Antique Reproduction Cloth Doll is DONE!

Sally Ann is finally finished! On one of my lists we were talking about our stashes and how if you throw something out you will soon need it. I knew I had bought some doll shoes years ago but couldn't remember seeing them lately. I thought I had traded them and I was going to be disappointed. But, aha, there they were in a box with straw hats and baskets. Yay! They are just the thing for this little girl.

Rivkah will be offering this doll as an on-line class soon although I don't know exactly when or where. You'll learn a new method of jointing, a new face painting method, and probably a few more things. If you're like me you'll fall in love with the Genesis paints. Thanks for letting me test this, Rivkah!

Stump Sisters Pattern - Cloth Doll Pattern

Two dolls for the price of one! Okay - not these dolls but the pattern to make them! I have instructions for both dolls including their accessories. There are 3 pages of color photos that teach how to draw and color Ingrid's face. Including the cover and pattern pages there are 12 pages in this pattern. In depth instructions on how to sew, turn, and wire fingers. I've had this pattern tested by beginner, intermediate and advanced doll makers and they all loved it, I'm betting you will too!

PDF pattern is only $8.00 US via PayPal. I will email you the pattern once I receive the notification of payment from PayPal.

Thought I'd share a nice letter I got recently (Jan 2011)
Hi Judi,

Thank you for the pattern. I looked it over and it is one of the best explained and laid out patterns I have ever purchased. Also, thank you for allowing me to make a few to sell. I make my own dolls and patterns but sometimes, as in your case, I find a pattern that is just "too cute".

Thanks again,
Jo Ann

The little repro head is done

Here is the finished head. I used Texture Magic and a comb to create the hair - it didn't come out as neatly as I hoped. I was trying to recreate the look of the molded vinyl hair. You can also see that when the iron-on face was stuffed the paint seems to have that crackle look to it. Which might be a good thing for an antique repro. Now to attach it to the body and get her dressed!

Genesis Heat Set Oils

This is the face for the doll I'm testing for Rivkah. It's going to be interesting - the head is 3 or 4 parts and you (obviously) paint the face first. I didn't draw the face - it's an iron-on. This was my first time working with the Genesis paints and I really like them - fabulous consistency. I don't think that this is the best surface for them though. I'd like to try them on some type of sealed cotton. Just have to figure out what the best thing to seal them with is. I'd rather stay away from gesso if I can help it. Guess I'll ask my good friend Judy who is a decorative painter - she knows ALL about Genesis. She's the one who told me how to use them to do this face - to use glass for a palette and a metal palette knife because plastics will leach the oils out of the paint. She also told me to use Mona Lisa Odorless Thinner and it worked great to make the paint flow better. I certainly do see some experiments in my future!

Need a wedding bouquet? Call 1-800-JUDI

My eldest daughter came over today and we made her bridal bouquet. The last time I made one of these was when I made my own. She had a book with the bouquet she wanted but who ever follows instructions! We didn't even use the proper flowers but we did use their basic layout. I did learn to use hot glue on the ends of the stems to help hold the flowers in. Although some did fall out so we had to fill the holes with glue and then put the flower back in. I hope the flowers don't fall out when she walks down the aisle in August. She's happy with it so I'm happy too!

What in the world is that?

First off, the head does not belong to the body, ha ha ha. I had sewn it up from the batik I used on Ingrid but it was way too blue/green to use for her face. So I took it to doll club on Monday for UFO and worked on it for fun. Because Gretchen, a new doll maker, was watching me as I worked, I sculpted the sides (flares?) of the nose as well as what I usually do. Kind of a mini-sculpting lesson. I really like it and I think I might just have to do that from now on. She still needs eyelashes and maybe a mole or two. I might have to make a body for her - or I can send her to Shashi and SHE can make a body for her. Just kidding. Anyhow, I'm testing a pattern for Rivkah in Israel and that's what the big body is for. You won't believe what this will be when it's done - it is so not my normal style. I'm having fun trying something new. Keep tuned for progress reports.

Somebody's junk is now my treasure

Okay, I know that's not how the saying really goes but it works for me. At doll club the other night my friend Karen gave me a bag of old screw-on earrings. The backs on these are usually glued on so I think if I use my heat gun I can melt the backings off instead of trying to cut them off. The earrings will be great for decorating headpieces and who knows what else!

