So now she’s done.
She didn’t turn out in any way at all like I first envisaged, I saw her as a more contemporary type of art doll rather than the elegant lady she turned out to be, but sometimes that’s where the process takes you; to places you never intended or imagined, and all you can do is follow along.
I could do more embellishing to her jacket, but I think I’ll leave it as it is for now.
Previous: The Story of an Art Doll: The Jacket
I’ve finished the underskirt for my art doll and I really like the way it turned out even after all the challenges it posed.
So now on to the jacket … red silk dupioni for the jacket, with a front lining of rich gold thai silk – she has expensive taste!
One of my very favorite embellishments – a yo-yo with bead dangles – to pin back the bottom front of the jacket.
For the sleeve edges, the same distressed art lace as on the bottom of the jacket.
She’s looking more pleased with herself with each fitting.
Still have a lot of work to do, but don’t want to rush it.
Previous: The Story of an Art Doll: Embellishing
My art doll still doesn’t have a name yet. Maybe after she has some clothes she’ll tell me what it is.
The embellishing of the underskirt begins. First adding some art lace edging to the bottom of her skirt using water soluble stabilizer to support the decorative stitches.
Then a piece of machine needlelace; lacework machined on water soluble stabilizer. This will be a bib for the front top of her underskirt and will be a decoratively embellished piece that will be visible once her jacket is on.
Then … disaster ….
Washing away the water soluble stabilizer from the bottom of her skirt I expected a small amount of color run-off, but my heart started sinking when I saw that the color continued to run.
With my usual “fabric printing” printer out of commission, I had used a different printer to print the fabric for the underskirt. I made sure to use pretreated fabric that was supposedly washable and permanent. But it didn’t work completely and the underskirt is faded and ruined; for this project anyway. Although I could use it as a lining maybe for a purse.
I can’t do anything about it. Except wait for my replacement printer to arrive so I can start again.
Waiting, waiting, waiting. Days of waiting.
The printer finally arrives so to begin again. This time I know that the results will be better. However this time I also decide to make the art lace first and then attach it to the bottom of the skirt by hand. Not because I’m afraid of washing the printed fabric; I did a small test first so I know the ink is now permanent. But I wanted to make the lace edging a little more distressed.
I like it much better already.
And it begins to look amazing once the beads are attached. So perhaps the disaster was just an opportunity in disguise.
Once embellished with beads, the bib is looking beautiful also.
Now that she has some clothes, she looks a little pleased with herself, don’t you think?
The jacket will come next.
Previous: The Story of an Art Doll: The Fabric
Next: The Story of an Art Doll: The Jacket
I recently began working on an art doll and you can see where I began here.
Now, lying amongst the silks and satins on my cutting table, sometimes she looks dejected …
… sometimes she looks hopeful …
She has a strong personality despite her SpongeBob Squarepants body shape. But she’s waiting quietly while I take the time to design and tailor her clothing.
I had always planned to design and print the fabric for the underskirt, so using photoshop to blend multiple layers of texture and color I finally end up with a fabric design that looks like rusted antique lace; nothing like what I had first envisaged.
But the visual complexity and texture seem appropriate; she seems to have ancient wisdom and knowing in her eyes. A fabric to reflect her spirit seems appropriate. It prints out beautifully onto habotai silk; no rough cotton for this little red headed girl.
And so on to auditioning threads for the embellishments. Because this story is all about embellishing.
Previous: The Story of an Art Doll: The Face and Body
Next: The Story of an Art Doll: Embellishing
From time to time I like to challenge myself by creating new ways to use my favorite fabric embellishing techniques. For this project I chose to make an art doll which is something a little out of the ordinary for me.
I chose not to draw or paint a face mainly because I’m not all that good at drawing faces. Instead I found a black and white clipart image of a woman’s face. I really liked her facial expression – very serene with just a touch of sassiness. So I photoshopped out everything except the main features of her face …
… and then printed the face onto a piece of muslin.
I then cut out the body shape of the doll which is very basic because she’s really just going to be used to show off her beautiful embellished clothes.
Then I sewed her, stuffed her, and added arms and legs. Yikes, she looks like ET in a Halloween mask.
Ahh there, she just needed some hair which is made from some beautiful decorative yarn. She’s looking much better now. I like her wild reddish hair but I’m not sure what sort of a “do” I’ll give her yet, so check back in a few days after she’s visited the hairdresser. She should have the beginnings of some clothes by then also.
Next: The Story of an Art Doll: The Fabric
… Continue reading
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