Monthly Art Experiment for July

I missed a couple of months of the monthly art experiment – just got a little busier than expected. But I’m back, baby – for this month, anyway. Here is a little Santa I just finished based upon an article in Art Doll Quarterly by Dianne Rawls Davis (Nov. Dec. Jan 2010). This guy was too much fun to make! And a big plus was that I was able to use stuff I already had. The tapestry used for his body was a left over scrap from a Santa I made about ten years ago. It was too small to do anything else with – but perfect for this project. I found the little sugared berry pick in a box of Santa-making supplies. The little tassels trimming his “hood” are vintage. His beard is wool from a llama. Might need to make a couple more of these!

Robin's Eggs

This nest is just a few feet off the ground in the magnolia tree right next to the house. The eggs are my favorite shade of blue.

Fur-lined Trooper Hat

I tried the hat again using faux fur as the lining. I just whipstitched it to the felt. Easy and reversible!

Winter Trooper Doll Hat

I have been working on an idea for a little trooper hat for dolls. I based it upon a simple vintage Barbie baseball cap pattern (no curved seams, just judiciously placed darts) and added the flap for neck and ears plus a lining. Here is my prototype made of wool felt and quilt batting modeled by Tiny Betsy McCall. This size can also be worn by 16” fashion dolls except for Ellowyne, who has a disproportionately big head! Next, I’m going to try making a reversible one with a fur lining. The little outfit is by Goodreau.

Wild Turkeys!

These wild turkeys have been hanging around for the past couple of days. I first saw one of them when I walked into the perennial garden right next to the house two days ago. She was resting on the ground and got up when she realized I was there. I was just a few feet away from her and surprised that she seemed reluctant to move away. When I looked down, I saw why. Little baby turkeys (poults) were scurrying in front of me to hide in the periwinkle vines. I quickly ran inside to get my camera (and to put some distance between myself and mom who looked none too pleased) but by the time I got back outside they were gone. Fortunately, DH was able to get these photos in the backyard early this morning.

Memorial Day & White Shoes - The Unofficial Start of Summer!

Here is one of my Goodreau BJD dolls (Innuendo) modeling a casual little summer outfit I designed over the weekend consisting of a lightly fitted, embroidered tee top and a slim skirt with a ruffle. The outfit also fits Ellowyne.

Instructions for Robe/Cover-up

I wanted to make another robe following my notes just to make sure I didn't forget anything before I published the directions. Modeling my little cover-up is Gene Marshall's wisecracking sidekick, Ivy Jordan. (I'm a huge fan of Eve Arden, so I had to add Ivy to my collection!) I purchased her sans outfit on Ebay but didn't want to keep her in the box until I found some clothes for her. So far, the robe fits (without any adjustments) Ellowyne, Gene, Goodreau BJD dolls, Tyler and friends and Madame Alexander Alex fashion dolls.

The directions are below. I hope you will try it - please let me know if you do or if there are any parts of the instructions that need clarification. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will answer either here or via email.



All seams are 1/4". Rummage through your stash and find two compatible pieces of fabric. Pre-wash. Cut each 14" square. One will be the robe; the other will be the lining.

With the right side up, fold robe fabric in half toward you; then fold again, left to right. Measure 2 1/2" from folded edge and cut. Repeat for lining.

Measure and mark 3/4" out from top edge and 3/4" down from top edge. Draw a slight curve to connect the marks. Mark 2 1/2" down from shoulder on each side (as a guide for sleeve placement). Cut along curve for neck opening. Cut open down the center front. Repeat for lining. Mark 1" up from bottom edge on all sides to indicate side vents.

Cut sleeves 5x4" out of both robe and lining fabrics.

Right sides together (and using marks as guide for sleeve placement), stitch the 5" width of sleeve to the body. Press seams toward sleeves. Repeat for lining.

Right sides together, stitch lining to body, beginning at the vent opening mark on the lower side edge, all the way around the front and neck and back down to the vent opening mark on the other side. Stitch the lower back together, beginning at the side went opening mark and ending at the opposite side vent opening mark. Stitch the lower sleeve edges together. DO NOT stitch side or underarm seams, yet.

Clip corners and curves. Clip side vent openings to the mark. Turn right side out and press well. Fold back the sleeve edges 1/4" so that the lining fabric looks like cuffs. Hand baste to temporarily hold in place. Press well.

