Vintage Aranbee (R&B) Doll
This is a vintage baby doll from the 50's. The owner of the doll obviously cherished her as a child, and still does. Dolly came to me a couple of weeks ago in need of repair on her cloth body. I was to recreate the original pattern. Here you can see the final result. Came out pretty good! I can understand why this doll is so well-loved. If she were mine, I would want to preserve her, too.
Painting With Thread
Here's a wonderful painting technique that can add a lot of interest to a cloth doll: Use thread to paint a random pattern on fabric.
You can prepare the fabric to be used to cut out your doll pattern, or paint directly on a doll after it has been stuffed. The result is extremely interesting, and definitely worth a try.
Turning Slippery Fingers
Silky gloves can be a nice touch on a doll. You can make hands as usual, extending them halfway up the arms so they look like gloves. The trouble with silky fabric is that it tends to fray too much. That makes it very difficult to turn little fingers.
When fabric is super slippery, it shifts around when sewing two pieces together. Sewing tiny stitches around fingers is almost impossible, too. Even if you manage to do it, turning the fingers is another major issue. The slightest pressure will cause the fabric to come apart at the weave. Here's a way to overcome the dilemma, so you can use the slipperiest, silkiest fabric and make knockout gorgeous gloves.
Doll Quilt
I want to share a special quilt that I made for my daughter Sury. She's 9 years old. Of course, the quilt has a doll theme. The center block of the quilt is a nostalgic handkerchief from Russia. I thought it was so interesting, it inspired me to make something with it. The handkerchief belonged to Sury's grandmother. I wanted to preserve it for her. Most of the fabric in this quilt is also Russian. The yellow is from the US. It's quiet and compliments the authentic
Puppy Plays With Dolls
This post was written in 2006, when I was living in Israel. During that time, I enjoyed participating in "Round Robins" with other doll makers from around the world. My dog got a hold of one of these dolls. Here's what happened:
Bead Bags, Anyone?
Recently I needed to transport a lot of beads for a class, but I didn't have proper containers. I got "desperate," so I made my own baggies in a pinch. They did the trick.
I did this out of necessity. At first I thought it was ridiculous but, well it turned out to be resourceful and fun!
Dressing a Doll with Gesso and Ink
Last week I was designing a new pattern, and today I am in the mood for an experiment of sorts. I only finished the torso (I always begin with that!) and spent so much time on it. When it was done, well - I decided to play with it. I spent so many hours tweaking the pattern. It was the perfect release of bottled up frustration and energy.
Threadbare Feet
If you're looking for something out of this world for a faery or otherwise fantastic doll, try making shoes from embroidery thread. You'll need a sewing machine with a free motion embroidery foot, a hoop, water soluble stabilizer, and of course, thread!
Here's how:
Scrapping Beauty
If you're like me, you've got a bazillion bits of fabric scraps lying around after a hearty day at crafting work. I used to throw it all away, but I've discovered that they can be quite valuable- you'd be surprised what new materials you can create with scraps.
Artful Glory
There's been a lot of buzz lately about paper dolls. I like the idea of paper dolls!
They stretch the imagination by enticing us to play with so many different media. And, they are easy to create.