Happy Easter!

I know you all were expecting Mrs. Rose but I'm afraid you'll have to hear from me instead.

I'm her good friend, Bonnie Bailey...



You see, we've had a bit of a busy time of it.  So, when the rest of the world is stepping out in their Easter finery, Mrs. Rose still doesn't have her clothes on.

Well, I'm not sure I should have told you that but it's true.  Her designer is still trying to fit her measurements and then she had to take a bit of an Easter break on family business.

Truth be told, I'm a bit jealous of her you know.  At least she's comfortable, while I'm stuffed into these pantyhose, gloves and heels for the day.  Well, I do look pretty good though, if I do say so myself...and this hat, well, it's been turning lots of heads at the Easter egg hunt.

I'm delighted to have this chance to meet you all, even if you were expecting someone else.

The pleasure was all mine.

Invisible Stitches

For all my dollmaking friends out there, you'll most likely smile at me when I say I was amazed by the results of soft sculpting...



When I set out to make the older face of Mrs. Rose, I decided to combine the techniques in both Jan Messent's Embroidered Portraits and Barbara Willis' Cloth Doll Artistry.  The embroidered portraits were a little too flat for older features...

And when I did find an older face, it was painted and not embroidered...



I have never had a painting class or been to art school so I had zero confidence in my ability to paint a face.

I did use Messent's technique of cutting out the profile in Vilene (I used Timtex) and placing a hole through which I would later add stuffing.  I've also made multiples thanks to Allie, assuming that there will be many learning-curve mistakes.

When I used the kona cotton, I had a very difficult time getting the cotton to sculpt nicely around the rounded features from my pattern (bottom middle).  It may have worked better if Mrs. Rose's features were more angular or if her head were larger.  As it stands, her little head is only 1" from forehead to chin.

Next, I tried the Doe Suede recommended by Adele Sciortino (bottom right). In contrast to my struggles with the cotton, the doe suede behaved like a dream.  I was also going to try using panty hose but I liked the doe suede so much that I have decided to go with that.

Once the Timtex was covered in the doe suede, I was ready to begin sculpting the face.  I modified the full-face sculpting instructions from Willis' book and was surprised to learn that most of the sculpting stitches took place underneath the surface fabric!

I know.  This is where all you dollmakers smile at me.

So, using that little hole in the back of the Timtex, I added stuffing and made stitches across the batting and through the Timtex, never once breaking the surface of the material.



And it started to work!  It took waaaayyyyyyy longer than I expected and I had to snip threads when I had incorrectly placed them...you know they're misplaced when they block the stuffing!

But this method allowed me to sculpt a rounded nose and mouth...and to give the pronounced cheekbones and sunken cheeks of an older person.  I only took two stitches through the facial fabric.  One tack stitch to locate the eye and another longer stitch to define the nose.

I really am just amazed that all that definition can come from all those invisible stitches.  Too cool...

For now, I'm in a bit of a quandary as to how to proceed next.

In Messent's book, she often used watercolor paint to define her facial features.  I think that would work  fine on cotton but not very well on the polyester doe suede.  She also used colored pencils...I tried those on a scrap cloth but think I might try a pure pigment pastel and a stiff brush.  Shiva paint sticks might work but I've never tried those and I don't own any.  I wonder if any of you who have worked with doe suede have a suggestion?

I also can't decide how I'm going to do the eye.  Tomorrow I go to stitch at a friend's house who is a master embroiderer, designer and artist.  I have a feeling that I'll come away from that with a few suggestions.

We had spring snow today and Jack had a bonus day off from school.  It's a beautiful, heavy snow that coats all the branches making for a frosted wood.

Happy Monday everyone.

A Precious Needle

At my last Japanese embroidery class, I discovered I had a treasure in my tool box...

It's  placed in a special place on my needle felt above, the bottom left.

It's a round-eyed, handmade Japanese embroidery needle used for stitching twisted threads.



They are not made by hand anymore.  The man that used to make them died and there was no one there to learn his craft.

They have a round eye because the shaft of the needle is of equal width for the entire length of the needle except for the little bit around the eye.  You can see it below on the side view.

The needle maker would have taken a hammer and tapped just the tip of the needle where the eye was to flatten it.



This needle keeps the fabric open longer than the flatter-eyed needle on the right to allow for the passing of the twisted thread through the fabric.

It's a precious needle.  No longer made anymore.

To me, it's worthy of finding someone to pass it on to when I leave this earth.

Who would of thought that something so small could be so precious.

Happy day to you all.

Facing My Figural Fear

Usually when I disappear in the middle of a project, I've either gone out of town or I'm stuck on something.

Unfortunately, this time I've been stuck.

Placing human figures in my work has always been challenging.

In fact, many times in the past few days, I wanted to stop working on this piece and start working on a flower garden or something.  But I didn't.

No matter how often I struggle to make faces and figures, they still keep crossing my path and demanding to be included in my work.



Well, I have a habit of listening to these messages from the universe so...here I am back at it.

And since they keep coming up over and over, I'd better practice and improve so that it becomes less onerous.  Enter Adele Sciortino and her online doll classes.

A few years ago Gerry Krueger told me about Adele's newsletter (it's free) which is full of tips for making dolls and doll items.  Thanks to Gerry, I've taken one class on making doll shoes and I'm currently enrolled in the Wigging with Mohair class.

