Aqua Blue 2012

Aqua Blue!

Here's a little mermaid I've been playing with the last few days. I've called her 'Aqua Blue'!Think she'd make a wee pattern? She looks good on a shelf, but equally soft & cuddly for a wee tot! Her arms move and I could make her top removable as children like dressing & undressing. She has no armature and is about ten inches from head to tail. One arm is bent and the other a tad straighter and she has a belly button and the beginnings of little buttocks drawn in. I think she'd cope ok if she happenbed to fall in the bath! Her hair is made from one of those interesting yarns with something shiney in it that lends itself well to a mermaid!



The Innkeeper 2012

I am delighted to present my newly finished Doll - the first for the year!  This is 'The Innkeeper' inspired by Les Miserables, to go with 'Jeanne - the Innkeepers Wife' that I made in 2010, so he's been a long time in the making!

 The Innkeeper will be a new class on Cloth Doll Artistry starting in February, so will not be available as a pattern for a while. I counted the hours and it has taken me over 45 hours to design and make the doll and put the pattern together at the same time! It is filled with drawings & photo's, so plenty to learn!  I am really keen to encourage people to upskill their talents with this art form, which is so gratifying!

 Another Class I will have on CDA will be about cobbling shoes for cloth dolls, so anyone who takes these classes should find them an interesting challenge!  I hope you will look out for them!

Now all I have to do is find a buyer for this chap!

Here is a prototype of the doll I intend to make as a pattern this year! I call it travelling light! The pattern doll will be different of course, as I made this in muslin, but I just loved the movement and attitude she presents. I hope you will make some cvomments on it and klet me know what you think, or if i should make any changes? Always interested to hear!

New Year 2012 - New Pattern!

It's been wonderful to have time to design a doll and make a new pattern, which I have spent 25.85 hours doing so far and it's not finished yet! I've been counting up my hours of progress this time, as it's a question I am often asked.
It's taken me 10.55 hours of that to write up 10 pages!  I have to make the doll as I write, draw and scan - and often redraw, then photoshop, take photo's,download  and insert, so it does take a little concentration.  Putting the doll together is like doing a puzzle.  Checking that all the parts are correctly scaled to the overall figure.

Of course the dog distracts me often, which reminds me I need to get some exercise, so it all takes longer and then, for some reason, we all have to eat! 

The new pattern is the long awaited Thenardier, The Innkeeper inspired by the theatrical show Les Misrables. He will go with his wife Jeanne, one of my other patterns. They should make a good pair! Currently Jeanne is a class with CDA.  Thenardier is such a cocky character and I am depicting him in a pose that shows this attitude.

All I have to do now is make his jacket apron pad & pencil, then sew on his arms, hair & Phyrgian Cap and that's the doll done.  For the pattern, I have to write up the construction notes for all the clothes, shoes cap etc and photoshop all the pattern pieces, then insert them.  Lastly - take a great picture  and design the cover.  So still a bit of work, but it helps to tick them off!  I really wanted to have it all done by last night, but I'm an old lady now - I must remember this!  LOL!