Catching Up & Getting Ready

I've no idea how, but I've managed to get myself sort of caught up on myself. Maybe I'm dreaming I'm doing better, but at least its making me feel confident I can get it all done now (I hope).

My Bride and Groom are all done and just waiting on a flower delivery before they go off to their new home as I ordered Gerbera for they as they had on their special day. I've really enjoyed making them and I really hope that they are liked by the lovely couple.

I finished off my Morgan La Fay Peg doll order for Emily, and my first Christmas Elf for Emma. making J the elf has really got me ready to make my Christmas tree peggies this year so that I can get them ready for my shop in time to get them sent out to my lovely customers. And I've started on a tiny Little Matchgirl, a Tin Soldier and his Dancer, Tiny Tim, Scrooge, Marley, and the three Christmas ghosts from A Christmas Carol.

My friends dolls are all in hand, and Nelferch now has her golden comb and other accessories. We have such a dark storm blowing at the moment that I can't take pictures of her to show you all. But hopefully next weekend will be better. Till then I'll be working on Christmas Peg dolls and maybe my Lady of Shalott as her bits and pieces arrive. I still have lots to do which will keep me busy while the rain falls.
xxx

So Much To Do...

So much to do and so little time...

I've got myself behind on lots of things, started lots of things, and have lots of things in the works. At least I'm busy and happy when I'm making dolls :)

 

A Beautiful Bride and her Handsome Groom.
These two dolls are a special commission for Clive and are both just about ready for their hair to be added. I ordered beautiful silk for the Bride's wedding dress and she has lace added around the bodice and all around the hem.

These are the last three little peggies for Sarah's tree - November, August and October. November still needs her tiny fireworks to add to her bag, I need to attach Augusts bucket and spade so shes ready for the beach, and October being a zombie needs to be scruffed up and covered in blood and gore from her last meal.

 

These two are gifts for my best friend for Christmas :)
I so love giving Christmas gifts xxx
The lady in the stripy dress is to be a Cheshire Cat for Becky,and the lady in Red is December for Sarah.

 

This poor little love has been waiting for an age for her dress and dressings for her boat. My Lady of Shalott has been put to one side for too long and I really want to see her finished when I can get to her. I have most of what I need now so hopefully once my orders are done I can get back to work on her.

 

Lucrizia Borgia is waiting, but I'm not sure for what :S
She seems to be missing something and I'm still thinking on how to finish her off. Her dress is all finished but she needs something more. As soon as I figure out what that something is She'll be done :).

 

The ever patient Nelferch, my Lady of The Lake.
I waited an age for her golden comb to arrive only to find it was much too big, and am now waiting on a replacement to arrive. I have a vintage copy of The Welsh Fairytale Book to go with her, so once her final accessories are done she'll be ready too.

 

Finally, but not last is my Red Harrington.
I adore Helena Bonham Carter, and seeing her in the wonderful red dress in The Lone Ranger I just couldn't resist making her. Problem is I can't find a picture that shows her sleeves and my memory has failed me. Until I can watch the film again (hopefully I'll get it as a Christmas gift :) I won't be able to finish her off. Maybe I'll finally find the picture I need...

 

As well as all this I have fun to come working on a Christmas Elf, a Morgan Le Fay, and a Nutcracker Peg doll. As well as my ever ongoing work on my Elizabeth I with my good friend Linda, and some Christmas things to add to my shop. that lot should keep me busy until this time next year :)

 

 

 

Beading, Bodices, Anna Karenina and Gravestones

I've not been up to doing much doll making as I woke up last Wednesday with a trapped nerve in my shoulder and couldn't hold a needle to sew very well :S Instead I've been planning out some Christmas peg dolls that can sit in the Christmas tree, and have some elves, Santa, and even a Grinch planned out. I LOVE Christmas and can't wait to get all my prezzies for friends and loved ones wrapped up pretty under my tree :) 

 

I've started some beading on my young widow's gown (and as you can see she now has hair), trimming each ruffle edge with a row of tiny jet beads to catch the light and make her glisten. She really is a wild young woman, ignoring all the rules and wearing highly decorated clothing when she's supposed to be grief stricken. She's certainly trying to catch someones eye.

 

I've added bows, lace and more beading, along with a jet necklace to her bodice and sleeves and I'm happy so far with how she's come out. I think she needs another fancier necklace though before she's done. And maybe a locket with a curl of hair...

 

 

The gravestone to go with my young widow is sitting drying on my table until I'm able to carve in the wording that I want and get it painted and decorated. I layered together foam core until I got a base that was right for it, then laid over with newspaper to give the clay something to stick too. I created the opening at the top to hold a small bar and bell that will have a cord leading down into the grave in a very simple model of a grave bell.

