such fun with the last two that I started a separate blog for all the samples I made.

If you want to practice your stitches, learn some new ones or would like an incentive to keep your hand in, follow the first link to read all about it and leave a comment to register your interest.

ADO Quarterly Challenge - Goth

2011-11-17T00:08:00.003Z

I've just started on my submission for the ADO Quarterly Challenge. The theme is "GOTH".

I'm planning to make a "Christmas Goth" and I've started by making some rough sketches:

First of all I printed out a photograph of one of my dolls and then outlined it in felt tip pen to use as a 'pattern' to design the costume, a bit like a paper dress-up doll except I didn't cut it out:

I placed it beneath the next page of my sketch book and traced the outline for the first sketch.

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I have a piece of net fabric with metallic christmas motifs - I've been looking for a chance to use it. That's the cross hatched bits with red and green dots on the sketches. In some of the pictures I've shaded it purple so it shows up against the black. In this one, the body,face and arms will be white fabric and the legs black. In each case, they would wear my favourite boots, suitably embellished. The skirt lining would be either purple or red.

Here's the back view:

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The centre panel for the skirt here is appliqued black net with a silver stripe. This version would have a white face, with a black body, arms and legs.

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In this sketch, the skirt is black net with a silver stripe. I think I would line the net with red, rather than the purple in the sketch. This version would have a white face and body, with black arms and legs.

Now I just have to choose which one to make and how to further embellish it!
Maybe I will make them all!

2012 Santa evolution!

2011-11-09T22:13:00.002Z

Here's this year's Santa decoration. I make just a few of these each year, some for gifts and one or two for sale.

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Lots of stitchery, sequins and beads:

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This year's Santa has stuffed appliqued arms and felt hands.

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....and another!

2011-10-29T10:20:00.000+01:00

A little vampire Stanley!

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I've had such fun with these. Now there is one for each grandchild to consumer test!

Still more Stanleys.....................

2011-10-25T18:05:00.000+01:00

Say hello to Frankenstan!

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And another Stanley for halloween....

2011-10-24T20:30:00.001+01:00

Spooky Stanley. You're not my mummy!

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New Sitting Stanley .............

2011-10-23T09:59:00.002+01:00

Having fun with halloween. A cheeky little devil. Scary Stanley!

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A little one for halloween!

2011-10-21T17:26:00.000+01:00

Say hello to Valentine the Baby Vampire!

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He has bat wings

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and a cute face despite the fangs!

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Home again!

2011-09-06T14:25:00.000+01:00

I'm recovering at home from heart surgery so I can't do much for a while, but I did manage to finish this little witch. A slightly altered pattern.

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She is made from a piece of discharge dyed black velvet. The discharge paste was dabbed on through pieces of a paper doily. It seemed a shame to cover it with embroidery. I like the patterns as they are.

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Her face is hand coloured and painted and lightly needle sculpted.

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Her hands are wool wrapped plastic covered "computer" wire.
It was near enough impossible to get a decent photo of those hands, so here's a close up.

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Hope to be "fully functioning" in two or three weeks!

The Sisterhood

2011-08-03T17:57:00.000+01:00

These three are on their way to a meeting of the coven.

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They each bring something to the gathering. One, an expert in concocting potions for helping and healing carries a flagon of love philtre. She wears the key to her chest of ingredients always around her neck. She means no harm, but in the wrong hands, these can be dangerous. Another is in tune with the seasons and the rhythms of the earth. She brings a crystal ball and around her neck she wears a symbol of the sun. The third has great powers of spell and suggestion. She brings a doll for the ritual and the stick she carries is also a wand. She is accompanied always by her familiar, the spider you can see on her hat.

Extreme Steampunk

2011-07-26T20:31:00.001+01:00

Seen on a day out to Borde Hill Gardens, near Ardingly, Sussex!

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He is called "Rodney Chameleon" and I think he must be made from old chain saw parts.

The sculptures were made by Anvil Ironworks.

blurb about books

2011-07-18T20:28:00.002+01:00

I've been busy making two more Blurb Books and whenever I visit the site, I can't help browsing. I used the search term "Art Dolls" in the Bookstore, and these are links to a few of the fascinating books I came across.

Esther Verschoor

Karen Bouse

paula nerhus

Christina Ekman

VMZine

Patrizia Lamberti - BJDs

Loretta Nardone - Zuni

Ruby Rae

There really is some fascinating stuff on Blurb, but I'll have to stop now or I'll be here all night! I've put the links on my blog so that I know where to find them when I want another look!

ps: I've linked to the book previews here. They do take a few seconds to come up, but it's worth the wait!

Mermaids get a bit of a makeover

2011-07-10T09:56:00.002+01:00

I was aiming for the kind of mermaid that could lure an unwary sailor into trouble! When it came to the face and hair, I was thinking 1940s screen idols. "Sirens of the silver screen". I wanted a sort of 'come hither' look.

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They got new tail fins, I was never satisfied with the first ones.

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And an extra tail section.

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and they both got new tops.

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Finally finished............................

2011-06-19T14:14:00.000+01:00

I started this one a while ago for halloween but didn't finish her in time and she got put to one side. The June challenge on ADO, Black & White: Abi Monroe, reminded me. Abi extended the challenge to include "the dark side?" She definitely came from my darker side - I think she is my alter ego. I drink red wine, I want her hair and if I were only younger I would goth and steampunk it up with the best of them! Her face and body were originally white, but I gave her a green tinge to suit her condition!

Say hello to Vampolicella.

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Vampolicella lives with her nest mate Glampire. (She's having a well-earned break and a make-over at a Dark Spa this month, but due back soon.) Vampolicella has much more earthly concerns, especially sustenance. If she cannot get her favourite AB negative, she will make do with any other, even O Pos, and she always likes to top up with a few glasses of full-bodied Italian red!

New look

2011-06-12T22:45:00.000+01:00

Another for the Cloth Doll Artistry Make it Male Challenge. Sailor Stanley gets a makeover. I've made him without his wig and given him a new hat.

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I prefer this version.

Meet Jean-Claude.......................

