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Above are two of my favorite painted canvas dolls. I designed and made these toddler dolls in the late 90s.
The features of the little girl were appliqued onto the canvas prior to the painting of her face.
The little boy has no three dimensional facial features.
Here he is again seated in an old-fashioned school desk that was hand-crafted by a neighbor.
My oldest daughter, a little more than twenty years ago, poses with her stuffed friends. At first, she wasn’t too happy about the prospect, until she discovered that her new friends were pretty soft. This picture only took a few seconds. Of course, I would never leave a baby this young in a crib with any stuffed toys!
This life size baby doll is one of the largest dolls that I have ever made.
His mask is molded from stretched cotton and plaster.
The body is sewn entirely from old sweaters and knit socks.
I’ve included many snapshots here that show the mask at different angles. When painting masks, I feel it is best to treat them like portraits. I think about the coloration of a actual head at different angles. I add subtle lighting affects in order to recreate a life like appearance in the doll.
Here is the backside of the doll.
A close-up shot of his stocking cap.
I chose to add an unusual, large, black button the the baby’s stocking cap.
The baby’s coverall straps are actually just applique.
His booties are wool and old-fashioned lace.
His outfit also has additional leather buttons sewn onto the front.
There are flaps on his stocking cap to keep his ears extra warm in winter
My Chinese baby’s mask was painted with acrylic paints and then sealed with a tough lacquer finish. I gave him to my youngest daughter one year for Christmas. I think he is a very “life like” snow baby!
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.
I made this rag doll back in the early 1990s for my oldest daughter’s second or third birthday. My interests in making dolls have always been somewhat focused on the “plaything” aspect of dolls. I have yet to make many dolls that are not intended to be played with by little people. This doll had double stitched seams and she was painted with non-toxic materials. Her face is influenced by those features frequently found on 1930′s rag babies.
Every spring my daughters and I collect from their closets clothing and other items that they have either outgrown or no longer need.
These items are then donated to charity.
However, given the fact that I am very sentimental about my children, it often makes me sad to see them throw away those things that I have associated fond childhood memories with. Of course, you can not keep everything.
This sample banner, I think, helps me to demonstrate just how my students may use some of the old garments and novelty toys they might label as “toss offs.”
This image of a young teen is from a marvelous book. I will find it in my bookcase sometime today and link to the author/artist here.
Students may even include text in their samplers; here I have used a permanent ink marker to write a story directly onto the fabric.
Here I have demonstrated that students don’t need to follow stricter rules used by quilters when they are thinking about their designs. I’ve used both the reverse and the front of this fabric within the same design.
The batting here is used as though it were fabric and some of the edges of fabric are left raw and frayed. Small plastic toys from my children’s old toy bins are also sandwiched between layers of material.
Even a silk flower from one of my younger child’s old costumes finds it’s way into the mix!
Finally, I have backed my textile sample with fabric from a skirt once worn by my youngest.
“Sue Dolman is a professional toy designer and has created craft kits on a variety of subjects over several years, including a high-quality range of Kate Greenway pot-faced dolls. She was also the author of the celebrated Brambly Hedge Pattern Book.”
Above is a picture of the doll designer at work in her studio. Pictured in front of her are some of the adorable dolls featured in this book.
This book was first published in 1994 by Cassell Villiers House in London. It is absolutely one of my favorite doll maker’s book. It comes with full size patterns, lovely photography and meticulously illustrated step-by-step instructions.
These dangling nut head dolls were made from natural materials. I loved to spend time with my children gathering from the wooded areas during a Fall walks. This craft brings back to mind fond memories. My oldest daughter helped me collect the acorns from a nearby wooded area and then I strung these dolls together on my own. Had she still been a little girl, this activity would have elicited much excitement. I think that should she ever have little ones of her own, she will enjoy the project again someday.
Sometimes parents get interested in crafts that they intend for their children. This is often the case in the making of nut head dolls! So harvest enough seeds and nuts to make a few for yourself. I enjoy hanging my own samples on the Christmas tree every year. This is, in fact, a very old folksy tradition. Craft artists living in the Appalachian mountains used to make this kind of folk doll to sell to tourists. It was a popular craft around 1910. I still can find nut head dolls in flee markets on a rare occasion.
I have posted a step-by-step craft lesson for this doll project at one of my blogspot blogs for those of you who may be interested in teaching little ones “how” to assemble the parts. I also posted a step-by-step process for stringing seeds here that may come in handy too.
Below are the two books I recommend for those of you who would like to take up the hobby of doll house building, collecting, and decorating. Both of these publications are authored by artists who have worked for the Guild Of Master Craftsman Publications and although these selections were published in 2002 and 2003, I still believe them to be the very best of this kind of resource.
“Making Upholstered Furniture, in 1/2 Scale,” by Janet Storey
“Janet Storey’s straightforward text and detailed diagrams show how to create elegant, upholstered dolls’ house furniture with simple tools, basic skills and inexpensive materials.
Specialist carpentry skills are not needed and, true to tradition, cheaper grades of timber are used underneath the upholstery. More expensive woods, such as mahogany, are used only in areas where the wood is exposed, such as for the legs.
Inspirational photographs, as list of tools and materials, information on fabrics and timber, advice on gluing, cutting cabriole legs, finishing exposed woodwork and making seat cushions make this an invaluable book for any dolls house enthusiast.”
“Dolls’ House Furniture, Easy-to-make projects in 1/12 scale,” by Freida Gray
“Making furniture for a 1/2 scale doll’s house is a daunting prospect for many miniaturests, but Freida Gray demonstrates that imagination, ingenuity and patience can take the enthusiast a long way. Beginning with simple projects requiring little more than a craft set, she gradually builds the reader’s confidence for more demanding work involving cabinet construction and the use of miniature power tools.”
