Outfits and Purses 2

I love October, don't you? This is the time of the year when I tend to pick oranges (not the fruit) but the color and also reds . I am very happy that my latest doll sports shades of orange. This doll has been my companion for more than 2 years and she waited patiently all that time for me to stitch her arms on and to clothe her. Her arms were lying around close to her but she had to wait for part of her clothes to be on before she got those arms.

This doll is second in the series called Outfits and Purses. The purse resembles a gift from my cousin and his wife. They got it for me from their trip to Egypt. I made the fabric for the purse from silk saree fibers (last India trip).  Her skirt has shisha mirrors and lots of hand embroidery of various Indian regions. The jacket is silk infused jute fabric(latest craze in India -last India trip). Beading is done Christine Shively style. The doll pattern is also by Christine Shively with few changes. Face mask is my one of a kind heads.

Hoffman Challenge 2013

I went for a sitting doll this time. Wasn't sure about the doll face. I never am until the doll's features are all painted and she is dressed. I stared at the half made doll for a long time just not wanting to work on her. I must have stared at the challenge fabric much longer. I did everything else. I made two cloth Hitty dolls, cut myself really badly (all healed now) from trying to carve a wooden Hitty using a blunt knife (never try to do this at home or anywhere else- blunt knife is a BAD idea), finished sewing dresses for three Izannah Walker style dolls, crocheted several cotton dishcloths, and did many more things.

I did not seem to be in any kind of rush until the last minute and then I went into a super productive mode. Now that she is all done (and I can't change anything about her,) I like her. Actually she turned out very close to how I saw her in my mind. Now I wait to see if she gets picked to travel. My Hoffman challenge doll from last year was picked to travel and I got to see her in Hampton, Virginia during Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival.  I am hoping that this one will travel too.

Challenge fabric this year is called Peacock Gold. As usual the design is much bigger in scale for a doll. So I had to do some fabric manipulation. I tried to duplicate the lattice design from the challenge fabric. I cut up one and a quarter by one inch pieces of the challenge fabric and put them together to make a pieced fabric for the sleeves and the vest. The off white shirt is also put together with long rectangles and triangles.

Purse pattern was from Kumiko Sudo's Omiyage. Had to change the pattern a bit to make the purse. Hat is made from different shaped pieces of Peacock Gold and the coordinating green fabric (from the challenge collection).  Face mold is my own one of a kind mold. The pattern is also mine.

My entry is called Outfits and Purses. My daughter goes to middle schooland I heard from her that outfits and purses are a favorite topic among some middle school girls. I decided to make that a theme for the challenge. Here are some pictures of my entry. Enjoy!

Elizabeth I

It feels like just yesterday that I took Elizabeth I class from Christine Shively. So it is still not too late to post a picture of the doll.  I highly recommend taking a class from Christine. She is a wonderful teacher and has taught me a lot about costuming and face painting.  I have made four or five dolls after I took her class and I can see that her techniques come in very handy while costuming the dolls and I have used those techniques for very one of them. 

The costume is from Elizabethan era with the stomacher and the elaborate ballooning skirt and the huge sleeves. All the edges are beaded. She stands about 9 inches tall which seemed impossible to make before I took the class but now I am a changed person! with changed perspectives in life!!

I chose a darker fabric for the doll body so I could learn to paint a face on a darker fabric.  That was pretty brilliant of me because I did learn to paint a darker face. The color palette is very different for a darker fabric and the highlights are more dramatic.  Wish I had taken more pictures of her from different angles when I first took pictures. Because if I think of taking more pictures, I might take another year to publish this post. :-)

(Blogger has changed so much since I last posted!! No smilies?)