Bits & Pieces - How My Girls Start

All of us that make dolls start them differently, with our own methods and materials. And for me starting new dolls is always a time of sawdust and sandpaper. Which to tell truth - I Hate!

I've been cutting all of the bits that I need to sculpt a whole load of new dolls. I have a little time off from the day job, and thought it would be a good idea to get all of this messy work done now so that I can concentrate more on the fun stuff when I have less time again. I've sawn, shaped, drilled and sanded tones of birch wood dowel into enough arms and legs for 26 doll! And mounted wooden beads onto dowels for around half of their bodies until my order of smaller beads arrive, when I'll be able to finish them.

I know I've been a bit ambitious, but I'm really not intending to get all of these dolls sculpted and painted before I return to work next week. I'm only planning to get all of the arms and legs sculpted, and a few of the bodies and heads. That way I'll have arms and legs ready any time I want to make a new doll, and won't have to get caught up sculpting the limbs as I'll have them all ready. Left is all of the lower arm pieces I've cut, and below all of the lower leg pieces. If you look close you'll be able to see that some of the pieces shown in the top photo are shaped on one end as I round them to fit better against the bodies.

Sometimes I still get asked where I get the parts for my dolls from. And now and again where I get the dolls themselves from. And it feels odd to have to explain that I make them all from scratch - from start to end. It's not something I ever thought I'd be doing. To think that I've found what it is that I love to make after trying so many different things. And that thing turned out to be the one thing  that I always loved as a child - Dolls! Even though I hate the sawing and sanding. Even though I still hate waiting for clay to dry. I do truly love making dolls. They just make me happy :)

I'm still planning out who these dolls will be and have a number of characters that I'd like to make. The more I read the more I fall in love with the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras, so there will be a few more period styled dolls. As well as a few characters from favorite films and books, and one inspired by a favorite song.

I'm also just finishing off the great Victorian Courtesan Catherine Walters in her famously tight riding habit, and only have her hat left to make. Just another thing I'm planning to get done during this holiday. I'm going to be really busy, just the way I like it.

Catherine Walters - Work In Progress

Catherine Walters, better known as Skittles, was the last of the great Victorian Courtesan.
She was famous for her beauty, style and riding skills. And remembered by many riding one of her magnificent horses along Rotten Row in Hyde Park in a perfectly tailored riding habit that fitted her so well, and was so tight, that it was rumoured she wore nothing beneath it, and had to be sewn into it.

Skittles set high fashion trends, was rumoured to have had intellectuals, leaders of political parties, aristocrats and a member of the British Royal Family amongst her benefactors.

During her life as a courtesan, her discretion and loyalty to her benefactors became the focal point of her career. There were many rumours about her being involved with certain wealthy men of the time, but she never confirmed or denied these. This gave her great weight in the courtesan lifestyle, and made her a sought after commodity. This also gave long life to her career, and helped her to retire a wealthy woman of society around 1890.

There's something about Skittles' life that has really interested me. She inspired so much loyalty in the men that were her benefactors: many of them becoming her life-long friends.

She was also one of the very few great Courtesans that was truly successful to the very end of her life. So many of them ended in sad circumstances, with no money and very few friends. Ending their days living a life that was totally devoid of the riches they had once been used to, or dying alone and sometimes tragically. But Skittles was different. She retired with a great fortune, and owned homes in London and the country. She still had her loyal friends and the society she had always been used to, and lived in the style that she always had.

I don't know what made her different from many of the others. Maybe she was just much better with her money. Or maybe she was just lucky. But there is no doubt that her life was interesting.

I wanted to make Catherine in her perfectly fitting riding habit, and started with her underwear.

The pair of legs on the Victorian bloomers, joined only at the waist with ties or sewn to one waistband (and why we always say a Pair of knickers) are starting to get a bit easier now that I've made a few pairs of them. It's quite hard to get the baggy legs and the baggy sack like bum sections that mean that the gap between stays closed on its own. And I've tried a few different designs to get them the shape that I want on my skinny dolls and finally found a design that seems to work. Making each leg horizontally to the body section rather than vertically makes them look quite daft, but does provide the bags and folds, as well as meaning you can tailor the legs to how wide you want them to be.

