Matchsticks on Strike!

Not everyone is on Facebook, and some of my dollmakers saw this first piece that I made and were a bit  - ahem - bemused, by it, and so I thought you might like to see how it all ended up!  

While I had mixed feelings about reactions to it, I felt I couldn't waste it because I knew it would have some appeal to some people, so I ploughed ahead- a little bit defiantly!  Ha! 

I was taken by the illustration and the story about the life of matches, from a Hans Christen Anderson story, told by the ugly duckling, who grew up and turned into a swan! 

 One of the illustrations looked like the Major from "It aint 'alf hot mum!'  I decided to see if I could emulate parts of the illustration in cloth.  

 The first one looked a bit - funny - so to speak, but with them assembled all together it becomes a novelty ornament that will amuse someone!

  My enjoyment from making this came from problem solving, and the process - how to do it, what to do to it to make it 3D and how to set it up and make it look amusing. I love a play on words!  ‪

Meet‬ the Major Matchsticks!

They're standing for their right!

They reckon they are too old to burn,

 and so have gone on strike!

Majority rules and all that,

Harrumph!

Says Major Horrified, Major Frown, and Major Laugh!

Ha! Sometimes you have to do something novel, just for fun. I learned a few more things in the process.

Hope you enjoy them!

Percival Ponce on show!

I am proud to present this doll made by Sandi Reid, a wonderful cloth dollmaker from Canada, made from my pattern Percival Ponce!  I love the way she has done his face! Sandi put him in her doll club presentation at the local Quilt Guild Show!  Well done Sandi!

Percival is instantly recognisable and you can find him in my Etsy, at the side of this page!

For the first time, our doll group OCDC, is going to present our dolls at the local Quilters & Patchworkers Show here is Oamaru!  So excited!

Queen Victoria!

 It starts out looking like misshapen cloth!  You have no idea if it will work, but you keep going, just in case it will!  Sculpting and stuffing at the same time till the features look something like it!

Then, what to use for hair?  Her hair was flat and close to her head.  Why not use this mesh?  The colour is right.

Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Victoria.  Exaggerated.

But from the side..

Another Makeover for March!

What fun I have had makeing over these dolls!

I had no idea what to do with them to make them work better than they were. 

Then someone gave me a bag of scraps - and inspiration flowed!  Steampunk them!  This one is wearing improbable clothing!  More like a collage!  Now she's an art Doll!

The originals were unsatisfying, in that their heads wobbled and thy were not very stable, so off went the heads and stripped off their outer clothing, undid the body and unstuffed,  Made a better base and weighted it with lead sinkers!  Restuffed and redressed!

I kept the glasses, gave her different hair - white streaked down the back.

 added leather and lace, a top hat.  

And a wire brace up her back  - to support her neck!  Now she's very stable and very funky!

Humpty Dumpty, character of the times!

How do you make a doll with just a head, arms and legs? You make Suzette Glastonbury Rugulo's Humpty Dumpty!  

Of course you can make it your own way, as I did, but the pattern is great! I have had it for years and promised myself I would make it one day, and just recently I found a picture that really appealed to me, so I used it as my inspiration for doing this face! 

The eyes and mouth fascinated me, so I had to try it! 

Do you ever do that?

Such a fun pattern and Suzette is one of my favourite designers, who still challenges me!

I did want to give him a swing, but that was too problematical! Love it!

Storyboard Success at the A&P Show!

Our Cloth Doll Group OCDC had a great day at the local A&P Show this year!  

 I entered these dolls in just for fun,

  and they won First Prizes in each section!

 but more than that, I had an opportunity to promote the Cloth Doll!

 Three of us dollmakers had a stall, displaying our dolls, 

 and I made this board to display the process of making a doll, as well as showing what expressions can be made in cloth, with needle-sculpting! Many people stopped by and talked to us and hopefully this week, we will have more people come to our OCDC group to learn the art of Cloth Doll Making! Lovely sunny day and our stall was right beside the music!  Yes!

Marie Antoinette Bust for Christchurch Workshop

I have just finished another Marie Antoinette Bust for my workshop in Christchurch at the end of April! I will make one more with white hair soon. This will be an online workshop soon too!

 Playing with the camera settings!

 Looking rather swish!

I have made all the plinths for the class too!  Offering a full Kit set for this one!

Three Kind Mice!

Just finished making the pattern for these cute little mice made after the style of GusGus, from Cinderella, and they are quite comical.

The pattern pieces are interchangeable, so different looking mice can be made.

 Tall, small & chubby versions!

