It really DOES matter.

I cut out fabric for 20 dolls a couple of weeks ago.  (Yes, I'm insane like that.)

A few were for the Linen Sisters (all sewn up and waiting for clothes now.)  Six of them were for future Izzies.  And five of them were for Queen Anne type dolls.  I use an Izzy sort of construction method for them but the pattern is elongated, skinnier, and taller. I call the pattern "Tall Dolls"...

But to the point.  Being the kind of dumpster-diving, scrap-saving, penny-pinching person I am, I lay out pattern pieces to save every possible inch of fabric.  And for the most part, this is a good thing.  I've always been careful to lay pattern pieces straight along the weave, never on the bias--I can't even wear a bias cut skirt because the stretch effect does not do my figure any favors.  BUT...what I discovered was that it also matters which way you lay them on the grain!

So...the dolls are stuffed and assembled...and different!  Same exact pattern, two totally different dolls.  The long-headed one was lain perpendicular to the selvage, the short-headed one was parallel to it.  I think this is pretty cool!  Now that I've sculpted said dolls, I kinda like the short-headed ones better for the Queen Annes, but the others are pretty shapes for milliners' model types, and I see an application for the Izzies, too. 

What an interesting variable to add into the mix!  I see more experiments in my future.

Cheers!
Jan

Do you make custom dolls or art?

I don't, for the same reason a lot of artists don't...but found myself compromising this time.  The request was more for a type of doll, instead of "Make a doll of my granddaughter" or something...and since it was a type of doll I'd never tried to make, I was curious enough to give it a shot.

Hitty dolls are cute--everybody has a favorite and this is not mine, but she's cute and I wanted to try one this small.  She's 6.5" tall, and the request was to make this one resemble Hitty AND a prior doll I'd made and sold through my shop.  Not sure if I managed to do so, but she's finished and I'll list her today.

My husband just finished a custom order for a purse, which is the only kind of work he likes...he says if he's going to put in the man hours (human hours?) and expense to make a leather item, he likes to know it's for somebody who wants it rather than making stock he can only hope to sell.  Of course, he has to work this in around a day job, so I can see his point.  The purse was not only custom in its Hummingbird design but in the dimensions, so he had to create a brand new pattern to cut the leather out.  We like collaborating on projects like this...I draw up the design and he does all the rest.  :~)  I think it turned out pretty well...

When Juliet sold after six months or so of being listed on Etsy, all of a sudden I had three more people saying "Hey--I wanted this doll!  If the (layaway) sale falls through, let me know!"  Okay...cool.

So I promised to get back to them after the recent doll show, and let them know when I make any more Queen Anne-ish type dolls like her.  I like that idea, of making more of a certain type of doll because of requests, but I don't think I'll do any more specific custom requests.

So: Do you make custom dolls?  

If so, why?  

If not, why not?  

How about a requested type of doll 

rather than a specific customization?  

Is it a sculpt or a carving?

Actually it's both.  I formed the paper clay around a ball of foil, formed the basic face shape, and let it dry.

Then I carved the face shape the way I liked it, and sculpted more wet clay to shape the head better, and added the nose and mouth.

When it was dry, I did a little more whittling (I have a pocket knife with just the perfect blade.)  Interesting that it's almost easier to take away thin slivers of dried clay the way I want than it is to keep adding til I get the shape I need.  Some clay is wasted, but the outcome is very satisfying.

Today I finished with eyes, using the sculpting tools.  But one cool thing I discovered was that if you wet the dry clay after carving, you can rub out the sharper carve lines, and once THAT is almost dry, you can buff out a lot of the roughness with the back of a smooth tool, like a mini spoon.  Makes for a lot less sanding when dry.

This little one will be a cloth doll...the head is about the size of a golf ball, maybe a bit bigger.

As sculpting and carving go, this is pretty standard fare.  But I think I'm getting better.

I love linen.

Way back when Phil and I were living in New Mexico, and I'd begun doing the medieval costuming in earnest, I bought a bunch of linen.  I mean, like I'd qualify to be on "Hoarders" with all the linen I bought.  Mostly because I love it, love to wear it, wrinkles and all, and love to work with it.

But the amount of linen you need for a 13th century noblewoman's gown is, well, quite a bit more than I'd need for a skirt I'd wear to Wal Mart, sooooo, you could say I have some left over.  And over.

I've hung on to this stockpile, convinced I was going to sew myself beautiful clothing, and because of the brain weevils that tell me I should wait til I'm at "the right size" for the clothes I want to make, I never have.  But enough is enough.  I am not likely to ever be supermodel thin like I was in high school, and even if I were, I'm almost 50.  It's not like I'd be gorgeous, just skinny and almost 50.  Gravity is what it is.

So I WILL make myself some clothes this year, and since linen lasts a long time, I'd best make them in timeless shapes that aren't too faddy.

Heh.  Just kidding.  Timeless, though, right?

But aside from that, I will use the linen in DOLLS!!! Big surprise, I know.

I finished the first one this morning, but she's not dressed, so I can't show her here yet.  Soon.  I actually managed to follow a pattern (mostly) without changing it...at least for the doll.  The pattern stinks for the clothes if you like doll clothes to be real instead of the patched-together prim deco stuff that sells these days.  So I'll make her clothes, and she will be the first of a limited line of dolls I plan to sell: The Linen Sisters.

I'd apologize, but I think it's funny.  :~)
Pictures soon...of the dolls, and maybe even the clothes I make for me.

Happy Arizona's Birthday and Pinteresting Developments

Well, Happy Arizona's Birthday to everyone!

