Tilda Swap

Last month I pitched the idea of doing a Tilda theme for our Textile Tarts December swap. People were receptive, and there were no other ideas on the table, so a Tilda swap it will be!
The internet is full of Tilda's- every style imaginable.  It was decided that each member could choose any size and style Tilda that they wanted to make- the sky's the limit! It should be fun to see all the Tilda dolls.

Last May I joined my town's garden club. They also have a swap at their December meeting so I decided to make two Tilda's- one for each swap! That way I get the fun of making two, but don't end up with two after all is said and done. Actually, I will end up with a new one created by someone in the Tarts.

                                               

This is the one I am going to use for the garden club swap. I picked the dress fabric first- it's very sheer so I doubled it creating a puffy skirt. I thought all the flowers said "Garden Party".  After that it was just a matter of pulling colors out of the skirt to make the rest of her outfit. She is a very simple doll to sew so it really is all about the costuming.   

 After I finished the doll, I realized I had the perfect chair! She is only 13 inches seated or 17 inches standing. The Tilda doll patterns from the books are much larger, but I do like this size.

 I know I am taking a chance bringing her to the garden club swap as they are not necessarily fabric doll people, but I'm going to do it anyway. She is holding flowers so there is a connection. Once I see what people bring this year, I will know what is expected for next year.

Dragon

I put all my plants outside during the summer months which leaves lots of "empty" places inside. I noticed an empty pedestal not long ago and decided it needed a dragon. So I made this one.

The head, neck and tail are wired for flexibility and allow posing. The teeth and nails are made using Paper Clay that I varnish once dried. And the eyes are glass.

Here he is at home.

The Duchess

My third and final bottle doll for this summer- I need to make someone with feet pretty soon!

I call her The Duchess. Constructing her had its challenges. First. I only had a tiny amount of fabric. Actually, the red satin brocade fabric came from a sample book of different fabrics which meant I only had about an 8 inch by 10 inch piece. I fussy cut the bodice to get the design centered on her torso which left very little extra for sleeves and skirt. When I finally did get to the skirt I switched to the gold fabric with a red lining- also from the sample book. So....challenge #1: no room for error on the fabric.
Challenge #2 was getting the skirt attached to the bodice. The neck of this bottle swerves in and out so attaching a gathered skirt was no easy feat. I don't know how many times I thought I had it only to flip it over and find half of it unattached. Very frustrating. In the end I managed to clothe her in high style. The beautiful rhinestone belt she wears is a left over piece of bling from my daughter-in-law's wedding dress as is the circular button attached to the seal on the bottle and her earrings.  The red ribbon and the seal are part of the original bottle so my colors were dictated by that.
Well, enough about her construction...here she is.

I stole the fan she is holding in these pictures from one of my other bottle dolls so I could take a few  pictures and be done. But I will be making her her own fan in the future. Otherwise she is finished.

Folk Dancer- Vintage Spirit #9

Just finished! Deciding who this bottle would become was easy- she was already depicted on the label.  I just focused in on the dancers. Except for the bottle, she is all cloth. Her hands are wired which allow her to grasp her skirt.  

Here is a close up of the label. I used the colors on the girl in front and just went from there.

This label is from the 1930's-A German Wine. 

What Was I Thinking??

I can't imagine why I decided to post a picture of my work space (or should I say disaster area) yesterday. Since then I have been browsing other blogs and NO ONE puts up pictures of their space when it is messy! Everyone else shows pictures of their studio space in pristine condition. What was I thinking?? Oh well. damage done. So now I am going to try to put a spin on it (yes, presidential politics has definitely started in New Hampshire) and include a few new photos of a somewhat cleaner space.

I am finished with the two Vintage Spirit dolls (bottle dolls- I call them my Vintage Spirits because much of the fabric and all of the jewelry I use on them is vintage; and spirits because of the liquor bottles) I have been working on except obviously for their heads. Still procrastinating, I cleaned up the work space and took a few "after" pictures. I collected a few of my other figures to look at when I tackle the faces on the two new additions- otherwise this is a pretty accurate look at my work space on an off day.

 I think this is a great idea for organizing tools yet still keeping them in close proximity to the work space. You can see all my beads in the Gerber containers I mentioned in my last post. I like that I can just stand in front of it and see it all at one glance.

Here is a picture of my fabric cabinet with all my thread attached to the side. I bought these tin pails years ago at Walmart in the floral department I think. They are the perfect size- about 4 inches tall with a 5 inch diameter. I have the thread color coded- each pail has the possibility of holding about 20 spools which is more than I have ever accumulated in any color family.
The fabric armoire that the pails are attached to is approximately 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall. Not big by any means but inside the shelves are totally full on ALL my fabric, color coded. I NEVER buy fabric for a specific figure. Instead I buy fabric I like and put it in this cabinet. So when I am contemplating costuming I can open it and like every piece of fabric that I see. That way I am always happy with the fabric that I am working with on any figure. I also will never buy more fabric than this armoire can accommodate. I know most people have much much more than I, but personally I would feel overwhelmed by any more, and I seem to always be able to find that "perfect piece" with what I have stored here whenever I am working on a figure
Well. now I have shared 1/2 of my work space- and in somewhat decent condition- so I feel better. Tomorrow I will get my courage up and tackle the heads...until then .....