Catherine would have had the best of everything - clothes, jewellery, horses and homes. So although Victorian underwear would have most certainly been made of white cotton with very little trimming so that it could be scrubbed clean I thought that as one of the richest women of her time, with fabulously rich patrons who may have bought her very expensive gifts, I made all of Catherine's underwear from pure silk, and trimmed it with a rich dark red satin ribbon.

I made a bit of a mistake when I made Skittles' chemise as I made it quite long before realising there was no way that I'd be able to tuck all that fabric into her riding trousers. I'm so used to making girls in dresses that I forgot that underneath the specially shaped and tailored riding habit skirts a woman riding side saddle would have worn wool or chamois bloomers so she would be better able to grip the saddle horns with her legs.

I shortened her chemise and made a soft cotton lawn lace-up body to go under her corset and protect the fine silk underneath against her skin. I know these were worn under corsets, but I'm not too sure what they were called as they seem to have a number of names. Corsets were expensive and needed protection from sweat and dirt from the body, as well as the wearer needing protection from the ridged boning and metal fittings. Although a lot of corsets were well padded with quilted interiors for this.

Next came wide elastic to simulate the corset itself, and fawn coloured wool felt riding bloomers.

Catherine was said to have the perfect figure, with a tiny waist and perfect curves, so I had to decide how I could give her this shape without using pads or bustles.

I'm sure that some women would have used a little extra help in the shape of the usual bum pads. But I wanted to try and give my Catherine her shape just using the shaping I could provide by structuring her clothing.

I rounded out her hips by pulling the gathers in the wool felt of her riding bloomers over so that the stomach of them was flat before attaching them to the waistband. The felt is thick enough to provide enough structure to keep their shape even under the layers of skirts. It would have been nice to make them from chamois leather, but I was worried that the leather might pick up moisture and become hard and brittle which would stop Catherine's legs from moving freely and spoil the bend at her knee.

My next problem was to somehow round out my dolls flat bottom. Some of the riding bloomers I looked at on the internet seemed to have an extra layer of fabric sewn to the bottom - something like the leather patches you see on tweed jackets. Which were probably meant to give a little extra protection for the rider. So I added a second layer of felt to the back of Catherine's riding bloomers, and stuffed it a little to create a more rounded bum and give her her proper silhouette.

I made Catherine's riding blouse from a smooth black fabric with tightly cuffed balloon sleeves and a high neckline. To try and make it look a little more interesting I layered over black lace that has teal coloured flowers. Fitting it around her bust to gather in a tight ruffle under her chin to give her that tightly buttoned up High Victorian look.

I'm almost finished dressing Catherine now. And only need to add the final embroidered details to her jacket and skirt. Hopefully I'll have finished photos of her soon. It was difficult to create the specially shaped skirt that has an odd construction to allow a rider to have extra room to draw up their knee over the saddle horns and still allow the skirt hem to lay even and protect the riders modesty, hooking up on one side so that the trailing side this strange shape makes doesn't drag on the ground when walking. For once I actually took the time to make a few draft versions to make sure I could get it right.

Her habit skirt is made of a soft grey suiting fabric, and has a dark purple lining. And I made her single breasted jacket to match, purposely sewing her into it as the rumours of the time suggested. It has wide pointed cuffs and a double collar, and when I'm done it'll have an embroidered frogging closure down the front to give it a slight military look.

As I've said before, I know that no-one can see all of these layers when my doll is finished, but I know I'm right to make them the way that I do as it just feels that way. When I hold a finished doll in my hands I can feel the layers of clothing beneath. And it somehow always makes me feel that it's somehow more finished. A more complete doll And more like the wonderful old antique dolls that I love dearly. It makes them sturdy, and less delicate than the thin limbed, strung together doll that I start with. But I don't want to change my dolls construction either as I love the floppy loose movement that they have - Oh well! I guess I'll carry on making and dressing my dolls the way that I do. It's all the better for me as I just love making and learning about the clothes these women I like to make wore at a time that isn't that long ago, but that still no-one can remember anymore.

