Adieu to The Mad Hatter

 

Saying goodbye to one of my creations today. The Mad Hatter has gone to live with Malissa, who has been admiring him for some time. I've always intended to sell my dolls, but when it comes right down to it, it's a little like giving a child up for adoption. I've grown attached to this guy! The Christmas cash is going to come in handy, though, I must admit.

The Hatter was made in the summer of 2010 for the Art Dolls Only "Wonderland Blog Event". There were eighty or so dollmakers from all over the world who participated in making character dolls from Alice in Wonderland. We all finished our dolls, then posted photos on our blogs and spent a weekend blog hopping to share and see each others' work, making friends along the way. The variety of interpretations was just amazing. It was the first challenge I'd ever done and was an absolutely great experience in pushing myself to meet a specific outcome... and a deadline!

Here are the links back to my original blog posts about him, where you can see more photos.
Down the Rabbit Hole
 Wonderland Sneak Peek

So long, goofy guy... you will be missed!

Down the Rabbit Hole... Wonderland Blog Event

Welcome to my own little corner of Wonderland. The day has arrived and I can finally introduce you to my Wonderland challenge doll. This was my first doll challenge ever... and I had such great fun! Here he is in all his finished and completely mad glory... The Mad Hatter.

My Hatter is inspired mostly by Tenniel's classic Wonderland illustrations. I'll admit there are hints of the goofy Disney version and his wavy red hair pays slight homage to Tim Burton's recent incarnation, played by Johnny Depp, but the similarities end there.

He is 13 inches tall from the top of his hat to the toes of his striped stocking feet. The head and face are sculpted from Creative Paperclay, over a base of aluminum foil. Hair is hand-dyed Romney wool fleece. The body is a stuffed and weighted cloth construction; forearms and lower legs are polymer clay. All clay body parts were painted with acrylic paint and sealed with matte acrylic spray.

 

I used cloth-wrapped wire armature for the upper arms, as I was shooting for the particular pose in this Tenniel drawing, and needed extra stiffness and support.

Costuming was by far the most enjoyable part of this doll, once color and fabric decisions were made. The hat... possibly the most distinctive and essential part of the Hatter's identity... turned out just exactly as I'd planned, which made me a very happy hat maker! It is made from muslin, painted with several coats of thinned acrylic paint and trimmed with a shimmering bronze grosgrain ribbon.

The Hatter's jacket was a challenge to my garment making skills, as I was starting from scratch and designing my own pattern. I made a scrap cloth "mock up" first to do his fittings and fine-tune the pattern. The lightweight pinwale corduroy turned out to be just the perfect weight... and the result was quite a handsome jacket. Glass beads serve as buttons on both vest and jacket. Collar and cuffs are starched white cotton, stitched in place.

I wanted to make his vest from the same vintage cotton madras plaid I used for his pants, but he chose this bold Hoffman batik instead. He even has tiny wool felt shoes... but can never manage to keep them on!

Here's my original working sketch...

Oh, my.... tea parties can be so exhausting!





Thank you all for joining me... it's been grand!