Mess In Progress

Yes I know the saying is "Work in Progress" but I think in my case it is better described as "Mess in Progress".  I am generally not a messy person, but for some reason when I am working on a figure I choose to operate amid complete chaos. I think of it as my personal "Hyde" time. My work table is quite large, 4'x6' but when I am working it shrinks down to 1'x2' open space. Then, when I am finished with the doll, I will clean off the entire table and will have this amazing space again- that apparently I will never actually use! Crazy

I keep all my beads in plastic Gerber baby food containers and as you can see I have pulled out quite a few. I keep all my thread color- coded in small tin buckets one of which is visible. I have all these buckets hanging on the side of my fabric cabinet. Speaking of fabric, I find I pull lots of fabric out and hence there is fabric piled up all over! Pins, scissors, trims....endless chaos!  But somehow, it seems to work for me. Currently I am working on two more bottle dolls. One is a folk dancer and the other a duchess. Neither have heads- I am procrastinating. Usually I finish one doll completely before starting another but I just have an aversion to creating the heads so I moved on. I will finish both before the summer is over and I return to work, but for now I am content to surround myself with the headless.
I promise I'll post the completed pieces soon.
I just thought I would share my mess with the world today.

Which Came First- The Chicken or the Egg?

It has been about a year since I've made a cloth doll as my focus has been on needle felting,
but recently I was in the grocery store and I saw this wine bottle and immediately knew who it was destined to become. So I bought the wine, drank every last drop, cleaned the bottle, and made her.

The last bottle doll I made I needle felted so it was a challenge returning to all cloth. But I really enjoyed the process and have decided to make a few more this summer.  I challenged the cloth doll group I belong to (Textile Tarts) to make one along with me this summer. I hope some of them take the challenge because it is lots of fun and moves along quickly since the bottle is most of the doll.

The hen is needle felted with legs made from paperclay and a shell for its beak. The eggs are also  made using paperclay.

Poetry

I finished my 9th wall doll today. Her name is Poetry because she holds Leaves of Grass, a book of poems by Walt Whitman.

Latest Challenge: Doll Parts Swap

In November, club members were asked to bring an unfinished doll- basically one that was cut out and stuffed only- to the meeting concealed in a bag. All the bags were put on a table and everyone picked one. All dolls needed to be completed and brought to the February meeting. At that meeting we would try to guess who completed the doll and who began the doll.
Here is a picture of the doll that I picked:

All cloth approximately 10 1/2 inches when the head is added

The first major challenge is to get her to stand independently. The feet are quite small and offer no support, but the legs do not bend so she can not be seated. Also, I really like the shape of the legs and don't want to lose that aspect.
Since the February meeting falls on the fourteenth, my plan is to make a Valentine Doll. Not a very original idea, but it's what I'm going with anyway.
To solve the problem of support, I opened her heals and ran a brass tube up each to the hip to support her body. Then I made a pair of paper clay shoes around her feet, painted them black, varnished them to represent paten leather, added a few bows and voila! She stands!

She has a very unusual torso shape. I thought the small waist demanded a big skirt. So I made her one using Valentine style fabric. Underneath the skirt is a netting slip to add the poof. She has a pair of white tights and red underpants. WOW. I also made her a felt jacket embroidered with black hearts. It is tied at the waist with a black ribbon and her lapel pin is one of her skirt hearts on top of a piece of black felt cut into a heart shape.

Second major challenge is the head! It is a pancake head- I have absolutely no experience with this type of face. The good news is I have two sides to work on so if the first side is a disaster I haven't completely ruined her.

I finished her and I will say she was a challenge for me! I hope whoever she belongs to likes the choices I made when completing her.

POSTSCRIPT:
Mother Nature won- the February meeting was postponed until March due to a major snowstorm. So we didn't get to swap our creations until yesterday! I think I hit the jackpot. Pat Hinga took my doll parts and created this little fellow. I think he is absolutely wonderful.

Originally, some time last year I had planned on attending a Peggy Wilson workshop. but in the end I came down with the flu and missed it entirely. The prep work for this class was to cut out and stuff the body parts. I think I stuffed the head but that is it. So I ended up bringing the unstuffed body and two stuffed heads to the club swap. Pat picked my bag and voila! she put her creative talents to work. The hat is crocheted, the vest is embellished with stitchery and the shirt even has little buttons. Pat designed all the clothing herself. He is just delightful- I could not be happier.

Decision Made!

I finally decided she will become Wall Doll #9. I think being on the wall is the best way to protect her elegant hairdo. So I made legs and creature feet and a lovely pair of capris for her today. I also know who she is now- her name is Poetry. When she is finally finished she will be clasping a leather bound book of poetry. I knew she needed those glasses for a reason.

If you look behind her on the door to my sewing room you will see Pebbles. She is made in the same pose with legs crossed at the ankles. 

Wicked!

It really amazes me the unconscious effect of music. I have been listening to the Broadway cast recording of the musical Wicked as I have been felting this head. And low and behold she is sort of green! When I gave her the green eyelids and especially when I added the green lips I thought I had ruined her but..there is something endearing about her. She just refused to be discarded - so I continued by adding green hair!
In for a penny in for a pound!

No Glasses
How do you like the work table! Could it be messier?? I especially like all the liquor bottles!

With Her Glasses

Add a fitting hairdo!

 I'm on vacation this week so I hope to find time to continue working on her. Next step is to make her arms and legs. I think I'm going to needle felt naked feet since she is an elfish creature. The big decision is whether she should be one of my wall dolls or someone that sits on a table??



decide.

Bottle Doll #8

A friend gave me the Long Neck giraffe bottle last month. I have many other bottles waiting in line to become whomever they are destined to be, but I decided to start with the last and work my way back.This time instead of using fabric, I decided to try needle felting to see if I liked the result. I do like it, but I think I will also continue to use fabric as well in the future. Nice to be able to have the option depending on how the spirit moves me.