New Samplers

Last week, while we were at my Mom's, I finished off some more dolls as I mentioned in a post below. As well, I had some time to make a wee skirt for E. Then on the way home in the car, I started on a couple of new samplers. I will have to get a proper picture of the skirt, but for now here are the two samplers that are in the works.

More Dolls Finished!

The 2 small art dolls are finished! Their heads and necks are sculpted from air drying clay with cloth bodies and they are 10" high, so pretty tiny compared to the others I have made so far. (See pics below to see comparison with "Blanche.")

First up is "Berthe." She has a bandeau/headband around her mohair hair. The top portion of her dress is made from vintage fabric I took apart from an old thrifted curtain.

This is "Lea." She has mohair hair as well. The lace collar on her shirt is vintage and the fabric for her pants is also vintage fabric that was thrifted.

Here they are compared with one of the larger dolls, "Blanche."

And in my hand...

"Blanche" in Progress

Meet "Blanche." She is still in progress. Have to style her hair yet and also finish her dress. She needs some sleeves and a collar.

These are the dolls that I've made so far that are completed, or very near completed.

These little redheaded ladies will be next. We're heading up to my Mom's for this long weekend so am hoping to get lots done there!

Redheaded Dolls

These WIP redheaded dolls are sisters. They are a lot smaller than the other dolls I've been making. They don't have completed bodies so I'm not sure on their height yet.

Some More Little Ladies

Only two of these ladies have bodies so far, but they are coming along. Little by little. I can't help myself, but put on the wigs before they are ready! I just can't wait to see their personalities emerge. No names yet, but I'm thinking about it...

Mathilde

This one is finished now. Her name is Matilde. she is 15" tall, and her clothes are removable. The mohair sheep wool that I ordered from a farm in Wales came in this week and I have been having fun making up some new wigs. So this little lady ended up with a different hair colour than I was originally planning.

A New Doll

Here is a new doll I was working on this weekend. (Paper clay head and neck and cloth body.) She is nameless so far, but a little tiny bit snooty, personality wise! So says my Mom! She has her nose up in the air a bit you see. So she carries on with somewhat of an air, although she is friendly enough.

She is about 15" tall and has removable clothes. My pattern designing skills are amateur, so I will have to tweek my clothing design a little next time to make it simpler to make for future dolls. I have to pick up some Velcro for the closure on the back yet.

Just playing with the wigs I made a few weeks back. The hair is not attached yet. Not sure if she is going to be a blonde yet, or another hair colour. I've ordered some mohair in so I may wait to see how that looks instead.

"Gracie" the Art Doll

Gracie is nearly done. I've been meaning to get around to posting pics all week. She needs a few little things yet. I have to finish painting her shoes and stitch a bit more here and there.

Painted Heads

Today, I painted the faces for the dolls in the works. Here are a few photos as they progress. It brought me back to my days as a 15 year old in my first job. I worked for a small porcelain doll manufacturer doing little bits of everything in the doll making process. I'd forgotten about it! Such a fun job it was.

The one below, "Elphin," might be my favourite from this lot. Her wig isn't on yet, just trying it out. I tried to dye this one pink, but it didn't take very well.

The one on the bottom far left is clay over cloth. The others are clay over styrofoam (soon to have cloth bodies).

Doll Making Progress

I have been having so much fun sculpting dolls from paper clay. I am still new at this so a lot of my experimenting may look a bit funny until I figure out how to do it the right way! :)

This little lady below is one I made the same time as the one in an earlier post, but I just put hair on her today and also made her a body. I made a bunch of wigs last night. Today I also tried coffee dying a couple, but they turned out pretty light. I guess that's because they are synthetic...
Here she is with her new body. Her name is "Gracie" by the way, although "Georgette" was suggested... we'll see how her personality evolves!

I also sewed up a bunch of body parts in preparation for some more dollies coming down the pipes. I finally dug out my sewing machine today from the 'basement' (yes, some of us houseboaters really do have one - it's actually a crawl space, but same diff...). I was sewing everything by hand for the other doll because I was too lazy to go down below and dig it out, but now I'm glad I did. Sure makes things go faster!

Then this afternoon, I started sculpting some more heads. Such fun! This might be my favourite part... or maybe it's painting the faces... no wait, maybe it's putting on the wigs... hmmm. It's all fun. So nice to have T home on the weekends so I can play with my artsy supplies while he helps with the kids! Life is good! :)