Miss Mouse has become Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She has been so much fun to make, dressed in the iconic little black dress outfit from the movie I thought it would be fun to add the cat mask and coat from one of my favourite scenes. She has been listed in my shop today. I enjoyed this project so much I think maybe Diane Keaton in Annie Hall or Louise bourgeois with her giant carved phallus!
I have worked on lots of new dolls this week and am introducing my newest young women, Miss Mouse dolls. They are smaller than my Molly dolly’s, larger than the little Oshi’s and fall somewhere between as far as play or display go! The Molly Dolly is a special doll for a child, nursery decor or for the adult collector, little Oshi’s are decorative and can hang on the wall like the larger Sazzy dolls that are display only. Miss Mouse dolls were designed as beautiful home decor showcasing my huge collection of beautiful vintage fabrics and their clothes are removable so gentle play is possible. They are between 14″ and 16″ tall, they are sitting dolls with gently shaped arms and legs,linen bodies and wool hair. They have hand knitted and hand-made clay bead details. The fabrics are beautiful quality silks and fine wools also some vintage Liberty of London pieces. Dolls available here.
My mini hand embroidered lavender pillows are finally finished and in my shop today! I have been so busy I sometimes forget I have to photograph everything and get it listed!! They are hand embroidered on linen and backed with various vintage fabrics, then filled with lavender.
I am working away furiously preparing for the Selvedge Spring Fair this coming weekend, there is so much to do although with each fair I think I am becoming more streamlined with my preparations. I still haven’t found an easily portable solution to my table display, I don’t drive so travel by train with a suitcase, this does limit my options. Below you can see my work table as it looks today, I am experimenting with these lovely colourful boxes to display my work and am pleased with the overall look. The little linen dolls are the first in my new range called ‘Little Oshi’ dolls, they are inspired by Japanese kokoshi dolls, wooden peg dolls and primitive rag dolls and are the perfect size for craft fairs. I will try to remember to take plenty of photos this weekend and report back as there are going to be many talented artists and makers at this event. Have a lovely weekend and beginning to the Easter holidays and of course if you are in London come and say hello!
Today a little Dachshund called Gus has arrived in my shop, he is made from black linen, wool felt and velveteen. Finished off with a dashing red leather collar and cool plastic bead necklace.
This lovely fox joins the white puppy and little rainbow pony in my shop today. She is made from linen with lovely details including a wool felt collar with a bell and beautiful sea green recycled glass bead. I am loving these new animal dolls! it is a lot of fun adding all the little details. Watch this space as more animals are on their way!
I’ve ignored my blog for a while!! not intentionally, I have just been so busy through January. So here is some of what I have done, lots of new designs and ideas on the work table with some older designs reinstated with a few little improvements. Above is a mini rainbow pony and mini molly dolly bear, below are some knitted pocket animals, I used to make these a couple of years ago and have waited for an opportunity to revise the pattern and add them to my shop.
Above is a lovely new Molly Dolly with a linen and Liberty tana lawn dress and little felt fox purse. Below are a couple of new yoyo baby dolls available here. And a lovely Molly Dolly mouse in knitted pants and vintage cotton top.
The white linen puppy and rainbow pony were just completed today and will be in my Etsy shop soon. I love adding just enough kitsch details, like flourescent bling, rainbow hair and cartoon like features to contrast nicely with the linen, hand stitching and vintage cloths. I’m also working up a lot of jewellery samples, some painted clay, some shrink plastic drawings and some leather and cloth wrist bands. The last couple of photos show me half way through sorting out my workspace, with Ikea shelves and boxes, still a lot to do but it’s looking better organised already! so I hope your new year has got off to a swinging start as well, I’ve got to get back to work now, see you soon.
Tabitha is my modern interpretation of a 1970s childhood where little house on the prairie and Holly Hobby dolls were firm favourites. She has a linen dress with vintage collar and felt apple and strawberry accessories. Her hair is also styled exactly how my mum did my hair circa 1978, braided and pinned on top. Or just braided as you can see below, my brother and I on my grandparents farm in Indiana.
Bessie is based on some very old illustrations in a story book dating from the early 1900s. Her dress is based on the outfits worn in these pictures. And below is Harriet in her wollen winter wonderland outfit, my first Molly Dolly with bent knees.
This is a project I have waited to complete for ages and it felt perfect to get them ready for Christmas. This is also a brilliant way to utilise all my lovely scraps that are just too good to get rid of. I spent yesterday creating 20 little dolls, it was very satisfying to realise several ideas so quickly, my large textile dolls take a long time to create! But I’m also thinking there are a few ideas here for larger dolls. I used scraps of vintage silk, tana lawn and Japanese kimono fabric as well as various trims and miniature flowers.
We got through half term, although the children and I were all ill and one or two children have been at home for the last week so it doesn’t really feel like term has started yet. I have carried on working between trips to the doctors and administering medicine and today I have finally had a few hours of child free working time so I feel far less stressed and far more focused on what needs to be done pre-Christmas (too much!! so I’ll need to devise a plan whilst the children are away)
Despite the stress of the last couple of weeks I feel excited with the new designs I have completed, first a selection of Christmas wreaths or wall hangings that are subtly seasonal using wire, cloth and felt they look lovely hanging on my walls. Inspiration as always has come from childhood memories, my mum has a wonderful collection of Christmas decorations including some little felt animals she made, I always loved these magical miniature creatures and unwrapping them each year to decorate the tree is one of my favourite memories. So far bears, birds and horses, with patterns for a camel, lama, swan, elephant and donkey waiting to take shape. Above are some terrier decorations and dala horses and below are the christmas wreaths or woodland wall hangings.
I have also been working on a selection of lovely softie pillows and a new doll design!! the Sazzy doll named after my favourite childhood rag doll sewn by my mum is a long tall display doll, she will come in two sizes and can hang on the wall or sit. Her limbs are long and un-stuffed to emphasise her elegant proportions. With these dolls I wanted to concentrate on beautiful textiles, colour and texture, they have merino wool hair, chunky knit tops and skirts and dresses made from silks, linen and cotton from my huge collection of vintage fabric. The very last photo shows a fox scarf that I am also working on.
