Today is Tuesday, 26 June, 2018
This long post is about my hobby of dollmaking. Thanks for looking!
I used to make dolls a long time ago – in the 70s and 80s – but fell out of the habit. I wasn’t a doll kind of child, though. My sister liked them but I didn’t really get the appeal. One day I got a Sindy doll – it was the British Barbie equivalent. First thing I did was take off all her clothes and start creating new ones for her. I loved the Sindy doll, though, and thought her far more fashionable than the Barbie. She came about, after all, when Britain was the centre of fashion.
My dream of being a fashion designer, then a fashion artist, fell by turn. I made a few dolls many years ago and then I just stopped. Life took me in another direction. The early dolls were made entirely from whatever materials I could find in the remnant bins, whatever clothes I could cut up from the dollar bags at Goodwill and other charity places, whatever leftover wool I could find there… and this continues till today. My first place to look are in the remnant bins, and on local searches for donations, and even my old clothing that is too far gone to pass along. There’s a satisfaction in that.
Here’s a photo of a very early doll that I made for my mum. Not the first, but maybe the second or third. There are a couple of old ones at Robin’s place if they haven’t been thrown away – I’ll check. Looking at this one now, I see that it’s far too long, that the head is way too small (although maybe I should return to that shape of head) , that the details are sparse. But I also see that it held promise and I’m pleased I’ve evolved. I rescued this doll after mum died – she’s a good memory. And I’ve stuck to more or less what I created way back then.
I had thoughts of starting again a couple of years ago. My first one was clumsy and I thought I must have lost it completely. I’m a bit ashamed of those first attempts and I’ve shoved them to near the bottom of this blog entry. They are getting better. I’m terrible at sewing, always have been, but I have ideas. Because I’m not a good needleworker, I concentrate on the details – lace and such cover a multitude of sins. After looking through Etsy, I see what others do and I know I could never produce those commercial-looking dolls but I think mine are quintessentially me – moving through life as I do, making the most of what talent I have, what materials are on hand, and what occurs to me might work.
I start with an idea and as I sew, the doll reveals herself to me. She often has different thoughts for how she needs to be than I do. (Well, I am called ‘slightly weird,’ after all!) When someone requests one, I want to know first if they’d like one that crowd my bookshelf and then, if nothing works, I want to know hair and eye colour, preferred colour palette, style, and the new owner’s personal interests.
I have a lot of them now. I won’t sell them, although it’s been suggested. I prefer to give them to people who need or want them, in exchange for knowing what their names will be and receiving a selfie of them with their newly adopted doll. Surprisingly, not many comply.
Another thing I’ve made over the years are hearts. I started when I was married and I’ve begun again. I want to start making more of these so I’ve included a couple that I’ve made and photographed.
Some dolls are missing, not all the photos are here. I’ll add any that show up. My bad cataloguing skills mean I can’t find all the selfies. But there’s enough.
And more to come!
Buckle up – photos galore.
Butter wouldn’t melt
