Julie's Dolls

2012-03-13T00:15:00.002-04:00

Use Your Feet For Doll Clothes

Hello Dollmakers! Today I'll be getting out my special feet.... but not the ones at the end of my legs that always have sock monkey socks on them. When I make doll clothes, I switch back and forth between 2-3 different feet, and I like to use my special hemstitching foot for sewing and finishing seams in one pass. This special foot has a bar across it that makes the zig zag portion of the stitch perfect every time. I use it also to just zig zag around the edges if I want a flat seam I can open.

But before I begin, I have to clear my sewing table, it's a BIG MESS! And then find the material I want to use and gather the pattern pieces I will need. I like to keep my Gail Wilson doll patterns in notebooks and I slide the laminated pattern pieces in a sheet protector and keep those in the notebook too. If I use ivory colored cardstock for body parts and another color for the clothing patterns, I can zoom right to what I need. Gail's instructions are wonderfully detailed so you never wonder about what to do. For more information about Gail's dolls, visit her website at: www.GailWilsonDesigns.com

Miss Columbian has found a new owner and she needs to have her bonnet and pantaloons finished right away for her journey to Texas.

So let's cover how to apply lace to a bonnet brim and how to make tucks for the pantaloons and how to finish the seams on the pantaloons with the hemstitch foot.

After I have picked out the linen and lace, I cut two brims and gather my lace. My rule of thumb for how full to make the gathers is:

1.5 times the length of the item you will gather it to (the brim) for soft gathers,

2 times for average fullness (this is the one I use the most),

3 times for a very full fluffiness of lace.

Set your stitch length to long (4.0 for me) and at the edge of the lace that will be hidden in a seam, sew your gathering stitich leaving 4 inch thread tails at each end to pull up the gathers.

Find the center lenthwise of the lace and the brim piece and pin to one brim piece with outside edge of lace heading in. Pin two outside edges too.

After the mid and end points are firmly pinned, pull up on the bobbin thread until the lace fits the size of the piece you are sewing it to. Use a stilletto to evenly distribute the lace gathers. Pin as you go. Secure the end threads so they won't let the lace fall off (I wrap around the last pin.)

Reset your machine stitch length back to the regular length (I like 1.6 or 1.8 for little doll clothes, the scale of the stitches seems more suitable) and sew the lace to the brim piece using a stilletto to re-arrange the lace when it gets out of whack. Watch close that you don't let the edge sneak out of getting sewn down.

After sewing, check that it's all sewn good and then following Gail's instructions, apply the other brim piece to the first one sandwiching the lace inbetween and sew using the sewing line from sewing the lace on the first brim piece as a guide. Clip around the curves and turn outside right and press. For the remaining instructions of how to attach the brim to the bonnet for the Columbian doll, please see the instructions in Gail's kit available at http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/all_page_content/historic_primitive2_ins.html

The pantaloons require a bit of preparing - you need to make some tucks on the fabric that will then be folded and lined up with the bottom of the pattern piece. Precut the rectangle sized for the doll you are making (the Columbian doll comes in two sizes) and iron up the two folds where the tucks will be. I get out my special foot that has the bar so that I can line up the edge of the fold with the bar so I know I will have a 1/8' tuck.

Here's the first tuck going in.

And the second Tuck going in; if you look close you can see the fold up against the bar.

Both tucks are in and in need an iron. I can see I still need practice. Sewing tucks on linen is hard for me. I do much better with batiste.

Then fold up the amount listed in the instuctions for the hem portion. Iron, but do not sew yet. Or you can leave it unfolded, but adjust the placement of the pattern to allow for the hem that should have been folded up.

Now fold the fabric in half, wrong sides together, then take each side and fold in half again so that you have two folds with the tucks inside. Be sure the folds line up nice and that the tucks match exactly. I pin at the tucks so they stay lined up while I trace the pattern.

Lay the pattern piece on the fabric, the one side up against the two folds and trace around the pattern. Pin in a few spots, and watching out for your pins, cut out the pantaloons and zig zag around the raw edges if you wish. I usually zig zag around the waist edge with my hemstitch foot. Then using that foot and adjusting to a special stitch on my machine that sews a straight seam and a zig zag at the same time, I sew the crotch seams.

Then flip the pantaloons around so the leg seams can be sewn, and pin, matching the seams from the crotch. Sew the leg seam in one swoop.

Turn up the bottom leg hems and turn down the waist hem, pin and iron. It's hard to iron little doll clothes with a big iron and board, so I get out my little flat wooden utensil (spurtle?) and my little clover iron and give it a good press. A wooden spoon handle works too, but the flat one is really nice for little pant legs and sleeves. Then I hem the legs by hand and put in a drawstring at the waist. I make my pantaloons a bit differently than what's in the instructions. All those years of making baby clothes, I guess....I just make the doll pants the same way as people pants.

I hope you enjoyed watching these doll clothing items going together. Thanks for stopping by and I had fun today! - Julie

Next Class is the Cloth Izannah with the Portrait Style Face

2012-02-01T09:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Dollmakers! You've probably wondered where I have been, it's been so long since I posted. I was busy making merry over the holidays, and then getting thru the yearly medical checkups and getting treated for high blood pressure. I also have a new year's resolution to get more walking and exercise in for my health. It's time to get serious about getting fit. And as my fitness trainer says "FIT HAPPENS" - and it does with working at it. Yup, I finally figured it might be easier if I had some professional help.

What's up in the doll arena? We are working on the small Columbians thru February and then in March and April we move onto the Portrait Style cloth Izannah doll that is featured on Gail Wilson's home page. Click on the title of this post and it will take you to a picture of this doll on Gail's website. For more information, click here:
http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/new_items.html and page down about 2/3 of the way down the page. She is 13" tall and wears an outfit that is a copy from an original Izannah Walker doll. I will share my oil paints during class for anyone who wishes to try their hand at oil painting their doll face.

Class fee news! For any one who has paid for three classes from me, any following classes will be half price or $25. If you repeat a class you have taken from me before, the fee is reduced to the bee fee ($5/month).

On the fourth Thursdays of the month, we will gather to make Hitty items from the Hitty kit club. Next up will be chairs; upholstered or wooden. There are also a few who will make another GW Hitty doll. There is still room around the table if you'd like to join us. The fee is $5.00 for all the Thursdays in the month. We usually meet for classes the first and third Thursdays, the second Thursday is doll bee with the exception of the Feb bee (we talked Cindy S into teaching us the chenille blanket) and the fourth Thursday is Hitty bee.

We hope to see you there! - Have some doll fun today - Julie

Are You Ready?

2011-11-08T13:56:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for that time of year when you need to wrap up something special for that some one special? It's too early to even think about it, but I don't want to find myself with so many unfinished dolls when I need them. So TADA - announcing the week long doll bee at Attic Window Quilt Shop starting Nov 28 and going thru Dec 1, 2011. The times are 10:30 am on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. For Tuesday, we'll meet after the regular Tuesday Bee...say 1:00 pm. The bee fee will be $5 for the entire marathon (4 days of classroom use).
Hope to see you there!

Bring whatever doll you wish to finish during the week. I hope to get several finished! Including these MYO dolls that should have been finished and posted on Etsy many months ago.

