Patter from Patti

Girlfriends at play

Many of you know that several of us have been doing, what elinor calls, Flat Doll Days.  elinor peace bailey came up with this idea when we were all together in Sydney several years ago.  We've been traveling around the U.S. sharing our love of dolls and flat surfaces ever since.

This picture was taken last year at Piecemaker's Country Store in Costa Mesa, California after one of our Flat Doll Days.  Gloria McKinnon, on the far left, top row, had joined us from Australia. 
The others are top row,  Gloria, Sally Lampi, Barbara Willis
front row, Betts Vidal, me, elinor

We're kicking off another year of sharing the fun in Escondido, California.

January 22 from 10am to 4pm we'll be sharing how we do faces.  Joining us will
be Li Hertzi.  Li has written her first book "Art Doll Adventures" and has done flat
dolls for many years. 
Along with sharing how we do faces we'll spend the afternoon doing hands-on
exercises.  We're providing a light lunch, and heaps of fun and information.
The cost is $65.00.  Send your checks to me: Patti Culea,   9019 Stargaze Ave., San Diego, CA  92129. 
The cost includes our lectures, lunch, most supplies for the hands-on exercises in the afternoon, and six patterns for our projects.
The address for Bits & Pieces is:   426 West Second Street, Escondido
You must pay before the event so we know how much food to have catered.

Playing with stamps

I'm always looking for fun gifts to make for people. Time is always a bit short around PMC Designs, so I like to come up with something that is quick to make, yet pretty. And, it always has to have some "bling".
As mentioned in an earlier post, I've made postcards, ATC's, journals, altered bags using my rubber stamps. While in New York City I met a delightful artist and she was making unique bookmarks from left-over scraps of fabric from her quilts. A light went on and when I came home I started making bookmarks.

Audine is inside a small book - 7-inches. Oh, and the book is by an artist I met at ComicCon this past Friday. Be sure to check out her website: http://www.christykane.com
Christy makes really unique more primitive dolls.

My "bookmarks" range from 8-inches to 9-inches depending on the face stamp I used. This grouping shows Audine, Jilianna, Valandrial and Banbury Cross Beth.
At my website I have a new offer. If people buy two, or more, of my rubber stamps I'll send the pattern to make the bookmarks.
Making the bookmarks is really easy. I used Pelmet Vilene, but Timtex, Peltex, Craft Pellon are all good choices. I appliqued the clothing, colored the faces and hair with a combination of Copic Markers (both Ciao and the large square markers) and colored pencils. I did learn to stamp the face first, then trace the bodies. Much easier, believe me.
How long does it take to make one of these? About 2 hours, tops. Of course, it depends on the amount of bling you add. I just used the hot-fix crystals and a few bits of fabric and lace here and there.

Stamping on Fabric

I love using rubber stamps on fabric. Years ago we were told you had to use deeply etched rubber stamps to get a good impression on fabric. I think that has changed because we're not as afraid of experimenting on fabric. I've found just about any rubber stamp works. I love using stamp pads and paint to transfer the image onto fabric.
One thing I've found that helps is to back the fabric with a double sided stabilizer, like Wonder Under. After this is ironed onto the fabric, I leave the paper backing then press my rubber stamp onto the fabric.

After you've stamped the image, set the inks with an iron. I use Tsukineko's Fabrico or VersaColor stamps pads, and Jacquard's Pearl EX stamp pads. But, any ink based stamp pad will work.
After you've stamped and set the images, color them using colored pencils, markers, or whatever. I've fallen in love with Copic's marker. All of them.

This photo shows the faces done using colored pencils, markers and the background painted with Lumiere and Pearl EX powders.

Another fun project is making small paper dolls, but backing them onto a stabilizer such as Pelltex, Timtex or Pelmet Vilene. Traci and Allison Stillwell of ArtGirlz have some new rubber stamps that are absolutely the most fun I've used. You can mix and match heads and they are designed for their pewter arms and legs. Shoes and crowns, too. Here's one I did in just a few hours.