2011-05-27T18:50:00.000+01:00

and his Amazing Steam Powered Skate-board.

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Cool dude needs a ride.............

2011-05-16T15:12:00.000+01:00

thought I'd give him a skateboard for his birthday.

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A few fun technical problems here. We have the beginnings of a propulsion module, but what about wheels?

The steam boiler was wet felted around a wiffle ball and studded with washers and beads and the pipes are yarn-wrapped bendy drinking straws. The board is just two layers of heavy picture framers' board covered in fabric and stitched together.

And a little bit of "Ooh la la"...

2011-05-16T15:03:00.000+01:00

He needed some hair, and with a name like Jean Claude I thought a beret would be appropriate:

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and some trendy footwear:

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I think he'll need some "bling" as well before he's finished.

Here's a full length view:

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and a mug shot:

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You can see the nose job. I had to paint out the original because it was all crooked. I think a scattering of freckles may blend it in a bit better.

Jean Claude gets dressed .....

2011-05-16T15:00:00.000+01:00

Skateboarder combat style shorts.

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He's quite chunky, so I've given him a cut down wife-beater vest, just the thing for a muscle boaster!

New doll

2011-05-16T14:00:00.000+01:00

There's a Make it Male quarterly challenge running on Cloth Doll Artistry. I have one for that, but it's got me started on another.

Here's the raw material!

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One body made from left-over parts and a head from the reject bin. I had to give him a nose job. The hideous "comb-over" is just scraps of roving needlefelted to the head. I find it helps when I needlefelt the knitted wig on.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think he resembles the "Muscles from Brussels"?

So, now he has a name - Jean Claude

Is the customer always right?

2011-05-01T23:28:00.000+01:00

I made some more of these for our Mayday Craft Fair:

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I displayed a few on my table. A customer came over and looked at them. And looked at them. And looked at them. I asked her "did she want a particular colour?". She said "she would know it when she saw it". I got out the whole box for her to look through. She said "if she really knew which one she wanted, she would buy one, but she didn't", and off she went. Later she came back again, and had the whole box out once more, but still couldn't make up her mind. Then she came back a third time and chose one. I took her money, gave her change, put the pindoll in a cellophane bag and handed it to her. She put it in her bag.

Then she said "When I get home, I shall change that button for another. It is not in proportion to the rest. Then it will be much better".

Dress Rehearsal

2011-04-27T19:57:00.001+01:00

Little dancers getting ready to rehearse their Mayday dance.

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Here's a group photo:

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Some have shoes:

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and some have boots.

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Birds of a feather

2011-04-19T23:33:00.001+01:00

I've had a few comments and enquiries about my birds. Here's some information:

I had in mind a flock of brightly coloured birds to decorate the craft stall next month. I finally settled on two shapes: my "chicken" shaped bird and one other, courtesy of Nellie Durand. I've used Nellie's pattern before, but I gave my birds nice big feet to make them stand up better.

Here's my flock of bigfoot birds:

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They are made from left-over scraps of quilted or "embellisher" fabric and have needlefelted beaks.

This one is my current favourite, made from my "chicken" shaped body pattern with Nellie's wings.

And another.................

2011-04-04T14:26:00.000+01:00

this time in blue:

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Red, Red Wine

2011-04-03T20:21:00.000+01:00

Red, red wine - one of my favourite songs and my poison of choice. I can't drink it at the moment and I think my feelings of deprivation must have influenced my fingers when I made this little figure - a kind of "red wine witch". Or perhaps with her happy, chubby face, this little one cooks with the wine, or maybe she picks the berries in the forest. Possibly, like me she drinks it!

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FIgure this owl!

2011-04-02T10:06:00.000+01:00

Here's what I did with a face left over from making my stuffed owls. I made this chap:

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I just thought I would try the face on a textile figure. I needlefelted the beak to give it a bit more definition and added a "feather" ruff and eyebrows.

Here he is with his bird:

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WIP

2011-03-24T14:46:00.001Z

Working out the costume for the little maypole dancers:

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WIP

2011-03-21T22:38:00.000Z

We are having an Arts & Crafts Fair on May 1st as part of the Eastbourne Festival.

In honour of the occasion, I've decided to have a maypole on my table with some little dancers. So I've made a start:

I want them to stand up, so I've stitched a covered card sole to the foot. With the boots, also with a thicker card sole, I think they should be fairly stable. The plan is to dress them in peasant style costumes in green and white.

2011-03-16T18:18:00.000Z

A new bird:

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This one has a slightly different body shape and a three-pointed tail. It is made from left-over scraps of quilted fabric.

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Not sure about that tail.

International Womens' Day March 8th

2011-03-08T09:30:00.000Z

March 8th is International Womens' Day. There's a Post a Photo challenge on Stitchin' Fingers to show something made in the suffragette colours of purple (for dignity), white (for purity) and green (for hope).

Here's mine, its a pin doll:

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Then I got carried away and made two more. These ones have hands!:

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No Spring Chicken

2011-03-01T17:26:00.000Z

more a funky one:

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...and another

2011-01-19T23:32:00.000Z

I've also signed up for the Alter Ego Challenge in the Art Doll Studio on Cloth Doll Artistry. Deadline end of March.

Rather than start with a blank sheet, I did a "word chart" on Alter Ego:

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Can't say that I've got an alter ego - what you see is what you get.

I did pick up on EVIL TWIN though. I've already started on my doll for the Angel Challenge, so an evil twin alter ego would tie in nicely with that - now I've got two dolls on the go!

There is quite a lot of mileage in this list for future projects - the person you turn into when you are intoxicated looks attractive!

New Year, New Projects............

2011-01-15T19:19:00.000Z

My first affirmative action this year was to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge.

Find out all about it here:

There is to be a theme for each month of the year. January's theme is "Highly Prized". I made a chart of things I associated with the theme. One of them was mementos. One of my mementos is my corsage from my daughter's wedding nearly 11 years ago. A bunch of faded, dusty and dessicated flowers and leaves.