 

 

At the start of the week I started a custom peg doll for a lovely woman in the US of Anna Karenina, and this weekend I managed to get her finished. She's dressed in a copper brown silk trimmed with cream lace and a large bow behind to enhance the shape of her dress. She looks really cute, and she only needs a hat to see her all finished and ready for her trip across the water.

 

After waiting for ages for my little gold comb and scissors necklace to come from Asia it finally came, but as you can see it's totally the wrong size for a doll :S I thought that the comb was the size of the scissors, and then the scissors smaller again so that I could use them on a different project. But I could comb my own hair with this and can't really imagine why anyone would want to wear it. I've had to order something different again for my Nelferch doll so am back to waiting. If you need a large gold comb for a project of your own please let me know and I'll get you some proper pics :)

 

 

 

 

The Young Widow - Work In Progress

So most of this post is in pictures as I wanted to show you as best I can how many layers go into my dolls when I dress them. She's still not finished and I have more to add, but my Young Widow is starting to look like herself.
This doll is one of my largest dolls, one of my very detailed dolls, and when she's done she'll have a gravestone with her with a grave bell. A grave bell was used by those worried that they would be buried alive so that they could ring for help. But was the Husband the one that was worried, or is the Widow the one that wants to make sure he's gone?

Meet my Young Widow - She looks quite innocent at the moment, but I'm not too sure...

 

Here you can see her in her shift and drawers.

 

It doesn't seem quite right to me that she's decided to wear frilly lacy be-ribboned drawers. Who does she think will see them? Or who does she hope?

 

Now in her corset and petticoats she's looking a little more respectable.

 

Many of the older women are very jealous of her tiny waist.

 

She has been following the rules. Well those she can't get away with not following :S
She's ditched her crinoline for old-fashioned layers, so she wears 4 petticoats.
The first of plain white cotton, then one of rough stiff calico with a wide ruffle at the hem to add the bulk to her skirts, next one plain in fine cream cotton, then another in the same fabric trimmed with fine lace.

 

After all the white bright layers my Widow now has on her underskirt and the start of her bodice and sleeves.
Her underskirt has layers of ruffles sewn onto a dark red cotton as she knows how to use fine fabrics well to minimise wastage. The red won't show once her dress is finished.

 

This ladies bodice is very plain at the moment, but will have a silky layer and lace added to make it more fashionable. Her sleeves are fitted with puff shoulders trimmed with silky ruffles at the wrist and under the puff.

Next on the list for this lady is her split ruffled over-skirt and all of the detailing that she needs. Then I'll be on to hair and accessories, including her husbands gravestone and bell.

 

Hope your having fun :)

xxx

 

 

Tenby and A New Doll While I Wait

My Cris flying a toy plane at Tenby Beach - Photo taken by J Pilgrim

 

It feels like I've been away from home for ages, but it was only a few short days I spent away over this weekend with all of my best friends. I've not laughed so hard in years as I have this 3 days. And it's been so good to catch up with everyone.

 

 

The apartment we stayed at was at the site of a tunnel once used by Henry Tudor to escape to France. A great big Georgian town house which we had the top two floors of. The views from the windows looking out over the small harbour and the sea beyond. A great big table for us all to eat at and a lovely homely feel.

 

View From the Window - Photo taken by J Pilgrim

Even at this time of the year Tenby is such a pretty place. The colours on the water and mists rolling in making it all feel very mysterious and giving every view a special feel.

 

Sarah, Becky and Me all dressed up to celebrate Sarah's 40th Birthday :)

As always I'm still waiting for things to arrive so that I can work on my dolls that are sitting waiting for me. Nelferch still needs her golden comb which I ordered from the other side of the world. And my Lucrezia still needs her accessories as well as my special project which I'm waiting for fabric for.

Of course I'm no good at waiting and just have to have sewing to do. So with Halloween coming fast I got an idea to finally make a doll with a grave bell (used so that a buried person could ring for attention if they found themselves buried alive). This very young widow in her weeds will stand dutifully next to her husbands stone and bell. But I'm not convinced that she's as good and pure as she looks. You should see the frilly fancy coloured drawers!

I'm saving her photos just at the moment so that I can add them in a step by step in a later post.



 



 



 

May June and July Peg Dolls

So working on dolls this week has been pretty messed up again, but I’m starting to get back on top of things and back into my system. I’m still waiting on some bits and pieces for Nelferch and Lucrezia which should teach me to be more organised and not expect things I order from Asia to arrive within a week. And I’m still on the lookout for the perfect fabric for my Lady of Shalott, although things are occurring which should lead me to just the right thing J

I was shocked and surprised last night when my lovely Hubby said from no-where that he wouldn’t mind taking me into Swansea (where he hates to go) if I wanted to go to the fabric shop Lee Mills. Now this store is packed full to the rafters with every kind of fabric in every colour and weight, bolts stacked up in racks and leaning against walls making narrow walkways and towering walls of treasure. Cris himself finds the place claustrophobic, but I just love it there. And I’m gonna make sure I take him up on his offer very soon so I can find myself some lovely fabrics for future dolls.

