2 posts tagged “colette wolff”
Penelope doll has lived in my house without underwear or shoes for 13 years. It's something of a joke with my other dollmaking friends. But even without underclothes and footwear, she is still a charming doll, and my daughter played happily with her and her sister-Penelope doll. Because one Penny had short curly red hair and the other had long brown braids, Emily played that they were Betsy and her best friend from Carolyn Heywood's Betsy books.
But now Penelope hardly knows how to act. In the last week, she has acquired two pairs of underpants, two pairs of shoes, four dresses, and a flannel nightgown. Moreover, during the day when she has to stay for hours in the sewing room with the other dolls, she sits atop of stack of fabric lengths chosen and purchased with her in mind.
Here she is in her hostess dress, a pattern I designed based on her Norwegian blouse pattern. The grosgrain ribbons are stitched into the side seams, then criss-cross in back to tie in front. Does she need a hostess dress? Well, I don't know that she does. But I know that at 13 years old, she likes to dress up in sophisticated young-lady clothes sometimes, so long as she can jump back into her jeans and camp shirts and go back to being a kid. This Penelope is going to stay 13. Her brown-braided sister is only 10. I'm really going to have to do something different with their names--two sisters called Penelope are kind of confusing.
And she is definitely getting a new wig, probably a chestnut brown short and curly one. Her auburn hair is too limiting, as I want to dress her in my favorite color, pink, and as Anne of Green Gables knew very well, pink and auburn are incompatible.
My son requests me to share with the world this picture of his mascots: Racky Raccoon, Foxy Fox, Mounty Mountain Lion, Squirrely Squirrel, and Froggy Frog. They are finger puppets, very realistically and beautifully made by Folkmanis . He started collecting them when Floyd Raccoon traveled to New York City with us. Floyd and my son got along so well, Floyd sent one of his cousins over to live with us, and the family of mascots has grown since then.
I've finished Veronica's head, body, and legs, and am just starting the hardest part: altering her arm/hand pattern to incorporate Jacqueline Casey's method of making elegant, posable fingers. Veronica's hands are already very nice as Colette Wolff designed them; I just like to do the Casey hands because they're extra pretty. (That's Jacqueline's "Butterfly Woman" pattern you see there next to the scissors.)
This is my work table in the usual disarray. I'm forever fighting off encroaching junk--but some stuff I just need close to hand.
Can you tell what is clutter and what isn't?
Four pairs of scissors? Not clutter: they're all in use. The silver ones are my Ginghers, used for nothing but cloth: large for large cuts and small for trimming. The blue-handled ones are paper scissors, and the black pair are detail scissors, also useful as a seam ripper for very tiny stitches.
The magnifying glass? Clutter. I'm not using it. And when I do need a magnifying glass (when painting very small details or very small faces) I have a free-standing lighted magnifying glass, and a double loup to wear over my eyes.
Benjamin's Magnetix metal ball (in the center of picture)? Not clutter: I was using it to help turn the legs right side out. If he takes it away, I'll use a bobbin.
Bottle of Oxy-10 on far left? Not clutter: It's very useful for removing ink stains from vinyl dolls. Stella-Geneva had a spot of marker on her back.
Set of three vintage Tupperware midgets (like medicine cups)? Clutter. They weren't clutter over Christmas when we needed them to support the papier mache eggs we were glazing. But I should wash 'em up and get 'em out of there now.
The funny looking lady doll with the long orange apron? Not clutter--that's my pincushion. At least, it's one of my pincushions. I see now there are two others in the picture. But I need them all: pinning, unpinning and repinning often require entirely separate venues. The lady-doll pincushion is an eleanor peace baily pattern.
Thimble? Not clutter, although it's funny how many people tell me they absolutely cannot use thimbles. There's an easy cure for thimble intolerance: just put it on in the morning (middle finger of dominant hand) and wear it all day. By bedtime, the thimble will be not only comfortable, but pleasantly reassuring. And next time you handsew, you'll discover why they were invented. Rounded-top thimbles with little dimples are for handsewing; ones with a raised ring around the flat top are for hand quilting.
The assortment of Golden Glazes, Glimmer Mists, sponges, and glues at the top of the picture? Well, technically it's not clutter, because that's where I always keep them. But if you said they were clutter, I'll give you the point because they aren't being used just now and they are kind of in the way.