After working with mohair for Audrey's hair, I knew I could use some help with better managing this tricky, flyaway fiber.  Even though I am not making free-standing dolls, I'm already learning some valuable tips.  I've ordered some gray mohair off of Etsy for Mrs. Rose's hair.

Needleworkers have been putting figures into their work forever.  You see figures in goldwork, figures in stumpwork...



And I have found lots of inspiration from current artists such as Salley Mavor.

After my last post, I started reading The Embroidered Portraits book by Jan Messent.  She has tackled this topic thoroughly and gives great tips on how to embroider faces and place ears, eyes, nose etc.  Thank you Jan...I'm finding it very helpful.

I'm also using Barbara Willis' Cloth Doll Artistry book for tips on sculpting the body, arms and legs.

Each time I've had to make a face, I haven't drawn it freehand.  Instead, I find a picture and trace the placement of nose, eyes, ears and mouth.  That way, I'm not depending on drawing skills that I don't have.

For Mrs. Rose, I decided to use that Annie Wahl doll that I have in my collection.  She was kind enough to pose for me, and didn't mind getting shot in her skivvies...



She says she's proud to show off the body that got her this far in life.

I then traced her outline to make a doll pattern for the head and the body.   Once I was satisfied with the pattern, I used my copier to reduce the paper doll to various sizes...



I cut them out to place them on the block.  This helps me choose the correct pattern size.  It looks like a reduction of 55% will work.


I know, I know.  She doesn't look so good bald and pale like that...I suppose I didn't look so hot either when I was first born.

Now onto choosing the materials.  I ordered some Doe Suede (it's a polyester) from Adele's site since I had never seen that before and wanted to try it.  I also have some flesh colored kona cloth.  And I located some old pantyhose to try as well.



Today, I'm off to play around with my pattern and my materials to see what happens.

Thanks for hanging with me.   I hope to get to some "flow" with this piece soon.

Ankles crossed...

Holy Smoke, A Table and Pope Fiction

Holy Smoke, I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted!

Of course, maybe I should use a different expletive since Holy Smoke has quite another meaning these days.

I don't know about you, but the drama surrounding the Vatican, the butler who leaked secrets and then was pardoned, the pope who abdicated and flew away in a helicopter, and all the corruption surrounding the Vatican bank (including murder) has got my imagination on overdrive.  I cannot wait to read this novel or see the Hollywood movie.  Holy Smoke indeed!

Anyway, while the Vatican is trying to get the color of their smoke correct...I mean, the first two spewings didn't look black or white to me...Just a lot of gray.

Don't you think in the 21st century we could figure out the smoke issue?  And if they can't figure out the smoke, I wonder what that portends...

Oh well.  It's a good thing I'm comfortable with gray and I've been working with gray again making a little side table with an open drawer to help in telling the story of Mrs. Rose...



I had started to work on Mrs. Rose herself but found that I needed to order some flesh-colored fabrics for her "body".  There's a lot of components to her that I've never made before so it's all new in sourcing materials and experimenting with techniques.

While that work is underway behind the scenes, I decided to make the little side table that goes into Mrs. Rose's nursing home room.

I used an Exacto blade to cut out the shapes of the table from acid-free mat board (the kind used by framers) and then sewed a felt cover over top of each piece.  I used toothpicks for the legs covered in felt as well, and pressed each of the components with an iron to flatten the nap of the felt.



I then built the table by sewing down all the components, using Tsukineko inks and outline stitches to give some shading and dimension to the little piece of furniture.



I also adding some beading to finish off the frame of the mirror.

Now I really am off to work on the birth of Mrs. Rose...her chair has been waiting for some time.



While I'm creating, I need a new book to read so I couldn't help but get into the papal spirit of things and found this list of Pope Fiction on Goodreads.

I highly recommend Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross.  It's one of my favorite books of all time.  Angels and Demons By Dan Brown was also good but its style was a bit too like his other book, The DaVinci Code.  That being said, most folks loved it.

I've got my sights set on Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess.  I haven't read that one and the reviews look good.

I bet none of them can hold a candle to what is really going on in Rome.  Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

And Holy Smoke evidently isn't very black and white...it's pretty gray.

Who knew this piece was going to be so trendy?  Just one more benefit to working sooo slowly.

Oh well, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Happy Smoke Watching everyone!

Antique Love Bird

In the Historic Savage Mill Antique Mall, there's a wonderful little shop called Treasure Trove Antiques, owned by Marie Neumann who specializes in vintage linens and laces.

Over the years, we've developed a friendship.  One day I asked if she had any fragments or remnants of lace or beading since she tends only to put items in her shop that are in top condition.

She said she had a beaded "remnant" she would share with me next time.  Would I come back?

Two weeks later, she uncovered this Victorian beaded pillow cover and my breath left my body.

This was the bitty remnant??

Embroidered and beaded onto chocolate silk velvet, the piece is in amazing condition for its age.

And the pattern is lovely.

There are a number of threads that need to be re-secured and reinforced...



But all in all, it is exquisite.

When I showed it to my crazy quilt friends, they noticed how the white beads gave the antique silver some "pop" and reminded them of native American beadwork...

And I noticed that the vines are mostly beaded feather stitch which is so easy to do...

I plan to tack it carefully to another backing and frame it to protect it from further deterioration.



So happy to get to photograph it and share it with you today.

Happy Monday everyone.

Bird love is definitely in the air.