I’ve been working on three of the peg dolls for the set I’m making my friend Sarah for her Christmas Tree.
She wants a doll for every month of the year and I sort of got stuck on May and needed to catch up. May was difficult as Sarah asked me to make a peggy of her little baby Travis, who I’m sad to say I never met. The poor little boy passed away at 10 days old  after a huge fight for his life. Leaving the family devastated with only a few photos to remember his short time with us by. As you can imagine the thought of making him as a peg doll filled me with dread and I had no idea where to start. I couldn’t leave him until later. That would just be putting it off and Sarah deserved for me not to do that. But where to start???

In the end I grabbed some fabrics and the doll with the gentlest expression I could manage and sat myself down promising not to move until he was dressed. And in the end he turned out to just happen by himself. Between us we choose a baby blue romper for him which I sewed form soft flannel and embroidered a start on the chest. Sarah chose soft blue marabou for his hair, cut short, and I added a pair of transparent cicada wings making him as an angel watching over his family. I’d like to try a bigger version of Travis so that I can add more details and include more memories.

June I was told to make myself as my birthday is in June. So what could be better than a 50’s red spotted dress with a matching hair bow. I so need to find myself a dress like this in my size, or even make one. I’m not sure if she actually looks like me but she certainly loons cute lol J

Of course making Me for June meant I needed to make our lovely friend Becky for July, so I dressed he in a smart black dress timed with gold lace and added her striking red hair and a necklace made from turquoise seed beads and a faceted glass bead in the centre.

I’m still missing Aug, but Sarah’s son Thom needs to decide on that one as it’s his choice. And I’ve made a larger doll for Sept as it’s Sarah’s 40th birthday and she asked for a doll she could use as a cake topper. I made a doll with lovely dark brown eyes and dressed it first in lace undies before I started her layered peach cotton and lace dress. Making it sort of Vintage 60’s styles and finishing her off with chocolate brown marabou hair.
I’m happy with them as long as Sarah is happy with them. And she says she is so that’s alright J

 

Over the last few days I’ve gone back to working on my Cerridwen doll for Linda, embroidering a Celtic Tree of Life in black thread on the back of her black cloak. No Witch can be complete without a cloak and hat and broom, so Cerrid needs one she can hang from the nail on her cabinet and wear on cold nights spent flying across the moon.

Sewing black on black isn’t easy, but it was well worth the effort to get this pattern included in her wardrobe. It really does suit her so well, and I’ll be adding tiny jet beads to highlight the design.
Thinking ahead to what’s to come I’ve also worked up a pair of drawers and a shift for a new large doll I’ve been thinking of for a long time.
This young lady is a widow in her weeds, but as her drawers are pink with fancy lace trim I’m not too sure she’s as innocent and chaste as she first appears.
She’s very worried about being buried alive (or maybe she just wants to make sure her husband in his grave is truly dead) as she stands next to the headstone in which she’s had set a grave bell. It’s a popular invention in her time, and made so that a rope is attached around the wrist of the dear departed so if they move the bell will ring. I mean, it’s not unheard of for people walking through graveyards to here the moans and knocking from new graves as the unfortunate woken corpse tries to call attention to his plight

From My Nest On The Sofa

From my nest on the sofa, hiding from the world and recovering from a nasty icky bug, I thought you might like to see what I was working on before the germs hit me.

My little Nelferch is just waiting on a golden comb to hang from her waist and for me to go out into the garden to harvest some of the seed pods and herbs for her medicine bag.

 

 

 

Hand beaded with real pearls, vintage opal glass beads,
and 24 caret gold lined seed beads.

 



Who Am I? This poor lady can’t answer her own question and even the Doctor doesn’t know.
Her memory is lost and gone and nowhere to be found. Where she comes from or where she’s been is a mystery and she’d love nothing better than to find out something; Even if it’s just her own name. Besides all that she’s very happy and a very sweet lady, she likes to sing and can be cheeky and a little naughty. She wants to travel and make new friends in the hope that someone will be able to help her remember Who She Is.

Who wears cream cotton underwear trimmed with lace and a well fitted corset under her green and black stripped gown. Her dress is trimmed with black lace and satin ribbon and has ruffled lace cuffs. She has a jet bead necklace.

 

Who? is available now at my Etsy store - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com