I sketched it for the challenge, and as I worked on the piece of faded wedding finery I thought about Dicken's Great Expectations and Miss Havisham. Good subject for a doll!

Here is the description from the book, when Pip describes his first sight of Miss Havisham:

"She was dressed in rich materials — satins, and lace, and silks — all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on — the other was on the table near her hand — her veil was half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.

It was not in the first moments that I saw all these things, though I saw more of them in the first moments than might be supposed. But, I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its luster, and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunk to skin and bone. Once, I had been taken to see some ghastly wax-work at the Fair, representing I know not what impossible personage lying in state. Once, I had been taken to one of our old marsh churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress, that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement. Now wax-work and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me. I should have cried out, if I could."

According to Dicken's notes, she was not an elderly lady, but in her fifties.

2011 Doll Project number 1!

I've also signed up for the Angel Challenge in the Cloth Doll Studio on Cloth Doll Artistry. Deadline 22nd March.

So that's two new projects on the burner already!

Greetings!

2010-12-25T10:13:00.001Z

Troll Princess

2010-12-21T10:17:00.001Z

I've carried on needlefelting my polyfill and wadding scraps, and made this:

A troll princess for the top of my christmas tree!

Her hair is a mixture of wool fibres (roving) and novelty knitting yarn.

Her skirt is polyfill hand needlefelted with scraps of silk gauze and little bits of silk sliver, embellished with beads and sequins.

The ruffles on the back of her dress are decorated with gold glitter.

Scrappits

2010-12-21T10:05:00.001Z

I was feeling "twitchy" and looking for something to keep my fingers busy, as you do. It was too cold to go out to the workshop so I experimented with a few scraps of leftover polyfil, wadding and some wool fibres and needlefelted this little troll baby.

Now I'm wondering if I could make a bigger one using the same method?

Always room for improvement...............

2010-12-03T12:59:00.000Z

I found some very small plastic safety joints and decided to try them with my Sitting Stanley pattern. While I was about it, I also tried sticking the knitted wig down with washable fabric glue before I stitched it on. I was concerned that little fingers might get caught up in the knitted threads.

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The little safety joints worked really well for the arms and legs. The glue made it even more difficult to get the needle in to sew on the hair, but I think I shall use it in future just in the centre, to hold it in place while I stitch. The heads are still attached by several rounds of hand ladder stitch.

Ow'll try again!

2010-11-22T17:32:00.000Z

Still experimenting with owls. Flat owls and fat owls!

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Owls that!

2010-11-07T21:10:00.000Z

Owls seem to be a popular thing at the moment, so I thought I'd try adapting my cat pattern ready for the autumn and winter craft fairs.

Here are the first tries. I'm using an "iterative" method of working to get these right, so there will undoubtedly be some more later!

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The Boss says these are not owls they are cats, or possibly koalas. So it's back to the scissors and sewing machine. Clearly I should have started with the drawing board! (Serves me right, I shouldn't have asked a pragmatic engineer his opinion...........)

I must be bewitched!

2010-10-20T16:36:00.000+01:00

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She is wise and she knows many things. She is a healer, a counsellor, a listener. She has helped many people. Although she is happy with the life she has chosen, sometimes she is lonely and wishes for the company of her own kind. "Are there any more like me?" she asks. "No," I reply, "not unless I make them!"

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Her body is made from scraps of fleece fabric, chiffon and silk needle felted onto a base of recycled fibres with the addition of dyed wool sliver (roving), machine quilted and heavily embellished with hand embroidery, beads and sequins. Her face is a hand painted and lightly needle sculpted coloured pencil portrait. Her arms are appliqued and lightly stuffed and her hands and her spiky fingers are needlewoven. She wears a necklace of silver beads and animal bones (not really; plastic, I thought they looked like teeth or vertebrae!) and she carries a strange looking skull. She measures about 10 inches from the top of her hat to her base.

Which is the right Witch!

2010-10-03T18:28:00.001+01:00

What's in my head doesn't always come out through my fingers. That's what happened with the witch doll I made a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd have another go.

While I was thinking about it, Gina Ferrari raised the perennial question about pricing on her blog Fan my Flame. I was interested to read the comments, many of which suggested that the price should reflect the size of the item and not the work that went into it. Her response was to explain the processes and costs involved in making her hand embroidered brooches here. This struck a chord with me, because some of my dolls are quite small and the processes involved in making them look the way that they do are not immediately obvious.

I had a real problem pricing that last witch doll, so I thought I would document the process involved in making this next one, that is slightly more elaborate. (This is Part 1, Parts 2 and 3 are below, I published in reverse order).

1.

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I started with an offcut of fleece fabric, a piece of recycled "eco-felt" and some scraps of silk. I layered the fleece over the felt, scattered silk scraps over and "mangled" it all together on the needlepunch (embellisher) machine.

2.

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Strands of coloured wool tops (roving); gossamer light and fine as a spider's web, mangled all over the top.

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The needlepunching gives a nice texture and a "felty" feel!

3.

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Rows of machine quilting in my favourite Greek Key stitch pattern, for even more texture and interest. I used grey in the bobbin and black in the needle, and loosened the bobbin tension for a slight "cable stitch" effect for a little more texture and interest. I wanted a worn and faded look for this piece of fabric.

That's the body fabric finished...

Which is the right Witch? - Part 2

2010-10-03T18:26:00.000+01:00

4.

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Draw and cut a pattern, cut out the fabric, sew it up on the machine and stuff it.

5.

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Now she needs a face, so out with the pens and coloured pencils.

6.

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Sew the face on, stuff it, add a border of trellis stitch and lightly needlesculpt the inner corners of the eyes and the outer corners of the mouth.

7.

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Add my trademark hand embroidery.

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Sew on the arms with buttonhole stitch and stuff lightly. Add a border of trellis stitch.

Not quite there yet..................

Which is the right Witch? Part 3

2010-10-03T18:24:00.001+01:00

8.

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Make the base, a covered cardboard circle. Make the hat brim, layers of felt and base fabric mangled together on the needlepunch (embellisher) machine.

9.

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Add finishing touches to the face, and hair and eyebrows.

