Three Root-Hairs in Progress

Here are the three dolls that are "in progress," although right now I am ignoring them in order to concentrate on holiday things.

As you can see, they each have their "own look" and so will end up looking quite different from each other.

Another doll I've made recently is this one:

 This is a small doll, about 9 1/2 inches tall. She has a skirt added to her Awake Side and will have hair, of course.

 

That's about all that's new in my doll world. Stay tuned.

 

 

Big Root-Haired Dolls

Here is my first large root-haired doll; her "hair" is a wild blackberry's root which I wrenched from the earth only with great effort!! Every single blackberry root is like that--they do NOT come out easily, and there are always more to pull up, as one never "gets it all."

 

 

Of course, one is never enough, so now I have three of the larger root hair dolls in progress:

 

Here is the top one with her face partly painted. She has very large eyes, which makes her a child:

 

 

All of these root heads began with the root and on most, I used aluminum foil bunched around the "stem" of the root, although one has one of those paper-wrapped Styrofoam balls you can buy at craft stores. You could use just about anything for the basic head. Sometimes you need to use masking tap to hold all the "inner head" together. Then I use Das or Paper Clay to cover the head and make the features. Both these products air dry fairly quickly (it helps to keep them in a warm place).

Once the paper clay is dry, I cover the head with a "skin" of old tee shirt fabric. It can be any color--I just grab one from my rag bag. The smaller the head, the thinner fabric you will need, but it's always easy to find old shirts (or even underwear!) around the house to use. Some people prefer the cotton shirts with 5% lycra, but I'm not that picky.

 

With the smaller root-hairs, I don't give them tee shirt "skin" due to the smallness of their features. Here is my latest one, still in progress:

 

 

 

That's all for today. There will be more root-haired news to come.

 

Big Gourd-Head in Progress and My China Girls

                      https://twitter.com/DollMakerBarb


This big gourd head doll is on her third face!! But I like this one, so I think it will be her forever face. I'm not sure she'll keep this hair, though.

 

She has been "in progress" for so long I hate to even say. I have a couple pair of antique, high-button baby shoes that I think she will get to wear. If I sell her, I will need to remember that I paid $25 a pair for them and add it on to the price. I HATE pricing my dolls--somehow it just seems wrong, but no matter how much I like them, I can't keep them all--especially the ones as big as she is. She''ll be close to 30 inches tall when she is done.

 

 

This is my collection of "China Girls," which I plan to share with my grandgirls. As you can see, the shelf I keep them on is FULL, so I will need to share soon or I won't have room for any new ones!!

 

It definitely feels like winter today, here in the Pacific Northwest. It's very sunny, very breezy, and about 40 degrees! Brrr!!

 

Today is Veterans' Day and I'm remembering all those who served and are serving now.  My four House uncles all served in World War II, as did my Uncle George Evans. So if any of you reading this are in active service or veterans, thank you so much for your service and I'm glad you are still with us!! Have a great day!!

 

 

 

Root-Haired Dolls:

When pulling up a weed in my backyard, I noticed that it looked just like hair, and so I made this doll.  I called him "Earth Man" because his hair had come out of the earth:

 

 

This is how he looked before I dressed him:

 

There;s not a lot to him. His head is DAS paper clay and his body is made of chenille stems; I wrapped his hands and legs in pearl cotton. Usually I use embroidery floss but I didn't have any the right color.

I took him to doll club in Puyallup and all the ladies wanted to make one, so I began saving roots from the hay I was pulling up in the garden (see Gardeningbyhand.blogspot.com).

Here is one "group" picture of the dolls they came up with:

 

 

Here is another:

 

 

 

 

And two more: one howling and one looking inscrutable:

 

 

And another group:

                                                            And this smiling person:

 

This one is a bit scary:

 

While this one is serene:

 

And two more-- one singing and one listening:

 

 

 

 

I can't wait to see how they'll all look when finished!!

 

 

Dolls by Quilt Barn Doll Club Members, Puyallup, WA

 We meet on the third Wednesday of most months (not November or December) at The Quilt Barn in Puyallup. Here are some of the club members' latest creations:

This first one is "Shorty," by Kathleen McCloed; she used a pattern by Ute Vasina:

 

 

This is what I call a "scrap doll," made from very small amounts of fabric and no pattern:

 

 

This is an "altered Barbie" by Stephanie Block:

 

 

These are a couple of my "Earth Men"; they have dried roots for hair:

 

 

The picture below is "Tree Lady" by Stephanie Block. We all made this project. Mine is a Tree Guy, and I left him on the front porch all winter! I still have him, though, and I'm sure he will get a revamp in the future:

 

 

One of our newer members made this cute doll pin, but I forget who made it!!

 

 

This cute little elephant was also made by Stephanie, but I don't remember whose pattern she used for this:

 This dancing couple is felted and made by Stephanie as well. Next month, we are all going to felt something:

 

 

 

These are dolls Kathleen made:

 

This is a funny little sock doll I made to give away with The Toy Society: 

These are "reborn" dolls made by Stephanie:

 

 

 

These dolls were made by Doreen:

 

The little dolls below are Kathleen's:

 

 

These two dolls were made by Karla and the elephant, too:

If I'm not mistaken, I belive this is Doreen's fish, but Kathleen made some, too, so I might have them mixed up. Either way, this fish is very handsome.

 

 

I wish I remembered whose pin doll this is!! Several of us made them, and I know it's not mine!!

 

 

 

I believe this is Karla's giraffe, but again, I'm not sure as about four people made this muslin giraffe. This one is ready to be painted.

 

 

I KNOW this is Karla's wooden chef!!

Stephanie's "steam punk" walrus: