New Things to Play With

I have been taking a little break from the usual type of dolls I make to try some new things. I found the cutest pattern online for a pincushion doll from doll artist Kate Erbach. She has several patterns that she has designed that are incredibly fun and I just had to try them out. When I contacted her to ask if I could sell a couple of the dolls I made in my Etsy store she told me yes!!! AND she kindly sent me a couple more patterns. YEAAAA! It is like Christmas in July. I am sensing a need to take a trip to the fabric store in my near future. I was impressed with how well written and easy to follow the patterns were, you seriously need to check them out here at Dollmaker's Journey. I've made two pincushion dolls so far but the problem is that now I have fallen in love with them and I'm not so sure I want to put them in my Etsy shop after all. Sigh.... They need a Hoarders show for doll makers, I could star in it!

So many fabrics to choose from, I think I'll have to make more so I don't have to decide which ones are my favorites.

These dolls really sewed up pretty quickly and easily.

I love the shape of the body. It looks like a gorgeous pear. I think I might make up some of the body shapes just to display in a bowl on an end table in my house. They are so cool.

I love these sandals! My 8 year old thinks I need to make some for her play dolls. They are easy enough to make I think I'll teach her how to do it instead. About 200+ sandals later I might regret that decision but at least it will keep her busy for awhile. She's suffering from the late summer, "I'm bored"

The only thing I really struggled with on these gals was their faces.I wanted their faces bright and bold. I also knew that they might actually get used for their intended purpose of pin cushions so I needed something that would hold up a little better to handling than colored pencils would. I dusted off my fabric art markers that I haven't really used since I took a class with Elinor Peace Baily several years ago. I learned doll face creating using markers but honestly, they are a bit intimidating to me in their permanency. One little OOPS, and you could be re doing the entire head. I am so used to working in colored pencils that it really made me freeze up. I think this was a good thing for me to realize, I try not to ever get settled into a rut of always using the same medium for my art or creating the same type of dolls, hence these pincushion dolls.