Periwinkle

Introducing Periwinkle! I just finished her and currently she is feeling very at home hanging on my living room wall. She ended up being 23 inches tall. It always amazes me how every doll evolves during the construction process.  Originally I had planned to have her dressed more elaborately with some type of skirt over the pants but in the end nixed that idea. Working with the pant color was a big challenge for me-way out of my comfort zone! I collected different shades of green, gray, and cream/tan fabrics and ribbons and pulled from there. I knew I wanted to use that particular yarn for her hair as soon as I felted her head. The yarn was a Christmas gift I had been saving. Is is hand spun Romney wool called copper. The spinner said she dyed the wool using pennies and it resulted in the aged copper color. Very unusual color- sometimes it looks grey, sometimes bluish green. In any case, it is a very soft color that I think complements her needle felted face well. It is also a color that does not really go with the pant color so I had to tie the two together with the use of the other fabrics. A bit tricky.

I wanted to make a wall doll so that I can have something to display during the Hampton Art Network Art Walk which is scheduled for October. I'm not sure what the space configurations for each artist will be so I want to be prepared with dolls that can be hung if that is the only display option available. I hope to be able to show different art doll examples but that would require a table which I am not sure will be an option. In the end I now have a pattern for a wall doll with a needle felted head, hands, feet (not used on this one) and with straight or bent legs/arms.  Her hands, arms, and neck contain a wire armature. Her fingers can be moved. The rest of her body is stuffed muslin covered with costuming. She holds a needle felted periwinkle snail in her hand.

Needle Felted Wall Doll

I am in the process of designing a needle felted wall doll. There will be many challenges to this,  the first being the larger size of this doll compared to what I normally make. I think it needs to be larger to have a presence on a wall. It will be an elf or more specifically a shore elf because I plan on incorporating some shells and beach stones that I have been gathering this summer.  I needle felted the head already- as you can see it is still bald and need a little more height in the forehead - but you get the general idea. It is a bit over three inches high with an eight inch circumference at ear level. If I follow the rule, 7 1/2 heads tall then the finish doll should be about 23 inches. But I'm not sure if the human proportion rule applies to elves??? In any event, I'm on vacation this week so I hope to get the body parts completed and put together so I can move on to costuming.

Sunday Morning

I've named this piece Sunday Morning. I didn't model this couple after anyone in particular but I do feel as if I know them somehow. I see them walking home from church on a Sunday morning in spring stopping to enjoy a park swing. Or maybe coming to the seacoast to spend an afternoon looking out at the ocean. I know I've seen them before, maybe if only for a moment in my childhood past. In any case, they are in love and love is timeless.

I made the man first, or I should say I started him first. Originally I planned he would be alone on the bench feeding the squirrels or birds. But I had this idea for a netted pillbox hat (what is it with me and hats?) and she emerged from that. The hat is straight out of the fifties and completes her outfit perfectly. In the end, I finished her, right down to the buttons on her shoes, before completing him. The last stitches were his three coat buttons. Both figures are all wool. They have pipe cleaners in their arms and legs so I can pose them but they are not really meant to be manipulated out of their seated positions. Their clothes are made from partially felted wool sheets. This makes them a bit fragile (only I could make "fragile" wool figures!). Initially I wasn't sure if I could put it though a sewing machine to do the embroidery elements on her suit, but I managed. The clothes are needle felted together and onto the figures so they are not removable.

These figures are not large. From the bench seat to the top of their heads is 7 inches.The bench is just a bit over 12 inches high which includes the swirly top piece. It is a swing actually and it does work with them sitting on it which is fun. It is a lovely bench that I got at a Textile Tart's meeting a few years ago. People bring stuff to the meeting periodically when they are cleaning out their stash or studios. It is rod iron with a wooden seat- very cute. It has been sitting on the floor of my sewing room waiting for them.

I'm very pleased with this piece-especially as it is my first "people" needle felt if Humpty Dumpty is considered an egg and not a person! It was a challenge for me. I wanted the faces to be life-like with thinner features than I see on many needle felts. I wanted them to be realistic. I also wanted them to look different from each other but fit well together. I think they do.

Let me know what you think!

Cupcake: Vintage Spirit # 7

I finished Cupcake and I must admit she is one of my favorites! It was a bit strange working on this "girly girl" doll all bows and frills after just finishing Roberta who is very tailored. From one extreme to another- that's what working on art dolls is all about I guess. Keeps things interesting.

Cupcake

Cupcake's bottle was a gift from a teacher on my team. The lace petticoat came from a Textile Tart meeting along with the blue rick-a-rack. Her hair is yarn; a pale blue fun yarn- very wispy and a bit curly. Her face is needle sculpted with a cloth overlay as is the case for all my Vintage Spirit dolls. 

Accessories

I've come to the realization that I will not make my goal of completing three dolls this week. I will however finish two- Roberta: The Huntress is already done and I am currently working on "Cupcake". I made her accessories last night. They are needle felted. Her hat is over-the-top as is the case with all the Vintage Spirits. I cut down a dosage cup that came with a bottle of cold medicine  and covered it with striped fabric for the cupcake cup. The frosting top is all wool with beads to represent the sprinkles.

A lovely cupcake hat!

Then I made her tray of cupcakes. The tray is the top of a plastic container that held straight pins. I was sitting at my sewing table trying to figure out how to construct a tray when there it was right in front of me.  The three little cupcakes are about 1/2 inch high, the entire tray is only 2 1/4 inches long.

Cupcake Anyone?

Roberta - The Huntress: Vintage Spirit #6

Vintage Spirits

Spring vacation week just started- wonderful! Usually I spend the entire April vacation week cleaning out my flower garden but this year I have very little left to clean out because of the extremely warm weather we have been having this spring I was able to start working outside weeks ago. That means I have lots of extra time this week to work on new dolls! Yeah!

I have been given three bottles from three different friends that I am determined to turn into three distinct characters this week. Since I have already made the heads (a very time consuming process for me)  I may actually reach this goal by the end of my vacation. The first bottle I have had since the winter- cobalt blue -I thought I was going to use this one last February but made Birdie instead using a green bottle. I received it from a fellow Textile Tart doll maker.  I removed the label from this bottle replacing it with a vintage label that reminds me of France. I am going to create Marie Antoinette from this bottle.  The second bottle I just received two weeks ago from another Textile Tart. She thought I would like it because of the deer head that is attached to it. She was right- I love this bottle! I am going to make a huntress. And finally, a friend from school gave me the other cobalt blue bottle with the Cupcake label. What a great theme! I will use vintage fabric and jewelry pieces on these dolls so they can truly become Vintage Spirits #6, 7, and 8.

I will try to blog the creations a bit as I go along. I prepared the bottle necks by attaching wooden dowels. I used a longer dowel on the shorter bottle to raise the doll up a bit more. Then I sewed the torsos. They have not been stuffed yet nor have the breasts been sculpted. I just placed the heads on top- I won't actually sew them on until the body costuming is completely finished. Setting them up this way at the beginning helps me visualize possible costuming before I start designing.

Marie Antoinette, The Huntress, and Cupcake