Molly and Clarise

I finished two new dolls.  Okay, I finished two old dolls who have patiently waited for me to sew them something besides the underwear they've sat around in for a year.  (Tell the truth and shame the devil.) 

So here they are.  I call the first one Molly because she's a type that I make--the first Molly being one I sold at UFDC last year, and got so many orders for.  So I call her type a Molly Doll...meaning a black lady of middle income from around the late 1800's era.  She has a linen apron and wool felt boots that are laced up permanently with cotton thread.

The second doll is Clarise, who is different than Molly because of her lighter skin, blue-gray eyes and fancier clothing.  Her shoes and hose are painted, and she wears a hardened corset w/ antique lace.  I imagined a story for her as I made her, one of those neither-nor stories that can be sweet or tragic, depending on the fortitude of the heroine. 

Anyway, here they are in their cotton dresses.  I still haven't learned to make button holes on my machine (someday!) so they have handmade button holes instead of hooks because I felt like it.  Their gown skirts are very fully gathered, and their unders are suited to the economics of their day.  They are each made from a Greiner doll body pattern, with big ol' butts, skinny middles, and broad shoulders.

I hope you like them.  I do.  :~) 

Working on orders and some new faces.

I spent this last weekend cleaning out the studio (again) and moving all the doll class stuff out of the dining room where it had begun to take over (again).  The studio is so functional now that it's really a pleasure to work in there.  My mother-in-law (wave hello MJ!) would probably still have an anxiety attack upon entering, but to those of us bent this way, it's wonderful!  Haha!

So the last couple of days have been about finishing some Molly Dolls, a small Izannah, a large Izannah, and several character dolls.  I'm working to improve the hands-on art doll class, and getting ready for the online class that will begin in November.

Here are some faces I've been working on, and the dolls my students made in last week's class--they still need arms and legs and clothes!

"Jack Frost" doll in the making.

Molly Doll

Phil's favorite.

My art doll using the mask I include in my hands-on class.

Joann's Doll

Laura's Doll

Hope your week is progressing as you'd like it to!

Delia, a new/old Izannah Walker doll

I have to thank my friend Martha for inspiring me to use lamb skin for her hair. Scary, because it's expensive and hard to cut into. I used a cloth template to get the shaping right, but still...scary. Delia is 21" tall, has big feet and a sad countenance. Her complexion was my effort to replicate how some of the really worn Izannahs have suffered under poor storage and care, so that their paint has cracked and the paste come off in places. I like this one a lot. I'm thinking she should wear the deep red wool for her dress.