Finished.........

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She has some of her symbols: a bowl of burning peat for the fire of the hearth, a hammer for the fire of the forge and a serpent for the fire of creativity. She also has some symbols of Imbolc, her feast day: a lamb for the renewal of life, a headdress representing the sun for the renewal of light, a protective spray of rowan, some shamrocks and the colours green and white. She also has her cloak, with a Brigid's cross or firewheel on the back and, of course, embroidery.

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The serpent is needlefelted. The last layer was needlefelted through net to give a scaly appearance.

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The bowl of fire and the hammer were both needlefelted.

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Her face is hand painted and lightly needlesculpted. Her beaded headdress represents the sun's rays. Her hair is wool fibre, some of it plaited.

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This is Brigid's Cross or firewheel, a protective symbol. It is embroidered here in cotton perle, but it would have been made with straw or willow. A piece of cloth representing Brigid's cloak would have been left outside on Imbolc (1st and 2nd February) then brought back into the house as a protective symbol.

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The lamb is needlefelted with a wire armature. I think she's finished, although I'm still not quite sure about that needlefelted cloak.

First little bit of christmas sparkle!

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Felt layered with organza, silk sliver and wool fibres. Needlepunched on the embellisher machine then machine quilted. Embellished with hand embroidery and beads.

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The wings are made from a nappy (diaper) layered with wisps of wool fibres and silk sliver and needlepunched on the embellisher machine. Two layers bonded together with fusible webbing.

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The face is hand painted and lightly needlesculpted.

Nearly there

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(Click on photo for bigger image) Now she carries her fire and her hammer and she has her serpent. The flame, hammer and serpent are hand needlefelted. I needlefelted the snake through some net to give a scaly appearance, now I have to figure out how to sew it all on. I also need to figure out how to make her fire wheel, or Bridgid's Cross, and where she should wear it!

That's Better!

She's lost a bit more weight and has new wired cloth hands....

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She is wearing her traditional green mantle.

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I'm much happier with this now. More to do...........................

Clothes for a pixie babe

Traditionally, fairies in Sussex did not have wings. They were the "little people" or the "old ones". They wore earthen or woodland colours of brown or green and had strange features. Sussex fairies were known as "Pharisees" or "Pucks". This is how I imagine a little Sussex Puck might look.

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(Click on photo for bigger image) His clothes are made from faux suede and his top is lined with printed cotton in a green leaf design.

Stumped

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I took the stuffing out, turned it inside out and slimmed it down as much as I could. I don't think she's tall enough.

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Maybe she will look different when I sew the arms on. Also, there are some more embellishments and bits of costume plus the base, so there may be room for adjustment there. We shall see!

Inspired by a suggestion.

A customer suggested I make a "Bridget Spirit Doll". I wasn't sure what that was, so I did a bit of research and found the Pagan Celtic Goddess Brigid/Bride/Brigil.

Brigid was a goddess of Fire, Sun and the Hearth, healing, poetry and smithcraft, often worshipped as a "triple goddess". Brigid was often represented carrying the flame of life. She was said to have two sisters of the same generation also named Brigid. The sisters were defined by their particular responsibilities.

Brigid, the Fire of the Hearth, the goddess of fertility, family, childbirth and healing.

Brigid, the Fire of the Forge, patroness of the crafts (weaving, embroidery and metalsmithing) and also justice, law and order

Brigid, the Fire of Inspiration, the must of poetry, song history and protector of cultural meaning.

The triad of Brigid goddesses were sometimes worshipped together, sometimes individually.

Brigid's festival is Imbolc, the first two days of February. Imbolc marks the beginning of the lambing season, the beginning of Spring and renewel and the stirrings of new life.

Symbols attributed to Brigid include the snowdrop, the flame, the sheep, the swan and the Brigids cross, a potent symbol of protection.

Brigid wears the traditional colours of Imbolc, white and silver for purity and green for the fresh new life.

So, there is a lot of inspiration to be found in the tradition of Brigid. I've started by making a piece of fabric in colours of cream, pale yellow and green and using it to make a simple doll shape.