10.

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Embellish with beads and sequins.

11.

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Embroider the hands in needleweaving.

12.

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Stitch on the base and the hat brim.

13.

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Make her some accessories - a voodoo doll and a broomstick.

14.

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All done!

How would you price this one, given the processes involved?

Because my embroidered friendship dolls are necessarily relatively expensive, for a recent craft fair I also made some plain fabric ones with very simply embroidered faces. One particular customer said that she thought the embroidered, beaded dolls were much nicer and asked why they were so much more expensive, as they were all the same size. I explained how the fabric was made, and that the beading and embroidery was all done by hand and took a long time. Back came the response "What, so you expect us to pay for that?!" Good job I didn't have a gun!

Treasured!

2010-09-19T10:44:00.000+01:00

One of my elder dolls has been featured in an Etsy Treasury along with some other very lovely autumnal images. Thank you TheMusesCall, maker of the most beautiful greetings cards!

Looking forward..............

2010-08-11T15:04:00.000+01:00

to Halloween, the next "deadline" after the Llammas Festival. I experimented with a little witch - my verdict would be "Could try harder!" Here's a close-up of her face:

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It's difficult to show the detail with these dark colours.

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Here's a side view. I gave her arms, the padded sleeves sewn on separately:

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And a close-up of her needle woven hands.

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Out and About with the Creative Co-op

2010-08-11T10:06:00.000+01:00

The first weekend in August has been the time for the Llammas Festival for the past ten years here in Eastbourne. The Creative Co-op always tries to have a prescence and this year I again put in an appearance. Here I am, all dressed up and ready to go:

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and here's a picture of my table:

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I sold this:

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(on her way to a Russian granddaughter)

and this:

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(left the tent clasped in the arms of her now owner, already named Alice)

I must say, I was sorry to see them go!

and these went quite well too:

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The Llammas Festival is always a good day out, with lots for all the family. As usual, the sun came out and so did the crowds and a good time was had by all!

Elders

2010-05-13T13:46:00.000+01:00

I've added a couple of "Elders" to my collection of "Wise Ones". I thought the men should be represented!

Wise Ones

2010-04-29T13:34:00.000+01:00

Little spirits:

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grow up to be goddesses:

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and become wise ones:

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Or maybe I just get better at it?!

Three Graces......Three Degrees...????

2010-04-16T21:38:00.000+01:00

Little spirit dolls grown up:

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Here are the back views:

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and a close up of the stitching:

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Monkey Business

2010-03-19T21:58:00.000Z

An adaptation of the cat pattern makes a cheeky monkey:

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I tried two different faces, because the first one I made looked a bit too plain:

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but, after seeing the two together, I decided to go for it.

Jumped the gun!

2010-03-17T17:18:00.000Z

I was asked if I could make the 'papoose-style' carrots a bit smaller, just five inches high. The person making the request was to let me know in a day or two if an order was coming for a dozen, to see how they went. Well, obviously you know what I did! I went ahead regardless and of course the order didn't materialise. Never mind, as you know - I'm still trying to make something cheap and cheerful for craft fairs that someone will want to buy.

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I think these are cheerful, but I'm not sure how cheap I want to make them! The thing is, although they are much smaller, and so take less materials, they still take just as long to make. (It's the embroidery, of course. But for the Christmas Craft Fair I made some plain carrots without any extra stitchery and put them out at a lower price. People kept picking up the embroidered ones - they looked at the plain ones and said they were not as nice, but still they didn't want to pay the embroiderer!)

Not all cats are grey in the dark....

2010-03-15T22:42:00.000Z

these ones are:

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but these ones are not. Still perfecting my simple fat cat pattern. Trying it in different combinations of fabrics and faces.

here's a cotton cat:

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and here's a couple of country cats:

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I'm having fun with these!

Working up an idea...............

2010-03-06T11:43:00.000Z

Someone said that these little pieced cotton dolls reminded her of native indian babies in their papooses:

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My daughter doesn't like my spirit dolls because she says they look like babies trapped inside the 'carrots'. Obviously, I liked the idea of papooses much better, and it fired my imagination. So I googled a bit. I found some pictures and discovered that most of these baby carriers were based on a board made of wood that rested flat against the mother's back. The covers were made of bark or hide, securely lashed to the backboard and laced around the baby. Mostly they had a hood to protect the baby from the weather and were often lined with fur or soft fabric. Often the covers were highly decorated.

Then I started to work on the idea, based on my original 'carrot dolls'. I would have to simplify a lot of the details or the dolls would become far too complicated.

Lots of lashing and lacing - so I moved the stitching to cover the front panel and used the back panel to interpret the backboard and lashing of the cover. Interlaced and spiky stitches:

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a variation of interlaced chain band, with a long anchoring stitch to fasten the lacing, and

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laced cretan stitch. These spiky stitches also serve to represent the coloured quills that were often used for decoration. No beads, because these little things are just way too attractive to small children. My favourite trellis stitch represents the hood.

Let's change some of the printed cotton to a synthetic suede fabric to represent hide and see how that comes out:

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I think the facial features are too strong here. Trellis stitch, with its rows of knots, could make a substitute for beads. Some carriers were lined with fur - how to represent that?

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a wool fringe around the top of the hood. These features are much better.

Here are the results of my interpretation:

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I've had some fun with this, and there is yet more mileage in the original idea.

So, just a glimpse into the deranged mind of a doll-making embroiderer!

Thanks Marguerite, for providing me with some entertainment over a wet and grey weekend!

TATTS!

2010-03-06T11:32:00.000Z

Still looking for something cheap and cheerful for the craft stall, I've been playing with very simple cats. If I show one to grandson number three and he says "TATT" I'll know I've got it right!

Here's a fat cat and a flat cat:

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and here's a line-up of flat cats:

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I made some with painted faces:

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and some needlefelted with felt and knitting yarn:

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I think I'm leaning toward the painted faces - cleaner and sharper, but also, if I'm not careful, a little scarier!

I think they probably belong in the "prim" category......

