Hand-Painted Canvas Rag Dolls

Back in the very early 1990s I painted some silly little rag dolls. It was my hope that I would sell them at a few local country fairs but, alas, people would not purchase these for the prices I needed to ask in order to turn a necessary profit.

Homemade rag dolls take much time, care and patience to craft but most people do not pay for the labor that goes into them. So, I did what I normally do under such instances. I gave them away as gifts and taught others to make the dolls for themselves.

I even added tiny buttons and trims of accurate proportion to the clothing I made for the dolls. This is something I seldom do now with my current cloth dolls. Now I use clothing that is being discarded from my daughter’s closets.

I would never bother to add elastic to my doll clothing now unless it was absolutely necessary and in most cases, it never is for a doll.

Too many flowers, oh my! However, I do still love their funny expressions.

Related articles

• C. Marie’s: For women who never outgrew dolls (kansas.com)
• Dolls Night Out- at the show (ragdollsrising.com)

Santa In a Patchwork Coat

This is one of my first attempts at crafting a hand-sewn Santa.
I also sculpted the mask from an oven-bake clay like Sculpey.

I used acrylic paints on his face and then sealed it with a wood varnish.
My Santa’s beard is made from lamb’s wool.

I had a very old quilt that was falling apart in every way possible.
Instead of tossing it, I recycled it into this patchwork coat.
The cotton prints from my grandmother’s old quilt were recycled
from old flour sacks.

Related articles

• patchwork vs quilt (kreatifhands.wordpress.com)
• V-Day (whittledesigns.wordpress.com)
• New Patchwork Rucksack in the Making (diannajessie.wordpress.com)
• Of Blocks, Beads and Birthdays (bellsknits.com)