Dolls! Autumn Bead and Button Jointed Cloth Doll

I made this doll about 4 years ago, using the pattern from Making Cloth Dolls edited by Dorothea Hall.

It was my second go at making a cloth doll. I used a brown artists quality felt tip drawing pen to outline the facial features and some artists quality coloured pencils to fill in the lips and eyes. I had fun with the glitter on this doll's face too. Her hair is made up of wool, beads and paper flowers. There is also a little bit of needle sculpting at the corners of her eyes, mouth and nose.

This is the book that the pattern came from:

And here is their version:

She sits very well because of her bead joints, and was interesting to make.



Button jointed knees


 I would do another one, but I have so many different projects that I would like to try (bear making and crazy patchwork, to name a few), that I probably won't get to it for a while.

Day One - Introducing Me

I have been an avid reader (lurker?) of some wonderful blogs for a long time now and have decided to declare my presence and do my own. I will hopefully be blogging about dressmaking, making cloth dolls, my art work and anything else that is arty and crafty and takes my fancy.

I thought I would start with a bit of a 'show and tell' of what I have been doing, starting with my cloth doll that I made called Autumn. I will do a more detailed post about her at a later date, and I hope this will be of interest to other doll makers.

Autumn

Here is a close up view of her face which I did using artist quality marking pens and pencils (they are light sensitive which means there is less of a chance of them fading). I also used some glitter which I glued on with acid free glue. There is also a bit of 'needle sculpting' on her face.

Next are some summer tops that I made from Butterick 4685. That pattern has been in their catalogue since 2005, so I guess it is their version of a 'tried and true' pattern. They are cool when made up in a lightweight cotton and perfect for a 40+ degree day in Australia.

Now, here are my two versions of that pattern:

Here is a close up of the lovely flowery embroidered design on the fabric:

And here is the other version without the elastic on the sleeves and below the bust:

Finally, I just wanted to finish with a couple of pictures of a Peggy Nesbit ballerina doll called Nanette that I picked up for a song at a doll show recently. I got her as a set of three, and will do a post on these dolls at a later date. She was very grubby and I had to remove as much grime as I could with a cotton bud dipped in gentle detergent without wetting her dress. Hasn't she got a great set of legs!

Hope you will come back later for a look at more sewing, dolls, and the odd UFO. Oh, and I promise to model some of my creations myself.

Lizzie x x