Finally - Continuum

So here I am, in my new room, with 5 projects that I am committed to by April 10th!    These are:-  Titania, the partner for Oberon ( a pattern by Suzette Rugolo)  - seen here.   I made Oberon several years ago as a competition entry.  He won first place.  He is rather small - being of the fairy realm....    Suzette created Titania (the fairy) as a complementary pattern and I had always intended to make her. Well, with the Hahndorf Doll Show so close, our cloth doll club will have a display table with a sales table and a raffle.  So, I decided to donate Oberon and Titania for the raffle - BUT Titania was not made ...............so here I am madly trying to put together doll project 1.Titania is dressed in full 18th century panniers, underskirt, dress jacket etc..............................So tell me  - does this look like an 'S'??

The Idea is that the club will have a sign that is made up of dolls marking out the letters of the words for the 'Cloth Dolls Club'  So I have an 'S' and an 'h' to do...........  The doll is not the problem, it is all the costuming and adornments to make it look interesting! Dolls 2 and 3!

And lastly, my little sweethearts.  Remember I started these back here,  then got all caught up in my new doll making frenzy here.  Well that poor doll is waiting, partly dressed and at the moment,  these 2 little girls take priority and are numbers 4 & 5.

It will be a miracle if I get all this done in just over 2 weeks, but I will try.  I do really like my craft, and if I don't have time to do it I go a bit crazy and cranky.  My new room is good, and spacious, it's just at the front of the house and we live on a fairly busy main road, so the traffic noise is something I have to get used to. When I have a moment, and I tidy it up, I will take a picture of how I have settled in to the new room.

It's all good

I can't work like this...

I have come to realise something about my work style.  When my desk/studio is a mess - I can't work.  I need to clean my desk and start fresh frequently when I am working on a project.  It's like I can't think straight when my desk is not straight.   This doll is really taking me through a process of learning - what I need to do and what I like to do.  I had a huge dilemma when it came to how I was going to dress her.  I feel like I need a step by step pattern to make a doll.  But, the reality is, it is so much easier not thinking or trying to find a suitable pattern.  This doll will have her clothing stitched on and so her clothing can be quite fitted.  To do this, the easiest way is to get paper towel, wrap it to the body part,  I trim in darts or draw the shape (e.g. underarm shape) and then stitch up the paper pattern.  Drape it on the doll and make adjustments, it is so much easier than trying to find a pattern part that will fit the body.  In the past, I have made dolls with a mind to explain the process, scribble down each step, so that I don't forget it for next time.  Well blow that idea!!  No wonder I can't make a doll to please myself, I'm thinking about an imaginary doll maker while I'm still thinking it through!  That's like an author anticipating what the reader expects the story to be, when it's not even written yet!  Amazing - I could not put my finger on why I was so blocked creatively!  What a revelation!

    

So here is the desk a little tidier.  You can see the paper pattern for the gathered skirt on the desk under the doll.  I think she is a little too lithe, the challenge was to make her features elongated, and it was good to try it, but I think a little more muscle would be nice, but she is very elegant - I think.

There's a reason I'm called Sandy.............

Sanding,  sanding, sanding and more sanding.................

Here are a few of my favourite tools for sanding.

I realised that the little pedicure tool (far left) has just the right sized sanding heads for getting into the fingers and hard to reach areas. 

Progress

What an improvement!  You see you can get past the ugly stage!

The ugly stage.....

Oh my Gosh!!     The camera does not lie!!     What the................it's the ugly stage!! 
Now this is somehow true for my creations.  They all have an ugly stage.  This is a warning to all you inexperienced doll makers, if it happens to you - there is a solution - I have been here many times and the solution is.............you just have to push through it!  Trust me. 
There is a stage of doll making, where you look at what you are doing, and you can easily be put off.  How is this mess ever going to be what you have visualised in your mind's eye?  Even with cloth dolls, there is a moment where you think - "How can I make this look............"

So here I am, in the middle of my "creation"  
I excitedly take a picture  -  and I have this ..................
As you can see, I enthusiastically added a possibe hair style.
I thought she would look like Rapunzel - obviously not quite!
Now there is a lot more sanding, painting, finishing and adding of body parts to improve this situation.  A lot more work to be done!
So I am not disheartened - yet.  I have faith I am on the right track.
We are all going to be surprised by what this doll is going to be!

A Doll Making Frenzy

So as you can see I have gone mad.  I have heads, hands, legs - it's all happening at the moment.  This is very strange, I have just moved from one part to the next and thankfully with it still being Summer the warm weather is helping the clay dry quite effectively.  While I'm waiting for one thing to cure, I move to the next bit - see there is a reason why I make more than one thing at a time. 

Head in progress, I'm still working on the eyes as you can see.    The second head is also waiting to be finished and sanded.

And then there are the hands.   I actually found these to be not as daunting as in the past.  The small stick on the left is a paper wrapped floral wire with a coating of clay.  I made 20 of these and then made them into 4 hands.  Bending the fingers to a pose and adding more clay is just the start.  There has to be a lot more sanding and adding of clay and shaping.............................

Finally some inspiration!

Two years ago I made a doll with Ankie Daanen.  I don't know what happened, but after that doll, I did not sculpt another since then.  I have been working on clay over cloth.............which is similar - but not...........  I just did not want to go near a full sculpt since that workshop!  Admittedly it was an intensive 2 days which are usually a 5 day workshop.  I was so excited to meet Ankie, and she was so supportive and encouraging, and yet for some reason I was totally put off this style of doll.   There is something about this doll which I am not happy with.  To be quite honest, I think it is because there is a lot of Ankie in the doll and not much of me.   That is all I can put it down to.