I've always dressed my smaller dolls in a much simpler way with fewer layers and less exact period construction. But after the practice I've had on these last 6 extra-large dolls in sewing small details like tiny cuffs, necklines, lace details, embroidery and so much more I think the next smaller dolls I make will be made in much the same way. I've learnt so much by studying Victorian clothes, and have improved my sewing skills in so many ways. I've got quite a few new dolls planned once Catherine is finished; some fantasy and some real women. Including Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy (Colin Firth version - Obviously), an insane asylum nurse and one of her patient’s, and twin girls. It's been a while since i last had a proper sculpting day and I'm really looking forward to it :)

Harvey - A Two Faced Altered Doll Portrait

Named by my Husband after the Two Faced vintage DC Comic Book character Mr Dent, I was inspired to make Harvey by a challenge I was asked to take part in on behalf of my friend Louise for Alter It Monthly - http://alteritmonthly.blogspot.com/

It's no secret to a lot of people that know Louise (known to some affectionately as Zuzu) that she finds dolls Creepy!
So when the July challenge for Alter It Monthly turned out to be Dolls Heads she very kindly thought of me, and asked me to create something on her behalf.

It took me a while to develop a solid idea for Harvey.
I wanted to stay true to my own style. But at the same time knew I needed something a little different. Something that combined one of the lovely, but sadly unwanted, little plastic baby dolls you can find in every charity shop across the UK, with my own abstract version of an art doll.

I started with the head of one of these poor plastic dolls that I'd already started to alter with paint and paper mache for a small assemblage project. I had removed the dolls eyes, cut her hair and covered her crown with layers of paper to get a more even moulded look, and painted it in layers of scrubbed on acrylic paint so that it looked a little old and worn out.

To get the space to sculpt one of my own dolls heads over half of the head I had to cut away a big chunk of the plastic head to open up the hollow inside which I stuffed with foil to give me a firm base to sculpt on, after gluing an old button from my big tin behind the plastic sides empty eye socket.

I wanted to try and show the differences between a mass produced plastic toy baby doll and an individual, one of a kind Art Doll.

I made the sculpted side as I would one of my original dolls. Painting it a very pale pinky peach colour, and adding a big button eye. Sculpting in the narrow cheeks, small but full lips, an almost blank expression, and proportions that I know are totally unrealistic. It's just the way I like to make them. What I see in my imagination, and my own way of letting those that see them decide for themselves the character that they see.

A lot of people think only I could love the dolls I make. But I'm lucky that a lot of people have shown me that they love them too. I'm very fortunate, as we all are, that with today's social media complete strangers can get in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and more and let you know what they think. And I'm always so grateful to all those that contact me to express an interest in my dolls. What could be a better ego boost to help you push through artistic block than a simple kind message from someone you've never met who only wants to tell you that they've seen something you've made, and that they like it :)

I'm sure I'm not the only doll artists that has to explain to people that I don't make playthings, that my dolls are not meant for children, and that what I make isn't something cute and fluffy (apart from the hair of course). And I often find myself having to describe my own work in a way that I don't really like. The way that those that don't appreciate them do.

After trying to explain that art dolls are sculptural, individual, imaginative figures that come in every size, shape, medium and style that is possible. That use techniques that artists have developed over years of study. That we make them to express ourselves and a very personal aesthetic vision, trying to express our own views of the world we live in (Can you guess I was an art student :) ). I end up resorting to words like Creepy and Different to describe work that I love and have put a lot into. Bland words that don't mean a lot.

Yes, I do know my dolls are creepy. And yes, I hope that they are different. But I know that this isn't what I want to say. Anyway, I'm determined not to do it anymore. And that's final!