 They make a nice little lineup on a shelf!

 Come with t'shirt, hat and shoe patterns.  Easy pattern beginner - advanced!

 Their arms are posable - they'd make a great little project or gift!

and they cheat at blind mice bluff games!

All sorts of mice can be made from this pattern!

Add eyelashes.  Add a skirt.  A bonnet.   A Top Hat. Make it steampunk!

Make a coachman with a tricorn hat, tailcoat, & vest and a cue with a bow!

Make the legs, or neck longer. - Give the paws fingers.  Make them nasty!

Shrink the pattern and make baby mice!  A family of mice!

Old or young. Whiskers/moustache! Plaits, or flowing hair!

Three Mousketeers! Three blind mice. 

Domesticated/wild.  Town/country!

So many different way to make a mouse!

The Patroness of TOTE 2016

I have finally finished dressing my latest Patroness of TOTE for this year!

Her gown is made from a bolt of furnishing fabric - not the whole bolt - which is rubber abcked, and therefore, quite stiff.  Such as you would cover inexpensive chairs - made from synthetics.  It came up quickly using the overlocker, which I used for all her edges, so the only hem is the actual finished length!  It doesn't matter on something like this, as it's the overall theatrical effect!  

She had her first photo taken by visiting Australians yesterday! She dwarfs people, as she is on a platform with wheels.

I have made a pattern of this one, which includes how to make the head and my whole process of making the dummy, excluding the dress, which is just draped pleated, tucked, edged, and embellished however you like!  Her hat is a dress-up one that I have made a cover for, that just sits on top  and is embellished with stitching and whatever.

  The contrasting fabric is two very cheap novelty woven synthetic scarves - found, and the roses also a furnishing fabric, just twisted into roses - learned from Utube!  I wanted to create a balance with the contrasts, to bring the colour down, so the skirt looked the right length, because as you can see from the last picture, she looked a bit stiff and without her hands placed in front, the skirt looked too short.

The pattern is available in my Etsy Shop, or you can email me and I can send you a paypal request.  I hope you like what I have done.  I am pleaased with the result, because I had the opportunity to see what I could do - because you never know if you can, until you try it!

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Composition Doll Restorations - for a change! Happy New Year 2016!

I have spoken about these dolls before, but want to recount my journey with them, as they seem to keep popping up!  People bring me their broken old dolls, because they know I am a dollmaker.  They don;t care that I only make cloth dolls.  So the challenge to me is to make something of their treasures and try to bring them back to life.

This was the first one I made - from just a head!  I used Kezi Mathews toddler doll pattern to make the body, and she sits in her owners home now with pride of place - her childhood doll!

This one I got off an auction site. Her owner hoped I would make something of her as it was her childhood doll.  The dolls mouth was smashed in, so I had to make a new mouth and replace the teeth. This one and the next one were made in New Zealand.  The bodies are cloth and the arms and legs seem too small for the rest of it.  I copied the wrecked body shape of this one and put it back together, but hated the startled look and inflexibility of the body, so I undid it all and made a body of wool, but while it is softer, the body shape was not good, so at present she is waiting for a better body before she is presented again!  It's all about the process!

This wee one has had boots made and a straw hat was remodeled for it!

This is one of those mass produced porcelain dolls that I hated, but hate to waste anything too, so I gave her a complete makeover and kind of modernised it!

This is the result!

This is Barbara - a 1940's hard plastic 16 inch walker that I re dressed and touched up for a friend.  She's a sweetie!

This poor 25 inch porcelaine doll was given to me broken and reglued all over her face!

I cleaned the face and restored the neck with Kneedit clay, which worked really well!

I repainted all the body parts, except for the original stamp on the back!  Mended all the broken bits and even made new fingers!  She has been restrung and is awaiting her new clothes.  Will update soon!

Makeover time for the Patroness Of TOTE!

This full size needle-sculpted head has just been finished. I took my time with it and have spent the afternoon making it. I want to replace the head of my Patroness of TOTE!

She has had three makeovers with the same head, for the last three years, and the original head, which was only made from an old sheet - has lasted all this time in all sorts of weather, most days! She is looking somewhat faded now and she is due for her yearly makeover, and so another head is required.

The Patroness normally stands outside The Oamaru Textile Emporium where I sell my dolls and volunteer on Fridays! People love to be photographed beside her.

I have learned a lot more about doll making since I first made the original one in 2013. Having said that, she has stood the test of time very well! This time, I am thinking she will be dressed in Blue, because we have a large quantity of Furnishing fabric in a blue going begging!