Jedediah

I haven't had time to post in a few days due to my Mom having surgery and taking care of her since she's been home. She's doing great now, so I'm back at the computer with a new picture.

This is Jedediah. I used a pattern by Jane Houck to create him. This was my first attempt at sculpting a head from a styrofoam ball and covering it with felt. I added teeth to his silly grin. The vest is made from a recycled velvet dress and outlined with metallic string. His medallion is strung on the same string that I chain stitched to make a chain. He was a lot of fun to make. My Mom fell in love with his toothy grin and he now belongs to her.

Granny Stumpledorf

I was so hooked by my first doll I couldn't wait for the arrival of my first pattern from Dollmakers Journey. Ute Vasina's "Mopsy" pattern was originally a pin cushion, but my dear Dad said she needed clothes so I repositioned the limbs, dressed her and sat her in a twig chair. She was transitioned into "Granny Stumpledorf."
Next came "Ichabod," another of Ute's patterns.




















My addiction was becoming stronger so I enlarged the pattern and "Harry" was born. Harry's on the right. His sandals are made of craft foam and elastic.



Having been severely bitten by the dolly bug, I ordered my first book by Patti Medaris Culea, "Creative Cloth Doll Making." Patti inspired me so much that I now own four of her books and am eagerly awaiting the fifth. I haven't made pictures yet of the dolls I'm working on from her books, but will upload them soon.



As my skills increased, I tried patterns from other popular designers. Here are the results.

From Alison Marano's "Elfshot." His boots are made from real leather and my Dad made the slingshot from a twig.

This is "Alethea." She's my first mermaid and is a wall doll. I spent days overlapping and gluing sequins as scales. Pattern designer is Donna Schramek. Alethea is the first doll I have sold.




















I decided to try a little something different so this one's made from Kezi Matthews' "Millicent."

















I fell in love with Arley Berryhill's "Minerva" and had the pattern for months before I attempted it. Once I started, it was hard to stop. I love the way she turned out. She has many hours of beading and the fabrics are very shimmery. It's hard to see that in the photos. She's called "Neptune's Daughter."
"














That's all for today. I'll post again soon.

Hello world

Hello World....I'm Terry and this is my first post. Please bear with me as I jump into new territory. My friends encouraged me to start blogging about my adventures in creating all sorts of things from fabric. So, here goes..........
I've been sewing since I was a child. I made my first quilt 20 years ago. I had no idea what I was doing but jumped right in and have been quilting ever since. I've come a long way in 20 years, but as I get older, my quilts are getting smaller because I'm just too tired to struggle with big bed quilts any more. Now my quilts are mostly for wall decor or gifts. After the sudden loss of my daughter almost 2 years ago, I needed to find something new to help me through my grief and the quilts just weren't doing it for me. I surfed the web and stumbled on a doll making site. I was in total awe of the beautiful and whimsical dollie population that exists on the web. I knew from that moment I was hooked and had to try it for myself.
My first attempt at doll making was a free download pattern by Judith Prior. http://dollmakersjourney.com/fancynancy.html She was easy and so much fun to make. She sits perched atop my computer desk most of the time and guards it well. I've come far since making her and I see things now that I could have done better, but I wouldn't change a thing about her. She brings a smile each time I look up and remember the sense of satisfaction and joy I experienced making my first doll.