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I must say, I like the sound of the multi-tasking Goddess Brigid and percolating in the back of my mind is a larger representation of the goddess with the three faces of Brigid. The suggestion from my customer has given me just the push I needed!

Make-over for some old friends...........

I decided that I could improve on the costumes for a pair of dolls I made a while ago. Here's a reminder of the originals:

(Click on photo for bigger image) and here they are in their redesigned wardrobes!

(Click on photo for bigger image) He has a new shirt, with a lace cravat and a wide belt. His jacket fastens at the sides with beaded laces. He also has new, stiffened felt boots.

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(Click on photo for bigger image) His twin sister has new shorts with a wide waistband, new shoes, a new lined, panelled and laced coat and a heavily beaded collar.

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New doll, new clothes..........

With similar dolls  I've made,  I felt that the clothes let me down a bit.  So I've been trying to improve on them.

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This doll has a printed dress with a lined bodice and a petticoat with a scallop design to the hem. I think it's much better. Now I just have to make the panties and decide whether to cover up those fat little feet with shoes!

Pixie this..................!

If they don't come out quite right, turn them into pixies!

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This one had a funny face and long fingers., so he got pixie ears and a shaggy haircut.

New and improved.............

I updated my "twin" pattern. I've added a seam in the centre face gusset to make a better shaped chin and a founder face. I've also cut a new arm pattern with separate fingers. I made the body a bit shorter and the legs a bit bigger for better proportions.

Now I'm working on improving the clothes.

The Watchman - Textile Figure

Here's another in the "Wise Ones and Elders" series. This one is called The Watchman because the colours are the blues and purples of nightime. I was thinking of a "night watchman" keeping away bad dreams and things that go bump in the night!

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Each Wise One or Elder is individually made. The base fabrics are constructed of scraps and bits and pieces embellished together on the machine, machine quilted and needlefelted. The faces are portraits in coloured pencil with added fabric paint, lightly needle sculpted. They have fancy headresses and best of all lots and lots of slow, rhythmical hand stitching that took several hours, producing lots of texture. All combined into a 3-dimensional decorative item that can stand up on its own.

I really do love to change the look of a piece of fabric with a few threads and simple stitches!

Embroidered textile figurine

I decided to make some more figures in my "series" Wise Ones and Elders.

I like making these, but they do take a long time!

I've called this one "Bringer of the New Dawn" because the colours remind me of a summer sunrise. I especially like the shape of this one.

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Each Wiseone or Elder is individually made. The base fabrics are constructed of scraps and bits and pieces embellished together on the machine, machine quilted and needlefelted. The faces are portraits in coloured pencil with added fabric paint, lightly needle sculpted. They have fancy headresses and best of all lots and lots of slow, rhythmical hand stitching that took several hours, producing lots of texture. All combined into a 3-dimensional decorative item that can stand up on its own.

Stanettes?

I thought I would have a go at making girl "Sitting Stanleys". Should I call them "Stanettes"?!

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........ keep watching the birdie!

This is closer to what is in my head, but I definitely need to make those wings separately and stuff them before I stitch them on.

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I especially like his vest/waistcoat!

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Did I tell you that I was making this for the first and last Art Dolls Only quarterly challenge of 2012?

And did I tell you that Art Dolls Only has been re-invented and the new fan page can be found here?

Tagging along!

I inspired myself with my Tags for Tuesday, and carried on to make these little art dolls from scraps of felt and recovered computer wire.

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Latest Stanley

Here's my latest sitting Stanley. I plan to follow him up with a little girl Stanley made in a similar way.

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Watch the birdie.......................

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I made this strange creature for the first Art Dolls Only Quarterly Challenge of 2012 - the word was bird!

Keeping fit!

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I made this for Marianne, the trainer for cardiac rehab. I have been creaking and groaning through the sessions since before Christmas. Her "uniform" is red sweatshirt and black joggers. Marianne is about to retire and it is her birthday this week. I wanted to give her something personal to say thank you for the care and dedication she has put into her work. The doll looks like Marianne, she wears her long hair in plaits when she is working!