I have been working hard on my craft since 2004, and I think I have a skill level that shows in my work. I am the do over queen and there are many heads without bodies to suggest that these mistakes drive me to the perfect end. The finished doll always seems to lead to the next doll, one is born out of another. This is why I love making dolls. It is the air I breathe and pretty much defines me. I am a doll maker.

This may sound strange but these bodiless heads and headless bodies speak to me. I have control over the parts and pieces individually, but the position involved in the connection is revealed at the moment the pieces touch one another for the first time. The head moves me to sew it in a certain pose, same with the hands and arms. The whole doll forms itself to be expressive according to its idea of itself.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Dress . . . . . . .

This was probably the second or third doll that I made. I was going for a distinct looking face that could in no way be thought of as attractive.


She was to be balanced out and transported to the attractive side of life, by a beautiful designer dress. A Cinderella idea.


So I think the doll's face was easy enough to style for the sad side of her life, but the dress was my first attempt to make something pretty and feminine. If ya'll only knew how much I hate to wear dresses and to even come close to high style fem is way out of my realm, but I do appreciate beauty in whatever form it takes. And I do enjoy making my dolls beautiful with feminine clothes.

This dress is just a bunch of separate pieces that have been saturated in fabric stiffener and then forced into a wavy wrinkle shape. They were then assembled in to a skirt by sewing them to the waistline of the doll. I thought it came out well and this doll encouraged me to continue past all the frustrations that never became dolls.

Sometimes I fear that all those doll parts that I hid away in boxes will come out and drag me under the bed one night . . . . . .

8 comments:

Unknown said...

She is AWESOME Nat...I love the dress and her face and hair.....I never wear dresses and what not...feel very uncomfortable and out of sorts....and if you get dragged under the bed...Im going to be dragged also...........LOL..see u in under the bed land...Hope its not too dusty...

You go girl...

Smiles,

Sonia ;)

Anonymous said...

I think she turned out wonderfully Nat...

Pat

julie said...

...and don't you feel just a wee bit guilty about the Under-the-Bed-Tribe?
I actually apologize as I'm stuffing them under....love the doll!

SpiritMama said...

Wow, what a cool concept. She turned out great, the dress is unique and beautiful!

Anonymous said...

She's great. What a wonderful dress concept and it turned out perfect.

Lezlei Ann Young said...

Your dolls are always wonderful!!!

Lezlei

Galya said...

Hello Nat,
Your dolls are fantastic!
Regards

BumbleVee said...

Don't worry.....every one of us that makes dolls has a box of those!! lol.... heads, arms, legs... mine seems to be growing in leaps and bounds those past two weeks. I'm designing a new lady and just having the worst time getting a nice ratio of size between body and head...then body, head and arms..and now... legs and feet to match the rest...arrgghhhh!! not that they have to be a certain ratio of course, becuz after all, they are dolls...but, it has to look right to MY eye at least... and for this particular doll I had to use a chosen fabric as it is for a challenge...so it seems a fabric with a large pattern on it dwarfs hands of a usual size...sigh..... onward with feet that I still have to make shoes for. I like to use Apoxy Sculpt for my shoes....

Have enjoyed my backwards scroll through your blog.....