She's an autumn sprite!

and she's more or less finished:



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The leaves for her headress and decoration for her stool were made with layers of organza bonded together and the stems are machine wrapped knitting yarn. I had the worst trouble with the shoes, I tried the pattern in the book but I couldn't make it fit, then I tried to make my own pattern but that didn't work either so in desperation I got out the yarn and hook and she has a nice comfy pair of crochet granny slippers instead of the airy fairy boots I envisaged!

Here are the profile views:


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and here is the finished stool:


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Sitting even prettier.................

I decided the mushroom stool looked a bit plain, so I got out the colouring pencils:


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This is sloes and rosehips


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Sloes


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and a hazel leaf.

I don't need to do the top, because there will be leaves all around the edge and the doll will be sitting on it.

Sitting pretty

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I had a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep last night, so the leaves and beads got stitched on. I managed to mangle some of them, because I tried a more complicated arrangement than the one I had previously pinned on and had to unpick it all. I should know better and always go with my first idea - also, I should remember that less is often more and simple is often best! Then, because I had to be quiet, I decided to touch up her face a bit. Finally, I decided to make a mushroom for her to sit on and made a start on that.


Can't decide whether or not to make wings. I should really, for the practice, even if I don't use them.

Blackberries and autumn leaves

I am really enjoying this!


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Made the leaves from various bits of coloured organza, put through the needlepunch machine.

Now to sew them on and add some beads and berries!

Blackberry doll

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The fabric for the dress is a piece of brightly coloured silk sarong, put through the needle punch machine with a very fine layer of coloured wool tops (roving). I wanted to get those rich, bright, autumn leaf (fall) colours.

Once I had the dress, I decided to change the hair to match! And the first bit of embellishment, a spray of blackberries and leaves for her hair.

Progress on wood nymph/blackberry fairy

Now she has hair!


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side view:

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And now for something completely different...

My first attempt at a Patti Culea pattern. She's going to be a wood nymph/blackberry fairy kind of a doll, that's why she's green! When she's finished, she can keep Doris company on the upstairs landing...........


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She's made of green robe velour with a grey face because I didn't think I would be able to colour on the dark green. I used the beginners body pattern from Patti Culea's book "Creative Cloth Doll Making" but I used the intermediate head. By the time I had finished, the hands had been thoroughly mangled twice and there was a hole in her arm that I made while I was poking the stuffing in. Never mind, she's an 'art doll' so I can cover up all the mistakes later on! I drew her features in with a brown permanent marker and coloured in with blendable coloured pencils. Here's a close-up of her face.


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Thanks go to

Patti Culea

for the pattern and the inspiration...............

It was in there, but it wouldn't come out!

After spending far too much time on this wobbly lot:


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what was in my head finally came out:


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now perhaps I can get on with something else!

A simple doll.......

for a very small person. My smallest grandchild is six months old. I made the 'twins' for his older sister and brother, so I thought he should have his own doll too.

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This doll has a two-piece body with an opening at the neck. The head pieces are sewn together, with a slit at the back for stuffing and for the neck to fit into. I used jersey fabric with a slight stretch and the hair is a gathered knitted strip. The features are lightly needle sculpted. The doll has big eyes, because that is what babies like, and his legs are easy for little hands to hold. The arms can be pulled and the hair is fluffy, so it feels nice and soft. The face is drawn in permanent marker, coloured pencil and gouache, mixed with fabric medium and the colours are heat set. I chose the lurid crushed velvet jersey fabric because although I don't like it much, I think the bright colour, the shine and the soft feel will appeal to a baby.

Girl doll

I made some more changes to the pattern and made a little girl doll. I have to do some more work on the hands and feet. I'm not at all satisfied with the shape of the hands, too thin - I tried a pointing index finger here on one hand. As for the feet, somewhere along the way, I've lost the heels! I do like her happy face, but I think I need a chin gusset, as that dart makes a point if the fabric is not soft enough or does not have enough 'give'. Instead of joining the legs together right through the body, I joined each one to the centre and gave her a 'belly button'.



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It doesn't matter - I need the practice. And if I make her some clothes, my grandchildren will play with her!

I'm waiting for some more of the fabric I made the twins with, the fabric I made this doll with is really too thick and stiff, but fine for practicing on.

Two new ones

As a novice doll-maker, I am still experimenting. I made two more dolls to replace the 'twins' that I gave to my grandaughter.

I used different materials for these, to see how they worked up.

One is made from furnishing weight velour. This was just a bit too thick and heavy and made the details hard to work. The arms and legs are simply sewn to the body on this doll. I painted the face in the same way as I made the previous dolls, with fabric paints and gouache.

The other is made from brushed cotton of the type used for winter nightdresses. This was nice to work with, and lovely and soft to touch, but a little too loosely woven. On this doll, I sewed a button to each arm and leg and sewed through both the buttons and the body. The face for this doll was drawn in coloured pencils on a piece of cream glazed cotton. I used the same fabric for the whole head and it was just a little too stiff, but I liked the almost translucent look of the face. I'll try it again, using the same type of front face gusset and a different, softer fabric for the sides.

Neither of the ways of joining the limbs to the body worked as well as teddy bear joints, because the arms and legs are just that bit too loose.


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This is a close-up of the coloured pencil face.

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