My old granny is nearly finished.  Her shoes turned into boots and I might have to put buttons on them now.  I didn't know about a hat.  What do you think?  She might need a cat or a book or something.  Yes I am making a pattern of this and may even have it as a class.  Not sure just yet.

Still playing!  Not finished by any means yet, but had to get it this far so the Art Gallery director can check it out for the exhibition for the concept.  Only one shoe partially done!  She's trying to decide on the pearls or not, and probably won't have that hat on.  She's a comfy old gal though she looks a little staid here - but that'll change!

Trying on a 'look'.  Nice draping fabric here - an old skirt, with a small pattern.  This is the front of the piece I cut out, just draped over to see if it all 'goes'.  The hair and head are just perched on the body just now.  Trying out is very important in the process.  This small print in the dark colour will be good to embellish with some other detail.

I'm working on another doll.  Here she is in all her glory, patiently waiting for me to decide what she will be dressed in.  She is the basis of another pattern I am working on, but will also feature in an exhibition for next year.  She has the look of a gardner to me, but might just judge Roses!  Who knows?

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!

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!

Innkeepers head.

Here I am - home for a week with a virus!  Have to recuperate with something, so thought I'd make a start on the Innkeeper Pattern.  This is the easy part - the fun part!  The hard part is transcribing what I've just done to paper, describing all the sculpting steps and how to colour it!  Hmmmm!  Might have to make another one and watch what I'm actually doing!

On the good side, I have actually begun to write the pattern up and have done quite a few drawings already too!

What a profile!  Hard to get a high forehead, but he will have a most interesting hat on and some of my favourite whispy hair!  I think he'll be an interesting character to go with his wife. No his face isn't dirty - that's his five o'clock shadow of course!

I've begun to make The Innkeeper.  He'll be a different body design from Jeanne- the Innkeepers Wife.  Hopefully about the same size though - so far so good! I'm making and writing as I go, so could take a while.  I'm making it in Quilters Muslin because his body is more covered than his wifes'. Quilters Muslin is not that different from velour in stretch, so it could be made in either.  For longevity velour would be best I think. At this stage I will do a lycra overlay on his head, to get a really good sculpted character.  We'll see!

Here she is - all done!  Having a rest from her work while I slog on with the pattern!  She's way ahead of me!  She offered to wash that floor, but I though she should just rest up and keep me company till I get doen with the pattern, which could take till next weekend, depending how much I have on this week.  Then I'll probably have to make 'er 'usband!  Sigh..........! A designers work is never done!This is my original Innkeepers Wife made last year.  While it's exactly the same, it's totally different!  Just so you can see the difference, the one I've just completed is made from Lycra and the original one was made from Velour and didn't have a pattern because I made it up as I went. They both have the same hair, but sculpted differently.  The new one has more structure, but here are parts of both that I like.  Comments please?

The boots!  Not very elegantly made, but she has to make do, after all, she's not all that well off and the Master of the 'Ouse probably stole them anyway!  They're hardly seen on the doll.

Sculpting sequence of Jeanne, The Innkeepers Wife face. I've just finished writing up the sequence - what a mission!  had to break it up into two parts so people wouldn't be put off !  This isn't all of it either!

Here the face begins to take on a bit of life with colour and already the cocky attitude is beginning to show!

Now this looks a little scary! Mod Podge on the eyes and lips. always be careful when using pen and Mod Podge.  the Mod Podge makes the ink run, so it should be dolloped on rather than brushed on, or you may find you have to re-draw the whole thing! 

All done! Look at that character! Reminds me of my Aunty Mabel!  Actually, her face turned out a lot sweeter than I intended it to, but however!  It shows that this doll can be whoever she wants to be!  A flower seller, a granny, a wise woman, a mum!

Before and after makeover! 

 If you double click on any of these pictures they will enlarge for a better view!

Shes just larking about in her undies now - trying on hairdo's!

Well here  is Jeanne with arms and legs.  Just needs a hand to put her head on now!  She doesn't look unhappy!  I gave her clay kneecaps, but not necessary as the dress will cover her knees.  I need to adjust her neck with a bit of nip and tuck before I put her head on. Yes I like to play with my dolls!  You'll notice I have coloured between the breasts.  I used prisma pencil to give that shadow that enhances the contours of the breast.  I will use it between the fingers too.

The beginning phase.  Most sculpting has been completed and you get an idea of how it could look.Here is the velour face to compare with the Lycra face.  I thought this was alright till I made the Lycra face.  Mind you - I've learned a lot since then too!

The Second phase.  Most of the colour has been applied and the eyes and mouth have had their first coat of Mod Podge.  Scary eh?That's more like it! The character is starting to show!  The three phase journey to facial sculpting and colouring!  This is the head of my new doll and pattern "Jeanne - The Innkeepers Wife" coming together nicely.  The sculpting sequence as written down might look scary when you first see it, but one must remember to take it all slowly and remember these pics are here for reference!

I'm working on a new pattern "Jeanne - the Innkeeper's Wife!"  This doll has real attitude!  what you might call a bit of a  " hard case!"  I'm calling her Jeanne, because Jeanne inspired me to make the pattern.  This pattern is made using a body stocking, made from lycra, and a wire armature.  So far - so good!  Here she is in all her glory!

I've got five patterns on the go!  At present I'm working on  - Percival Ponce!  He's a bit of an Aristocratic Fashionista!  He wears the last thing in fashion right down to his powdered wig!  He does get up on his soapbox though and spouts such drivell, but passers by are fascinated because he is such a spectacle!

I have to say, he's coming along nicely and I'm dying to see how others interpret him!  He is one of the dolls already on my site, but will look a little different because this one will be the second one.  Coming soon!