Patter from Patti

Doll Making Classes

The weekend of June 27th I was with the Sisters of the Cloth: Order of the Flying Needle.  This is a dynamic doll group in the Manhattan Beach area of Los Angeles County.  Their members come from all over the county and meet in Manhattan Beach.  They chose my Penny Cassandra pattern as a class.  It was terrific seeing all the different fabrics chosen for this sewing caddy doll.  But, what I loved was their challenge.  They received a packet of fabric and were to make a doll with the theme My Inner Juanita.

The variety of dolls is truly unique to this group.  You can see a sock monkey at the far left, along with more "normal" cloth dolls.

With the heritage of southern California being Mexican you can see why this theme was chosen.  And, the colors are my favorite - primaries and bright.

The Sisters had asked me to judge the challenge.  This was extremely hard for me to do as each doll was beautifully made.  So, everyone was a winner.  Along with the prizes pulled together for the challenge we found enough other goodies to give to each person who participated.

To see larger images just click on the photo's.

The 3 phases of Freda Kahlo's life was a true work of art. 

Looking at the dolls you can see why it was hard to judge.

This shows a few of the members working hard on the beaded flower for Penny Cassandra. 

The Sisters of the Cloth have a retreat each January at a beautiful place in Temecula, California.  This next January Cyndi Mahlstadt will be the teacher.  I'm going to have to join the Sisters so I can be guaranteed a spot at the retreat.

While in Manhattan Beach our daughter and son-in-law arrived from Belgium.  Raphael had a conference he had to attend in Anaheim.  Heidi flew on down to San DIego.  She and her dad had a good weekend of catching up before I arrived Sunday night after the class.  Monday we went to the Del Mar Fair.  One of our favorite things to do in the summer.

Each year the fair has a theme.  This year it was Music Mania.  The robot you see with Heidi (on the left) and Laura (on the right) was one of the attractions.  Actually, one of the attractions promoting the many celebrities performing at the fair.

If you are ever in San Diego from the middle of June to the weekend of July 4th, do go to the fair.  My favorite exhibits are the gardens and the Home Arts.  But, I do hit the vendor areas, too.  My kitchen is full of gadgets purchased each year at the fair.

Everyone have a safe and fantastic 4th of July.

Happy Birthday America!

Quilting Adventures in Richmond, VA

Last weekend I was teaching at a fabulous quilt store in Richmond, VA.  I'm afraid I left quite a bit of my hard earned dollars in the store.  I had a difficult time deciding which fabrics to buy, so bought a bunch.  If you are ever in Richmond, VA go to Quilting Adventures.
http://www.quiltingadventures.com
The classroom is roomy with project walls for those making quilts.  We were making dolls and also the cover from my new book, Creative Cloth Explorations.  Everyone was able to spread out and not feel crowded.  It was wonderful for all of us.

The ten hearty souls that took my two-day Aerin class were heaps of fun.  We dyed all kinds of fabrics, collaged, used the embellishing machines, drew and sculpted the dolls face, did some more dyeing - in other words, we had a very diverse two days.

Mary Terry on the far right in the dark shirt and blue jeans was my host.  He and her husband, Henry, helped make me feel at home in their home.

Kathleen Chrisman is in the green next to Mary.  Kathleen is the editor of Dolls Unlimited, an online doll-zine.  Kathleen teaches doll making classes in the shop.

Joyce Hartley is the owner of this amazing shop.  She's got a fabulous staff who are extremely helpful.  You'll love looking at all the samples, and fondling all the marvelous fabrics.  And, Joyce got me hooked on WonderFil threads.  My Bernina machines like them.  I still love Kreinik's machine threads, and Superior and Mettler.  But, that's for another post. 

Attaching a doll head to the doll body

Probably the number 2 question I get, after how do I do the faces on my dolls, is how do you attach the head.  In my patterns and books I explain it, but it does help to have photo's.  Thus this post.

After filling the body with stuffing, firmly, I slip a pipe cleaner down the spine and have a bit of it sticking up out of the neck.  You can barely see it in this photo.  The neck on this particular doll body is quite long so the pipe cleaner doesn't need to stick that far above the neck opening.

Using a pair of hemostats grasp the neck firmly and squeeze it small enough to insert into the opening at the back of the dolls head. 

