At the beginning of the year i decided to finally put my focus into my dolls and commit to making and selling them. It's really been a process and a long time coming. i dealt with some insecurity issues, and problems with the pattern but have finally created a pattern that i am really happy with and am creating doll that i'm confident selling.
River was the first to sell. The mama that purchased her wanted to sweater and extra outfit, plus owl hat and bag. i was so pleased with it all. She just came out amazing, it was very hard to let her go. i truly become quite attached to these dolls. i know she was heading to a wonderful home and i'm sure the family that received her loves her as much as i do.
"She arrived!!!! Oh my god, she's even more beautiful and amazing than the beautiful photos. Tree, you are not charging enough. I don't know how you do it. All the details on the doll herself and then the flowers on the shoes, the beaded necklace!!!! Melody is so happy and she loves her soo much. Oh, the underwear!!"
This is why i love to make dolls.
So, what did i do with the money i earned from my first doll sale? Bought more materials of course!! i order from Weirdolls.com which is out of Ann Arbor Michigan, my old stomping ground. :) i grew up in a town just south of Ann Arbor.
i'm a disappointed that they are discontinuing their organic interlock knit. i still have some of the peach/blush and i purchased a few yards of the tan, but they are selling out quick and won't be restocking it. i'm not sure where else to purchase the organic, but i'm going to keep looking. i wanted some other skin tones, so i also bought some of the mocha and cocoa fabric. i love the mohair boucle yarn and picked up several different colors of that as well. Doll making supplies are very exciting! i can't wait to make some beautiful dolls!
i currently have lots of doll parts, dresses, sweaters and shoes made up and ready to go. i can sew these parts pretty quickly, but the actually construction of the dolls takes a good amount of time, and then the finishing takes even longer. i'd like to eventually get some custom cloth tags made for these with my business logo on them. Sometimes the finished dolls sit around for a week or two before i have a vision of who they are and then am able to pick the outfit and accessories that bring out their personality. i have several that have been sitting here for over a month, just waiting patiently for the perfect sweater or bag. i love the process of figuring them out, and really am not in a hurry to finish them. It will happen, everything in it's own time.
i recently finished and sold my second doll. i had named her Juniper, but the mama that purchased her requested a name change to Luna. So this is Luna, although i still think of her as Juniper. :)
i made several sweaters before deciding on this one. i was afraid the purple was too much with her purple hair. The wooden tree branch button helps to bring some of the brown into it, and the headband is made from the same fabric of her dress and breaks up all the purple from her hair.
Of course now i'm totally in love with her. She is a little bit spunky, care-free and fun-loving. She loves to gather fresh herbs and wildflowers.
She is made with the organic cotton knit, stuffed with clean carded wool and her hair is a wool/mohair blend. She's wearing a batik dress with matching headband and purple tie dyed bloomers. Her bag and shoes are eco-fi felt.
i would really like to eventually start using the wool felt for the shoes and bags. i bought some felt sheets a few years ago and they were too thick to use. Perhaps the next time i put in a supply order i'll get a few sheets from Weirdolls to see if it works better than the stuff i had before.
This is the latest girl i'm working on. She is quite hobbity looking. i named her Molly, because something about her she reminds me of Molly Weasley. i gave her a skirt instead of bloomers, but think i may change it to a patchwork skirt instead of the solid green. She is very earthy, and will have a bag with trees or leaves on it. Still working through the process, but eager to see her personality emerge.
With spring here, i'm having a bit of trouble staying focused on the dolls. So much garden work to do, butterflies to chase and birds to watch. :) i cherish the rainy days though, and do as much sewing as i can on those days. i'm still feeling very good about the direction i'm heading with these, and am excited to keep creating! By adding a beaded necklace and crocheted sweater to each doll, i'm able to continue sewing, beading and crocheting and don't feel completely limited to one craft. i really feel in my heart like this is what i was meant to be doing.
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