Inspired by Googlies

After several months of designing my own pattern for the body, and using my original sculpt for molds, I have finished my own interpretation of a Googly doll.  She is available on Etsy.

Her arms rotate forward and backward, on her wooden shoulder joints.  She is weighted with a little bag of artist sand, so she can sit well.  She also comes with a large hair-bow, like little girls wore in the early last century.  

Her head is of Paperclay, painted with acrylics and sealed.  Her hair is a wig made of human hair.
She comes with all her clothing and her handmade shoes and hat. 

You can see the listing for the doll here in my Etsy shop.

Esmeralda's Ready to...Rest!

 I just finished Esmeralda, who is largest Izannah-Walker inspired doll I have made, at 31 inches.
 I hand-sculpted her in Paperclay, and left a bit of the clay unsanded on the surface of her face to make her look a little aged and "pitted."  I had a choice of fabrics of course, but chose this one and I think it looks nice and fresh.  Her pantaloons and long chemise/slip I handmade in light muslin with very old eyelet trim.  She wears a garden hat I made of very old lace curtains that a friend had given me.  The removable lace collar is also vintage. 

She just looks so...... placid.  Or, willing to sit and listen to you, on the sofa.

 I had fun painting her curls.   I just used burnt sienna, ochre and burnt umber. 

Dixie Redmond at Maida group said she reminded her of Tillie the doll in "The Story of My Dolls," a fanciful book about antique dolls, which was published in the Thirties.  What a compliment....

   I have been so inspired by Dixie.  Without her tutelage I would not have learned to make vintage-inspired dolls.

I want to give her some tea!    

Patterns for Unders

The little Googly doll is being fitted for her underclothing...  I tried a pattern from "The Dolls Dressmaker" by Venus Dodge. 

Since I had never used this book before, I cut the pattern out first using striped scrap fabric.  Batiste intimidates me somewhat.... I have a hoard of it, because I put off using it.  

Anyway the pattern worked well for the knickers as it turned out.  I had her hair on, to show a friend, but have to take it off again as it's something you put on last.  But she looked cute here so I had to take a picture.

I have been making patterns by tracing on artist's palette paper, finding that is a good paper to use for a pattern piece... coated on one side and writeable on both sides....

Garden Grows (with some effort every day)

The echinaceas are starting to bloom.  I had never grown them before, the blooms last for weeks.

The roses are on their second surge.   This year, we discovered grape vines.  They have a nice "aura."  

 

The hydrangeas are starting to bloom.  The one in the middle is an oak leaf and the one on the right is lace cap.