On the sample I've locked the hemostats so I could take a photo.  Generally they are in my hand.

With my free hand I rock the head onto the neck.  Using the hemostats I push the neck fabric up into the opening at the back of the head.

Nearly all dolls have an opening in the back of the head, but check with the pattern designer you are working with.  Theirs might be different from how I do doll heads.

After I have the head placed as I'd like it, I pin it in place.

Thread a needle with about 1/2-yard/meter of strong thread and anchor at the back of the head, or neck.

Ladder stitch the head to the neck all the way around.

A ladder stitch is the same as a hidden stitch.  You don't want your threads to show as you get to the sides and front of the head.

Once around anchor the thread and cut.

You can see the sample to the right how the stitches don't show.  Click on the photo and you'll get a larger image so you can see it a bit clearer.

When attaching the head angle it in a way that gives her more of an attitude.  This dolls head is turned slightly to her left, your right as you are looking at the photo.  When she's finished she'll look more interesting rather than a straight on attitude/look.

This doll is a work in progress.  She'll be a new pattern once she's dressed, wigged and accessorized.  I've not come up with her name yet.  I generally don't until they are completely finished.  Sometimes a name I've chosen beforehand just doesn't fit her when she's done.

I hope this little tutorial gives you a better idea of how I attach heads.

One final note.  I can't live without a pair of hemostats (forceps).  I use them for turning, stuffing, adjusting, grabbing things, you name it.  I have turning tubes for little fingers and Barbara Willis' small stuffing fork for small places, but my number one tool is the hemostat.  Thought you'd like to know.

Also, and this is my final note, I can't live without my Bernina sewing machine.  They have a magical foot, #37, that allows me to see my drawn lines as I sew, yet keeps the fabric stable. 

Happy doll making!

Family

Last week I flew to Orlando, FL to attend Kieran's promotion from Pre-School.  I was so proud of her.  She was the cutest and brightest in her class, of course.  For those who don't know, she's my five year old granddaughter.  Kieran is the 4th "graduate" from the left on the front row.  Isn't she adorable?

Her sister, Kayleigh, wanted to try out her "cap".  Kayleigh is almost 3 years old, so has a bit of time to go before she is in pre-school.

It was fun attending the promotion, but mostly being there to visit the grandchildren.  We live too far away.

Someday that will change.  John and I pray that we'll be able to move somewhere closer.  Kentucky has captured us.  So, we'll see what develops.

Our grandson, Kayman, is still a bit too young to be too interested in pre-school.  He has started walking.  At 13 months he's quite a charmer.  It is always hard leaving them.

Our son-in-law was able to be home for the promotion.  Luis works hard to provide for his family.  He's a flight attendant with United Airlines.  And, yes, that is the airline I mostly fly on.  As "in-laws" we don't get flight privileges, but I fly United because I like them.  Having worked for the airlines for a gazillion years, I find United better than most.

Do I get privileges from my career with the airlines?  No.  I jumped around too much.  I started with Bonanza Airlines in 1962, then went with Contiental, Flying TIgers, Airlift - all as a flight attendant.  Then into Marketing & sales with Aloha Airlines and lastly All Nippon Airways.

My next post will be about my time at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, VA.  I'm very excited about my time there.  The quilt shop has an amazing array of fabrics.  I can see I won't be making much money on this trip. 

Also, if you've not signed up for my eNewsletter do so.  I'll be announcing my next intensive workshop soon. 

In the meantime, enjoy life!  It's the best.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

Today, my sister and I hosted a Mad Hatter Tea Party.  I had read about hosting such a party in the Hallmark magazine (which is no longer published, unfortunately).  We had so much fun preparing for the party.
We woke up to a surprise, though.  It was raining!  It never rains in sunny California.  Or, that is how the song goes.  But, never fear.  John ran out and got plastic to cover the patio roof (it is normally a lattice.  Lots of holes), and we busily decorated.

Those of you who know how Chapter 7 in the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" starts know the table is correct.  It just isn't under a tree.  The first line of the chapter says "there was a long table set out under a tree....."

Our table was long and with lanterns and flowers, along with mismatched china and silverware we had quite a festive looking table.

Everyone arrived with fun hats, that was a requirement, and dressed in typical "tea" clothes.  I had set up a table inside with stuff to decorate hats if needed.  We didn't let the dampness slow us down.  We ate, drank tea and talked.

