Arts of Delight

  I have been experiencing a great propensity for being diverted from making dolls by the minutiae of everyday life. Not to mention reading books In The Daytime! November was very grey here and it sucked the spirit and energy right out of me. I looked over my dolls in progress and decided to complete some. In March I bought the North Coast Dolls kit for making a small needlefelted Waldorf inspired doll and because I knew it would take a lot of time and effort I put off getting into it. It was time to start.  As I began the instructions I discovered a couple of things that were unclear/impossible and didn't get a response to questions from either Little Oke Dolls, from whom I bought the kit, or from Meglena, the creator of North Coast Dolls. I put the doll aside for a while and finally managed to ask my question on Meglena's FB. I got a sort of answer, which made me decide to do what I thought was right anyhow. I carried on. Upon finishing the head, I discovered I had made it t...

After a fair bit of work and a lot of support from Anna Eidt my dolls are now on exhibit for the month of November in the Gallery Of Sorts in the back room at the local crafts store Watson and Lou. They have been carrying my classic Waldorf dolls for a while and I feel honoured that they are willing to showcase all my different interests in dollmaking. Many thanks, Watson and Lou!

Today I finished a doll that has kept me busy for the past three weeks, (with days off thrown in). I wanted to make a cloth doll with a much more rounded head than the usual flattish one associated with primitive cloth dolls from the past. My eye was caught by a cloth doll made by Peggy Flavin that you can see on the website of Corgyncombe Courant. She has a nose that actually sticks out. Peggy graciously explained to me that the nose was made from paperclay that was glued onto the face before painting. Her doll was adapted from a Gail Wilson pattern, which uses darts to make the head round and gives it a chin too. I thought that I would try to make a doll with a baseball head and used advice from several sites on how to create my own head. After some experimentation I came up with a head I liked and proceeded to design a body in proportion to the head. After stuffing the doll I added a nose of paperclay, then sanded and gessoed her head and limbs. Next, painting the face. I always enj...

 I spent a great deal of time yesterday photographing and posting my most recent dolls on Instagram and listing them in my Etsy store. They all came together around the same time, as I found myself working on several at the same time. This black lady doll was a struggle to complete. I used a technique to paint her skin that did not turn out as I had hoped and she has a decidedly plain face. It took a lot of pondering to come up with her hair treatment, but I am satisfied with it. Even though her dress is very simple, it took a lot of work to make, as I had to adjust the gathers and fiddle with the back of the dress to get it to fit (clumsily). She has a full set of underwear too. The easiest thing about her was her painted on boots. I completed this little Izannah Walker doll and made her a period correct Sontag with tiny needles and fine yarn. I like the colour of her dress. I did struggle with her face, and I am still not totally happy with it, but she is launched into the world ...

This is a doll I finished yesterday and I am very happy with her! I purchased the kit from Gail Wilson Designs and followed her wonderfully precise patterns and instructions. Gail has spent many years perfecting her teaching and it shows. Everything went very smoothly. This particular doll is only 12" tall, so her garments have to take up as little bulk as possible. I wanted her to have a chemise, (not included) so I designed a  split crotch combination for her, after consulting some images online. The darts in the torso make more bulk, so I was obliged to alter her dress pattern to make more room. I was moderately successful. Just don't look at the back! I have long wanted to make a sontag for a doll, so, after several hours of research online, I created one for her. The scale of the yarn is too bulky, but it is a start. The last photo shows her tiny boots and real stockings. I am going to modify this pattern and make another, bigger, doll.

 This Izannah Walker style doll is one I finally finished dressing yesterday. She has presented me with several challenges growth opportunities. Her head was made by pressing Premier clay into a silicone mold I made last summer, letting it dry, assembling it and then covering it with stockinette. I followed the instructions from a workshop I had purchased from Paula Walton. However, I found that it really has very little neck, and when I put it onto the body and finished sewing it in, she had no neck at all! I decided to just plough ahead and carried on making her underwear- chemise, split crotch pantalettes and petticoat. Then I took another really good look at her and realized her feet were really, really ugly, so I cut her off at the knees, made new and better shoes/legs, then sewed them back onto the thighs. Because she has no neck, I researched the original dolls and found several dresses that went right up to the neck. Perhaps my problem was something Izannah dealt with too....

 It has been a long time since I wrote to you here. Seduced by the quick posts in Instagram, I guess. Making dolls has been my passion and salvation this past year, and it looks like that won't be changing anytime soon. We are hostages to people who don't think their actions have consequences, and are in lockdown again. Getting the vaccine soon though. Looking over the dolls I have made since my last post has surprised me, there are so many. My dolls are now in a local handmade craft store, and I have been making some dollies with darker skin. Here are two of them: One little customer was thrilled to see a doll with the same skin colour as hers. I have also been slowly making clothes for the Izannah Walker dolls. One has a dress inspired by a dress worn by a little girl in a period photograph. I worked very hard and long to make a pattern for the dress, then to line it and finish it with ribbon trim. I learned a lot from that dress, and won't make those mistakes again! I ma...