Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember all the blessings we have in our lives this day.

A Face in the Crowd

I spent the morning getting studded tires on my van for the winter (the hills are starting to show off a little snow and the temps are dropping) and shopping for groceries. No Thanksgiving dinner for us, as we'll all be working. It's not so bad working this particular holiday - most folks stay home and stuff themselves. It's working the day after that I dread ~ it's a consistently busy day in the ER.

When those necessary chores were done, I spent the rest of the day and evening watching movies, sewing a third Sally doll and baking faces for the class. I'll pick out one of these clay faces for this newest doll, and the rest go in the bag I've designated for class stuff. I made wire armature to include in the kits, too.

Tomorrow will be spent stuffing doll parts, painting, and assembling the doll. I've found it's so much easier to finish dolls when the costuming is done before the doll. Of course, that only applies to dolls who have costuming that isn't sewn onto their bodies.

And then it's on to the annual Santa doll for the ER Christmas Party and Auction. I probably won't get to this one until next weekend.

Addendum: For those who have experienced the drawback of using polymer clay faces due to the weight and density of the clay, don't forget to make the back a little bit concave. This occurs naturally, if you use your thumbs to firmly press the center of the clay into the pressmold. By doing this, you make sure the clay goes into the facial features of the mold, making the concave indentation, and squishing clay out along the rim - which is the perfect handle by which to grab the clay and gently work it out of the mold. Of course, you'll trim away the excess. These faces now weigh just over an ounce.

Coming Soon!

I think I'm finally done with the pattern and instructions for Suffragette Sally, designed for this upcoming conference in Ohio. Personally, I'm really looking forward to meeting the other teachers and dollmakers who will be attending. I've checked out photos of Punderson Manor Resort, too, and what a gorgeous setting for the event! I'm looking forward to a field trip to an Amish community.

So far, there are about ten students signed up for my class. Exciting!

The official pattern for Sally won't be released until the conference in May. It's been kinda fun producing the pattern, though quite time consuming. While I'm in the groove, I'd like to create another - but maybe one a bit simpler.

Now I've got to think about some sort of hands-on demonstration for the conference.

New Dress for Sally

I've been working on a dress for a third Sally doll for class in May, this one strictly red, white and blue.

I decided at the last moment to change the design of her arms, to (hopefully) create a more natural pose. So when this doll is done, she's at least got something to wear!

Old World Santa E-PATTERN now available!

I decided to spend a few hours today converting my Old World Santa pattern to and electronic version. This Father Christmas figure stands about 15 inches tall, and is made from a knit fabric like craft velour or doesuede. This detailed pattern is now available in PDF format for $10 HERE or on Etsy.

Selling Patterns Anonymously?

An online friend of mine sent me a link yesterday, for an eBay auction of one of my patterns: http://www.ebay.com/itm/170720503106 . The auction ends tomorrow, and I was very surprised at the price so far.

There are a few eBay sellers that sell anonymously, garnering higher prices. Sneaky, sneaky. I've been known to cruise eBay's doll pattern auctions, and will often do a search on Google if I see one I like that's going for a particularly high price. Sometimes I'm out of luck, not finding the original artist. Sometimes the pattern is old and out of print. Not the case with this one.

But this reminds me - it's November now, and it's time to get started on my annual Santa doll for our ER Christmas Party and Auction. I think I'll convert this one to an e-pattern.

You can find the paper pattern for Old World Santa (and others) HERE.

Sally #2 nearly done!

I've been working most of the day on finishing Sally #2. The only thing left is her hat and sign. The pattern instructions are done up to this point as well. I also decided at the last minute to add instructions for a simple doll stand. It's not perfect, but works for the most part. I'm currently up to 20 pages. Hopefully I can keep the total number of pages at 22, plus the color insert.

This doll is 17 1/2 inches tall, including the stand. After the hat is sewn, I've got to start drawing the final pattern pieces onto printer paper. I'll have to use 8 1/2 X 14 inch paper for the dress, which is kind of a pain, but it'll be easier for folks to trace from that than tape the pieces together if printed on 8 1/2 X 11.

18 pages and counting

I'm still working on my Suffragette Sally pattern at every opportunity - which hasn't been as much as I'd like due to my work schedule. But I have a glorious 3 day weekend starting tomorrow, so I expect great things to happen!

Today (while the grand is in preschool) I hope to get the instructions done for Sally's hair. I'd hoped to give my second doll a different hair color than the first doll (just for variety), but the camel roving I used for #1 looks better on #2 than the other colors I've got on hand. The camel roving I have is from camel (duh). The other types of roving I have are wool, and have a different feel - it's less coarse.
The brown on the left is alpaca. The orange is colonial wool. The camel roving is on the bottom right. The other two are merino.

So after the hair is done, all I've got left to do is her hat, underthings (still waiting to be designed), and Votes for Women poster. I'm including lots of photos, which adds to the overall length of the instructions. I'm at 18 pages as of last night (19 if you include the colored face painting insert).

Update, Thursday afternoon:

I got the hair done on doll #2 (plus the written instructions and photos). I also just finished a chemise for Sally #1. Since this is a draft design, I didn't photograph the steps or write instructions, but will for #2's chemise. I've got to scrounge through my lace drawer and see if I can find some sort of eyelet lace to sew around the waist of #2's chemise so I can weave a ribbon through it.