I stamped the dress and head onto fabric backed with Wonder Under. I then colored it using Copic markers and painted the under body with a Stewart Gill Byzantium paint. This was then ironed onto Timtex. I appliqued some fabric here and there then free motion sewed the dress to the under body (which had the head attached). I hand sewed the arms and shoes on with beads and crystals and used crystals to attach the crown. I hand sewed a pin back to her back and I shall wear her proudly tonight.

ArtGirlz website http://www.artgirlz.com

A special doll

Recently I was very touched by an email from a teacher in Omagh, Northern Ireland. She had purchased my first book "Creative Cloth Doll Making" and wanted to somehow structure textiles into her Art and Design class with 11 and 12 year old girls. Here's the result of that class.

They enlarged the pattern to almost life size. The pupils designed the dress like a jig saw. Each pupil designed and made a piece inspired by the art of countries around the world. They voted for a name and called her "Summer". A truly remarkable and inspiring piece of art work. Don't you agree?

Flesh toned dyeing

In my eagerness to post I forgot to add the last photo. Here it is:

On both photo's you'll see that the one piece of fabric grabbed the dye more. The darker pieces. Those were the muslin pieces. The other is white pimatex cotton. I did pre-wash the fabric in Synthrapol. This is a specially formulated soap that is natural and won't leave residue in the fabric. Ivory works in the same way. Synthrapol you have to buy at places like Dharma Trading Company,
http://www.dharmatrading.com.
Dharma has wonderful tutorials in both their paper catalog and their website.
The Procion dyes can be purchased from Dharma or Pro Chemical & Dye, http://www.prochemical.com
Both of these companies are wonderful to work with. Very eager to answer questions.

Flesh toned dyeing

One of the most asked questions I get is how to dye cotton fabric for flesh tones. And, what products do I prefer. Here's what I use.

To get the best colors that also don't change the "hand" of the fabric I prefer Procion powder dyes. These require a bit of work, but the results are very satisfying. You'll need Soda Ash, regular table salt without iodine, the dyes, gloves to protect your hands, a mask to keep the powders from getting in your nose, containers for the dyes and plain white 100% cotton fabric. Muslin works fine, too.
The first photo of the dyed fabric used this formula: for 1/2 gallon water add 1/2 cup salt. Stir to dissolve. In another small container dissolve 1/2 tsp. Ecru and 1/2 tsp. Apricot in 1 cup water. Add this to the 1/2 gallon water and place your dampened fabric inside. Stir the fabric off and on for 15 to 20 minutes.
While this is setting add 3 tablespoons Soda Ash to 1 cup lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve. Add this to the dye bath and stir. Let the fabric sit in this solution for an hour. Rinse the fabric and wash in either Synthropol or Ivory soap. Rinse until the water runs clear. Hang to dry.

For the last photo the dye mixture was 1/2 tsp. Apricot and 1/2 tsp. Brown Rose. Mix as above. The photo really doesn't show the nice brown tones of this formula. If you want a darker brown, add more Brown Rose.

To set these dyes, let them cure for 24 hours then iron. You are ready to make dolls, or whatever, with these colors.

Dolls and Tomes

Last December I held my 2nd "in house" workshop. We all had a great time. We worked with all kinds of silk fibers and created dolls that were hand dyed, dressed in silks and embellished with beads. She's also a workshop I'll be teaching throughout 2007.

Another project I love are Tomes. A Tome is a journal, a work in progress. My Stargaze Stitchery Tome has been a huge success as a pattern series. I've taught other pages and will be adding them to my Stitchery Tome.

Each page has a different technique. The Hawaiian hula dancer uses paints, Tyvek and beadwork. The Japanese women includes painting and free maching stitching.

I really love making these flat things. I made a fiber photo album for our granddaughter, Kieran.

Quilting Arts magazine had a project for Coffee Cuffs in a recent issue. I had to try it out and used a couple of my rubber stamps and fabric collage. These are fun and easy and make great gifts.