Angels and Saints

2009-11-08T17:04:00.001Z

I'm busy getting ready for our Creative Co-op Christmas Craft Fair.

I've made fleecy tree ornaments and this angel - but I'm not sure about her - she doesn't really match the one in my head!

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Here's a side view:

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and a close up of the embellishment:

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She's based on this Santa, but I'm not sure I've got it right yet:

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And this Santa was based on the wizard that I made for halloween. I am pleased with the Santa!

Meet the Wizard and his Wife

2009-09-17T12:21:00.001+01:00

I enjoyed making the pretty ghoul, a nice change from the usual smiley faces. I thought she needed some companions, so I made these:

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I was trying out some different shapes. I drew sketches of a wizard and a witch, then simplified the outlines.

These were wool tops (roving) needlepunched onto a piece of black muslin (scrim). I really had fun with the faces and the beard was a sudden inspiration.

I found some rather superior sequins in our local discount warehouse (holographic and not too shiny) - I think they are meant for card makers - so this was the perfect opportunity to try them out!

Who's a pretty ghoul then?

2009-09-15T08:45:00.001+01:00

Just having a bit of fun in anticipation of Halloween!

The season is changing. The leaves are beginning to turn, berries are ripening in the hedgerows, it's cooler and it's getting dark earlier. Thoughts turn to the autumn and winter festivals that cheer us up in those darker months. Well, mine do anyway, and I made this:

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She's a variation on my little spirit dolls. Made of a variety of needle felted scraps embellished with hand stitching, beads and sequins.

Here's a close up of her face:

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and here's a close up of the embellishment:

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Creepy or cute?

2009-08-31T15:57:00.001+01:00

My daughter says my spirit dolls are creepy and I should make something cute.

Here are some of my latest spirit dolls, what do you think?

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So, I made a new version - is this cuter?

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I like making these little things, because they fit so neatly in my hand while I play with the stitches and I can use up all sorts of scraps and bits and pieces. I have even sold one or two on Etsy - it's so nice when people like what you've made enough to purchase it!

Summer Festival

2009-08-04T08:02:00.000+01:00

I was at the annual Llammas Festival this weekend. The weather was mixed, and so was the reaction to my wares.

The Eastbourne giants, escorted by a retinue of drummers in colourful costume.

People wanting to browse the stall before we've got it set up - why do they do that?
You can see Suze's bum in the foreground, Tarni's bum in the background and Rosie and Sharon all ready to deal with customers.

One or two of my dolls and Suze's super felted necklaces.

Another of my dolls, Suze's semi-precious beads and Tarni's earrings.

And here's Rosie, presiding over Sharon's candles and the selection of cards.

Saturday afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse, it bucketed down with rain and our makeshift marquee just wasn't up to the job. Here are the girls making a futile attempt to waterproof it - and can you believe it, people still want to browse with all this going on!

I had to pack up my dolls and textile pieces quick and leg it back home to dry them out!

Sunday was much better. The sun came out and so did the crowds. We had a constant stream of browsers all day. Lots of people stopped to look at my dolls, asked lots of questions about them, said some complimentary things and took away my leaflets, but no-one was buying; not even the little things I made specially. I overheard many nice comments but, human nature being what it is, the one I remember most is "Well, they're way over-priced for what they are. It's not even a craft fair. I certainly wasn't expecting this!" And the runner up was "Sixty-five quid. Jesus"!

(I had so many photos I wanted to use that I also wrote about our weekend here with more pictures of the festival.

Art Dolls Only - 4 Elements Challenge

2009-07-17T12:34:00.000+01:00

Its time for the ADO challenge! You can find all the links to the challenge dolls
here.

Here's mine, finished I think:

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It's Earth and Fire. We know fire in its devastating, destructive form. But in the right place, properly managed, it can promote regrowth and regeneration. The flame coloured doll is the fire part - the small faces surrounded by leaves at the base are the regrowth, regeneration and hope for the future.

Mine is a bit late, although it is still Friday 17th here! I had some laser treatment on my eyes yesterday, to forestall the onset of glaucoma, and everything is still a bit fuzzy!

Thee are some detail shots of the stitches etc. in the previous post.

Two challenge doll!

2009-07-04T22:49:00.000+01:00

I've been taking part in Sharon B's Stitch Explorer Challenge. Find out all about it here. This month's stitch was needleweaving. I had a doll made up ready for embellishment, so I decided to use that. Then I found out about this and decided to join in. So I'm using the same doll for both challenges.

The brief for the second challenge is this:
your inspiration is the elements, and we challenge you to make an art doll using one, two, three, or all four of the elements as your inspiration.

My element is fire. We know fire in its devastating, destructive form. But in the right place, properly managed, it can promote regrowth and regeneration.

Here's what I've done with it so far:

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(I've already done some decorative hand stitching on the doll, added the faces and completed the needle weaving for the stitch explorer challenge.)

The flame coloured doll is the fire part - the small faces surrounded by leaves at the base are the regrowth, regeneration and hope for the future.

Here's a back view:

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a close-up of the face:

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and some of the hand stitched embellishment:

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She's fixed to a base made from a 'sandwich' of two felt-covered cds that same through the door as junk mail and she stands seven inches tall.

I'd really like to do some more elements, but I don't know if I will have time before the deadline.

Flower power

2009-05-14T22:08:00.000+01:00

I've been taking part in Sharon B's Stitch Explorer Challenge. Find out all about it here. This month's challenge is casalguidi work. Casalguidi work is normally worked on linen , starting with a pulled stitch background. Motifs are worked on top of this using detached buttohole stitch and casalguidi stitch (traditionally raised stem stitch band worked over a bundle of threads)

I had this in my hand, ready to embellish - so what else could I do with it??

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It is a present for my granddaughter on her birthday.

Dotee-type dolls

2009-04-29T10:55:00.000+01:00

I just made this pair of "smockeryfied" dotee dolls to thank a couple of friends for doing me a favour. Thank you Susi and Tarni.

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Oh dear! Now it's going to be hard to part with them!