The menu included White Rabbit Tea Sandwiches, Mad Hatter's Party Pinwheels, Cheshire Cat Nibbles (fresh veggies), Cryphon Chopped Salad, The Queens Cream Scones,  Looking Glass Cake,  The Kings Clotted Cream,  Alice's Lemon Curd,  The Knaves Ginger-Lime Marmalade,  Curiouser Green Tea,  Tweedle Dumb & Tweedle Tea,  Nonsensical Tea and Dormouse Lemonade.

My sister wired gloves which held the menu's.  Such a clever idea.

I was also excited that peonies were available here in San Diego.  They are my favorite flower and not seen too often here in warmer climates. 

We put the flower arrangements in tea pots and served tea in wine carafe's.  After all, it was a mad tea.

Being a doll maker/fiber person I had to make name tags from fabric for everyone.  The prototype was a real pain to turn.  The Patti C. you see had pointed tips to the hat.  You can see on Susan's that I rounded out the hat, which made it much easier to turn.

I used my trusty Bernina 440 to free motion stitch with decorative threads.  This made the name tags really stand out.  I could have machine embroidered everyone's names, but we had a few last minute changes in attendee's, thus I decided to hand write each person's name with permanent ink.

We had such a great time that I think I'll have to host another tea later in the year.  Maybe a fairy tea next time.

Spring Flowers

John and I returned last week from two beautiful weeks in Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky.  We were mostly visiting family and friends and looking around for places to relocate down the road.
This was the perfect time of year to visit the Midwest.  The flowers were in full bloom everywhere.

These beauties were all over the place at my uncles farm near where I grew up.

I had never seen this type of flower before and no one seemed to know, either.  I'll have to do some research.

My favorite flower is the Peony.  They come in several shades of pink.  This one is almost fuchsia. 
Everywhere we went the peonies were in full bloom and I loved burying my nose into them.  They have such a wonderful aroma.

The flower below was scattered around the farm.  I hadn't noticed the ants until after I had taken the photo. 
These photo's were taken with my new Canon Rebel.  I'm thrilled with the quality of the images.

While near my home town, Bement, Illinois, I took John to Allerton Park to see the old Pioneer Cemetery where several of my ancestors are buried.  Unfortunately, due to all the rain they've had in the Midwest the cemetery is presently under water.  The Sangamon River is about a mile wide.  Where John is standing is .2 of a mile in from the Sun Singer.  The cemetery is .7 of a mile in but you can see why we had to stop.  We didn't have a boat, plus I wouldn't know where the trail was.  We'll have to go back when it has dried out.

One of my favorite author's new book arrived today.  Lisa See has written the book that inspired Chapter 5 in my Creative Cloth Exploration book.  "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" touched my heart and my Tome yahoo group did a fan exchange.  The other novel I love of Ms. See's is "Peony in Love".  That book inspired a challenge I did on Dollstreet.  We made beautiful Lotus shoes.
In this book Lisa See follows two sisters who come to America.  I can't wait to get started.  I know I'll love this book as much as her others.  I also know a challenge will come from this book, too.

Before I close this post I have to share a beautiful doll with you.  This incredible doll was made by Abi Monroe.  She's named her Willow. 

I love everything about this doll.  Abi wrote that this was one of her first dolls.  As I wrote her, she needs to keep making dolls.

I'm presently working on a fun project that I will share soon.  I'm having a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for a few friends this weekend and am making fun name tags for everyone.  I'll take a heap of photo's with my new camera and share them here.  So, stay tuned.

Dazzling Daze Spring

It was a small, but really terrifc, group who gathered at my house for my Spring Dazzling Daze.  I had canceled it when everyone started dropping out, but one person had already purchased her airline ticket so we went ahead.  I'm glad we did.

We started with Cyndi Mahlstadt teaching her wonderful tree doll - Darcy.  Cyndi showed us how to bend wires, cut holes in an Altoid tin, paint it, rust it, create intricate hands with wires and paint them with nothing covering them (yes.  It can be done and it is fabulous), use Apoxy Clay to create a whimsical head in one of her molds, paint it, attach all kinds of stuff to make our Darcy into the lovely tree person she is. 

If you ever get a chance to take a class with Cyndi, do it.  She's outstanding.