With lining side out, fold robe so that side seams are aligned, Stitch side seams, including underarm seams. Reinforce the underarms (about 1" in both directions) inside the seam allowance. Carefully slash where sleeve and body intersect. Zigzag or overlock seams to neaten.

Turn right side out. Press well. Try on doll and turn back collar.

For belt, cut a strip of the lining fabric 1 1/2" wide by 15" long. Fold in half, lengthwise. Press. Mark a diagonal line on each end (from the fold to the raw edge). Leaving a 1 1/2" opening in the center, stitch a 1/4" seam along the raw edges, and down the diagonal lines. Secure threads. Clip corners. Turn right side out. Press well and stitch the opening closed.

Ellowyne’s New Robe

I have spent the past couple of days designing a quick and easy robe/ swimsuit cover-up for 16" fashion dolls. There is no pattern involved, just some simple measuring and cutting. As I was sewing, instead of haphazardly jotting down notes on scraps of paper (my usual modus operandi), I kept track of everything in a great program from Microsoft, called OneNote. I didn’t even know I had the program until a few weeks ago. It ships with Microsoft's Office Suite. And I don't know how I managed without it! You can assign notebooks to each of your personal and professional projects, add dividers, add or delete pages, add scans, audio and video clips - and cut and paste data from the web. The feature I like best is that you don't have to remember to save anything. It's all automatically saved.

Monthly Art Experiment for April

For this month’s art experiment, I tried an alternate technique for making fabric paper. This time the backing is felt (for a nice cushioned effect) and a layer of plain tissue paper is fused to it (with WonderUnder). Then a collage of decorative paper, printed tissue paper, stamps and paints is applied. Here are a few of the resulting ATC backgrounds. Instructions for this great technique can be found, here, in an article by Pokey Bolton(Quilting Arts magazine).

Somers & Field

These girls (Willow Somers and Daisy Field) are responsible for my walk down Memory Lane or, more precisely, 1960s Carnaby Street. I originally purchased the mini dress pattern (previous post) for them. I love their hair, especially Daisy’s iconic asymmetrical Vidal Sassoon cut. And their make-up is perfect for the time period. I remember white lipstick – yikes! These dolls (made in 2000, I believe) are from designer Doug James, the same artist who designs the CED dolls. His attention to detail is amazing. There are updated, articulated versions of Willow and Daisy, named Violett Somers and Gabby Field, and I’ll probably be adding them to my growing collection, although I am trying hard to resist...really I am...

"Quantized!"

Ellowyne found one of her mom’s old dresses in the attic – along with the de rigueur white “go-go” boots. Who didn’t have a pair of those back in the day?

I made the dress from this pattern.

The background is a big piece of lutradur I painted a few years ago in Susan Sorrell’s wonderful Personal Symbols class.

What I’ve Been Doin'

I don’t talk about work much, except to complain once in a while when it interferes with my play time! But, I have a little Flash assignment coming up and I had nearly forgotten how much I love that program! Almost as much as stitching! I tried to upload an example of what I’ve been working on but I couldn’t get Blogger to cooperate. Anyway, I’ve uploaded my little animation here if you’d like to have a peek.

Boy with Toy...

Took this photo today of DH on his new tractor. He spent Christmas night, until 6:00 the next morning, digging a draining ditch in the front yard by hand. (We had water coming into the house from all the rain!) When he came in, he announced he was gonna buy himself a tractor – and so he did, dad-gummit!

Happy Easter to All!

Monthly Experiment for March: Creating New Fabric from Scraps

Here is my experiment for March – just under the wire! It's a method for creating a unique piece of fabric by fusing fabric scraps, stamping with metallic paint, layering with sheer fabrics, machine stitching and cutting the sheer fabric to expose the stamped images. This is a technique I bookmarked to try (someday...) after first seeing it a few years ago in the Fall 2005 issue of Quilting Arts magazine (page 24). It is somewhat labor-intensive, but definitely worth further exploration...

A Few More ATCs Finally Finished...

Another Use for Watercolor Canvas...

I was working on my fabric postcards today and discovered that watercolor canvas makes a great backing and can be run directly through the inkjet printer. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of using it before!

Acme Flowers Stitched

I had a blast adding simple stitches to my felt flower postcard. I just need to add the backing and it will be finished.

Felted Postcard in Progress...