On another note: I have been looking for ways to "clean green". I find I am allergic (or something like that) to many of the green cleaning products you find at the grocery stores. I have been using Doctor Bronner's pepperment soap for many years and just found out that I could add some hydrogen peroxide to clean a spot on the carpet. This spot has been a thorn in my side for many years! Even the professional carpet cleaners couldn't get it....but good old Dr B and the hydrogen peroxide got it right out. I used the food grade stuff diluted down to disinfect my counter top and had a bit left over, so I added the soap and used the rest on the carper. Awesome stuff. Here's the link that gave me the idea: http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/. It's an enviromentaly safe cleaner that I plan on using a lot more.

While I am cleaning the kitchen, you go have some doll fun - so at least one of us has some fun today - Julie

PS - I found that the magic bullet glasses that I never use make a wonderfull shaker (use the lid with the larger holes) for my new green scour powder - borax.

Dixie Redmond's Izannah

2011-11-06T09:08:00.000-05:00

Are you thinking you might like to try your hand at an Izannah Walker style doll? Besides my Gail Wilson Izannah's I have three Dixie Redmond dolls in the works. They are still in the pre-sculpt stage, but hopefully soon I will get them going again.

Here is the link for Dixie's workshop e-pattern. I hope you'll give it a try, it is loads of fun with this group. Lots of talented doll makers in that forum, so be sure to join in to see the pictures and read the discussion threads.

http://izannahwalkerworkshop.blogspot.com

hmmm, maybe Santa should make a few of these dolls!

Have some doll fun today (you have that extra hour) - Julie

The Retreat Doll

2011-10-26T15:53:00.000-04:00

Here she is - the doll from the Gail Wilson retreat in early October. She is one of the dolls from Gail's journey to create a doll just as the real Izannah Walker did back in the last half of the 1800's. This doll has a molded head with stockingette over it and a cloth body. This was my first attempt at stockinette and it was much easier than I thought it would be.

I met some wonderful new doll makers at the retreat as well as connecting with some doll makers I have met at other retreats. It was a fun filled long weekend. We did a gift exchange and I was so lucky! I received some special fabric designed by one of the retreaters. Thanks Cornish Crone!

After the retreat, my husband and I traveled to the Shelburne Museum in Northern Vermont. It is a series of buildings housing several different kinds of museum exibits. It took us two full days to see it all. In one of the buildings, they have three Izannah Walker dolls on display!

In addition to dolls, we saw sleighs and carriages, quilts, folk art, impressionistic paintings, american paintings, circus carvings, and some period houses. We also saw a shaker tool shed, a weaver with a working Jacquard loom, and a locomotive steam engine. If you'd like to arm chair visit the museum, here is their web address:

http://shelburnemuseum.org/explore/collections/

They have a nice gift shop there with books, games, clothing, Vermont artist items, and even some fabrics that are reproductions of fabrics in their antique quilts.

I hope you get to visit the Shelburne Museum some day...but in the meantime, have some kind of fun today!

Shop Hoppin in Rockford, MI

2011-09-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hello dollmakers! We are taking a break from dollmaking (shhh, don't tell the dolls!) for 4 weeks in honor of the annual fall shop hop around West Michgan fabric stores. Today my eldest daughter and I made a trek into Rockford, MI to visit the Rockford shoe outlet. Wow, so many nice shoes and things there. I found a nice zip bag for shopping at an outlet price :)

Since we were there in Rockford, we decide to have a look around and WOW we found this really cool olive oil and balsamic vinegar spot. I never knew they had dark chocolate balsamic vinegar (I got a bottle of that). And so many interesting oilive oils. They do have a website and I think I will go back and do some Christmas shopping there. They had some nice gift bags with four or six bottles that I figure would be very nice for gifts. http://www.oldworldolivepress.com or click on the title of this post.

I got a couple of sampler sets (so I could try all those very delicious oils at home). There are samplers in mid sized bottles or small bottles.

Some of the very tasty combos are:
(EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil, BV=Balsamic Vinegar)
Blood Orange EVOO and dark chocolate BV
Basil EVOO and Sicilian Lemon BV
Wild mushroom and Sage EVOO and 18year aged traditional BV

YUM YUM! I'm making myself a salad for din din and then I am going to take a good look at a knitting pattern I bought at the yarn shop in town. A very nice lady helped me find a nice sweater pattern that you can use up scraps to make and it shows sizing for kids and adults. And you knit it in once piece and sew one seam and it's done. Sounds like it's right up my alley. http://www.therockfordnetwork.com/rockford-mi-180-J.T.-Stitchery-and-Frame-Shop.htm

I was hoping to get into the rug hooking spot, but it looks like they are closing and moving to another location, so we didn't get in there. But oh well, sounds like a good reason for going back to Rockford!

Well, the EVOO and BV in the pantry is calling my name, so off I go to the kitchen - have some fun today (even if it isn't doll fun).
Bon Appitit! - Julie

Third Generation Doll maker

2011-09-17T23:25:00.001-04:00

Hello Dollmakers! Here's what happens when you can't find some one to mind the little one while you make dolls: you give the next generation doll maker a start!

My middle daughter Hazel is entering a Hitty doll in a work sponsored art contest. Here she is painting the skin color on a Hitty head and limbs. Of course her little one Kristin wants in on the painting fun and did a pretty good job considering she is only two.

Hitty is a fun doll to make. She is only 6.5 inches tall, but has a big personality! We made her a room box and some medical office items like a miniature stethoscope and knee banger (ok, go ahead a laugh! I don't know the medical term for that knee banger thingie). We found some very small bottles with cork stoppers and made some tiny cotton balls, cotton swabs, and tongue depressors for them. Hitty also has a table and chair, a coat rack, a file box with patient files, and she even has a framed medical degree!

She is now residing at Hazel's work and the company employees voted on Friday. I hear we have some pretty good competition at the art show. We will hear on Monday how she fared. If she wins the competition, she will have another adventure to a medical convention.
Good luck Hitty!

Have some doll fun today - we sure did! Here are a few of the fun places we visitied in cyber space while making Hitty and her room box:
www.gailwilsondesigns.com for the Hitty parts
http://www.printmini.com/printables/ mini printables
http://www.hittyprintmini.julieoldcrow.com/ more mini printables
and thanks to them for sharing their Hitty treasures!

Finishing up the MYO doll with Hannah and Samantha

2011-08-17T18:17:00.001-04:00

HI doll makers, today is the day we finish up the MYO dolls that Hannah and Samantha (and Mom helped too) have been working on for awhile. The first day (gee, was that last year??) they sculped hair on the doll heads.

The second meeting, they painted the doll parts with skin and hair color and mom worked on the cloth parts.

The third meeting we painted on the facial details and shoes on the feet. Ok, I helped a little by painting on the eye whites, but they did most of the face themselves. I was impressed they did so well as they are my youngest doll making pupils ever.

Yesterday I made the dresses and undies so that there wouldn't be naked dolls going home. Samantha picked out a dark print dress with red dots. It made up nicely with gathered sleeve edges and a wide lace ruffle. Hannah picked out a sweet pink sprigged fabric that looked equally nice with the lace ruffle. The undies were made out of an old man's hankerchief. The slip was too long! This is one of the dangers of making clothing ahead of time, no chance to fit it on the doll before hemming. So, we'll have to fix that later.

Today, H & S's mom finished sewing the torsos, and then....

Hannah attached one of the arms to the arm tube before we put the arms into the shoulders and sewed her legs to the thigh tubes.

Hannah

Samantha

And Samantha stuffed some roving into her legs and sewed them shut. Then we slipped the arm with arm tube into the holes in the shoulder and sewed on the second arm, added the legs to the torso and VOILA! Two very nice Gail Wilson designed "Make Your Own" dolls completed by two very young doll makers.