The doll to the left is Cyndi's Fairy Godmother.  Cyndi has a magical way of working with found objects to create beautiful works of art.

Another thing I love about Cyndi's work is the way she uses the no-sew beads to enhance a figure.  You can't see them on this wonderful creature, but they are scattered around her face and body.

Barbara Leftwich came down from Sun City to take Cyndi's class.  She's been bitten by the free motion knitting and crocheting bug.  But, all I can say is I'd like to get bitten by the same bug.  Here she is showing us one of her amazing sweaters.
Breathtaking, isn't it?  Better go check out Barbara Chapman's classes at the Black Sheep so I can learn how to do one of these sweaters.
We started our workshop on Monday, April 27.  Tuesday night was our doll club's meeting (IOLCC).  I had invited
Kath Danswan to bring her silk cap bowls, and other beautiful work, to share.  Kath was to be one of the Dazzling Daze teachers, but we had to cancel her.  She was here from England teaching workshops up in the Los Angeles area. 
Everyone at the doll club meeting were truly taken with Kath's work.  Her book "Beautiful Bowls & Colourful Creatures" is a must have.  Look in my sidebar for her website to see more of her remarkable work.

Cyndi also shared some of her dimensional "flat" work.  This is a wall hanging she's been working on.  It is a combination of computer imaging and fabric manipulation.  Plus, heaps of other techniques.

After Cyndi's two days it was my turn.  I taught working with Shiva Paintstiks to create a soft, blended face and body.  This is a medium I'm very familiar with since it is similar to the oil paints I worked with when I did portraits.  The difference is there's no messy mixing.  Otherwise they are very much the same.  Other than the detailing of the eyelashes, eyebrows, etc., all the coloring is done with the oil paintstiks.

To the right is Michelle's doll. Michelle had flown out from New Hampshire.  She did a beautiful job with the coloring.  Her doll started white, so we dyed the fabric with a flesh color first, then she used the paintsticks for the shading, highlighting and coloring of the eyes and lips.
We did learn that it is best to wait the full 3 days before doing the detailing.  Even though our dolls were dry the next afternoon and we ironed them we mucked up several detaling pens.  If you can't wait, I'd recommend using the brush tips of the Micron's, Zig's, Copic's, etc.  Those won't get messed up.

Below is the group on our last day.  Both Michelle and I were having bad hair days as we blew a circuit breaker because we were both using our hair dryers at the same time.  Different parts of the house, but the electrician we had hired several years ago to fix the problem actually made it worse.  He's since gone out of business. 

It was a wonderful 4-days and I'm sure we'll have more.  My next Dazzling Daze will probably be in early December.  I've got a project in mind and I think it will be fun and exciting.  So, stay tuned.  I'll hopefully  have it finished in August and the dates firmed up.

In the meantime, happy doll making!

Janet's Blog

Our oldest daughter, Janet, finally created a blog.  She has a wonderful store on eBay where she sells children's clothing. 
Rats.  Forgot to format the photo so I could write next to it.  Anyway, this is Janet.  I'm adding a link to her blog, and there you can click on the link to go to her eBay store.  Her blog and store are called Kloset2Koset.  Pretty clever.

Many of you know how I love Allerton Park near Monticello, Illinois.  Rodin's Adam is shown here and is one of many fabulous art pieces tucked away amongst the estate.  Mr. Allerton loved art and traveled the world collecting.  He loved sharing his collection and in his Will left Allerton to the University of Illinois.

My dream is to someday live close enough to Allerton that I can be active at the park and become a docent.

This is a sneak peak at a project I did for Bernina.  The project will be in a future Through the Needle magazine.  Bernina is my favorite sewing machine company.  And, as far as I'm concerned, for any free motion machine work, Bernina's are the only machines that will hold up for hours and hours. 

But, back to the project.  I got the idea when I was in Bendigo and saw a friend working on a quilt block.  She had used a mailing tube and covered it with fabric that could be unrolled.  This tucked the quilt block she was working on inside when it was rolled up. 

Sorry, are you confused?   You'll just have to wait until the project is in the magazine. 

As you can see, I had to use a fairy theme.  It was also fun choosing floral fabrics for the appliqued "garden".  The fairies face and arms will be a new rubber stamp that Ready Stamps, a division of the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation will make for me.  Don't forget, by buying my rubber stamps you are helping very special people be more independent.

