New Doll--If I had Wings I would Fly....

We finally finished the home remodeling and I got back to working on my dolls.  If you look at my February blog you will see the head that I used for this new doll.  The head got a paint job, hair, body and costume.   She became my challenge doll for the 2014 AFICC Convention and I named her: " If I had Wings I Would Fly....."     Here's a close up of her face. 

I designed her body so that she stands on one bare foot with her arms outstretched as if she were about to fly.   Her gown is made from deep cranberry silk velvet with a slit in the back so her bent leg and other bare foot is visible.   Her feet are needle sculpted to show the natural shape of the foot. 

 Her cape was inspired by butterfly wings.  I beaded both sides of the organza so the design could be viewed from the front and the back.  To bead the organza I drew the design to be beaded on the organza and sewed strips of cotton to the sides of the organza.   Then I attached this square to wood stretcher bars.   This way I could bead on both sides and the size and shape of the cape would not become distorted as I beaded.  Here is a picture of the cape after it was beaded but before I cut it out. I used a burning tool to cut close the last row of beads but leaving enough to add a decorative edge after it was cut out.  The burning tool melted the fabric and left a very clean edge that wouldn't ravel. 

I beaded the front and neck of the gown before I attached the cape.   I designed the cape in such a way that I could wrap it around the arms and attach it to the beads on the gown so that it became seamlessly part of the gown.   Here is a back view of the cape.