My first proper pin doll

2009-03-04T21:01:00.000Z

I seem to have escaped full-blown flu (the other person in the house had a really good dose), but I have got most of the minor irritating symptoms. I got up yesterday morning and felt as if I'd grown old suddenly overnight. Looking for something to do that wouldn't need too much application and energy, I made this 'pin doll', to cheer myself up:

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The 'body' part measures about 3 inches, so you need a good cup size to show it off to full effect!

It cheered me up sufficiently to make this pair of 'hangers on' to go with it:

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These are a bit bigger, the 'body' part measures 5 inches.

More spirits

2009-02-20T13:04:00.001Z

I got inspired after making the previous doll, but I decided to try to make smaller ones. I wanted happy, cheerful faces, bright colours and a bit a sparkle. These measure about 7 inches high.

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These two are my favourites:

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Getting into the spirit of things

2009-02-20T12:36:00.001Z

I've been having fun with 'spirit' or 'friendship' type dolls. I've never made these before.

This is the first one I made:

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The Boss says it's HORRIBLE, but I'm quite pleased with it. I like the 'bean-shaped' body - it fits neatly in the hand so it's nice to hold and nice to work on. This one measures about 9 inches. The fabric for the body is printed chiffon needlepunched onto a commercial felted fabric made from recycled synthetic fibres (doesn't that sound better than 'washing up cloth'?), embroidered and embellished with yarn and beads. I sewed a needlesculpted doll's head straight onto the body, so she has a strange humpty back and no neck. I think it adds to her charm!

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I think I might make some more of these!

Blogflog

2009-01-12T08:46:00.000Z

It's official, stitching is good for you!

I think most of us committed stitchers are aware that once we pick up the needle and thread we are often transported to another place, where problems disappear, we relax and time stops. Before you know it, the children are home from school, himself is home from work and there is nothing prepared for dinner! (Not to mention the mess, the coffee cups, the washing still in the machine, no housework done and "Oh my goodness, I forgot to stop for lunch again!" Sometimes, though, this phenomenon can be even more beneficial than you would think. I followed up a comment from Molly
that took me to a post on her blog (not a textile blog, but a very good read nevertheless!) about Betsan Corkhill. Betsan, an occupational therapist, set up a knitting/stitching support group on the internet for people suffering with chronic pain. I'll leave it to Molly to tell you about it. If you are interested you can find her article here.
And here's the link to Bethan's internet support group
Stitchlinks.

If you are interested in the therapeutic effect of needlework, you may also be interested in the therapeutic effect of the results. Have a look at The Comfort Doll Project, started by Pat Winter to send hope and comfort to women affected by physical violence.

Here Come the Girls

2008-12-21T10:13:00.000Z

and their birds!

Here come the girls, and their birds!

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I've been experimenting with the stump dolls, and enjoying playing with Nellie's birds. I thought I would try a different kind of 'hair' so used a novelty knitting yarn, it looks as if it is made by wrapping 'slubs' of unspun fibre with a much thinner yarn of the same stuff, bit like a machine wrapped cord. I 'rooted' it in with a felting needle. I think I prefer the hand knitted wigs!

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I'm using these as Christmas ornaments, because I like the bright coloured sparkliness!

My Second Stump Doll

2008-12-09T11:41:00.001Z

Well, you know what they say, 'Once is never enough'. I thought this one would make a good Christmas Ornament.

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Here's the side view:

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and here's a closeup of the embellishment:

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The 'stump' is covered in black muslin (scrim) needlepunched with green and red dyed wool fleece (roving), then machine quilted to a piece of synthetic felted cloth with pre-programmed machine stitches in red and green thread. The overskirt is commercially produced machine embroidered tulle with a holly pattern. The ruffle around the waist is a red tulle frill and a piece of gathered red nylon lace. Not enough for me, I added some green sequin leaves and red beads. The 'bodice' of the dress was hand needlepunched onto the body, then embellished with novelty knitting yarn, hand embroidery and beads. The usual hand knitted wig and painted face, a little bit more 'bling' and she was done!

Seasonal Stanley

2008-11-12T20:49:00.000Z

Based on my Simple Stanley, but with a painted face. I've worked out these two for the Christmas season. I have a Craft Fair in two weeks time, so I thought I would make a few "Stanleys" in seasonal costume. These are the first.

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Fingers crossed, but I'm not holding my breath!

and while I was hiding from the builders...

2008-10-14T12:56:00.001+01:00

I made this one too:

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The bolero and waist decoration are made from scraps of silk and fleece needlepunched in a 'soluble fabric sandwich', machine quilted with preprogrammed stitches and rinsed. The trousers are chiffon, needlepunched with wisps of fleece from the back to add a little bit of colour and lots of texture, and again machine quilted with preprogrammed stitches. Both sets of garments were embellished with sequins, beads and buttonhole stitch in multicoloured stranded cotton. The shoes were made from scraps left over from the trousers.

Here's a side view:

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My first stump doll

2008-10-14T10:49:00.000+01:00

We had builders in last week so I had to stay indoors. I hid upstairs, played with my machines and made my first 'Stump Doll'. This is a doll with a 'solid' base, rather than legs and feet. I'm not sure it's a very nice name to describe these dolls, but it is the 'technical term'!

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The head, arms and body are made from my usual polyester suede. The 'skirt' is made from scraps of sari silk and other odds and ends needlepunched by machine onto a felt-like synthetic dish cloth then machine quilted with preprogrammed stitches. The frill was made by running the needlepunch machine along the raw edges of a folded silk strip. I stitched it on with knitting yarn in herringbone stitch. The top of the dress was made by wrapping the body with pieces of wool fleece echoing the colours in the skirt and fastening down with seeding stitch and padded knitting ribbon stitched down with buttonhole stitch. I added more buttonhole stitching and some beads for texture. Here's a closeup:

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She has a lightly needlesculpted, hand painted face and a knitted wig. This is what she looks like from the back:

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These type of dolls make such a good canvas for showing off handmade fabrics with lots of embroidery and embellishment. I don't suppose this will be the last one I make. I stuffed this first attempt with my usual polyester stuffing and gave it a thick cardboard base, so that it stands up without being weighted.