The pantaloons went on first, then the slip, and finally the dresses. I can see these two dolls are going to be well loved!

Hannah and Samantha did a wonderful job on their dolls and can be very proud of themselves.

For more information about the MYO doll from Gail Wilson, please see her website at

www.GailWilsonDesigns.com

Good Grain Lines and the Columbian Doll

2011-07-27T13:15:00.004-04:00

Hello Doll makers! Happy doll day to you. Yup, she's finished and up on the Etsy Shelf where I keep all my Etsy offerings safe and dust free. Here's a picture of her before she went up on the shelf in her dust proof cover:

There are additional pictures on the Etsy site if you wish to see more. Click on this blog post title to take the short cut there. There will be a rare black version of her on Etsy as soon as I can get her finished.

Now it's time to prepare for the next doll class at Attic Window Quilt Shop - The Columbian Doll. The antique Columbian doll that inspired our class doll lives at the Wenham Museum near Boston. She was made by Emma and Marietta Adams (1890's in Oswego, NY) . Miss Columbia got her name as a result of winning an award at the 1893 Columbian Exposition of the Chicago's World Fair. She went on to travel internationally to raise monies for children's Charities. For more information about Miss Columbia and her travels, please visit the Wenham Museum site at: http://www.wenhammuseum.org/misscol.html

Today I will be making the body of the Columbian doll designed by Gail Wilson so that I have a class example for our first class on Aug 4, 2011. It's not too late to jump into class, purchase a pattern for the Columbian Doll from Gail Wilson and come to class with your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies. All the skill required is basic sewing skills. The rest we'll cover in class. Gail's website is: http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com The columbian doll is in the historical section in the cottage industry doll. Tell her you are taking my class and she'll let you know the items besides the pattern that you will need (shoe leather, buttons, etc).

The first step in sewing the body is to find the grainline of the fabric. This is parallel to the salvedge. Easily done UNLESS the salvedge has been cut off. No worries, just find a similar fabric with a salvedge and find which way the stretch goes. The stretch is perpendicular (at a 90 degree angle) to the salvedge. So now you know you want to lay the grainline indicators on the pattern along the not stretchy grainline of the fabric.

The next step, which I actually do way before I start cutting into the fabric is to copy my patterns onto cardstock and extend the grainline on the pattern piece all the way to the edge of the pattern on both ends. Then I laminate the patterns front and back and cut out the patterns.

On the fabric, I take a ruler and pencil and run a pencil line down the grain line. Take your time and make sure you have a good grainline. If you are not flush with fabric, you may wish to lay out the patterns to see where the pencil lines should be drawn, then remove the pattern piece and draw the line.

One you have a nice long pencil line (longer than the pattern piece), you can lay your pattern piece on the line of the fabric so that the extended grain lines on the pattern match up with the grain line on the fabric. Make sure they line up at both ends and then draw around your pattern piece.

Why is it important to get good grain lines? It helps to maintain the shape of the doll as originally intended by the designer. If you don't follow the grainlines, you might end up with a short fat doll instead of the doll shape you were supposed to have. This means that the clothing may not fit well. Having said this, there are times you might WANT to disregard the grainlines. For example, if you want to make a second doll with the same pattern and don't want it to be exactly the same, you can flip the grain line in say the head and end up with a fatter head. The doll will look different, but if you keep the body the same, you won't have issues with the clothing not fitting.

Here are two NY dolls I made, flipping the grainline on the black version to get a different shaped head. I ended up adding hair of yarn too, so it is really different.

Or if you wish to make the body short and fat too, you will need to adjust the clothing patterns to account for that. One way you can do this is to make your adjustments on the clothing fabric when tracing around the pattern pieces and then make the article of clothing out of paper towel. It's a good way to test the fit of the item on the doll without cutting into your fabric. Once you have the perfect fit, you use the pattern tweaks on the real fabric.

I hope I helped you become a better doll maker today! Take a break from the summer heat and have some doll fun today! Thanks for stopping by - Julie

Painting eye whites

2011-06-27T15:00:00.001-04:00

Julie's work table - almost cleaned up

Hi Doll makers! Today I am straightening up the sewing table. My machine is in the shop for it's yearly cleaning and it's a good time to dust and clean the spot. I'm finding all sorts of ufo's!

So as I go, I organize for what I'm going to do next while I wait for the sewing machine to return. One thing I found is that several heads are suspended in their process waiting for eye whites to be painted on. I like to do my heads in alkyd oils and eye whites need to go on and dry before the rest of the face can be painted. I like to give them a few days of drying time, so if I have to pull off some iris color, I can use my filbert with a touch of turp without pulling off any eye white.
For me, the first step in painting is to find that spot where I can leave things to dry. I have six heads to paint the eye whites (3 hitties for Thursday's doll class and 3 MYO dolls). I happened to be dusting one of my spool pincushions and thought, hey - why not this for drying eye whites?

You can secure them if you slip a square of paper towel into the shoulder area loosely. Then the dowel will hold it in. Don't try to wad a big bunch of toweling, or the pressure of the paper against the dowel against the inside of the head might break the head. For the wooden Hitty head, use a tall spool of thread that fits the head dowel. They can move, just not so the movement spoils the painting of the eye white.

The doll heads may touch each other, so do not use to dry hair or even skin paint.

And they touch the pincushion, so make sure the hair is super dry before you load them onto the spool dowels.

Well, guess I better quit fooling around on the blog and get back to cleaning!

Thanks for stopping by and have some doll fun today! - Julie

ps - I got the wooden spool pincushion from Gail Wilson at a retreat.

http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/oldfashdrygoods.html

Visit the website above for her vintage pincushion kits.

Super Duper Cute alert

2011-06-07T14:54:00.001-04:00

Oh my, I feel like a pirate finding a pot of gold in the sand! For in with all the junk mail yesterday was the MOST ADORABLE tiny sock monkey for my Hitty. Many thanks to Linda H from Sequim, WA for sending me this little treasure. My Hitty thinks she is the cat's meow now with her own sock monkey (and she probably is).

Linda, you sure made my day yesterday! Thanks for sharing your talent with me. It always amazes me that you can get a felting needle and turn a whisp of roving into little critters. I must try my hand at this sometime. In the meantime, if you have a website where others can go and see your craft, please let us know in the comments. Thanks and THANKS AGAIN!

Now, I need to go put my treasure in the bookcase with the other treasures. Hmmm, maybe on the bed.

I had a barrel full of doll fun today! Thanks for stopping by, and now I'm going to monkey around in the doll room - Julie

Cute Alert

2011-05-28T21:50:00.003-04:00

Hot off the presses - or guess I should say, the sewing machine: A carpet bag designed by Sarah C. of Two Sister's Fancy Goods for my yet unfinished Izannah Walker doll from Dixie Redmond's online class. Here's a picture of the carpet bag I made this afternoon - it was FUN!

This was a practice version, to get the feel of how to make it. It is lined, has a pocket and real leather trim. I wanted to get over the learning curve before I used real nice tapestry fabric and this is not bad for a first try.

This would be a wonderful size purse for American Girl dolls, too.

For info about the pattern for the doll's bag, visit Sarah's storefront: http://twosistersfancygoods.weebly.com/

Sarah also has a blog: http://www.cremnrabble.blogspot.com/

For info about Dixie's online Izannah class, please visit: http://www.izannahwalkerworkshop.blogspot.com/

The online class registration for 2011 is closed, but there is rumor there might be a 2012 class.

