Tag: cloth-dolls

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Gumdrop Babies

This is the new pattern I’ve been working on. I saw them all sitting on my table and they reminded me of gumdrops. So, they became “Gumdrop Babies”. I think they are sweet.

They are original, one-of-a-kind, art toys. I hand painted and heat set each one of their pleasantly smiling faces. They are about 10 3/4 to 11 inches tall and they have no removable or loose parts, making them safe for little ones. They are meant to be played with and loved and hugged. I prewashed the fabrics I used, mostly cotton quilting fabrics, with a little rayon on their faces. So they can be gently spot cleaned, rinsed, and set to dry. BTW, I’ve been using Tide Free for Sensitive Skin when I prewash my fabrics. I like to get that factory smell out of fabrics in addition to making sure they won’t shrink or run later.

I’m finding toy making to be therapeutic. No wonder Santa is a jolly guy. I’m not quite jolly yet, but I’m hoping to get there.
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Baby faces

I’ve been working on a new doll pattern, and these are my experiments so far with their baby faces. Two are on cotton and two are on rayon. So far, the rayon is bleeding less when I use my Pigma pens and acrylic paint on it. I’m going to cut these out and do some appliquéing next. Right now, however, I am going to run in to town…more later.

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“Huggy Kitty” New Original Cat Doll by Elizabeth Ruffing

“Huggy Bunny” has a new friend, “Huggy Kitty”.

Huggy Kitty has a lavender onesie with burnt orange and white flowers, yellow polka dot buttons, and a red polka dot heart.

She has gold “fur” and a curly tail. She is made from 100% cotton quilting fabrics that have been fused to a layer of cotton sheeting for added durability.

Her eyes and mouth are hand embroidered, and the edges of her onesie, her tail, her nose, and the pink parts of her ears are machine appliquéd.

Huggy Kitty has no loose parts, and she is stuffed with Poly-fil polyester stuffing.

To see my available original, one-of-a-kind soft dolls and toys please click here.

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“Huggy Bunny” Doll and Quilt in Progress

I’ve got my new doll patterns ready for a test run. This is my “Huggy Bunny” ready for some machine appliquéing. I am also going to try my hand at hand embroidery, a new craft for me, partly in honor of the Etsy for Animals January challenge, “New Year, New Craft” (although I’m not sure I can meet the January 1st deadline), and partly to tie in with a new idea I have for some embroidery designs. I was thinking a sort of “stitch-along” might be fun. I’m working on an original design to post on my website so that anyone who wants to join in, can learn along with me.

My “Huggy Bunny” is part of a series of designs I’ve been working on since this past summer. This is the quilt variation. I had taken step-by-step photos of the whole machine appliqué process, and even the basic assembly of the quilt top, meaning to put together a tutorial, but, unfortunately, I got distracted by other things. This year I hope to get more organized and fill out this site a bit more. I’ve got plenty of ideas for new projects that I think will be lots of fun.
Happy Christmas Eve!