60 Minute Makeover..................

2008-09-26T16:11:00.001+01:00

well, OK it took a bit longer than that.

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I wasn't entirely happy with this one. I liked the overall look of her, but I just felt the finish wasn't good enough. Now she has a new wig, I've altered the top of her dress, tidied up her undies and given her new wings.

Here's the back view:

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I've got totally discouraged trying to sell my dolls around here, I've started to set up an Etsy Shop, it's in the SideBar. I haven't got very far yet, I need to sort out Shop Policies and Shipping and polish up the product descriptions, but it's on the way!

No sale!

2008-08-24T17:46:00.000+01:00

My table at the Llammas Fair was cancelled. The weather took a turn for the worse and the tent blew down during the evening!

Next on the calendar was a last minute invitation to our Creative Co-op to fill six stalls with arts and crafts at the annual Lifeboat Regatta. I made some of these, 'Sailor Stanleys', for the occasion. I thought people would appreciate something with a nautical theme.

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I priced them at £9.50 each and I sold just two! (Unfortunately, I made a dozen - six sailors and six matelots).
I also took the 'Merbabes' and I know I priced them low at £15, bearing in mind the collaged quilted fabric, hand embroidery and embellishment. I didn't sell a single one. My daughter says I am charging too much and surely I just want to sell them.
My Creative Co-op colleagues berate me, saying I am not charging enough.................... beats me!

Lots of people stopped to look at my dolls, ask questions and talk about them, but no-one wanted to buy................I don't think changing the price either way would have made any difference.

Inspired by Angela!

2008-07-31T17:30:00.001+01:00

I was practising drawing small faces for the on-line course I'm taking (Windows with Angela Jarecki, check it out, it's fun) and I got carried away with inspiration and made the faces up into tags and pindolls. I drew around a large cotton reel, coloured the faces then cut them out with pinking shears. Then inspiration struck and I applied them to scraps of collage and embellisher fabric from the 'might come in useful' bin. Some wadding, backing fabric and a few stitches and beads and here's the result:

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I'm hoping to sell some of these at our Llammas Fair this weekend.

With the Llammas Fair in mind, I also made up this batch of 'Fish-face Merbabes' (that's where some of the scraps came from!):

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Making Faces

2008-07-19T20:44:00.000+01:00

I've been doing an internet course at Doll Street Dreamers - Windows with Angela Jarecki. The course is to produce an embroidered 'mini-quilt' with a face showing through a 'window' in the centre. The first part concentrates on drawing the face, and I signed on in the hope that working through it would improve my portrait work. I'm currently working on the first week. The first step was to follow Angela's instructions to draw a graphite sketch of a photograph of a model, that was supplied as part of the course, so I haven't reproduced it here. The next step was to draw a face of your choice on fabric in colour, again following Angela's instructions. I decided to try mine out on paper first, here's the result:

Makeover!

2008-06-05T17:10:00.001+01:00

I wasn't really happy with the face for the Merbabies. I wanted it to be more wide-eyed and child-like, and a bit fishy! So I drafted a new face.

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These are cloth dolls with handpainted faces and knitted wigs. The head and arms are polyester suede. The fabric for the bodies is machine quilted onto a synthetic washing up cloth with a layer of sweet wrappers or shiny fabrics beneath, to give a soft sheen rather than a sparkle. The bodies are hand embroidered and embellished with beads, sequins and resin shells. I'm currently experimenting with methods for hand felting the hair to the head, because I hate sewing it on!

I really enjoyed making these...

It's not a doll, but it is related!

2008-05-14T13:06:00.000+01:00

I've been practising portraits, in the hope of improving my doll faces. I'm so pleased with this one that I did of Grandson Number 2, that I just wanted to share it here!

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Coloured pencil on cartridge paper.

Trying out a pattern variation

2008-04-01T13:03:00.000+01:00

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Little Jack Frost.................

2008-03-05T12:23:00.001Z

I made this pair as part of Sharon Boggon's Take it Further Challenge.

The concept for the challenge was 'what am I old enough to remember?' and I'm old enough to remember jack frost patterns on the inside of the windows in winter. I adapted my basic simple doll pattern to make Jack Frost dolls, using body fabrics made in different ways.

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A more detailed description of making the dolls is on my embroidery blog.

Mer Baby

2008-02-18T17:56:00.000Z

I've been thinking of making some kind of friendship/spirit/goddess dolls for my table at the Llammas Fair later this year. I've made a start by adapting my 'Simple Stanley' pattern to make a Mer Baby. This is the 'tester':

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For simplicity, the body and tail is in one piece. The tail fins are not stuffed. The fabric for the body of this 'tester' is a sandwich of synthetic washing up cloth and a very fine semi-sheer cotton with a woven pattern in it, filled with chocolate wrappers (Mingles!). I first of all machine stitched vertical lines of running stitch along the stripes to hold the sweet wrappers. Then I machine stitched horizontal rows of a programmed scalloped stitch to represent scales. After I had stitched the body pieces together, but before I stuffed the body, I decorated it with hand stitching to represent seaweed and added sequins and beads. The face is hand painted and the hair is knitted novelty yarn.

Here's another view:

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and the back:

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Unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera to capture the way the chocolate wrappers sparkle through the top fabric. I was after that shiny fish scale look, and she really is quite 'silvery'.

Country visitors

2008-02-15T14:01:00.000Z

Here's a pair of 'Rustics' calling in on their way to the coast to buy salt. Cousins from the provinces, they stand out in their rough homespun clothes coloured with plant dyes and decorated with berries, as they pose for a family photograph.

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Bizarre Copyright Violation

2008-01-30T15:17:00.000Z

Sharon B, ace textile blogger, gave a link to Copyscape on her blog In a Minute Ago. There have been several posts about copyright violations recently, so I decided to try it out. You put in the URL of a page, and if the page content has been reproduced elsewhere, it gets pulled up.

This is the result I got:

3 results found for S'mockery Dolls (my cloth doll making blog): Remember Rita? Siren of the silver screen.... Click a result below to see your content highlighted.