I had some doll fun today! Hope you got some too - Julie

New York Doll - turning fingers

2011-05-25T17:50:00.010-04:00

New York Doll designed by Gail Wilson, made by me years ago in an online class.

Hello doll makers! Today I am working on finishing up the NY doll bodies and turning them outside right. Tomorrow will be the second class at Attic Window Quilt Shop for Gail Wilson's version of the doll that graces the front cover on the book by Wendy Lavitt. For more information about the doll, please click on the title of the link and it will take you to Gail's website. The New York Doll is in the historical section. I have one kit left over from a prior class that I would like to sell - if anyone would like more info - please email me. Yes, it comes with a set of pre-sewn hands.

I have found a short cut for the hands! I scanned the hand pattern into my embroidery unit on my machine and I just let the machine sew the hands for me. I also do this for all my students who ask for them. I try and turn them outside right before I give them to the students as this is one of those tricky areas that takes a bit of practice. Sorry about it being sideways! I can't seem to find the way to turn it.

click on any picture for a closer look

Once the machine has sewn them, I start by doing a preliminary cut out that goes around the fingers as a whole.

Then I clip between the fingers close to the stitching. This ensures that the hands will lay nicely after they are turned; no hitching up in the crux of the fingers. Then I do another pass around with the scissors close to the stitiching, but not as close as the slips in the V's of the fingers.

I fray block the fingers, starting at the wrist, going around the fingers, and then ending at the other side of the wrist. You can do the fraycheck at any stage after you sew the fingers to just before turning. I have done it both before and after the final pass of the scissors. I have noticed that it is a bit easier to turn the fingers if they are not totally dry.

Now comes the not so easy part: turning the fingers. This is where it really pays to have the tools. Years ago, I purchased tiny turning tubes on the recommendation of a fellow doll maker I met at a GW retreat, and boy I am so glad I did! They make turning tiny fingers a lot easier. If you don't have the brass turning tubes, you can also use the tube on a small paint brush and a tooth pick with a flat edge. Any tube that will fit into the finger will work, even coffee stir straws.

brass turning tubes

tube from spotter brush

Finish the raw edge by turning over and basting. How much to turn over will be in the instructions from Gail Wilson.

I like to turn up a cuff, to make it easier to hold the tube. Slip the tube up inside one of the fingers or the thumb and then open the side seams and flatten them as flat as you can against the finger. I have a video that shows how I turn the fingers, please excuse the background noise, I was listening to a movie at the time. After you have the first tube in the finger, place the other tube or the flat end of a tooth pick on top of the finger over the fabric so it nestles in the first tube with the fabric between them. Think of a sandwich of inside tube, fabric, then flat toothpick. Don't try to push the tooth pick down, but instead slip the fabric up over the toothpick. In the video it looks as if I am pushing down, but I am really mostly slipping the fabric up over the toothpick while holding the tubes against one another. Hard to explain, but it works. It's also important not to have too much of a seam allowance.

The important thing is to take your time and to back up and start over if things are not moving along well.

The pinky finger is the hardest because it is the smallest, so start with the thumb to get a feel for how it works. Then move onto the smaller fingers. Also, if things are not going as well as you wanted, try getting just a tip of the finger turned and then try and pull it out the rest of the way after you have the others pulled. It only takes a bit of turned fabric for the hemostats to grab to be able to pull the rest outside right. Having said that, BE CAREFUL not to put holes in your fingers unless you are going for that really antiqued/worn out look. Holes in fingers are another accidently on purpose thing that happens in doll making. If it happens you can get a really sweet look by darning said hole and it makes the doll look well loved.

After they are turned, I like to use my hemostats as fingers and finger press the seams flat - not open, just flatten them out.

Here is my stash of doll body parts, ready for stuffing tomorrow.

Some of you probably noticed the open back seam in the body. Yup, I tweaked the pattern because I really like being able to stuff from a seam instead of from the bottom. To do this, make an extra body back pattern and cut in half down the center where the center back seam would be. Then when drawing the pattern on the fabric add a seam allowance to the cut part (the center back seam). Then sew the seam leaving a section of the back unsewn. Press open the seams and voila, you now have your back piece with a center seam to stuff from.

If you want to, you can leave two areas in the center back seam open, one in the center top half where shoulder points are and one in the center bottom area, say where a tail bone would be.

Run a gather stitch around the butt section and pin to front bottom matching centers. Pin the important parts first: center head, sides of head, neck, center and side of bottom, waist, neck, shoulder points, and then some additional points halfway between what you already pinned. Easing where necessary, sew all around the body. Where did I get this open area center back seam idea from? Many of Gail's patterns use this technique - the cloth fashion doll for one. I learn something new with every one of her patterns that I make. This is why I like the try them all!

Have some doll fun today - Julie

Accidently on Purpose

2011-05-21T23:18:00.000-04:00

Gail Wilson's Pincushion doll with a few tweaks

You know how it goes, right? You make the bodice a bit bigger because in the past you have issues with clothing being a tight fit (you stuffed a bit too much). Then come to find out, you should have just left it alone and it would have fit perfect. Then you add some darts in the bottom to fit it better and then the top half is just a tad to big. To fix that, you add a bust with some roving laying around on the crafting table (see, there is a reason for not putting it away so fast). And you gather up the top of the lace and voila, you have tweaked your creation to stand out from all the others. Accidently on purpose.

While you are checking everything over, you hear that little voice say "I'd like a belt please". So you pull out your tiny buckles - a treasure you found while on errands. This is why you always keep your eyes peeled; searching for good doll sized items because you never know when those little voices are going to pipe up.

While you are poking thru the doll treasures box, the little voice leans over and says, "Hey, doing anything with those keys"? So you add some keys and even a small pair of scissors to the mix. She might need those scissors and keys when she finds her new home.

Finding that just right shade of pink in felt can sometimes be an issue. Sounds like a good excuse to visit my favorite fabric store. They have a very large stock of felt and wool felt in a wide range of colors.

And a lady always needs a hat. Sometimes with braids, or flowers, or feathers and sometimes with them all!

To see the Etsy listing, just click on the title of this post or visit my Etsy Shop at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/50698732/the-pincushion-doll-with-tweaks?ref=ss_listing

For more information about purchasing a kit for this pincushion doll, please visit Gail Wilson's website at:http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/oldfashdrygoods.html

Thanks for visiting - Julie

Upcoming classes

2011-05-15T13:28:00.002-04:00

New York Doll - black version

Hi dollmakers! What a good day for ducks! It's raining and looks like an all-day rain: good for putting on a pot of soup (pea soup) and dollmaking. I am finishing up my class list for the second half of the year newsletter at Attic Window Quilt Shop where I teach doll making. The classes all start at 10 am, but we are ok with come when you can if you can't make the 10 am. We usually go until 3pm or so.

We are also aok with anyone who wants to jump in last minute - you just need to already have or get your doll pattern from Gail by phone or ipad when you jump in. Once you have paid for your pattern, you are ok to participate in the class. All you need for the first class besides your own pattern is your sewing machine with an open toe foot (or clear) and your basic sewing items. The doll body fabric is available at the store. You will get a supplies list the first class for next time. Here's a list of the classes:

GW New York Doll - May 19 & 26 and June 3 & 16, 2011 at 10 am. This is Gail Wilson's version of the antique doll that graces the front of Wendy Lavitt's book "American Folk Dolls" .
She is a 16" all cloth doll with an embroidered face and has a folk art cloth cat to hold.