Here's the deal: the Hubs long ago decided to boycott Valentine's Day.  Instead, we celebrate the day Arizona joined the States.  I don't get candy, valentines, or jewelry, which is fine, because I don't eat sugar, don't save cards, and have all the jewelry I need.  But once in a while, on a Tuesday of no particular significance,
he brings me flowers.  It's a better surprise then anyway.

I bit the bullet and...got on Pinterest.  Holy cow.  I can't figure out which was better...avoiding it or joining it.  Within minutes of pinning Phil's leather, it was being repinned all over the place.  I think that's pretty cool.  But I can see how it can become a Time Vampire.  The rationale for the hours lost today was the Setting Up...of course there's a little curve there, right? So I have boards, but they're a little sparse.  The link is on the left under Contact Info, if you want to see or follow any boards.  I have lots to explore there (and lots of you to find and follow), but have to budget time as I go.

In the meantime, I have walnut ink to package, dolls to work on, a house to clean, and oh, did I mention we're buying another rent house?

In a month there will a Rehab to manage and a house to rent out.  That's cool too, because once we can replace the hubby's day job $$$ with rents, he can do the real estate while I do the dolls and the homemaking.  Seems like a pretty good set up to me.

The Doll Show and New Friends

Had a blast at the doll show yesterday.

Completely worn out, dehydrated, and almost voiceless.  Funny how a fourteen hour day of too little food & water and too much talking will do that to a body, eh?  But sales were good, I met so many new friends--and got to actually visit rather than just cruise through their booths nodding hello.  Repeat shoppers from the two previous shows have come to look for me, and several have requests for upcoming shows.  Not planning to do custom work, but my little "Smoker" doll sold the night before the show even opened, and one customer said "You must make another one for August."  Cool.

One of the highlights was that I brought home a new friend.  I call her Miss Merriweather, because so far that's all the name I can sense from her.  She'll tell me her first name when we're better acquainted, I guess.  Anyway, she's 25" tall, her wig is badly made of human hair, she's been "helped" all over her neck, back of her head, and the shoulder plate in a couple of places.  The legs, while not new, are a later edition.  Her hands and arms are white kid, in pretty good shape.  Her face still has the original paint, but with a little cracking, scratches and a bit rubbed off her nose.  Her body is very heavy--I have no idea what she's stuffed with, but she's heavier than my Big Girls who have BB's in their butts.

I can't wait to sew for this doll.  She needs a bonnet or hat because while her hair is a lovely red-brown, it's a bit of a mess.  I'm sure there are so many things I could do to restore this doll, but I never owned an antique doll before, let alone restored one.  So for now, she will reside in the carved chair in our living room, with her quite expression and fancy red shoes.

Oh, and one more friend I brought home...he joins the ranks of my Doll Show Rescue Babies.  At least this one doesn't leak sawdust like the last.  Doesn't he look like Radar O'Riley's bear on M*A*S*H?  He smells a little like an attic trunk, and the ghost remains of some lady's perfume.

I feel as if this doll business has been waiting for me to grow up and figure out what I was supposed to do.  So I may as well get to doing it, eh?  :~)

P.S. Mary Jo: one of the dealers tried to buy that bench I bought from your thrift shop.  I didn't sell it.  ;~)

Gearing up once again.

Doll show this weekend.  Interesting new developments, as the local TV News is doing a story there on Reborn Dolls and the Artists who make them.  (Why does that sound like a self-improvement book title?)  I was never crazy about Reborn dolls...they sorta creep me out.  But different strokes and all that.  The upshot is that the show will be pretty busy, according to the hostess, and she's trying to arrange us to be out of the way.  Not sure how that'll work, but I've never been to the show in New Braunfels, so I've never seen that facility.

I love doing these shows, even though they wear me out.  Dragging stuff out, packing, hauling, setting up, and then spending the entire day talking to people (this from a woman who sees people maybe once a week on grocery day).  I've made a few friends and look forward to seeing them again.

In addition to the rabbits, Martine and the tiny dolls, here are some little clothespin dolls that will go into the mix.  But that's pretty much all I have, along with the remaining four Izzies and the Big Girls.  Should be interesting.

Don Pedro

Tweets and Tabitha

Maybe you can help me name these little girls?

Have you seen this blog?

If you are looking for patterns for wonderful primitive art, lovely vintage graphics, or tutorials that make you go "Oh!", then go visit Our Pioneer Homestead.  Pamela has a tutorial on how to use Walnut Ink Crystals, having aged some blue fabric to a wonderful time-worn hue.  I'm eager to see what she does with this fabric.

I highly recommend this artist's blog--for all the reasons listed above, and because she has great decorating taste.  :~)  You'll be glad you went. 

Rabbits...

Gearing up for the doll show next weekend.  When I did a "test run" of my set up for the doll show, I realized just how many dolls I've sold since last October!  The tables looked sort of bare.  Rabbits to the rescue!!!

Last fall I'd started these wood and clay rabbits (and an equal number of cats, but they're for this summer).  They were sculpted, so I sanded, painted, and assembled.  I like how each turned out to be so different from the next.

  
I also finished a wood and clay doll that somehow didn't make to the show last fall--I didn't get her finished in time.  So I gave her a skirt, and was still unsatisfied with her.  But an article in this month's Antique Doll Collector about Apache Smokers gave me an idea: a cigarette. NOW she's finished.  :~)

And last but not least, I finished a couple of teeny dolls--one from Dixie Redmond's six inch Izzy pattern, and the reeeelly tiny one has got a paperclay head on a cloth body & legs, and paperclay arms.

I think I've got enough to fill my tables now...which means I have no excuse to avoid housework.  Hmph.

Saying goodbye

to Emily Rose, Violet, and Amador.  They're off to find a new life.
It's been fun having them around, but I have a feeling they'll like where they're going.
Bye guys.