i've been on a bit of a crafting break ever since we moved back to the property. Part of this is because it's garden season and that tends to occupy my time. This year we've had a ton of rain, and that gave me a lot of opportunity to be creative and yet i wasn't. Truth is, i just wasn't feeling it. i've been struggling with depression, and the space inside the RV is not great for crafting inspiration...especially with two kids in it as well.
i was really hoping that once the kids started back to school i would start feeling inspired again. i started making a few dolls and got a request for a family set. i do not typically take custom orders, but every once in a while i will. The request was for a family set.
i love the way it turned out. The dolls were all remakes of previous dolls i have made in the past. It was the motivation i needed to make a few other family sets.
Acorn family. This set is available for $26 shipped first class (US).
As much as i love making bendy dolls, i have been wanting to get away from it and find something else that i enjoy. Something that actually pays for the time i put into making them.
Last year i really started to get into making Waldorf dolls and then lost all of them in the fire before i ever got around to putting any of them for sale. i lost over a dozen dolls, and a ton of materials that had just been purchased and hadn't even been opened. i think i had 10lbs of wool, and around 10 yards of organic cotton fabric and a huge box of hand sprung wool yarn hair. So although i wanted to start making them again, i've been a little apprehensive. The materials are so expensive, and i really didn't want to have to re-buy all of those materials again.A sweet friend donated some materials so that i could make Sage a doll for her 7th birthday, and was really pleased with how it turned out. So i decided to give doll making another try. i picked up just a yard of fabric and a lbs of wool to get started.
i thought with the kids in school i would be able to sew without distraction. i had no idea how much trouble a kitten would be. :) Thank goodness he naps often.
i was pleasantly surprised at how quickly i remember the process. i really do enjoy doll making, especially the hand sewing and face embroidery which really connects you with the doll.
This was my first one using materials i just had on hand. She is only 8" tall. i wanted to make a handful of mini-dolls to make my one yard of fabric last a bit longer, rather than just making one full size doll. i'm still working out my pattern on these, but i do hope to offer them for sale soon.
So this has been my week. Trying to get back into it. My only real struggle has been making the dolls a consistent size. i don't have a drawn out pattern and just sort of wing it, and so although the dolls are around 8" tall, it is not exact. i'm also having a hard time finding hair yarns that i like. i don't want to buy anything in bulk, and the art yarns are so expensive. i've been browsing the internet looking for some wool boucle that is reasonably priced. It took me a long time to collect all the fabulous hair yarns i had before, so it's a bit depressing having to start over again. i have a feeling i'm going to have a bunch of bald for quite a while.
i'm really looking forward to getting back into doll making. i've decided i don't really care for this little size. i actually prefer the 16"-18" dolls. i really enjoy making all the extra accessories and really personalizing them. Once i get settled in our new house and begin to set up a craft space i plan to buy the materials so that i can start making the larger dolls.
i do have quite a few of the bendy dolls available for purchase, if your interested you can visit my fb page (it's the only place i sell at these days). Once i have all these dolls finished, i will be posting them for sale as well. i'll be sure and post more photos of them as i beining to finish and personalize each one. i have so many other projects i want to do, but am really limited in this RV. So for now i am just working on making a bit of money to go back into my supplies. i really look forward to having a full stocked craft space again one day.
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