Third version of the stump doll

I know I said the next thing would be the baby doll but communication between Alaska and Israel takes a couple of days. Rivkah gets up when I go to bed so it takes a while for our letters to catch up to each other. You know how that goes. So in the meantime I started to paint the prototype for the Stump Sisters. This was the plain muslin doll I made as my final test. I painted her in sunset colors (with acrylics) then glued crumpled white tissue paper over her whole body. After that I sponged on two colors of Lumiere paint and some Pearl Ex Interference Gold. Dabbed a bit of black glitter paint on also. She really shines - which is pretty hard to capture with the camera. I'm not sure where she will go from here. I'm thinking of giving her some skirts that have been dipped in Paverpol and then painted. We'll see.

This, that, and the other

No photos today!!! I just finished another set of those wooden charms and since most of the folks receiving them read this blog I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Next up is going to be a baby doll - I have NEVER made a baby doll !! I am going to test a pattern for my friend Rivkah in Israel.

My testers are working on the Stump Sisters. Courtney finished hers and she's a hoot! She came out great. I have to say I really get a kick out of seeing what other people do with my patterns. It's all so new to me.

Cloth doll headdress class available now

You know how I'm not so great with doll hair? So I make headdresses instead? I love hats, turbans, and other head coverings. Most of them are cloth but I do have a couple of head pieces made with flower petals. I thought I would offer my readers the opportunity to purchase the head dress class that ran over at Doll Street a few months ago. I must have written it well because the online class was so quiet it might as well never have been formed. No one had any questions - they downloaded the file and said they loved the class. I teach 6 different headdresses, with variations for a couple of them, here's photos of them ...

I think there are about 26 pages of photos and instructions. If you'd like a copy I can email the PDF file to you for $10 U.S.

via PayPal

How to create an illusion of a hat

As promised, here is how I made the 'hat'. First you need to cut an oval of material larger than you want the finished hat to be. You could use pinking shears or a wavy rotary cutter blade for a neat edge effect. You could even sew a gathered lace around the 'brim'. Sew three little circles of gathering stitches a little higher than center, each one 1/8" away from each other. Pull fairly tight. This will create the 'crown' and gather the material into the pretty folds. Next you need to cover the doll with some plastic wrap. Take some fabric stiffener (like Aleene's Stiffy) and pour onto a paper plate. Lay the hat in it and spread it all over - both sides. Push off excess glue. Put the hat on the doll and adjust the folds. Pin in place. Let dry. If you're like me you will let it dry for about half an hour and then hit it with the heat gun to finish it up. Add decorations like silk flowers and bows. I used corsage pins to secure it to the doll's head. Easy!!!

Ingrid is done!

Finally done! If it wasn't for drying time I could have had her finished yesterday. I sprayed her face with Craftgard. I took step by step photos of drawing/coloring her face so that will be in this pattern too. It's amazing how different the two girls look - the faces were stuffed differently and the eye shapes make one alert and one rather sleepy.

The hat is a fake, LOL. It's an illusion of a hat - don't you just love it! Next posting I'll tell you how I made the hat. The big piece of lace she's standing on isn't attached to the doll - it's just a 'prop'. I have yards and yards of this lace. Bought an entire 'bolt' when a fabric store went out of business. The two girls will be shipped down to Soldotna next week. Phew. Now to think of something new to make!

What a difference color makes!

I am nearly done with the next stump doll. I want to send two versions off as samples - so folks can see what can be done with one pattern. Plus it will help the students decide what they want to do. This one has a body made of batik - all one material - except for the flesh shoulder/neck area. Lots more embellishing to do still. Not to mention face and hair. Oh, don't ask what's stuck on her head -

Art Bras

One of the ladies who is sponsoring the Art Bra Showhad her husband take photos of the bras. You might remember I designed my Stone Cold Troll for this show. I'll be going to see them on Friday and I hope they let me take photos. But in the meantime, you can view them here.

Artful pillow

I got a new camera and I've been trying to figure out how it works. It's a Canon Powershot S3 IS (same as Sherry's). I took this photo from about 10 feet away from the pillow with the telephoto lens and the flash - I'm amazed at how well it came out. My little Fuji would never have been able to do this. This is a little accent pillow that I bought from my friend Kelli Perkins. Kelli is an up and coming artist who is becoming a regular contributor to Cloth, Paper, Scissors. She does absolutely breathtaking work. Look on page 34 of this coming issue to see her article on paper quilts. Don't you just love this pillow! I want to redo all my living room pillows to match these colors, LOL.