Social Networks

My friend, Kandy Scott, invited me to join Facebook today.  I'd been throwing around the idea of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.  Facebook seems to be the more popular, but since she invited me that is the one I joined.  Oh, and don't forget .ning.  So much to research, so little time.

Before I go further into social networks I want to share a photo of the doll I made in elinor peace bailey's class near Melbourne, FL.  elinor and I were teaching at a symposium and I decided to take her class.  I made the doll for my granddaughter, Kieran.   I wish I could have been there when she opened the box.  She and I talked on the phone and she loves the doll.

If you ever get a chance to take a class with elinor, do it.  She is such a fun person to be around. 

The hair on my doll was from some hair scrunchies from Claire's Accessories.  Claire's is a fabulous store geared to the teen market.  We doll makers can find all kinds of stuff for our dolls.

elinor and I were taken to Claire's near Orlando, FL by our friends Judi and Karen.  It was there that I found the great scrunchies that I used for the hair.

I also found the two toned green leg warmers at Claire's.  They were actually a pair of socks and I turned them into leg warmers.

The skirt is made from cheap, glitzy fabrics and her upper arms are yoyo's.  Fun, easy and fabulous project.

Many of you know we had an amazing doll cruise this year.  Soft Dolls and Animals (magazine) sponsored a cruise every 3rd year.  This year elinor peace bailey, Barbara Willis, Gail Wilson and I were the teachers.  The idea was to have Gail design a pattern and we interpreted it according to our ways.

This doll is Judy Brown's version of my interpretation of Gails pattern.  Judy does the most amazing dolls.  I loved the doll she made for my Creative Cloth Doll Beading book.

I'll be sharing more photo's in an article I'm doing for the magazine.

My goal is to update this blog at least once a week.  Keep tuned for more exciting news!

Okay.  Back to social networks.  Why join them?  It is one way of keeping in touch with friends and family.  It is also another way of sharing what you've been up to recently.  Similar to blogging, actually.

One of the benefits of the social network vs. a blog, is people can find you.  If you want to be found, that is.  Me?  I'd love to connect with doll makers who have moved on.  Or, some of my college friends.  Also, family who I've lost touched with.  I have a huge family.  Some of my cousins were lost in Vietnam and I've lost touch with their families.  And, there's the high school and college friend that I'd love to find. 

Much to think about when joining. 

My next post will be more doll related.

Valley of the Dolls!

This past weekend I was up in the Los Angeles area with the Valley of the Dolls.  Talk about a fun time, and eat!  Oh, my goodness!  This group knows how to feed you.

Kathleen hosted the workshop in her amazing studio.  This woman is a talented seamstress.  She makes tutu's for ballerina's. 
Behind her head you can see a picture of a ballerina.  I'm mad at myself for not taking pictures of some of the tutu's Kathleen had just finished.
She's going to teach a workshop on making doll sized tutu's.  I'm hoping I can go up.  I'd love to learn.

The group had chosen my Penny Cassandra sewing caddy doll for me to teach.  Kathleen wanted hers to be an older lady.  She gave her Penny saggy boobs and jowls.  I can't wait to see the finished doll.

Noreen and Liz were busy working on their clothing for their dolls.  Noreen designs toys for a manufacturer and helped me with the construction of one of the lower sections of a doll I'm working on.  It is always fabulous having someone in a class who is knowledgeable with technical stuff.

I stayed with Liz in her lovely home in South Pasadena.  Saturday night she took me to a Chinese massage place.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  After standing on my feet all day it was truly wonderful to have my neck, shoulders, back, hands and feet worked on.  I had forgotten that a Chinese massage is deep tissue massage.  Worth every penny, believe me.

The second day of a 2-day workshop is always interesting.  I think everyone gets a bit punchy and some of the things that happen are pretty funny.

Like this arrangement.  I believe this is June's doll.  After turning around and seeing her sitting like this I had to take a photo.

Below is a group photo.  We were missing Noel Wolfman, who couldn't come the 2nd day. 

Because nearly everyone had done pre-work they had most of the doll done.  All they have to do is put the dress on, attach her arms and do her hair.

This is a fun project and not that involved.  But, what was the most fun was being with this extremely talented group.

By the way, I've added another Widget.  This one is some of my favorite music.  Not sure how it will work, so let me know.