I came across a lot of challenges making Harvey. The line between the two halves was a nightmare to get straight and sharp, and still isn't as good as I'd like it to be. And I found that I can use normal hairspray on marabou feathers if done with a very light touch to keep it where I want it, as at first it kept flopping over and spoiling the half / half effect.

Once Harvey was finished, with her hair all done on one side and tiny watch cogs for jewellery and hair decoration on the other, I used an awl to push a hole into the foil through the bottom neck opening and pushed a stand cut from a found jewellery display into the bottom, gluing it in place.

She still needed something more to join the two halves together, so I gathered a piece of lace into a stiff collar and tied it tightly under her chin, along with a narrow dark red ribbon . I really like the effect, and how it somehow makes Harvey look like an old vintage clown or a sad jester.

For once I have no idea who Harvey is. She's a complete mystery, even to me. Who she is and where she's been is a secret only she knows, and she's certainly not telling.
I normally know who my dolls are, if that makes any sense. As I'm making them they normally tell me things and impose their own ideas into what they will and will not wear, the colours they want, and the fabrics they prefer. And there have been a few times when I've had to re-start a whole outfit as the doll just refuses to accept what I want. But Harvey just... Happened!

I have Harvey sat just in front of me as I'm typing, and I can truly say I'm happy with how she came out, even if I have no idea who she is. And I really hope you like her too :)


I've not added many new posts lately as life has just seemed to get in the way, and I've been finding it hard to get back on track with a lot of things. but there has been one thing I've wanted to share, but haven't been able to - The Neath Bathroom Baby Doll!

I've tried loads of times to get a photo of this doll, but have failed miserably. It's a normal, old plastic baby doll in a shabby dress that stands in the bathroom window of a house I pass every day on my way home. This house stands right next to the fly-over bridge into town, and as you drive past your level with this frosted old leaf pattern window.
I know it doesn't sound too amazing, but the owner of this house has given me so much pleasure. And every time I pass I have to look at this wonderfully distorted old doll just to see - To see if she's Moved!

I've no idea who you are, the owner of this house with the Bathroom Baby Doll. But Thank you! Thank you for all the smiles and happiness you've given to me. No matter what kind of day I've had, just by repositioning this doll in your window every few days, you've made me happy. And after the past few months that have had such sadness in them for me this simple pleasure has meant a lot to me. Daft as that must sound.

I'm determined to get a photo of this doll to share here on my blog and on my Facebook page. Sometimes she's sitting looking out at the cars passing. And other times she's dancing with one leg in the air waving her arms. I've seen her do hand-stands, pose with her arms raised like a ballerina, lay on her back with her legs in the air, do press-ups, and simply stand waving at us as we pass. Along with countless other poses. If she's still there when Halloween comes around I'm going to make her a pumpkin of her very own and leave it on the doorstep of the house for the owners to find. Just to let them know they've made me smile. I hope they don't think I'm nuts!

Lizzie Siddal

Lizzie Siddal was the daughter of a working class family that rose from obscurity to become one of the most recognisable faces of Victorian Britain. The most famous image of her, Ophelia by Millais, shows her floating in a shallow stream by a bed of reeds, overhung with dogwood and willows; her red gold hair floating behind her in the water, she’s dressed in a white medieval gown.

 She was a poet, artist, artist’s model and muse. An attractive woman, she had striking red hair, pale eyes and pale skin. Her future husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, became fascinated with her classic looks and flame hair, and he seduced her into living with him in a squalid apartment in Blackfriars London, where she first began to demonstrate that she was much better at the arts than at domestic duties. Her paintings caught the attention of John Ruskin, who bought all her paintings and settled an annuity of £500 on her future work. Her relationship with Rossetti became more and more strained as he struggled with his own work, took numerous lovers, and became disinterested in Lizzie as her health declined. His portraits of her around this time show her becoming more wraithlike as time passed.

            Lizzie began to suffer with Tuberculosis, and took ever increasing amounts of Laudanum to control her symptoms and pain, but showed no improvement to any of her doctors recommended treatments. She grew worse as Rossetti betrayed her again and again with his frequent conquests of the more nubile model he began to prefer. And only took pity on her and married her in May 1860 when she was gravely ill.

            The final blow in Lizzie’s sad short life came the following year when she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. She was profoundly depressed, and took her own life by an overdose at the age of 33. She was found shortly after in her bed. An empty phial of laudanum beside her and a note pinned to her nightdress asking her husband to take care of her disabled brother. She was buried at London’s Highgate cemetery.

          

       Sometime after her death, deeply depressed himself, Rossetti had an experience that led him to a final, tragic insult towards his wife. While walking with a friend on a trip to Scotland a small bird came across their path. The small chaffinch did not fly away, but remained still even when picked up. Shaking with emotion, Rossetti was convinced that the bird was the soul of his dear Lizzie, whom many believed he did truly love. On his return to the house he stayed in he was told that the great bell at the door had rung, but that nobody had been there when it was answered. Within hours he was back in London, determined to retrieve the notebook of his sketches and poems he had buried with his wife. Taking what had happened as a call from Lizzie. He persuaded the Home Secretary to waive the exhumation order, and stayed at home in a state of agonised suspense while his friends went to Highgate Cemetery.

            “The book in question is bound in rough grey calfskin and has red eyes to the leaves. This will distinguish it from the bible, also there as I told you.” A doctor was on hand to disinfect the book once it was retrieved. Lizzie’s body was reported to look quite perfect by the light of the fire they lit. And when the book was lifted a strand of her red gold hair came away with it.

            Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sister Christina wrote the following poem about her sister-in-law.

One face looks out from all his canvases,

One self-same figure sits or walks or leans:

We found her hidden just behind those screens,

That mirror gave back all her loveliness.

A queen in opal or in ruby dress,

A nameless girl in freshest summer-greens,

A saint, an angel – every canvas means

The same one meaning, neither more or less.

He feeds upon her face by day and night,

And she with true kind eyes looks back on him,

Fair as the moon and joyful as the light:

Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim;

Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;

Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.

I hand sew all of my dolls clothes from a mix of brand new and recycled fabrics; designing each piece individually to ensure a unique period outfit. I make each layer of clothing that would have been worn by real women to make a truly unique doll. And even though many of these layers can’t be seen they really help to create the right shape and feel to the outfits, as well as giving support to the finished layers. I research not only the lives of the women for my portrait dolls, but also the styles and fashions they would have worn, making each doll truly special.

I’ve made Lizzie Siddal as she would have been at what was the height of her career, when she would have been in her late 20’s. She has rich flame red hair, with pale white eyes that catch blue tones.

Lizzie’s clothing is full of details to make it as authentic as possible. The skirts of this period would have been fuller with most of the bulk at the back, but I think Lizzie would have worn them in a simpler style in keeping with her artistic life-style. Lizzie was one of the first to adopt a more aesthetic style of dress. And over her white cotton open crotch drawers and shift she may or may not have worn a corset which would have been quite shocking at the time. She has layered petticoats of white cotton under a fine, stripped cotton lawn (my favorite fabric at the moment), which is trimmed with a tapestry ribbon at the hem.

She wears no pads, bustles or hoops for extra shaping under her skirts, and her dress has a very medieval look in keeping with the Pre-Raphaelite style. Her full sleeves and gathered chemisette are made of 100% silk cotton. Lizzie’s entire gown is made of pure silk with a soft cream underskirt trimmed with a border of hand stitching, under a stripped sage green silk that has been crush treated to add a fine texture. Her wide bell sleeves have a tapered point to match with the high pointed front of her hand embroidered bodice, and both have a tapestry ribbon trim and matching dark red tie. Her overskirt has a short train and a matching hand stitched border and decoration on the lower front corners.

