Tag: Patti Medaris Culea

This little lady’s been on hold since April. I’ve been looking at some amazing dolls on the Art Dolls Only blog, and thought it was about time that I put a little bit of effort into this one.

I did have a plan for who she was going to be, but I’m thinking now that I might treat her more as a prototype. That way I don’t have to feel obliged to make her look like any one particular character – I can just make her up as I go along and see who comes out at the other end.

The “flesh” tone is very flat and orangey, and I’m not sure that I like the texture of the acrylic paint on the polycotton fabric. I have some peach coloured fabric that I want to use next time, so then I’ll only have to do shading rather than a complete body paint.

Next time you see this doll, hopefully she’ll have a face!

A while ago I decided I’d like to make some dolls.

Shortly after that, a friend sent me a book about making dolls by Patti Medaris Culea.

For what is possibly the first time in my life, I decided to try and make something exactly according to the pattern, so this is Doll #1. (Okay, I couldn’t do it. She’s also got the face stitching from Doll #3.)

She’s made from plain white poly-cotton, and I’d call this passable, for a first attempt.

(More pictures over at Flickr)

She’s poseable at the hips and shoulders, and sits up quite happily by herself. From bum to head she’s about 9″ tall. If she could stand up straight she’d measure about 22″ to the tips of her very pointy toes. The next pattern is jointed at the knees and elbows too, and although I love the beautiful shape of the legs on this doll, I’d definitely like to make one that moves a bit more.

I haven’t stitched in her fingers yet, mostly because I don’t seem to have a foot on my sewing machine that allows me to actually see what I’m doing on such fiddly work. (This is also why she’s got a bit of a bump on the top of her head, and one on her right calf.) Maybe I need some kind of quilting foot. Or just to be a bit more careful!

The actual cutting out and sewing part took less than an hour. It then took about FOUR HOURS just to get the stuffing in (next time I’m leaving a bigger opening in the neck!) and maybe another hour to assemble all the bits. I had two goes at stitching the face. The first attempt was a bit small, leaving her with the most enormous chin. I like this one better. She looks smiley.

I’m not quite sure what to do with her now! She definitely needs stripey tights, although I’m not certain whether they’re going to be sewn or painted. I’ll paint her face, and I think I have a bit of roving lying about that I’d like to try and use for her hair. As for clothes… no idea. Perhaps I should give her something that I’d love to wear myself, but wouldn’t want to make in an actual human size. So many choices…