Big Gourd-Head in Progress and My China Girls

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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:

 

Fixing Jeri's Doll in 2006-2007

Today I am posting about a doll I worked on in 2006, and finally finished in January of 2007 when the picture below was taken. I hate to confess that I had this doll in my possesion, waiting for attention, for almost four years. Luckily Jeri wasn't in a hurry--if she had pressed me, I would have finished it sooner, I know. I also add that I am not in the business of repairing dolls; it is just something I do now and then for friends that care a lot about an old doll they have.

This doll belonged to my friend Jeri when she was a child. The doll’s body and limbs were made of what I call “stuffed rubber” which is a very thin rubber (latex?) skin stuffed with cotton or a cotton-like material. This rubber skin did not last very long on these dolls; it degraded quickly, over just a few years, in my experience. I had a boy doll very similar to this one, which is how I know. First the skin became sticky, and then it developed holes in it, and soon it was just a big mess and your parents threw it out. I wished I'd have kept my doll's head, but we moved several times during my childhood and things that were "no good" were tossed. Had I realized I could have made a new body for my doll in the future, I would have kept it, like Jeri kept hers.

As mentioned above, I had Jeri’s doll for a LONG time before I fixed it and returned it to her. I know she probably gave it to me in 2003. I finished it in January of 2007, as that was the date on the picture above.  One reason I often keep my friends' dolls so long before I begin to work on them is that I always have to figure out what to do with them, and this requires the problem to "simmer" in my mind for quite awhile sometimes. This makes me feel pretty guilty, but I felt better about this when I learned how long Ella Smith had a neighbor child's doll that was brought for her for repair:  See http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/AL/200002658.html for more of Ella's story and how the idea she finally came up with lead to a career.  

So, to get on with MY story, when Jeri gave me her doll,  in a brown paper grocery bag, only its head was good--the rest had that thin rubber skin which had degraded--it went in the trash.. I found a vinyl thrift store (second hand) doll whose limbs were the size that Jeri's doll required. Then I made her doll a cloth body to which I attached the original head and the new limbs.

 

I was happy with the way the doll turned out, and Jeri was, as well. I have dolls that I bought about 15 years ago that need much the same kind of fixing that Jeri's doll required, although mine are composition dolls who have dirty cloth bodies that need repairing, and often a damaged head and missing limbs, as well. The one in the picture below belonged to a friend, but mine are quite similar.

My dolls are patiently waiting, quietly, for me to tend to them, and I will, when I get the time.