I thought I would share Bea, a little goldfinch doll with one of her pages from my sketch book.When creating a new bird I find watching the bird is always the best way to know the bird but drawing the bird also helps you to know plumage, My bird dolls are obviously very styalised, but my drawing are pretty literal. The bird dolls I make are always taken from birds in my garden and in the woods behind our bungalow. I feel I know them and can render them accurately. I also collect bird greeting cards for inspiration. There I look for highly styalised rendition to give me a glimpse of how others see the bird and yet you can still see it is a goldfinch or a chaffinch. Some of my favourites are Jane Crick's work and Isobel and Frank prints.
Looking closely at the embroidery of this little bullfinch. She is surrounded by the parts that make the doll whole. With her cab, wings and tail sitting on the fabric that will make her dress. She has the new bird feet too!The feather like stitch is an adapted fly stitch that I run to look like a feather pattern. Her that is in both black and grey. The pink stitching is random cross stitch in three shades layered to give such a rich look. The colours are chosen to sit somewhere between the make and female colouring to give a wholesome bullfinch feel.I particularly like the pinks, greys and black with this Acufactum fabric called Blossom Splendour with rich dahlias and nasturtiums in deep pink and orange.Each bird has a crystal to her heart and herbs in her stuffing to give a gentle scent. This little girl has rosemary and a piece of rose quartz for love xx
My bullfinch dolls are one of my favourite dolls to stitch. I love the colours, the pinks and greys. We have two pairs of bullfinches that visit and I am always excited to see them,The colour is so intense even on the paler females and they are around for such a small window as they are eating the buds off my apple and pear trees.Recently I have significantly reduced the size of all my birds and the photo show that difference effectively. This latest iteration are even smaller and with the new spiky feet are even birdier I feel.There is a calm joy in slow stitching the plumage. Listening to music and simply enjoying the gentle movements. The blackthorn is out, they cherries are in bud with the fruit coming a little later. I will hopefully see these colourful characters in the upcoming month, fingers crossed xx
This is my latest innovation in the bird dolls' design. I always felt that the legs were too clunky and heavy. Bird legs are fine and spikey but I did not know how to approach this.Reuban, my fabulously talented son, started to experiment with spun cotton techniques. Building an armature for stability and then having created a starch solution using cotton wool and thread to create different types of feet and paws for his Imps.Seeing the potential to make my birds more bird he gave me a tutorial and here I am. The bird dolls now have styalised yet realistic legs and feet and I am really happy with how they look.So a huge thank you Reuban.Having now seen what you can do with this technique I am making a series of bird dolls in Acufactum fabric all with the new feet. Hopefully in the future I will move on to first owls and then maybe even raptors. I have seen a male sparrowhawk in regency dress with killer talons!
My bird journey started twelve years ago. I love birds, particularly the passerines. So delicate yet the survive the perils of winter and drought, hot summers and full nests. I really admire the pluck!As I sit in my workshop I watch the birds on and off all day. We back onto woods so we get so many different species from Nuthatches to Woodpeckers.So I wanted to make a bird doll and this little carousel shows how they progressed. From the first bird(second photograph), she was huge and stencilled with acrylic then stitched. They all sold but were too big and clumsy. They it abandoned the paint and started to delineate in stitch (third photograph), my first blue tit received so much publicity but birds are delicate little guys not big clumsy dolls. So I reduced the size considerably, so that they just sit in your hand. Still heavily embroidered just smaller (fourth photograph). This is how I made them for several years, they were smaller and neater but I do not like their clumsy booted feet. Bird feet and tiny spiky and bird legs are slim. So tomorrow I will share the next iteration. New even smaller patterns with very different feet, works in progress.
A little mouse from last year to share, a furry mohair mouse in a delightful vintage Liberty print. I have been making twilight mice in greys and black but have not had time to photograph them so I am remembering Eadlin in her pea pod dress. The fabric was such a great find, truly vintage and I have never found any more to buy. A black ground with a myriad of peas and pods running across in a lovely pea green. Teamed with Grinch mohair she made a lovely little mouse. With little green leather tail and ears she has a hand embroidered face with a deep green pearl eye. Finished with black organza, black buttons and a black embroidered sampler pillow she truly is one of my darker mice. The black tulle and the green shot cotton sitting well together to make up her petticoats. As with all my mice she has a pair of broderie Anglais drawers with the tail peeping through. She went off to her new home last year and she was a joy to make!
Revisiting an older pattern this week. We are showing at Llangollen Fairy Festival this year, which is as much a holiday for us as a selling event. So I am busy making fairies of every kind. This pattern I feel I never truly explored so I am revisiting with a new eye.This little girl is Fairy Campion made from Acufactum Fabrics which are truly wonderful to use but stiff when wanting a good drape on such a very tiny doll. She is probably only six or seven inches tall. So I have gone for my favourite Liberty tana lawn for a better drape on her skirt. I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of making so small.For those of you waiting for a shop drop please bear with me. Health problems and family life have taken their toll this last month and I have the work but I am waiting for Reuban to be ready to take the photographs. So lots of midnight bunnies and foxes to come soon.
As you know, if you read my posts, I am very fabric driven. I love pattern so much and it often drives my choices with my dolls. Much of my Liberty fabric are off cuts from Verity's tie making business, a friend and colleague from university days. But there are fabric that I pursue, particularly old Liberty fabrics that I have loved using.This fabric is one of my favourites for midnight bunnies. It is by Catherine Rowe and was the winner of the Liberty Open Call in 2018. Not exactly vintage but hard to find. I found some! So I am just getting ready for The Festival of Making at Blackburn Cathedral in July. Midnight bunnies will be a feature for me. It is lovely when you are so looking forward to work!Enjoy the Bank Holiday and my warmest wishes xx