At the June, July, and August bees (second Thursday of each month) we will reuse our kits and patterns for the "very smalls" - a collection of small table dolls including a snowman, angel, and Santa.

Our adventure into making the 6 & 1/2" GW Hitty begins June 23 and continues June 30, July 21, and 28. The original Hitty lives at the Sturbridge Village Library in Massachusetts and has a world wide following. There are links to various Hitty sites at the bottom of my blog. One of my favs is Esther Robertson's Hitty.

If you are looking for a wonderful series gift for a special little girl, this would certain be a good choice as she has many kitted (or finished) items for you to gift over a series of years. She also has a book written about her that won a Newberry Medal back in 1929 called "Hitty - Her First One Hundred Years". Rachel Field wrote the story imagining what Hitty's life would have been considering she believed the doll to be over 100 years old when she found her in an antique shop. For the Hitty items, visit Gail's website by clicking on the post title above, or go to www.GailWilsonDesigns.com , and then click on Hitty on the side bar. Be prepared to ohh and ahh.

Starting August 4th, we will try our hand at Gail Wilson's Columbian doll. The original Columbian doll resides at the Wenham Museum in Boston. She traveled the world raising money for Children's charities in the early part of the 1900's. You can follow her travels via her journal at the museum's website: http://www.wenhammuseum.org/misscol.html

At the September bee, I will demonstrate how to carve an apple head doll. The following Thursdays in October, we will carve an apple head, make an armature, and make clothing for the apple heads. By December or so, the heads should be dried enough to put them together at the December bee.
Whew! So many dolls, so little time. I am glad for the rainy days to work on the class sample dolls. oh - First, I have to clean up my work table, it's so messy I can't find the table just yet. And there is the pincushion doll in pink waiting for final items before she gets listed on Etsy. She is haggling with me over the bodice and the peplum. She says they don't match and she wants another matching set. Oh dear, and all those doll faces waiting for eye white. Gee - I better get to work on all that!

Thanks for visiting and have some doll fun today! - Julie

What a fun day

2011-04-14T22:11:00.001-04:00

What a fun day we had today at doll bee at Attic Window Quilt Shop on Alpine at Six Mile Road here in Comstock Park, MI . Barb H showed us how to make miniature clothes line and fabric bowls. Then later we discovered these little bowls might be used for doll hats!

Barb H

Here are Barb H's GW fashion doll in her basket hat and my finished fashion doll with Darlene in back at left and Barb V at right.

Maggie is painting her GW fashion doll's face. She did a marvelous job. And yes, the doll has whispered her name to Maggie - it's Scarlett. We have good hopes that Scarlett will get out of the cup soon. Shirley (in purple shirt) is working on her fabric bowl. We discovered you need a short sewing machine foot for these mini bowls.

Barb V is working on her waxed linen flower basket. Earlier in the day, Barb V painted skin color on her Queen Anne doll head that was hand carved and has bead eyes.

I missed taking a picture of Pat, as she had left already - she was working on her GW Pincushion doll. I'll have to snag a picture of her and her doll next time.

Come join us for the next doll bee for some fun! Bring anything you want to work on. We meet every 2nd Thursday of the month at 10 am.

Thanks for visiting and have some doll fun today - Julie

psssst - you know what's really nice about doll bee? There is no kitty face in your face.

I need to redo my button loops - they are too thick.

Stash building and Fashion doll hat

2011-03-19T10:51:00.001-04:00

Hello again, I just have to tell you about the hat I made for the fashion doll. This hat pattern is part of the Paper Mache doll instructions that I received when I participated in the PM fashion doll online class a few years back. The poor doll isn't finished yet, but I sure like making the hat! Here it is with the hat box from the cloth fashion doll instructions.

The hat was fun to make and of course the color is a little wild, but I figured this was a practice hat and I will search for a color that matches the fashion doll's outfit. This hat would be easy to turn into a pincushion too. Thanks to Barb for the nice ribbon roses. I think that ribbon roses will be the next new thing I try to make myself.

Here's the hat box without the hat, so you can see how cute that is. This skill - making and covering boxes will be something I try for bigger containers like a container to hold my scrap garbage on the sewing table as I work. We call it a thread heaven box. Then at the end of the day, our workspace isn't a huge mess of threads and scraps all over the floor and table.

OK, if I am to make some ribbon roses, I need some good ribbons! Off to my favorite ribbon store - Peacock Alley in Ada, MI. http://www.peacockalleyneedlepoint.com/Peacock_Alley_Needlepoint/Home.html
They have some awesome silk ribbons and are willing to special order for me. They also had some really unique gold thread that I was able to use for a necklace chain for my dolls.
And of course I found a few things that weren't ribbons to "speculate" with - especially after seeing a tutorial on how to make a flower gathering basket tutorial.

Here are some nice links to explore; things that I hope to try my hand at soon:
http://miniatures.about.com/od/miniatureprojects/ig/Beginners-Miniature-Projects/Make-a-Mini-Flower-Basket.htm

http://www.cynthiahoweminiatures.com/ribbonroses.htm
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/529627
Thanks to those talented ladies who are willing on post the tutorials for us newbies to try. It's SO MUCH FUN, and such a creative outlet to make dolls. Have some doll fun today and thanks for visiting!

oh - one more thingie - I finished the outfit - all but the buttons and loops - so here is a picture of the outfit. I plan on making her a purse and of course a parasol soon.

The cloth fashion doll outfit.

Somebody likes the sunshine and all the bird activity. It sure is nice to have her over there at the window instead of in my face watching me. I think she must have been a doll maker in one of those other nine lives. She sure enjoys doll making (not as much as birdwatching though!)

Fashion doll continued

2011-03-18T12:28:00.001-04:00

Hi Dollmakers - Happy Spring to you all. It's a bit too early to start gardening, so to divert the urge to garden, I am working on my Gail Wilson designed fashion doll. For kit information, please visit Gail's website at http://gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/new_items.html The cloth fashion doll is near the bottom 1/4th of the new items page.

We were able to stuff the doll in the last class and for homework, the students were to gesso, apply the stencil, and then paint the skin color in oil paints. Yes, the stencil shows up under the skin paint. If you try to add the stencil after the skin paint, it won't adhere as well because the stencil needs a matte surface to adhere to. Don't sand the gesso layer very much or you will loose the tooth to the gesso - just a tiny bit of sanding to smooth off the bumps. Think of panty hose on an unshaven leg - how the nubs of hair catch the panty hose. Then think again of freshly shaven legs, how smooth that would be for the panty hose to flow over when you pull them across the freshly shaven leg. The goal of sanding gesso is just to take off the nubs, not to take off the layer of gesso.

In the picture below, you can see the gesso layer is dry and I have trimmed my face stencil so there is not much extra vellum stencil paper around the facial details. This is so I can center it well and not fool my eye into thinking I have the face details centered when I really only have the vellum paper piece centered. It's sort of a built in method to get it right. I need those built in safe guards to help me because I am not a master doll maker! Leave the extra at the top, so you have something to hold away from where the iron will be. Those clover irons can burn fast - I know this from painful experience!

After the mini clover iron is well warmed up, I verify that I have the side with the ink on the stencil against the face and using the measurements in the instructions, I place the stencil where it needs to be and iron on the face details. Then I give that a bit of time to dry and maybe even spray a fixative over it. (depends on if it will be days before I get to paint or not).