I will be adding hand embroidery to this postcard created on the embellisher machine. It was inspired by a bouquet of flowers I saw while standing in the checkout line a few weeks ago at the Acme. Bright orange and hot pink together always catches my eye... The background is made from torn strips of silk (from an old blouse), organdy and a little bit of wool roving on Kunin felt.

More Snow Dyeing...

I tried dyeing some PFD cotton in a jar with snow but the results were a little weak, so I overdyed it (still using the snow dyeing method) and got much more intense colors. I haven’t been rinsing off the fabric at all, just squeezing out the excess moisture by hand and ironing between two pieces of parchment paper until dry.

SNOW!

This photo of the backyard was taken today. The snow would be even deeper but much of it was compacted by the rain we had last night (before it snowed again).

Rockin' Robin...

Okay, is everyone singing, now? This shot was actually taken during the first snowstorm in January right outside my studio window. I grabbed my camera and made a quick shot before he flew away – all pleased with myself until I realized that I hadn’t turned back the exposure from the last time I used the camera. The photo was terribly overexposed. But I wanted to preserve the memory of that colorful bird perched in the holly tree with the red berries and the snow – so I used a couple of Photoshop filters and got this result. I think it resembles a vintage illustration from an old postcard. I am happy with this image and am thinking about printing it directly on fabric after I get my inkjet printer up and running.

Everybody’s Doin’ it!

Snow dyeing is my February Art Experiment There are directions for this process all over blogland. This is my first attempt and, if nothing else, it will serve as a little memento of Snowmageddon.” I used a piece of wet, slightly crumpled PFD cotton and draped it over a couple of inverted plastic bowls so the excess paint and snow could drain off. I used Dye-Na- Flow fabric colors. The first image is of the snow on the fabric with the dripped paint. The second is the final product. I kinda like it! When DH saw it he said, “Oooh, tie-dye!” The old hippie...

Waiting for Mr. Darcy...

DH and I are thoroughly enjoying the “Emma” series currently running on PBS. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have been on a Jane Austen kick since last summer. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, so far, with the aim of reading all of her novels. I have them downloaded to my E-reader and ready to go!

I'm particularly inspired by the fashions of the Regency period and have purchased a few patterns to create costumes for my Ellowyne dolls. Here is my first attempt modeled by dear Pru. I think it really suits her. The fabric is just some old quilting cotton from my stash. Prints on dresses from this period were mainly small floral or fern designs.

Binky and Vince

I had to share this photo of Binky and his little friend, Vince (sleeping). Vince is one of the feral kittens we captured last summer. He has gone from being completely wild (His folder at the vet's office was marked "DANGEROUS.") to being the most affectionate cat we’ve ever had. He loves to cuddle with us and all the other cats. Tony, Vince’s brother, is taking a bit longer to tame but he is making progress. He doesn’t exactly love being held (like Vince!) but he tolerates it. He does enjoy a good belly rub – with much purring and kneading of paws in the air. And he gets along great with the other cats.

It makes me sad to think of all the potentially great pets that are destroyed because shelters don’t have the necessary resources or personnel to work with them.

“Nothing cures like time and love.” Laura Nyro

Charming “Mirror”

Been having fun playing with dolls! I made a funky little dress to go with the shoes I made last week. Modeling the outfit is Goodreau’s BJD Mirror.” She is borrowing one of Ellowyne’s wigs.

Simple Felt Flowers

I made these little felt flowers today to decorate the shoes. I found the instructions in a vintage Barbie pattern (as a handbag decoration). They are so easy to make. You just cut a small square scrap of felt any size you want (I used a ¾” square), run a gathering thread on the guidelines, pull tight and knot off. I added a little French knot to the center.

First Attempt at Doll Shoes

I got two 16” Goodreau BJDs (ball-jointed dolls) for Christmas and a couple of patterns to make clothes for them. One of the patterns was for shoes and I was really curious if they would fit. They fit perfectly! They aren’t quite finished, yet. I still need to glue on the fun foam soles and little heels. Now, here is my dilemma. The pattern says to use a glue gun for this operation. And the glue gun is definitely not my friend. I never fail to burn myself! I’m thinking maybe I’ll use tacky glue – the same stuff I use for Santa beards. Anyway, I wanted to show you a quick picture of the shoes so far. I’m also thinking about adding some sort of little ornamentation to the fronts. The pattern contains several variations of this shoe; with strap, double strap and scalloped upper – but I thought I’d just try out the basic pump, first. The shoes are made of a deep brown felt with a reddish cast but my workroom lights can’t pick up the color. I lined them with a tiny brown gingham check. I'm downright tickled with these!