But this week I met a lady who is a textile artist, she was doing beautiful work with beads and embroidery and papers.  She showed me a small journal she had made and we talked about art and self expression.  I have been complaining for months about my lack of inspiration, my lack of time management and my inability to be creative...............well after our talk, I suddenly got excited about making a doll - my own way.  From what I have learned so far..........

So I rummaged through my cupboard and found these heads!The little one peeking around the bottle on the right is one I have started to work with.  She needed her eyes fixed, but other than that she was pretty good.  When I did the original sculpt,  I started with a styrofoam egg and applied Darwi air dry clay - it is a little heavier than paperclay, but she will do.  She is the right size.  My plan is to make a doll which is about 17".  However, I know that for some reason, I need to be working on more than one thing at a time, so I decided to start another head, this time with paperclay.  I am amazed that I am so focused at the moment.  I actually can't wait to finish the dolls to see what I make!  What a surprise!

This time I'll try this........

So in an effort to try to get something creative done, I thought one of the easy mask face dolls would not take too long, and I would have a new little doll.  I decided to experiment with a method using buckram - a stiff pre-glued mesh used in milinery.  Now, the buckram I have comes in 6" strips - not quite big enough to cover the doll head I chose.  Because this is the base of the mask, it would be necessary to make 2 layers crossed so that the main part of the face was covered.  It should work.  We'll see.......................

2nd layer of buckram - dryingNow the buckram has dried, a first layer of cotton knit fabric needs to be applied.  Using the doll head to keep the shape, an application of PVA glue to the buckram mask, and then gently pressing the fabric into place..................

And another layer..............

Now making a smooth edge, pressing out the folds

 to the edge of the mask.  Making a ball for the back of the head from a cut off sock and glued into the back of the head, then stretching the cotton knit over.  I then had to wait 24 hours for the glue to dry!!   The mask was softened until all the glue dried, then it went hard again.   Very interesting..................

Work in Progress

I was a little nervous about this white cotton jersey, but doll making is all about problem solving. So I just boiled some water, added 4 teabags, bunged in some coffee and stirred. After rinsing the fabric to remove the sizing I threw it into the pot and crossed my fingers.

To my surprise, it worked! The fabric came out a warm skin colour. It wasn't blotchy and I rinsed thouroughly to make sure. The only disadvantage is I think the fabric SHRUNK! So I had a little less sized piece than I thought, but nevertheless, I was quite happy with the result.

You can see the difference in the colour.


The next step was to create the back of the head and this is such a simple solution, however I must give credit to Leslie Molen - her Gossips pattern included this method and it is the best way to create a good shaped(seperate) head for a mask doll. You just cut off a length of a ribbed sock and gather both ends after stuffing to the size you want. Then glue it into the mask.





The 'Glorex' doll kits come with a hand armature. I can't work out if it is a plastic or metal, but you can bend the fingers and wrist to pose the hand. I stitched a hand with individual fingers and inserted and stuffed the arm. It makes for quite a nice hand and is so much easier than creating pipe cleaner armatures!

I'm still here......

Finally I can show you Colleen. She is a doll I have created for Australian Dolls Bears and Collectibles magazine. This year has been so busy for me right from January. I was contacted by Shirley Dougan who is a contributor to the magazine, and she asked me to submit a pattern suitable for the readers. Well I had to actually make something that would be appropriate for doll makers who may have limited experience and in making the doll I did try to keep it simple. I must say this is the type of doll that comes together so easily for me. She is pretty, has paperclay over cloth, and is painted. I realise that these are all the things I enjoy doing when I am making a doll, so she had been a breakthrough doll for me. The only thing is that right now, when I am in a creative head space, I am too busy doing office work for my contractor DH and planning our overseas trip (for which we leave on the 2nd May!) and there is no time to create dolls!








There has been a lot happening in the past month and I have pics to post, I just have not had time to sit at the computer and upload them. Hopefully I can get some done before we go away. There is always so much to do.....

Something new - but it's a secret......

I have had the inspiration to make a doll. I will just show some progress photos for now, because I don't want to jinx this. She is paperclay over cloth, which is different to the Darwi clay I have used in the past. After adding clay,I painted the legs, arms and head. I find I do enjoy this method. Making dolls is like a process of elimination. You start to make something and if you don't like it, it just takes ages to do. It seems this is why I get stuck all the time and have so many UFO's. When you enjoy the process, you just do the step by step and before you know it the doll has come together. So this is what I have learned......find the thing you really enjoy doing and do lots of it. Each time you do it, it gets easier and you then develop your own style. I feel like I am so near, yet so far. I have lots more to do to find what my dolls really want to be. What a revelation!

Another attempt to make something

So this is Francie. She has fought me all the way with her clothing. I know how I want her to be dressed, but for some reason, every dress I make her doesnt't fit or just looks wrong. So far I have made 3 dresses. Here she is with a petticoat on, but she will wear a pinafore so she doesn't need bloomers, a slip and a dress and a pinafore. I ended up making a cute blouse top to go under the pinafore, just the skirt needs to be the right length and not too full. She is going to have to wait now because I have been working on this for days and I am sick of it.
Next project..............