I like to gather all my paint mixing items while the stencil is drying. I get the colors guide from Gail Wilson's Charlotte doll instructions. If you are new to oil painting doll faces, the Charlotte doll has some excellent guides to help you through your first oil painted doll face. Gail also has some excellent tips and hints for painting in oils on her website. Click on the title of this blog post and it will take you to her website.

The paints I use are Griffin Alkyd oils, and the turp substitute I like best is Turpinoid in the blue and white label. Be sure you get the blue and white one, not the green label as the green label is brush cleaner and will do nasty things like take weeks and weeks to dry. You can find alkyd oils at art supply houses - here is my local one that has them on sale. http://catalog.tsquareart.com/alkyd_colors-c-500_505.html?osCsid=3195f9d8212ce12497238de812f72adf As to what colors you need and how to mix the colors - see Gail's hints - oil paint section for this info.

The paint brushes I like best are 18/0 spotter for tiny lines, 20/0 filbert for an eraser (push paint around, not to apply paint with) and then for hair and other filling in, 10/0 round or liner for hair lines, and 1/4 or 1/2 inch flat for painting skin color or other filling in like hair area. I also gather the paint palette dishes (I love the frosting tops to the Pilsbury cinnamon rolls. They wipe off easy when you are finished and have a tiny lip to hold turoinoid. You can use any brush you can achieve a thin line. I recommend you practice with water on paper, so you can get a tiny line. If you need to, you can thin out your paints with turp and cut down your paint brushes with scissors until you can get that thin line. Plan b = if you still have trouble with getting the lines to your satisfaction, use the tiny filbert brush with just a tiny amount of turp on it to erase the area you are not happy with, or use the filbert to push the paint into the correct place. Keep the eraser filbert clean, wiping the paint off the brush each time and cleaning it often.

Now we need to "divert" the kitty's attention, so there are no boo-boos while oil painting (like a tail into the palette).

I also place in a handy spot, my rags for swiping the brushes and my clean and dirty turp jars. And it worked! The open window drew the kitty like catnip. She is anxiously awaiting spring too.

Green eye colors - looks grey on palette, green on doll eyes.

Now that I have all the necessary items gathered, it's time to start mixing colors! I use the color mixing guide from the Charlotte doll (same recipes as on her website HINTS) and the colors get mixed on one palette and then the blob of color gets moved to a clean palette so there is no danger into getting the wrong colors on the brush and painted on the doll. I paint in stages; skin color (let dry a few days), eye whites (let dry a few days) then I finish the face details, (let dry a few days) and then do the shading. I also like the wigging clamp for face painting. It holds the doll steady and you can lay it down flat on the table if you desire. Bear in mind that if you have wet hair on the back of the head, you need to be sure this doesn't touch the table surface.

Here's what you need for shading - just follow the instructions in Gail's Charlotte doll pattern.

This is the face just prior to shading.

After face details go on, I let that paint dry well and then I do the shading. The reason you want to be sure everything is dry is so that the turpinoid won't take off or smudge your face details. I usually don't have much time to spend in the doll room each day, so the time inbetween works out for me. If you are in a hurry to keep painting, you can speed up the drying time with cobalt dryer. I don't like to have this stuff because it is highly poisonous and I have small grand children around, so I don't want to risk having it since there is plenty of time between painting sessions for me. Obviously you can also use non oil paints which dry very fast....but I don't get as good a face with these paints because the drying time is too fast for me.

Here she is with shading around the face and nose finished. I still need to do around the mouth. I get a bit better at it with more experience. Doll making is like learning to make pie crust - it takes some doing it to get good at it. So your first dolls might not be as expertly created as the others are, but keep at it, you'll get there sooner or later. I find that developing those tricks to get it right really helped me over time. And every one has their own bag of tricks.

The last step will be to antique her with old village graining liquid in oil base, but this only after the shading is very dry - a couple of days should do it.

While all this dries, I need to pick out fabrics for her dress. In our next class, our very talented doll maker Barb will show us how to make doll parasols - open and closed versions. She brought some last week and they are so cute!

Some fabrics I like for my fashion doll. I am leaning towards the peachy pink/brown print. The orange one underneath is a bit too orange for the ruffle, but I'll find something good - I have a nice stash of doll making fabrics. Thanks for visiting and have some doll fun today!

Cloth Fashion Doll

2011-01-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with some spare time for making dolls. This past Thursday, we started the Cloth Fashion doll.

Everyone in class was able to make their body and will be ready to stuff on next Thursday. We even had a few dolls already stuffed and skin painted show up! What a treat to see dolls that are well on their way.

Gail's patterns for this doll makes for a nicely shaped lady like torso.

The doll pattern is available at http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/ and has an easy option for face details.

My original cloth fashion doll was made at a retreat to learn how to paint in oils, so it is a little different from the pattern available now. My version has painted on hair while the pattern has instructions for a mohair wig. The mohair is available separately and comes in several colors.

Since this is a fashion doll, she will have a bonnet with a hat box. We've also been exploring the idea of making a parasol. There are tutorials from others online on how to easily make a parasol.

Have some doll fun today and stay warm! - Julie

Creative Paperclay and wood

2010-11-28T22:22:00.005-05:00

What am I up to? This week I have been playing with creative paperclay on Gail Wilson's MYO dolls, working on Dixie Redmond's Izannah Walker Doll AND Gail Wilson's wooden Hitty.

They are all so much fun, I wish you could come over and play too. I guess you'll just have to settle for looking at the links online.

Dixie Redmond's Izannah Walker class in an online class. There are so many talented doll makers in this group as well as those who are new to dollmaking. The dolls that are coming from this class look like the real antique dolls. Dixie sure came out with a nice pattern.

See details here: (It's not too late to get into this class either, loads of us are just starting or are dreaming about starting).

http://www.izannahwalkerworkshop.blogspot.com/

I am almost ready to gesso on three Izannahs; just a few more limbs to stuff.

oh dear, I put the head on the wrong end on two

so many arms and legs!

Gail Wilson's online Hitty class details are here:

http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/aux_pages/classes.html

(page down to online classes info). I have the body parts painted with one coat of skin color. This week I hope to finish the painting and move on to the carving part. Carving is a new skill to learn for me. I have done several of Gail's Joel Ellis dolls, but most of that wood working was done with a dremel tool and a stationary belt sander. Oh and some elbow grease sanding too. The wooden Hitty will be my first venture into what I would call real carving.

MYO doll

Gail's MYO doll (Make your own doll parts) info about the molds, flumo, etc are here:
http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/new_items.html
and http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/supplies.html (page way down)

visit http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/molded-dolls.html for some more pictures of the inspiration, molds, and dolls from the MYO dolls series.
http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/supplies.html

Paper clay added for hair

The MYO dolls are available with the parts already molded, or you can purchase the molds and flumo and mold your own parts. This was an interesting and fun new thing for me in the doll making arena. I sure enjoyed making my own parts. Flumo is one of those products that is very enjoyable to use. This doll is a basic doll with not much detail. You get to do the designing of the hair (paint, paperclay, wig, etc) and clothing. The body is a simple cloth one that is attached to the limbs by sewing thru sew holes. See the doll with the black molded hair, she has sew holes in her chest area.

I feel like one of Santa's elves in the Doll Division, working diligently towards Christmas eve.....will I get them all finished by then?

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you give some of these dolls a whirl, they are loads of fun - Julie

Finished Lottie

2010-11-12T09:11:00.003-05:00

Here's Lottie! After last post, she was just getting her nose sculpting done and a coat of half water, half skin paint. We let her dry (thanks to NPR for the entertainment while we waited), finished her face embroidery and then moved onto hair.

