Tag: art-dolls

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The kitty community is growing…

Now there are two kittens assembled. The first one has more of a baby body and this second one has more of a toddler body.

I’m going to give the toddler one some Mary Janes, and so she doesn’t have the toes sewn in. She also has bigger ears.

They both have metal button joints, and are of my own design. Since everyone’s own pattern designs are copyrighted, it’s important to learn about designing your own dolls, if you want to sell them. I thought I’d share some of the books that I’ve found helpful.

On the far right is Antonette (Noni) Cely’s Cloth Dollmaking. Not only is Antonette Cely an amazing doll artist, she is a wonderful instructor. I’ve learned so much from this book, and it includes patterns for a few of Noni’s dolls. She also has videos. There are a couple of clips from her dollmaking videos on YouTube too: Customizing Doll Patterns and Making Faces. Just see if you don’t learn something just from watching the excerpts!

In the center are some of Susanna Oroyan’s books, Fantasic Figures, Designing the Doll, and Anatomy of a Doll. Susanna’s books include lots of examples from a host of doll artists, along with how-to drawings that are really helpful. Both her and Antonette Cely’s books include some information on both designing cloth dolls and on sculpting doll faces. They are full of inspiration.

On the far left are two of Patti Medaris Culea’s books, Creative Cloth Doll Making, and Creative Cloth Doll Faces. They both explore various techniques for making cloth dolls and include other artists’ interpretations of the patterns included in the books. They both have very good basic instruction for sewing and assembling cloth dolls, and all kinds of ideas for embellishing them.
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Kitten doll…on her way

I got my first kitten doll body sewn, stuffed, and assembled. She is made from my own original design and pattern. I have a good feeling about this one. I think she is going to be really cute.

I think I’ll stuff and assemble the other kitten and the bunny dolls I have ready before I start my sculpting lessons. I think this is going to be fun.

I used tube turners to turn my doll parts right side out today, and they made it so much easier. I got mine at the Hancock Fabrics store (I can’t seem to find them on their site, but Joann’s has them on theirs).

My assistant thought they made great toys too.
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Kitty Dolls in Progress

I’ve been drafting patterns for a couple of new art doll designs and I’ve got two kittens and a bunny on the way. I thought a little behind-the-scenes look might be of interest for anyone interested in making painted cloth dolls. After I draft my patterns, I trace them onto cotton sheeting by taping my drawn patterns to a light box, and then laying my fabric over the patterns. You can achieve the same thing by taping a pattern to a window during the daylight hours, and then taping a piece of fabric over the pattern.

I’m using kind of fancy sheets, 300 thread count, Egyptian cotton sateen. I like them because they are soft and easy to hand stitch through, and the texture is very smooth. I’ve been getting mine at Linens and Things, but they may have discontinued the exact ones I’ve been using. Hopefully they have something similar. They usually have swatches you can feel. Look for soft and smooth. I wait for sales, but you can get so many dolls out of one full flat sheet, that it is well worth the price anyway. I prewash them, put them in the dryer, and then iron them. I use a permanent black Sharpie pen to draw my stitching lines, minus the seam allowances, on my fabric.

For each doll part, like for one arm, I trace the shape only once. Then I flip my fabric, wrong sides together, and pin. There is no need to line up any sewing lines this way. You do have to watch your grain lines however. It is important that the doll parts are aligned with the straight of grain as much as possible or distortion occurs while stuffing. I sew right on top of my sewing line, which is still visible even from the wrong side, through both layers of fabric. I use a small stitch length, about 1.5 to 2mm. I sew slowly to make sure I stay on my lines.

I trim my doll parts, leaving between 1/8 and 1/4 inches of fabric around the outside edge of each shape. I leave a little extra where the openings I left for turning the parts right side out are. I cut closer where there are little ins and outs, like where there are fingers. (You can click my pictures to get a larger view.) I clip my curves, taking little wedge shapes out of the convex curves and just straight clips out of the concave curves, up to about two threads width of my stitching line. Wherever there is a sharp angle in my stitching line, I cut to the point, as closely as possible without cutting my sewing line. A good sharp small pair of scissors is necessary, along with caution. I then use Fray Check within my seam allowance (along the outside edge of my sewing lines) to seal the clips I have made.

Next, you turn and stuff your doll as firmly as possible. I use Poly-fil. Then you can use acrylic paint to paint your doll. Stuffing your doll firmly will keep your painted surface from denting if pressure is applied. Where there are joints that are stitched across, like at knees or elbows, it is sometimes necessary to stuff lightly so these areas can bend. I will usually make the upper half of an arm or leg lightly stuffed, and the lower half firmly stuffed in this case. When you are ready to paint, gesso can be applied first, if desired. The fabric will absorb some of the first layer of paint without the gesso. It just depends on whether you mind putting an extra layer of paint on first, instead of using gesso. Heat setting the paint with an iron is a good idea if the doll is ever intended to be washed. I seal my art dolls with matte varnish, and they aren’t intended to be washed. A play doll would be a different matter.

Incidentally, Poly-fil often comes with a pattern for a toy on the bag. The past two times I’ve bought some there was a cute dinosaur and then an elephant pattern on the bag. These kinds of simple patterns would be fun to make in painted versions. The Fairfield company, who makes Poly-fil, also has free patterns on their site, including toys, dolls, and some nice block-of-the-month quilt projects. They are adding more all the time. In fact… here is a cat doll pattern with instructions.

This is what my helper was doing while I was doing all of the above. Clearly, none of this is of interest to him, or he already knows how to do everything. I’ll never know.
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Emily, handmade original one-of-a-kind folk art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sThis is my one-of-a-kind original folk art doll, Emily, named after the famous poet Emily Dickinson.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sEmily was inspired by the charming Izannah Walker dolls of the 1800’s.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sI designed both her body pattern and her dress pattern myself, and then carefully sewed each in 100% cotton fabric.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sEmily’s fingers are hand quilted and lightly wired to give them a gentle curl, and her arms bend slightly at the elbows.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sHer arms bend at her shoulders, and her legs bend at her hips and knees. Emily’s bottom is weighted with Poly-Pellets so she can sit nicely. (Chair not included.)

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sI made Emily’s antique reproduction Jumeau face using papier mâché.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sHer hand-sculpted ringlets on either side of her head are hand sculpted from paperclay.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sEmily was painted with gesso, and then detailed with acrylic paint. Her blue eyes are hand painted.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sHer shoes are painted on as well, with tiny buttons up their sides.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sI made Emily’s dress from a tan calico quilter’s cotton. It is dotted with little burgundy and navy blue flowers.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sEmily’s sash dips to a “V” shape in the front, and it holds in all the fabric gathers at her yoke. Her sash ties in the back to make a pretty bow.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sI sewed two pin tucks at the bottom of her dress and added a big three inch hem to make the skirt stand out nicely. All the seams are carefully finished.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sHer antique-style undergarments are carefully detailed with painted-on lace, pink buttons and a bow.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sEmily is approximately 15 inches tall. She is sealed with matte varnish for protection.

Emily handmade original one-of-a-kind art doll by Elizabeth Ruffing, Ruffing'sMany hours went into making Emily. She is a one-of-a-kind work of art. Emily is meant for display only.

Emily is signed and dated. She comes with a hang tag, a certificate of authenticity, and a copy of her story.

Update: Emily has been adopted. Thank you!