Hairstyle trends on Sweet Violet

One of my favorite things about doll making is finding and repurposing textiles.  For this little girl I am working with a vintage Pendleton wool blanket.  It was in really good condition and could still function as a blanket, but its color and weight screamed “I’m perfect for doll hair’ so that’s how I’m using it.  I experimented with different shapes and layering, adding seams to create curved shapes.

Here’s the sketchbook with notes of my final pattern shapes for the 11 1/2 inch doll.

I 

layered the shapes onto the head, stitching carefully to secure and style the shapes working from the nape to the crown.

And, the finished coiffure with a felted wool headband and flower accent!

An outfit and a mouse for a girl

I’m dressing the blonde 11 1/2 inch dolls destined for a home in Boston...

Nearing the finish line

The completion of a series of linen bodied rag dolls with one of a kind molded faces is very near. As has always been the way in my studio, my work table is a jumble of supplies and projects when I near the finish line. I’m very organized during each individual phase then lose it all as I complete the last details and assembly.

The little girl below is one a pair of ‘twins’ though each has her own unique facial expression and hair style designed from blonde vintage felted Pendleton wool. Their clothes are sewn, and they have on their shoes but need undies and their felted wool hairstyles carefully stitched to their heads yet. They will be going to live with two little girls in Boston once they’re all finished. 

It’s a joy for me to create dolls for imaginary children but also as a commission for a child who knows ‘just what her doll should look like.’  If you know a child who has just such a need and you’d like to discuss a commission, send me a message.

Two Fine Friends

There is a long history of dolls known as ‘Topsy Turvy’ or ‘Upside Down” dolls.  I call my dolls with two personalities ‘Best Friend’ dolls and they are a child and her animal companion.  Flip the skirt and see the friend!  I’ve been working on two of these dolls, and today spent time on skirts for one of them.  I love watching the personalities of these dolls unfold as I cut and pin and stitch. 

By tomorrow I’ll have undergarments on both dolls, and they’ll be dressed in their new outfits and ready for the reveal!  Until then, here they are still in production:

This funny looking garment on the left will become a reversible skirt for each of these girls.  On the right, a vintage tea towel from Creative Reuse of Pittsburgh becomes an apron..

Making linen doll bodies

I want to share some of my creative process in this post.  When I design a new doll body shape I trace my patterns and cut them from card stock.  I have an idea for a new doll so I choose the body design and carefully trace an outline onto a doubled length of natural 100% linen.  I place the vertical line of my pattern on the straight grain running parallel to the selvedge (the warp.) This is a matter of personal taste. The placement will affect the shape of the body once it has been stuffed.  It’s fun to experiment with different placements on warp or weft or bias using the same fabric and pattern piece!

 I place a pin in the center of each piece to prevent shifting when I stitch around the outlines.  I don’t cut any individual pieces apart until after I have stitched all the parts for the body parts I have traced. Once I’ve stitched my outline using a 2.0 mm stitch (12.7 stitches to the inch) I cut the body parts apart with an allowance of  3.2 mm (a generous 1/8 inch.) To turn the parts and stuff them I use a variety of tools, but my favorites are an assortment of hemostats.  

Today I have been stuffing a series of ‘skins’ I stitched up a few days ago - one will be an 18 inch doll and one will be an upside down best friend doll.  I like to work in the sitting area of my home studio with all my favorite tools in front of me.

I used to baste my turned edges before I stitched them, but now just use my quilting pins and work around them until I have enough tacked that I can remove the pins.  I know this is not the ‘right way’ but it works well for me!

Best Friend dolls

This little French Bulldog is best friends with a little girl doll.  In the early part of the 20th Century these dolls were known as ‘Topsy Turvy’ dolls and carried with them many stories - both good and bad.   I designed mine to be best friends to each other and the child with whom they found a home.  She’s crafted from 100% linen stuffed with virgin nonallergenic toy stuffing.  Her face is cast in Creative Paperclay from my original sculpture, then covered with 100% cotton stockinette before being coated and hand painted to bring her personality to life.  Her ears and the scruff of her neck are fashioned from felted vintage 100% wool.  Come back later this week to meet her best friend and see their fashionable outfits.

Becoming a doll faced girl

Here’s a doll face in stages of becoming a finished girl.  I begin with a doll head that I have sculpted from airdry clay.  Below you can see the silicon mould pulled from the original sculpture, a mask just out of the mold, and a stockinette covered mask ready to be gessoed and painted.  

I’ll write about my mould making process on another day.   These original moulds allow me to create multiple face masks from one sculpture.  I make a thin sheet of Creative Paperclay and press it into the mould, adding extra clay for reinforcing over the eyes, nose and mouth.  I allow the face mask to partially dry before I remove it from the mould.  At this point in the process I can make subtle changes to her features to distinguish one face mask from another.  I carefully set it aside to thoroughly dry after which I refine the mask, filling and sanding as needed.  The mask gets a liberal coating of PVA glue then I lay a square of white cotton stockinette on the bias over the nose. A stubby brush works well to tap the stockinette into the features working from the tip of the nose, inner corners of the eyes, nostrils and outward in a circular fashion, pulling the fabric edges to prevent wrinkles or unevenness.  Now she’s ready to be trimmed and attached to her rag doll body, then primed with gesso to prepare for final painting!