Following the easy instruction in the kit from Gail Wilson, we made her wig.
See http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/catalog/new_items.html for kit or pattern details.

There is one scary part to making wigs from mohair....that is the thinning part. I'm always afraid I'm going to take too much out and have bald spots. But I have found that if you take some of the mohair you have left over, and lay it in under the hair in the too thin area, it hides the bald spot. With a bit of experience, you get a feel for how much to take out.

Here she is in her handy wigging clamp. It's that extra set of hands that you need to hold the doll while you play with her hair.

Side parts are fun too - but since Lottie will have braids, we'll go with the center part. I'll center the seam on the wig with the center seam on the head and pin in a few spots. Then gently lift off the pins and wig and put a spot of hot glue down under the hair with cool heat hot glue gun. Just a small amount so it won't show thru the top of the wig. Then press down that part of the wig on the spot of glue and hold firmly for a second or two until the glue sets. Then work your way from the top of the head down the back with a couple more spots of glue, and pressing that part of the wig down matching seams.

When you have worked from the top of the head to the nape of the neck, then go from the top of the head towards the forehead. If you hesitate to use glue, you can always hand tack with thread instead of using glue. Once the wig is firmly attached, you can start styling the hair, thinning more as needed as you work towards the braid ends. As you braid the second braid, remember to check the first braid, so you are making similar braids as to thickness, length and placement. Tie off the ends with whatever you wish, remembering to keep the tie small, not a huge thick ribbon on this tiny braid end, or it will slip off. If you are worried, you can always use a tiny drop of glue to hold it all in place. I used embroidery floss here.

Lots of leftover mohair! If there was a bald spot, this could be used for filling in under the hair attached to the wig. Or use it to stuff a small project.

On all dolls with mohair wigs, I like to protect the hair before I put her clothing on. Just snip off the corner of a plastic bag and snug it over the top of her head.

Lottie's clothing is a simple dress with cinched sleeves. You run a gather stitch around the hemmed edge and then once the dress is on the doll, you pull up and tie off.

Using your hemostats, push the ends of the threads inside the dress. You could leave a nicely tied bow on the outside if you wish.

I have a stand already made for Lottie, but the dowels are a bit too long, so I snipped off half an inch on the bottom of the dowel with some nail snips.

For the stand, I used a round piece of wood and drilled holes for the dowels. Then I sanded, stained and varnished the stand. The tops of the flat sanded and rounded top dowels hit right at her shoulder blades after the dowels are placed in the stand. I dressed Lottie in her clothing of dress, pantaloons, slip, apron and bonnet, then I slipped the dowels up inside the pantaloons, past the waistbands of her slip and pantaloons until the tops are under the bodice of her dress. I added invisible hair holders around the legs and dowels and slipped it up under her pantaloons so no one knows it's there. Then I slip the dowels into the stand.

If the dowels are a bit loose, you can use a tiny amount of museum wax and put it on the dowel under the place where the dowels begin to show. Then slip them down into the hole on the stand. The wax will fill the space and the dowels will then be snug. I don't like to glue the dowels into the stand, because I cannot change the dowels then. For example, If Lottie ends up sold without her stand, I can reuse the stand for another doll that might be taller just by switching out the dowels.

Here are a few more pictures of Lottie. And thanks for visiting - have some doll fun today! Julie

Yeah, she was here the whole time, trying to take off with my mohair and being her usual pesky self.....I'd kick her out and shut the door, but she has figured out how to open the door! Drat

Papermini's free project

2010-10-24T19:00:00.000-04:00

Hi doll fans, I'm posting today just a quick note to tell you there is a fun and free paper mini project from Ann Vanture this month. The free projects are available to those who are signed up for the newsletter. Each month you will receive a link to the free project. Be sure to check out the free items from prior months, too! The boy doll below holds a pinwheel, one of the free projects awhile back. This month there is Halloween candy and a bucket to hold it all.

To print the halloween candy, I used brochure paper for the candy cartons, and tracing paper for the tootsie roll suckers. You can use cardstock for the candy bucket, but I think I like the semi glossy brochure paper the best. Most of the projects will tell you which paper to use for the best results and I find the papers in the office area of my local Meijer grocery store. There are tutorials for some of the projects, so if you think it's too hard, check out how easy these projects are to make by looking at the tutorials.

Some of the items are so cute, I just have to save them in a file so I can go back and print again. You know the story, one doll gets a nice book or sewing cards and shows them to the other dolls and then they all want one of their own.

If you would rather purchase completed items, that is an option too, or you can purchase CD's of past projects.

Take note American Girls fans!!!!! There are different scales to the free projects, one is just the right scale for American Girl dolls.

Click on the title of this post and it will take you to the Papermini's website for info on how to join:

Sign-up for the free Paper Minis™ Club by emailing ann-vanture@paperminis.com. Club features monthly complimentary printable projects available in three scales: 1:12 (1" dollhouse), 1:6 (12" fashion doll) and 1:3 (18" girl doll). The club is a terrific introduction to the miniatures hobby. Everyone has access to the free on-library of photo tutorials!

Have fun and TRICK OR TREAT!

Lottie nose sculpt and paint wash

2010-10-01T09:31:00.005-04:00

Hi Doll makers, today I am sculpting Lottie's nose and painting on her skin wash. Lottie is a doll designed by Gail Wilson. Click on the title of this post to view Gail's webpage. Lottie is available in kit or pattern in the new section.

First, I like to take a good look at my doll, making sure that she is nicely shaped. If she is a bit lop sided, I knead the area, using my hands as if I am playing with a lump of clay to push and mush and knead the head until it is the shape I want it to be. Check the dart line in her chin - is it centered? If so, you can use it as a reference point when using the stencil. If it is not centered, don't use it.

Using the handy stencils in the kit that I have already laminated and cut out, I carefully pencil in the nose line. Then I thread a needle with the YLI hand quilting thread and follow the detailed instructions in the kit and stitch her nose. The lower I go, the more stuffing I pick up under the needle, to give it more dimension.

Once you have the nose finished, end the thread the same way you started - with a small anchor stitch and then come out away from the nose. Pull slightly on the start and end tails and carefully clip them off close to the head. The ends will snap back into the inside of the head if you make sure there is a bit of tightness when you pull on them before you clip.

Here she is all finished, thread tails clipped. One more check to shape of her head and body and then the paint gets mixed with water (recipe as to how much water is in the instructions) and we can paint.

I like to straighten up my space before painting, and put away the things that I don't want to get paint on. A nice piece of freezer paper will protect the table. Another nice thing to protect the table is the backing on the sheets of laminating plastic. I also get out the things I will need in advance, water cup, rags, tooth picks, etc. so I don't have to go hunting for them with a wet paint brush in my hand.

Oh yes, and let out that nosy cat, so there will be no whiskers in the paint. For some reason, she thinks she has to sit very close and watch me paint. I wonder if she thinks I can't do it all by myself.....

One important thing to consider before you start to paint is WHERE the parts will dry. Arrange this before you start painting, because I promise, it is not fun to try and find a spot while holding your wet paint item in your hands. I use a wigging clamp for these smaller dolls. The body fits into the top and the legs can go on the screw ends. There is a hook on the side for one arm. Now, what to do for that other arm????

Ah - spidy will hold it for me.....

