One of the great parts of making soft toy animals is discovering personality in bits of wool and thread. I had a great time designing the patterns for these dolls - Frankie Fox is my first self-drafted pattern. I have self-drafted dolls before, without any pattern, but I wanted to create something I could replicate. I especially enjoyed engineering the head!
Jarvis the Owl was made on a whim last week, I'd challenged myself to design and make a doll from scratch in one afternoon. I am not going to lie, this isn't something I'd want to do again. By the end of the evening, I collapsed in a heap - VERY pleased with myself. I LOVE Jarvis, from the top of his clever head to the tips of his long legs.
 |
| look how neatly the pattern lines up at the legs - those are two pieces! |
 |
| this guy is available to buy from Etsy. |
My absolute favourite creature is Eloise Squirrel - she was so much fun to design and build and she turned out exactly as I had imagined her. She has the smallest body of all the animals, but has long arms and legs and a tail that almost matches her body in size.
 |
| that tail! |
I was so pleased to find these great green buttons in my button jar - they make perfect eyes.
 |
| and that face! |
At Painted Bunting, all of our dolls are made from felted wool from thrift shop shelves. We don't buy items that still have wear, instead we gravitate to the items that were accidentally felted, or have rips or stains. Not because we're that cheap, but because we can't justify destroying a perfectly useful garment where so many textiles are already going to waste.
What a great recycling idea, bringing a new life to worn out garments :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete