Last Doll of 2015

I started this doll during the Christmas holiday.  Our doll club, the Clothadollics have a new challenge called "Royalty" for Feb 2016.  I knew I had to make the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland so I started by gathering inspirational pictures of the queen. Here are just a sampling of my inspirational pictures:

 All the queens seemed so angry and haughty that I decided that my queen would have a more gentle expression before Wonderland changed her!

Next I started gathering my fabrics and trims.  I knew that the colour palette would be red, black, white and gold.  I wanted hearts and a "Queen of Hearts" card and a crown.  Luckily, I have a huge selection of fabrics and trims that I have been gathering for over 15 years so I had all I needed in my stash:

I forgot to show you the gold dupioni silk I added to my stash as well.

Now the next step was deciding on a basic pattern template and then adapting it to create my Queen.  I choose Arley Berryhill's Candlestick Diva (from a workshop I took with Arley a few years ago, sponsored by our doll club).  I love Arley's dolls and costuming.  For the queen I enlarged the pattern and started with the face.  I also choose a candle stick from the 5 or 6 I had in my stash.

I tried out a few until I found the perfect one.  The only problem was that it was a blond wood, not what I had in mind for the queen.  No matter, I painted it a bright red and then added gold highlights. The last step was giving the candlestick a coat of gloss.

Now on to the fun stuff, the doll!

I was so excited as the face emerged that I only took photos in the end so here she is:

I was very happy with her face.  I think she has a gentle quality.  I used orange mohair locks for her hair that I needle felted in.  Her hat is made from a red jersey and has red and black embellishments that I sewed by hand.  The trim along the edge is a european pearl beaded trim that I found in Toronto a couple of years ago!  It finally came in handy.

Here you can clearly see the candlestick that I used, painted and glossed.

She stands about 28" tall.

Her flamingo is all felt and sewn by hand.  She holds a Queen of Hearts playing card in her left hand as well as a feather fan.

Side view showing her lace collar, red sequinned cape and crushed velvet heart shoulder pieces.

I made her sleeves in sections.  I first made fabric, by sewing duping silks together and then made a tube for her upper sleeves.

A close up of her hand showing the crocheted half gloves I made.

The crown I made using wire and pale silver and black pearls.

There are so many more details I added but I will let the photos do the talking.  I hope you enjoy my more gentle, kindly Red Queen.

I coloured her face using art Prismacolour pencils, Pigma markers, acrylic paint (mouth and white of the eyes) and chalk.

28" tall and full of fun, here is the proud gentle queen of hearts before she became haughty!

Doll Club Christmas Exchange

Last week our doll club the Cloth-a-dollics had our potluck Christmas meeting and our Christmas gift exchange.  This year the pattern that was chosen to make was from the Autumn 2005 Art Doll Quarterly magazine:

The members who wanted to participate were to use the pattern provided in the magazine and make a doll to give to a fellow club member.  No-one knows who the doll would be given to as the gift exchange is random to allow the maker the freedom to use fabrics that they love.

The meeting was a lot of fun as there was plenty of food to go around, lots of social catch up with fellow members and a fun, fun gift reveal:

As you can see all of the dolls were quite different and all were beautiful.  I received the fuchsia beauty with the embroidered and beaded details seen in the photo above.

The doll I made for the exchange was the "deer girl" (yes I did alter the pattern a wee bit, lol!):

I gave my girl antlers using pipe cleaners wrapped with brown floral tape.  The body suit was a pale pink dupioni silk with sleeves, boots and hood made of faux suede trimmed with faux fur.  I also added "deer spots" on her hood, arms and boots.  Her dress I made from a ocean blue sweater I had that no longer fit.  For the finishing details I added Christmas lights caught up in her antlers, a pompom tie, a pale pink scarf and a snowflake for her to hold.

I love the way she turned out, so I made her a sister (which I kept):

My deer girl has a deer hand puppet, arm warmers and leg warmers made from a sock as well as a soft blue fleece vest.

I enjoyed making my Deer Girls and I am thinking about making some to sell for next Christmas!

Little Red and the Wolf

Last night at our Cloth-a-Dollics  meeting, we shared our dolls made based on the theme "Fractured Fairy Tales".  There were eleven dolls shown, all wonderful and creative.  My contribution was based on "Little Red Riding Hood", the classic fairy tale.  In my version Little Red becomes very frustrated with the townfolk chasing the wolf and with the wolf creating havoc in the woods so she uses her brain and comes us with a plan:

Little Red is 16" tall.  I especially loved making her cape and red boots.

Little Red says to the Wolf, "Wolf I will bring you a picnic basket full of food every week if you agree not to frighten any more little girls or grandmothers.  The twofolk have agreed that they will not chase you as long as you stick to this plan.  What do you say Wolf?"

The Wolf decided that it was a very good plan indeed and even accepted the special tie that Little Red gave him to show him and everyone that he was serious about keeping his word.

To this day Little Red, who is now town mayor and known as Big Red, meets with the Wolf (who is still wearing his tie) every week and together they have a picnic and discuss the week's events.  They have become fast friends and help each other solve problems both in the town and in the forest!

 The moral of this story is, negotiate and try not to devour strangers, as they may become friends when given a second chance!

Miss Lila Love Berry

In December 2014, I displayed my dolls at "R place" hair salon in Vic West (Victoria, BC).  One of the salon's customers asked me to make a special doll to display in her shop window.  Chris is the owner of "Lilaberry" a unique home decor store in Sidney, BC located at 2474 Beacon Avenue.  I always love visiting her store as she has unique items for the savvy home owner or anyone wanting to purchase a special item for a friend.

Needless to say I was thrilled with this  opportunity.  Chris wanted a curvy "cupid pig" for her window display for Valentine's Day 2015.  I went to work starting first thing in 2015 .  I knew I needed a template for a voluptuous woman and I used Lynn Butcher's "Beach Babe" pattern for the body template.  I had to alter both the leg design and the arm design as well as making a "pig" head complete with a cute snout and ears!

Here is the face up close:

I used a light pink velour for her body and face.  I needle-scuplted the face and added glass eyes with big false eyelashes.  Her hair is tibetan mohair-a perfect shade of blonde to complement her big blue eyes.

Next I worked on her "Victoria Secret" lingerie and used a swim suit material in a dark red/fushia.  I added lace and rosettes to make it frilly and appropriate for a Valentine cupid!

You will notice that she is holding a bow and arrow.  Well every cupid needs her quiver and bow and arrow, do you not agree?  I found a great site that had instructions on making the quiver, bow and arrows (http://www.antiquelilac.com/bow--arrows---tutorial.html)  and I had the perfect piece of ivory and red leather for the quiver.  I used large skewers for the arrows and added three heart shaped velvet pieces for the arrow tail feathers.  The bow was made as per the instructions using wire, aluminum foil and brown floral tape.  I used fishing line to string the bow.  I was pleased with the result.  The quiver came together easily:

 You can clearly see her quiver over her shoulder equipped with more "love" arrows.

She holds her bow while gazing up to the big blue sky. (her hands are wired so they can bend using pipe cleaners)

I used a simple plastic shoe and "jacked up" the heels using wire and paper clay so that she could have not just pumps but stilettos!  I painted the shoes red and added pink polkadots. I then added a fabric sole to balance out the stiletto heel and adorned the back of the shoe with velvet pink bows which I continued up the back of her white stockings.  She has a blingy garter piece on there left leg!  She is also wearing bling on her wrist and in her ears!

The wings are satin with lots of fluffy white feathers.  Finally she carries a pink/ivory/red flower purse-now she is ready for love!

Closeup of her shoes showing the paint job and customizing.

Here is the finished piece measuring 22' high and 22" wide.

Such a special pig needs a special poem so here goes:

"May I present a most confident pig by the name of Miss Lila Love Berry.  She is full-bodied, full of fun, full of sass, full of joy and her smile makes everyone merry.  This Valentine's Day she is on a quest to find a very special man of her own.

So she soars on high, with her big blue eyes, her beauty, her blush and her cupid's bow.  She glides and sashays dancing all day to the tunes of the Morning doves. Then she lowers her gaze and steadies her aim, making ready her bow for all who want to dance in the game of love.

If you are the one, the confident one, who is ready to share and wants to have fun with your own special one, then give her a wink and a smile, for Miss Lila will know your intentions are real, touch your heart with her bow, and give you the gift of True Love.  Happy Valentine's Day!"

A few last photos before Miss Lila flies away:

Santa

Well it is that time of year and it is wonderful!  Yes, I am speaking about the Christmas season with all its lights, colours, giving and receiving.  

One of my customers challenged me to make her a 4 foot Santa and I accepted the challenge.  She wants to surprise her husband with an "over the top" gift for their home.  Once I accepted the challenge, I went to work.  I learned which style of Santa she wanted and then I looked for images on the internet and in my many reference books.  Armed with about 10 photos I started by gathering possible fabrics for my project.

I started with the head of the Santa.  If the head does not convey the feeling of merriment and mirth that I want in the Santa then the Santa will not be good enough no matter how lovely the costume.

I was prepared to make as many heads as it took but I lucked out on my first try:

I loved the way this fellow looks like he has a twinkle in his eye.  I made him using knit fabric that I stuffed as usual with polyfil and then I needle sculpted his face.  I then added paper clay to enhance his nose, eyes, eyebrows and add wrinkles to his sweet face. I then  added a thin coat of gesso and painted the face.  I was quite pleased with the effect.  The inspiration for this face was from an old illustration of Santa by Thomas Nast (from the book Christmas Drawings, Dover publication).  I have always loved his cheery depictions of Santa and as it turns out, my customer loved his drawing as well.

Now on to the body:  once again I used knit fabric as I wanted a nice round belly.  This Santa would not have legs as the size would make it very difficult to have cloth legs.  Here is the body:

Notice that I made the arms with a cotton fabric and then made knit arms as the overlay to blend in with his body.  I placed him on an old lamp stand with the rod through his body and head for support.  It worked well and made him easy to move around.

Now I could concentrate on the costume.  I decided that he would have a tunic and a luxurious cape.  The customer mentioned that her home is in the Tuscan style and colours so I used burgundy, gold, and ivory with hints of greenery.  It was fun finding just the right trims for him.  

 He needed a staff so I used an old broom handle and painted it and added a finial, trim and tassels to enhance the rich Tuscan feel of this Santa.

He needed a hint of greenery so I added some and placed two wee birds on his branch.  That is what he is looking at with his sweet grin.

Here are more photos from various angles:

 His beard, hair, and eyebrows are made from Tibetan mohair-perfect for Santa.

I had a piece of real fun in my stash and I used it around the hood of his cape and around his hat.

Final photos, I will miss him when he goes to his new home!

 I added some fun toys around his belt (he is Santa after all)!

Good bye Santa!