Still plodding on..............................

Val's doll now has shoes (minus laces), a knitted shawl and a doll stand in the shape of a seat.

Sit!

If she's going to knit, she'll need somewhere to sit!

Some of the raw materials for her doll stand, a nice comfy chair.

More progress on Val's Knitter

Got a bit of a "serving wench" thing going on here:

A "pinny" made from my old shirt and a peasant style bodice. She will need a nice knitted shawl to keep her warm.

For my Pal Val.

My Pal Val is a keen knitter. She wanted to buy my forager's wife, but I couldn't let her go so I promised to make Val a version.

Here is the covered and needle felted armature, complete with lace trimmed bloomers and wired cloth hands.

 and a nice warm petticoat.

Topped off with a tea dyed muslin (cheesecloth) skirt.

Rat's Progress

The rat got whiskers! Here he is with my best china teacup for scale.

I made the whiskers from those plastic ties that fix clothes labels. Horsehair would have been better, but I don't know any equestrians!

Rat's Progress

Having performed major surgery on his front legs and paws I decided to give him a new matching tail too.

Here he is with nice new feet, front paws and a tail.

Oh my goodness, he's got teeth too, and are those new ears? He really is a bit of a poseur!

Still a bit more to do here. Neaten up the body work and he needs some whiskers and some claws!

Rats!

A good friend of mine had an on-going problem with an unwelcome rodentiferous visitor last year. Along on the seafront, with all the hotels and eating places, rats are plentiful so an invasion is always a risk, especially when there is work being done to the residential buildings there. We spent so much time discussing the miscreant that eventually I was inspired to make one. I wanted to make it resemble a rat, be easily identified as a rat but be a bit nicer than a rat.

This was new territory for me, but I made a start.

This is the wire armature wrapped in pipe cleaner with wired cloth "hands" and feet.

Once I started needling on the core wool I decided I didn't like those cloth extremities. After several attempts, I made new hands and feet, needled over pipe cleaner. Not too sure about those feet, think they are too big.

Began to put on the top coat and started to shape the face. It was all going so well, until one of his feet fell off. I tried to reattach it, but it didn't work. I had to make a new foot and operate on his leg,  but it really wasn't satisfactory. The only answer was to make new feet.

Here his is with nice new feet, a bit smaller, and ears. He has black beady eyes and a nose. Unfortunately, in the usual way of things, I ran out of the pink merino I'd used for his front paws and his original feet. I can either add a layer to his front paws or make a new pair. Of course, a new pair would mean surgery on his arms. Put him away for a while and think about it!

The McPolar Family

December 2017.

These are this year's christmas decorations for my daughter. The McPolar family, Mum Dad and the kids, out for a boxing day walk!

Needle felted polar bears on a wire armature.

Scarves from scraps of fleece fabric, needle felted hats, felt flower trim.

Nuno Felting

June 25 2017

Took part in a Nuno Felting workshop at Studio 11 yesterday and made this scarf. This is a good technique for costuming my needle felted figures. The resulting fabric has a nice drape, you can make it as transparent a you like, the fine fabric backing gives a bit of strength and stability and the more wool you use, the less it frays. This is wool tops on a silk chiffon backing with added bits of silk.

SMockerySmArt goes out and about

April 29 2017

SMockerySmart supporting the very first FibreFest today in Eastbourne. I have decided to close my Etsy Shop and stop selling the things I make, so this was purely a "Show and Tell" exercise to introduce textile and fibre doll-making to the uninitiated. It was a really nice day. Hopefully it will become an annual event!

The forager's wife

April 2017

I decided the forager needed a wife! Needle felted on a wire armature with wired cloth hands. She sits knitting, her basket of supplies next to her.

Time to update this blog!

I've been neglecting this blog. It's time to bring it up to date.

December 2016

My annual contribution to my daughter's Christmas decorations. Before the family moved to Australia, Jen my daughter and Richard my son-in-law used to leave the children with me and spend a day Christmas shopping. I used to spend part of the day making cards or decorations with them. When they moved to Australia in 2012 I made some decorations anyway and it's become a bit of a tradition.

The needle felted teapots are because for the past four years, Richard has bought Jen a teapot for her birthday. I felted them onto a polystyrene ball, the spout and handle were felted around a wire pierced through the ball.

Pink and white  needle felted sugar mice!