In progress...

Here are two dolls that are still "in the works".
On the left: I call her "Trust". This was my attempt to get around my perfectionist nature and just quickly throw together a "prim" doll, without using someone else's pattern. I very quickly traced this out by hand... on the fly... and managed some pleasing proportions. TRUST... is the word that popped into my head when my "self-critic" tried to take over and tell me I couldn't possibly do this successfully. I forged ahead and "just did it". Her skin fabric is cut from a vintage bedsheet that I found in between the front and back of a log cabin quilt I bought YEARS ago at a garage sale, for $1.50. I used my own version of Donna Veal's recipe to "age" the white cotton... with espresso, cinnamon and cocoa. She still smells WONDERFUL! Her limbs are button-jointed, and I now know that I need to buy a LONG needle for accomplishing this in the future. The felt heart is covering a hole that sort of got bigger during the stuffing and rinsing and whatnot. She is still waiting for me to conjure up some sort of appropriate clothing.

On the right: "Aqua Girl" - This one is made from a Patti Medaris Culea pattern, from her book, Creative Cloth Dolls. I had no skin-colored fabric on the day I was driven to put her together, so I used a great aqua/teal batik fabric I had on hand. I absolutely LOVE the legs on this particular pattern. They are capable of so many flattering poses! Her face is drawn on with Prismacolor pencils and Pigma Micron pens. I refused to follow the book's face formula, and just did it my own way, finishing it off with a purple jewel bindi. The hair is Romney wool fleece, hand-dyed to this exquiste deep burgundy color by my fiber-artist friend, Eileen. It needs a bit more tidying up, and perhaps some hair ornaments glued in. Her blouse is made from an already-beaded Indian cotton top I picked up at Goodwill and cut up... her skirt from Fabric Depot remnants; burgundy satin and teal tulle. Her waistband is a jade bead necklace that my neighbor, Diane, bought for me in China. I think she wants me to finish her off with a corset made from a thrift store jacket I bought recently... a very thin rose-colored suede. This would greatly enhance the illusion that she actually has something other than a totally FLAT chest!

They both perch up there on the top shelf... beckoning me to FINISH them... while I am drawn on to other projects.