Cloth Oil Painted dolls

I have a fascination of Early American portraiture and also love antique oil painted cloth dolls. Many many doll artists explore this style, and I am am just a beginner in my exploration this style. Nevertheless, I am pleased with how this doll came out and figured she deserved an entry in my blog as I consider what type of dress to sew for her.

This doll was sewn in cotton sateen from a pattern by Susan Fosnot and I stuffed her with wool roving- my favorite stuffing material. I drew and painted my own face instead of using Susan Fosnot's template, and I think its a younger face - perhaps of a young girl. Its more stylized face rather than realistic , but I like the doll and am proud of how she turned out. I am definitely having trouble painting curls, but I can always hide them under a bonnet! She was painted in oils, and although I love working with them, I had a terrible time getting the right color for her skin, and not getting everything muddy. I am working on a few other cloth dolls like this one and perhaps will bring on this blog once they are done

As you can see, I have made her under-ware following the style the mid 1850 or so. There is a chemise, drawers and two petticoats on this gal. I am pondering what color her gown should be and am drawn to blue - Its my favorite color! So if you have an opinion let me know at bonameechi@yahoo.com.

Tiny Doll Accessories

I have been working on tiny accessories, OK toys, for my dolls. These are all kits from Gail Wilson ( http://www.gailwilsondesigns.com/) . I confess I am a real addict for her doll kits, and these are just a few in my large collection that I have yet to finish . Ultimately these will go into the dollhouse I am still working on- The doll in the upper right picture is Gail's version of the famous Hitty doll. Hitty is playing with her new Noah's ark set, peg wooden doll, pouting chair and doll bed. To give you an idea of scale, Hitty is about 6 inches, and the peg wooden doll is less than two inches tall . The adorable Noah's ark set is so tiny and precious . The animals are all less than a half inch tall and the ark is about 2 inches long. Notice the gorgeous wooden doll lying on the rope bed. This is a 3 inch wooden miniature Joel Ellis doll that Gail Wilson made - she is just perfect! These lucky dolls have some very nice new toys to play with...