Another Fabric Paper Sample

Last night, I decided to try making a more subdued sample. I glued everything on top of a really ugly old piece of cotton. This is a great way to use fabric that would otherwise go unused...

2010 Monthly Experiment (January): Fabric Paper

Well, give me a little paper, paint, fabric and glue and I’m happy. This is my first experiment making fabric paper – what fun! (This is meant to be cut up and used for postcard and ATC backgrounds with added stitch and/or collage elements.) I put all of the cats in the bedroom and worked at the kitchen table last night for a little while – and what a fine mess I made! There are a few sources of instructions for this (and a couple of variations) on the web. The Quilting Arts web site has Beryl Taylor’s instructions, here. And Arlee Barr has a wonderful tutorial, here. Got to play with this some more...

Stitch Explorer Challenge

Here is a little sampler I embroidered for the final Stitch Explorer Challenge project. I combined some laid stitch samples (couched filling, laid trellis) with chicken scratch. Of all the new stitches I learned this year, chicken scratch is my favorite. I know I will be playing with that more in the future. Thanks to dear Sharon B for a fun year of stitching!

Ellowyne Goes Christmas Shopping...

In the holiday rush, I forgot to take a photograph of Ellowyne in the new fur jacket and hat I made for her two weeks ago. The jacket is from a pattern that is in the current issue of Doll Reader magazine. The hat is from a Kitty Collier doll pattern.

Ellowyne’s Christmas tree pin is actually a cheap earring! Her miniature shopping bag was one of several in a package from the dollar store. Who doesn’t love the dollar store?

Happy New Year!!!

In an attempt to get my act together for the New Year, I joined Susan Sorrell’s 2010 Monthly Art Experiment. I am hoping to actually try some of the wonderful projects in Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines – instead of just admiring them. As a further challenge, I’m going to attempt to limit myself to supplies I have on hand (shouldn’t be too difficult as I seem to have every art supply known to man!). The challenge is very loose since the participants may choose to try any project from a book or magazine that interests them. Last summer, I sat outside one sunny afternoon with my stack of magazines and actually wrote down the page numbers of the projects I wanted to do someday. And, of course, I have since lost the list! Well, I’m looking at it as an excuse to go through the magazines again! I am really looking forward to broadening my horizons a bit.

I tried a little experiment today that I’ve wanted to try for a couple of years, since I first saw it in Quilting Arts magazine – and it took next to no time! I used a stamp to make an impression in some fusible fiber (a type of Angelina I got on sale quite awhile ago). I wasn’t sure it would work because I only had a foam rubber stamp and I was afraid it would melt. I put the stamp on the ironing board, face up; then put some fiber down on top and covered it with a piece of parchment paper. A few seconds later, with a dry iron set on the “silk” setting, I got a nice crisp image - and the stamp is none the worse for wear!

Merry Christmas to All!

DAE’s Smoking Flame Vivian is borrowing Gene Marshall’s American Countess gown. Madame Alexander’s Suzette is borrowing Gene’s Crescendo gown (with violin). This photo was taken a couple of years ago.

Treasures from the Sea

I mounted a small collection of delightful vintage carved Mother of Pearl buttons on an embellished and embroidered background I had created for the TAST challenge a couple of years ago. I think the frame (purchased in Michael’s) is evocative of a whitewashed beach cottage. I'll be adding this to my Etsy shop, soon.

"Christmas Constance"

This has got to be one of the most beautiful dolls ever made. Her name is “Christmas Constance” (so I had to have her!) and she is a CED doll. She’s about 19” tall with a highly articulated body. I love the vintage box of Christmas lights that came with her.

“Dashing Thru the Snow”

I finally added my Santas to my Etsy shop. Here’s the latest one, finished. When I first started my doll business, I sold an original pattern for a Belsnickle dressed just like this Santa. While moving my studio upstairs, I found a box with a couple of finished crazy quilted collars that were just too nice (and represented too much work) to throw away. So I used one to dress up a Santa to sit in a sleigh.

Santa Wreath

Here is my Santa wreath finished. As I mentioned a few posts ago, this is an idea I’ve wanted to try for some time – and finally decided to just do it. I’m so glad I did - it was such a joy to make! Santa is wired securely to the metal back of the wreath. His legs and arms are hot-glued in place. I may have to make more of these, next year. I loved playing with the silk flowers...