Wall Art

 I've been playing with these doll busts for some time. They even came to Hamilton with me!

The thing is, when you make a doll, you have to give a lot of thought and much rummaging amongst your stash, to figure out what they will wear, based on eye colour, lip colour. and hair colour In this case, the dolls looked nothing, until I made them some glasses to wear. It somehow gives them a presence.

You can make the glasses from thin wire, wrapped around a shape, leave a gap for the bridge, and wrap again, making sure the wire is in the same position on both sides. once you are sure they will fit the head and eyes well, you can paint them with any paint, (I even used fabric paint!) You can seal the paint with Modpodge.

Next, cut the arms so they sit within the hair. Thread a needle with the same colour as the glasses, and tie a knot. (Double thread if not using strong thread.)

Insert the needle at the back of the head under the hair, and exit at the inner flare of the nose. Take the thread through the frame, reinsert it into the exit place, and exit in the same place on the other side of the nasal flare!. Take the thread through the frame, reinsert the needle and exit out the back of the head again. Gently pull on the thread to anchor the frames firmly to the nose, and tie off at the back of the head. These stitches will hold the frames in place and will not be noticed!

I made these girls from my pattern Light Hearted Lady. They hang on the wall, and talk to each other out of the corners of their mouths, whilst pretending not to move! LOL! they make great conversation pieces and wall art!

Quartet

  The #Quartet!. I was playing around with head/shoulder dolls in small proportions, much like others I have been making, trying to capture characters. I found a set of ceramic musical figures like this and was captivated by the expressions of the men, and also the idea of white hair!

Making the busts (from stretch fabric) didn't take long, but figuring out how to make the hair work took a bit of thinking. I found a soft cotton rope that I was able to use, stiffened with glue but still keeping it's soft look.

It took a while to come together because I didn't have any idea if it would work, so just did something every day. The violin is made from quilling paper. I saw a tutorial and taught myself quilling! Not perfect, but fun!

I liked the simplicity of the idea - one hand to suggest they are doing something. Mounting it was a problem, but I found some hard packaging foam that I could stitch through, and have stitched them on that.

I am pleased with the outcome.

Hatter and Hare!

I made these as a free pattern for CDC group this week, because I have just finished writing a pattern of the Hatter!  I was surprised at what a good fit it is!