Silver Siren deals from erotic-toys.ewis.no
... Remember Rita? Siren of the silver screen ... I felt that my mermaids should be a bit more 'voluptuous', more in the siren luring sailors mould. ...
http://www.erotic-toys.ewis.no/silver-siren/

This is MY text, directly from my blog post! I tried the URL, but was unable to get into the site, so I don't know exactly what it is, or what they are doing with my blog post. Obviously, because I can't get into the site and find out who it is, I can do nothing about it.

It seems a very strange place for my mermaid doll to end up, I must say, possibly alongside the bunny eared vibrators and rubber suits - strange bedfellows indeed.

WIP - Sprite sprouts wings!

2008-01-24T12:20:00.001Z

After the 'rebel teen sprite' characters, I thought I would make a prettier one. Her hair and wings are pinned on and she has no undies or shoes yet, but here she is:

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Her head and body are made from polyester suede, her legs are wired and fastened at the hip with button joints and she has the usual painted face and knitted wig. Her clothes are made from rescued sari silk scraps. The waistband of her skirt is embellished with beads and sequins.

This is the back view:

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The back of her skirt is embellished at the waist with a fancy, beaded 'bustle'.

Here's a closeup of the wings:

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The wings are wired. I made the very fine fabric on the needlepunch machine in colours to match her hair. She has very simple wings, because she is very young!

These boots were made for walking ..........

2008-01-11T15:48:00.001Z

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and here are their owners:

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Polyester suede heads and bodies with hand painted faces and knitted wigs. The clothes are made with faux suede and scraps of sari silk from a fire salvage sale, some of it needlepunched in the machine for texture. Embellished with beads, sequins and embroidery. The boy has an embroidered jerkin and the girl has a knitted shrug.

Here's a back view to show the fancy jerkin!

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It seemed like such a simple thing....

2008-01-04T12:04:00.000Z

to design a pair of fairy boots for a sprite!

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This mess represents about 6 hours trial and error - measuring, drawing, fitting...

Just in case anyone thought it was easy!

Rita's co-star....

2007-12-10T13:34:00.000Z

Did I say that I made two of these new sirens. Here's the other one:

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Remember Rita? Siren of the silver screen...

2007-12-06T10:55:00.001Z

I made two of these for the craft fair too. And nobody bought them either!

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I wanted to try out a new body pattern. I felt that my mermaids should be a bit more 'voluptuous', more in the siren luring sailors mould. I made the body in flesh coloured polyester suede, rather than colouring it. The tail is handpainted white polyester suede. First I roller'd it with a sponge roller loaded with a wash of pigment powder. Then I stencilled a design on with fabric pens. When it came to the face and hair, I was thinking 1940s screen idols. I wanted a sort of 'come hither' look. Not sure I managed that. I fastened the tail with covered button joints for a neater appearance. The bodice, skirt and headdress are silk and organza scraps run through the needle punch machine and decorated with beads. The seaweed is scraps of an embroidered silk gauze sari, also run through the needlepunch machine, cut out and stitched on. More beads for a bit of glitz and glitter and she was done!

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This version is quite big, she measures 2ft (60cm) from top of head to tip of tail.

It's my bruvver..............

2007-12-05T14:46:00.000Z

I meant to post this earlier. After I made my version of Raggedy Annie, I made an Andy too!

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Simple Stanley grows up, and a disappointing day..

2007-12-01T18:11:00.000Z

I called my simple doll a Stanley after the small person I made it for. Now I've designed a doll for when he grows up a bit, a Sitting Stanley.

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This doll has legs, a painted, lightly needle sculpted face and the hair is knitted from fluffier yarn.

And as it is near Christmas, I designed a Special Seasonal Sitting Stanley:

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I was asked to take a table at a local Christmas Craft Fayre, so I made a dozen of these and took them along with a dozen Simple Stanleys. Lots of people stopped to look and commented on their cute faces, but I was there all day, and I didn't sell a single one! And I only sold two Simple Stanleys. Maybe Craft Fairs aren't my thing!!!

New kids on the block!

2007-11-13T18:00:00.000Z

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I really had fun with these!

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I made a matching set of crochet bag and espadrilles for this one.

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And this surfer wears flipflops and the obligatory beads and friendship bracelets.

Raggedy Ann - my version

2007-11-07T08:09:00.000Z

The Copper Mouse made a raggedy annie doll in her own inimitable style. She did it, she said, because she thought that every dollmaker should make their own version of Raggedy Ann. Here's mine:

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I don't really do 'primitive', so mine's more of a Sprog in a Raggedy Annie costume.
She hasn't got shoes or stripey socks because I like her little fat toes too much to cover them up!

New shoes...........................

2007-11-05T13:32:00.000Z

Ginger got a new leg and a pair of shoes.

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I think it's an improvement. She can stand now, even though her legs are not wired, but she still has some 'attitude'. The shoes are made in detached buttonhole.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T21:45:00.000Z

I was inspired by the doll I made my granddaughter (you can see her in the previous post) to make a 'grown up' version. Unfortunately, I haven't quite finished in time for Halloween - but here's my progress so far:

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Say 'Hello' to Glampire and her best friend and nest mate Vampolicella.

Glampire, as her name and appearance would suggest, is concerned with her looks. She has a regular weekly late night appointment at the tanning salon for a respray - for of course, she cannot use the sunbeds - and she has her teeth filed and whitened at the 'Tooth Fairy Salon' every six months.

Her nest mate, Vampolicella, on the other hand, has more basic and earthly concerns, namely sustenance. If she cannot get her favourite AB negative, she will make do with any other, even O pos, and she always likes to top up with a few glasses of good Italian red!

Viridienne

2007-10-29T10:32:00.000Z

This is Viridienne, vampire princess. I made her for my granddaughter, so I tried to make her a little less scary than I otherwise might have done.

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She's made of odds and ends and some of those bits that went wrong that we all have and never throw away just in case.

Bad hair day

2007-10-09T15:26:00.000+01:00

Here are the dolls I was working on in the last post. It's wig choosing time!

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