Not A Toy

This how to of the doll i am currently making, I have to stress IS NOT A TOY. I would not put wires and such in a toy. This is just an art form and ornamental only.

Doll Continued

This is the pattern piece ready to be traced onto paper. To make the back i just fold it in half, add a seam allowance where the fold is and on doubled fabric cut it out. This doll has minimum shaping as all the details will be in the clothing. I have cut out the darts here, but on the fabric they will be sewn and snipped rather than cut out.
Chux or similar product, folded double, pinned in the centre, a dart has been added to the waist to take away the fullness of the pattern the piece of chux needs to be as smooth as possible. Plenty of pins and cut out around the edge.
Wired hands. No I am not advocating tobacco smoking, This is a box that I have my thin wire, screw driver and small screws.(You may find them in old fashioned tobacconists), I picked mine up a couple of years ago for 50 cents. I know that i want my doll to have long thin fingers, some exaggerated in form. She is not of a human, but an imaginary creature. I pencil in how i want the length and shape of the fingers to be and put in my screws just enough to hold. I wire both hands at the same time. Unscrew the wires and then i add pipe cleaners, wrap wool around each digit to hold and put aside for later.
When I am happy with the fingers, I then use them to trace around on cardboard and i then have a pattern to use for my doll.
I hope that you are enjoying this little look into how i work.

Reference Books

These are my favourite reference books.
Gray's Anatomy, by By Henry Gray F.R.S. I just love the illustrations. The Dolls Dressmaker by Venus A. Dodge, a fantastic way to understand shape and form. Anatomy of a Doll, Designing the Doll and Fantastic Figures all by Susanna Oroyan. These books in particular are brilliant reference books with designs and types of dolls from all over the world. It is like having a piece of all the creative people in your own home. and lastly but not least, Creative Cloth Doll Making by Patti Medaris Culea. I like this book because of the details of using colour for faces to give them depth. To see how other designers have used the same patterns and all their own ideas form. You can see the individuality in their designs come through.

Savers Opp shop

After buying cat food we went to Savers and dropped off some clothes my boys had grown out of, and other household goods, I then went inside and this is what i bought. A packet of Iron on thingies for $4. I think they are going to look soo good on the Charity dolls clothes, Especially the boy's T shirts.
A packet of 12 watercolour pencils for $2.

and elastics and thread for $4.
I call this a good shopping day!

Kitties

Tilli.

These pictures are taken today especially for Steph, my daughter and my friend Vikki's daughter who has been ill recently, and is kitty obsessed like me.
Meg

Meg and Tilly at the trough!! No, this is not the usual way of feeding them. We had just been shopping and refilled their food storage container. There are two kinds of dried cat food here, diet and multiple cat food. aren't they being good! eating the right foods for themselves.
This is Puss. This cat belongs to the owners of the pet food store in Greensborough. She is 22 years old, has been blind for a week and is getting used to feeling her way around. She has high blood pressure which resulted in her blindness but she is not in any pain.

Win

Win: 1 Frosted Memories Fat Quarter Bundle by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics !
To enter simply "tell a friend" to spread the word about Quilt Qua. You can send an e-mail to people, post on your blog, comment on someone else's blog, put info in your guild newsletter, etc. Then send an e-mail to: quiltqua@gmail.com and let me know what you did. Enter as often as you wish. Random drawing for the winner will be at 10 pm July 31st.

Doll Continued

The doll body stuffed with old dressmaking paper, that i also share with my kitties. (this paper does not get thrown away, but is used over and over again). The string is the measurement i have already decided on, the height of the body too.



Kitty Helper!

Foil and paper ready to go...
Kitty helper again. The tin does not contain biscuits, they are long gone. They have my wire cutting tools, wire and soldering iron, and a hot glue gun with hot glue sticks. I have my supplies and stuff in many many tins. on the cardboard is the sketch of the body, (i told you i cannot draw!)