Meet Tashi--Tibetan inspired doll

 It's been a while since I posted but I've finally finished a doll.  She was supposed to be finished for the May Indy Cloth Doll joint meeting with the Cincy doll club but life (golf and family) got in the way.   But she is finally done.  I up-cycled several items for this doll.   The head is a sculpt that I did last winter from an on line class...now it has a body.  The inspiration came from some Tibetan jewelry that was given to me.   My friend wanted me to use it on a doll but the jewelry was so big that I had to de-contruct it to make it work.   I reassembled it to use on the costume.   I searched the internet for pictures of Tibetan Costumes for my inspiration.  I took some artistic license but stayed pretty close to the culture. The fur trim on the collar, sleeve and hem was salvaged from some vintage fur pieces that I have been collecting over the years.  Her over-skirt is constructed from brocaded ribbons.   Her hat started life on a Asian inspired pillow.  The name Tashi means "prosperity" in the Tibetan language.

Recently I went to the Chicago Sewing Expo with my sisters, Barb and Molly and my Aunt Phyllis. We all had a great time learning new things in classes and buying some beautiful fabrics and notions. Although I promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more books....I couldn't help it...I bought a book on chenille projects. I couldn't believe all the things you can do with that technique. More on that to come........One of the classes that I took was landscape quilting. I wanted to learn the techniques to that I could use some in Art to wear projects. The first picture is the teacher's sample. The second picture is my version. The subject matter is not something I would have chosen but I did learn the techniques which I know I will use in the future.

New Collage Jacket

I've just completed my second project which is a fabric collage jacket. I purchased the fabric years ago and even cut out the images. I just never found the time to complete the project. The American Sewing Guild group to which I belong challenged us to complete one UFO (unfinished Object) by our April meeting. That challenge inspired me to finishe the jacket. I have never done anything like this before so I was rather intimidated by the whole process. Once I had all my images laid out on the jacket I used free

motion stitching to attach and embellish them to give them a more three-dimensional look. It is ragged edge applique so it adds just that "artsy" look that I love. I can see so many possibilities of this art form and am looking forward to incorporating this technique in my art to wear garments for the 2012 November Show and Sale.

Please welcome Princess Chun Woo

It has been ages since I have posted. After the show and holidays, we started a home remodeling project which took up most of my time until March. I have now completed two projects that I would like to share with you. The first is a small doll about 13" tall that was made in a Leslie Molen workshop sponsored by the Indy Cloth Dollmakers Club. We had such fun and each doll was totally unique even though we all started with the same pattern. Since I love to embellish I added beaded fabric to my costume and have called her Princess Chun Woo. I hope you like her.

Nov. Show and Sale People's Choice Award

A big thanks to everyone for making our show this year a success. We had a lot of traffic and I saw lots of packages leaving with people wearing happy smiling faces. Our room at the library was full of laughter the whole day. It's amazing how dolls make people happy. Also thanks to everyone who purchased something from me. I do love making unusual things and have lots of different things in mind for next year. I will try to have more art to wear jackets and sweaters next year for you to choose from.

Also thanks to everyone for voting for their favorite challenge doll. Ayanna won people's choice so she will be featured on next year's postcard.

I'm going to take a little time off from creating to spend some quality time with my family. I'm afraid they've been pretty neglected these past few weeks.

I've got more projects in mind so I'll be posting more later. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Art to Wear Duster

Wow...have I been learning a lot while making my last art to wear project. I love dusters (super long sweaters) so I decided to make one from recycled sweaters. It took 3 sweaters and a lot of hair pulling but I finally finished late yesterday. I thought it would take 2 days but it had a life of it's own and it took 4 days. Even Ken got involved in the critique!! The collar "texturizing" was a last minute addition. It used to be flat and came out onto the sleeve cap. Every time I tried it on the collar just seemed over whelming. Couldn't really trim it off so I started taking tucks...I love the way it turned out. That's an example of a "make it work" moment!!

Ayanna-Beautiful Flower

Ayanna is finally finished. She is my club challenge doll....remember the fabric with the large flowers....well, those flowers blossomed into Ayanna. I used a Leta Benedict pattern that had a multi-layer skirt and a parasol. I could envision using the print as petals on the dress and part of the parasol. The pattern didn't include shoes but I just couldn't resist making shoes for her delicate feet. Ayanna is perched on a wooden candlestick that has been painted to coordinate with her dress. Wouldn't you know that I used the largest print fabric on the smallest cloth doll that I have made!! She's only 13" from the tip of her shoe to the top of her head and only 16" when you include the stand and parasol. She will be on exhibit at our annual Show and Sale on November 19th along with the other challenge dolls. There were 9 entries in the challenge and every doll was unique and wonderful. It will be very interesting to see who wins the People's Choice Award this year.