This doll stands at 49cm tall, weighs approx. 300g

Harvey - An Altered Head for Zuzu

Harvey is an altered doll head for my Friend Louise, better known to some of us as Zuzu.

Zuzu has a challenge to alter a dolls head for the Alter It Monthly Challenge blog - http://alteritmonthly.blogspot.com/ - but has a bit of a problem. Dolls creep her out!

It's not something that bothers me in the slightest :)
And as you can all probably tell I like my dolls as creepy as they come. So she asked me to come up with something.

I'm really flattered that Zuzu thought of me, and I've been cooking up Harvey to see if I can make an altered head that will be that little bit extra different.

I started with a medium sized plastic dolls head that I'd already painted and grunged up ready to make into an assemblage doll when I had the rest of the bits and pieces collected together. And had to cut away one side of it's face to make room for the hard core that I needed for the sculpted side. This was kind of creepy even for me, seeing a smiling dolls face with a great bit hole where it once had half of it's nose, and eye and a cheek, but I had to get a rigid core to sculpt on, so cut the shiny pink plastic away with a scalpel.

While I had a hole big enough to reach inside I mounted a green button from my hoard behind the empty eye socket, and then stuffed the inside with foil, tightly packed. After covering that with tape I got to my favorite bit, and started to sculpt the other side into one of my dolls heads. Giving it a large green eye to match the dolls other one.

So far my sculpt has only had it's first sand and smooth. And once I've done a second finer sand I'm planning to paint the sculpted side as I usually would one of m dolls, and give it a big shock of marabou feather hair. Where the two halves meet I'm going to paint the higher profile of my sculpt with a darker colour to highlight the difference between them. And them give the head a little base to sit on.

I know Harvey looks like supremely odd right now, and is only going to get weirder. But I really want to show the difference between a mass produced dolly, and a hand made, one of a kind art doll by showing them both together, side by side. There are so many wonderful doll artists out
there, pouring their creativity into original, heartfelt art dolls that many in the world just dismiss as a mere dolly. A child's play thing or a mass produced "collectible" rather than the true expression of an artist that has been created from the bones outward to produce a beautiful, detailed, wonderful piece of true art. Where every tiny part has been thought about, researched, hand-crafted and just Loved!

I'm really enjoying this little side project. And really want to thank Zuzu for asking me to get involved. It's been a real challenge to work out the construction I needed to use. And I can assure you the air was quite blue when I was trying to get the line of clay to run straight down the profile of the plastic dolls head while trying to keep that line sharp and not spreading. I'm quite pleased with how Harvey is coming out, and hope she looks as I want her too when I'm done.
If you haven't guessed yet my lovely geeky husband named her after the Batman character Two Faced Harvey Dent. Sometimes he comes up with some good ones.

Zuzu makes wonderfully detailed pieces of altered art, mixed media and jewellery. If you'd like to see some of her creations you can see her work here - http://zuzuspetalsstuff.blogspot.com/

Also, I've not been able to take any proper photos of poor Lizzie Siddal as the weather here at the moment is awful, and I just can't get a result I like using artificial light. But I'm hoping I'll be able to get them taken some time this week. She's looking really pretty now that I've added a few tiny flowers and let her hair down. It's not often that I'm totally happy with a doll, but I'm so glad that Lizzie came out the way I wanted her too :)

 

Lizzie Siddal - Almost Finished!

Today has been a good day!


For the first time in ages I've had a really productive day, as well as it being a really relaxing one. I was woken in what has to be my least favorite way, by the Post Man knocking at the door. Which of course means a mad rush to find my pajama bottoms, which I can't sleep in, and the key. All the time worrying just how asleep I really look and if I have major bed hair. But, he brought with him some lovely things, so I forgave him. One of which was a money order in payment for two dolls that will be on their way to the States soon.

The next good thing was that lovely feeling you get when you realise you don't have to go to work. So back upstairs I went to lay in bed with a book in one hand and the other scratching our kittens belly while he purred loudly. Just for a little while.

