Friday, September 19, 2008

The Pirate Queen

I've been so busy making dolls that I've been slow about blogging. I've made 3 dolls in the past two weeks. I started the Pirate Queen last year, didn't like the head I made and put the body parts in a bag. I went on to other projects and completely forgot about her. While cleaning up my studio I found the parts and decided to make a new head and finish her. Needless to say, the cleaning came to a sudden halt and the dollmaking bug took over! I pushed aside the big mess on my work table and forgot about everything else. I'm very pleased with how she turned out. She's made from Mary Tressler's "Captain Blyth" pattern. This is my second Tressler doll and I love the way her patterns come together. The vest is ultra suede and the leggings and cuffs are very soft leather salvaged from an old jacket. I used the suede side of the leather.
Here's a closeup of the base. I had fun making the gold coins and filling the treasure chest with jewels. I covered both sides of a small piece of cardstock with gold, then used a hole punch to cut out the coins. I covered the base with a thin coat of craft glue and sprinkled sand over it, then added some shells. Because I was very new at dollmaking when I made the body parts, I had no clue about armatures or how I would mount the doll on a base. I finally inserted a short knitting needle into the base and slid it inside the legging. Now she stands without falling over.
The hair is regular curly doll hair. I rarely use it, but wanted the curls. It's glued and needle felted in place.
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3 comments:

  1. Great Pirate Queen! Glad to hear from another "doll" artist!! One does tend to lose track of time when bringing to life a creation!

    Hugs,
    DZ

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  2. I think she is beautiful! I can hardly wait to really get into making dolls.

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  3. She is a great doll, funny how some pieces just need time some time resting before they are ready to be finished. Susan

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