I like to mix the paint wash in a container that I can save for a few days. Those cups that you get when you order your salad dressing on the side work wonders, or the salsa cups at Chipolte. Sometime you need an excuse to go out and eat or get fast food.....well, necessary doll making items is the best excuse I know of for going out to eat. Oh, the frosting cups in the Pilsbury refridgerated cinnamon rolls are awesome! The little metal caps make the best disposable paint pallets - there is a tiny little lip around the edge for water or turpintine. And the cup part makes good disposable water containers. (please recycle when you are finished with them).

Once you get your doll painted, do a final check to ensure you covered every skin space you want covered. In other words, no missed spots. This seems to be the # one thing that students in class forget to do and then they have to repaint right when they want to go on to the next step. Do the check. Do it after you have let it set a bit while you paint the rest of the body parts. Roving is very absorbent and will suck in paint. So paint the head, then all the limbs and then go back and check the head. Make sure you cover the backside of the head, where the hair will be, too. Even though she gets a wig, you don't want any unpainted area under the hair peaking thru. AND I like to keep the leftover paint until I finish the head completely (needle work or facepainting). You never know, some thing might happen and you might need some additional skin paint.

So - here she is resting in her wigging clamp, looking a little like a dismembered halloween corpse for now. But soon she will get her face and hair.

While she dries, I will overdye her fabrics and make her wig.

Enjoy the day - and thanks for stopping by - Julie

cooking pumpkins

2010-09-30T21:18:00.002-04:00

OK, I heard back from the flying husband about where the camera cord was. He said to use batteries. So, to test how long the batteries work, here's a little post about cooking pumpkins! I need better lighting for dolls, so tomorrow in the daylight, I will try again with the batteries for pictures of Lottie in process. Thanks for your patience!

I heard on the news that there is going to be a canned pumpkin shortage this holiday season. No sweat as far as I'm concerned because I always cook my own. Once in awhile, I hear some one explaining to some one else how to cook pumpkin (peeling and dicing, then straining, and mashing) and I think to myself, geesh, the long hard way to skin that cat! So here is my easy method to cooking a pumpkin.

I start by selecting a pie pumpkin that feels heavy for it's size....so lift a few, see how they feel. Yes, you can consider this your arm muscle workout for the day as long as you lift at least ten pumpkins with each arm. I usually get three medium sized ones because I like to do a lot of holiday baking with pumpkin. The one I cooked tonight yielded about three cups. Once you get them home, leave them out in the cool front porch until you are ready to bake them.

Once you are ready to bake, wash the dirt off and knock off the stem if it won't fit in your oven; the rack should be situated so the pumpkin is about mid level in the oven. I set my pumpkin on a metal plate to catch any drips (and there may be some) and to protect the bottom of the pumpkin from burning. Set the oven to 300 - 325 degrees - depends on how long you want to wait. If you're in a hurry, you can go 350 degrees, but you may get a bit of brown in the bottom of your pumpkin. Bake until your pumpkin starts to look like a slightly deflated basket ball. Usually for me this is about an hour and a half to two hours for 300 degrees and a bit less for 325 -350degrees. Tonight I baked my pumpkin with a meatloaf and scalloped potatoes in the oven with it. Then after dinner came out of the oven, I lowered the temp and let it go a little longer. It should feel like a baked sweet potato when it is finished baking....which is a tad bit softer than a regular baked potato. You can see in the picture above where I poked my finger thru to see if it was soft.

Once you pull it out of the oven, let it cool a bit and peel pack some of the skin. Then with a spoon, scoop off the soft pumpkin flesh off the top, being careful to avoid the seeds and strings. Once you get a nice sized hole to the seeds, then scoop out those and put them in a large colander. I prefer the plastic ones because the have larger holes that allow the strings to fall thru into the garbage disposer. The mesh ones keep the strings in the colander, making it harder to clean the seeds.

After the seeds are out, you can easily pull off some skin from a side and knock out a side and scoop out the pumpkin. No need to mash it, it's already very soft and ready for your recipe. I measure out what I know I will need for certain recipes: pumpkin pie needs 1 1/2 cups, pumpkin bread gets 1 cup, etc. Then I put those measured amounts into a container for the freezer for later or in the fridge for tomorrow, or right into the recipe bowl.

I run the colander under water in the sink and toss the seeds around a bit until all the bits of strings are gone. Let the seeds drain a bit, then spread single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in a slow oven at 225 until they are nice and crispy. If you have a convection option, use it. Baking seeds takes hours, so test here and there until you are happy with the crunch. Once they come out of the oven, I like a touch of butter and some salt. If they are going to the birds, I just leave them alone. If you are not wanting to deal with the seeds, the blue jays will take them any way they can get them, just toss them out the door in a spot that it's ok to do this - in view of a window, so you can watch the birds taking the seeds.

And the finished goods - pumpkin cranberry bread and toasted pumpkin seeds - yum yum:

Enjoy your pumpkin and no worries about a canned pumpkin shortage this year!

Lottie

2010-09-29T19:03:00.002-04:00

Hi Doll makers, it's time to get ready for the next doll class - Gail Wilson's Lottie. Lottie was featured in the Austrailian magazine Homespun, and the pattern or kit is available on Gail's website. Just click on the title of the post and it will take you to Gail's website. Look in the new items for Lottie. The class starts on Oct 7th at Attic Window Quilt Shop on Alpine at 6 Mile if you are interested. See the last post for more details.

OK - I looked high and low for the camera cord, so that I could take pictures of Lottie, but the husband put it away....and who knows where. He's in an airplane right now, so I'll have to update the Lottie pictures later and for now, I will use pictures from another class. So sorry about this, I know you like to see the real doll in process so you know what it will look like in class. Most of these pictures are from the Kate Greenaway class we had earlier in the year.

First up in making the class sample doll is to laminate the patterns and sew the body. Remember to use the tiny 18-22 stitches per inch. The reason this is important is so that the stitches won't pop when you stuff the doll. Lots and lots of wool roving will go into the head. The first time I made a Gail doll, I remember thinking "no way is this much wool going into this little head". But yes, it is doable. You're going for a really hard head (like raw potato hard). The body is not quite as hard (think baked potato hard). Tiny stitches will help keep the seams intact.

After sewing the body and limbs, use a stuffing fork to stuff the doll. Be careful not to push the fork thru the fabric, but if that happens, all is not lost. There are ways to mend boo-boos. And in the doll world, we just call those boo-boo's "instant antiquing". Sometimes it's the things like mistakes that make a hand made doll so charming.

Roving is by far the best stuffing as it is resiliant and wants to expand outward. Also, any doll fashioned after the dolls of years ago wants to be hefty. Wool roving adds that heavy feeling, and won't squish around like the synthetic stuffings.

Fingers are lightly stuffed and needle sculpted with YLI hand quilting thread. Elbows are added with seams centered. Knees can also be added if you want your doll to sit. If your dolls says she wants to stand, leave off the knee stitching.

This is a picture of the completed body from another doll similar to Lottie, except that Lottie doesn't have ears and neck darts.

Most dolls get a coat of gesso and skin paint. The parts pictured are from the Kate Greenaway series, hanging to dry after gesso. After the parts are all sewn and stuffed, Lottie's limbs will get an overdye wash but not painted like these are.

Overdye is a technique to make a new doll look like she has been hanging around for a hundred years.

Most of Lottie is stuffed, and hopefully on Friday morning, she will get her coat of overdye and will be hanging to dry. She'll look weird until she gets her face, sort of like a faceless corpse.....