Up and dressed I headed in to town to run errands and pick up some shopping, then home for the part of the day I was looking forward to most - the sewing.

I was determined to finish the embroidery on Lizzie's gown today. So settled into my favorite chair, put on a new period drama and got to work. Now Lizzie is wearing her newly finished over skirt, and I only have a few details left for her to be completely finished.
As the embroidery is the same colour as the fabric it doesn't show up to well in my quick pictures here. And I promise to take better ones when she's properly finished. But above you can see the corner detail that's on both sides of the open over skirt, and below is a little closer detail.

It was the zig-zag looking stitch that fills in the border that was the one I couldn't remember how to do. It's a really easy stitch, and has a twisted version that looks a little more like a scallop, but after trialing both the more open zig-zag looked better. 

I used two tones of normal sewing thread in a combination on chain, stem, satin, and blanket stitch, as well as the stitch that caused all the issues for me to try and add texture to Lizzie's skirt while trying to keep focus on the beautiful silk fabric that I've used. The border really helps finish the shape of her gown, especially in the back where there is a short train, and the fall in front to frame the soft cream underneath.

Next, to finish Lizzie, I'm adding an embroidered ribbon band over her bodice to match the detail on her sleeves. She'll also need a few things done to her sleeves to refine the shape, some detail added to her bodice and I think maybe something for her hair.

Lizzie Siddal was buried with a notebook of her husbands of blue calfskin. Soon after her death, as he realised his popularity was growing, he exhumed poor Lizzie to get it back again. Adding one last tragic, and a very odd, episode to her life.

I hope you'll like my Lizzie once I'm all finished. I've really tried to add as much detail as I can to her very mixed sence of style. It's been a challenge to try and create a Victorian outfit which still has a feel of that period while incorporating the early ideals of the Aesthetic Movement and the Medeavil Fantasy images that many of the new romantics painted and upheld as their perfect world. But her life has really touched me, and I was determined to try and bring her story forward for others that may not have heard of her.

Embroidery and Catching up

I've been having one of those months that we all dread. I just can't seem to get anything finished!

After spending weeks making and sewing a gown for Lizzie Siddal, I've been stuck on the embroidery to finish her for ages. And still she waits for that one final layer of clothing that will make her complete. It started off because I was stuck with a particular embroidery stitch, and just couldn't remember how to do what I wanted. I searched all over the internet, fiddled with countless trial scraps, searched through books, and even checked the clothes in my wardrobe just in case I had something embroidered in there I'd forgotten about (like I own any embroidered clothes!).
Finally, I gave in and ordered a book to arrive next day so I could crack on and get the skirt done. And what happens? It didn't arrive. Four whole days later my book shows up. And yes, I did get my money back. But another whole week had passed by and Lizzie was still sitting there with her gown unfinished and her hair wrapped up like my Nanna with her curlers in. Another few days of fighting distractions and research found me my stitch, and I was already to start when that life thing got in the way again and I found myself with no time to sit down to it.

Needless to say I'm now determined that Lizzie's gown will be finished this weekend and I'll have photo's of her to share with you all :-)
I have a few days off work to make a nice long weekend. So as well as finishing the very patient Lizzie, who's sitting quietly on my table getting very bored, I'll  be working on an altered dolls head for a friends blog, Alter It Monthy. While I've not been able to work on Lizzie I've been cooking up ideas for my little plastic dolls head and I'm hoping I can pull off the ideas I've come up with. I'm keeping them secret just in case :-)

Really hope your May was more productive than mine.

PS - It's my Birthday this weekend, so I'm celebrating with a sale in my Etsy Store.
There is FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE all this week, on all my dolls, until 12th June.
After doing the math this was the best offer for all my lovely customers, wworking out to 40% off the already reduced sale dolls, and up to 25% on the others. If your interested in a bargain, or just want a nose around, I've moved all my stock over from Folksy too, so there's a lot of new dolls in store as well.

http://www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com

More photos coming soon
Natasha