Once upon a time...

I made a lot of vintage style cloth dolls. I had been making and selling cloth dolls for a few years in local shows and galleries when a friend e-mailed me and asked me to join a vintage cloth doll making group. The rest is history.

Below is the first vintage pattern (Butterick) doll I made for an online challenge.

Along the way, I became a doll collector, researcher, book & pattern collector, and an occasional speaker about vintage cloth dolls.

My special interest is the work of Edith Flack Ackley, but I enjoy all antique and vintage cloth dolls as well as dolls from other materials. I do collect and carve Hitty dolls upon occasion but wood is not my first choice to work with. This is the first Hitty I carved and I her name is Hitty Primavera.


The doll below I made from paper clay using directions from an old "McCall's Magazine." They called for bread dough but I think paper clay will last longer.



It's funny. I am an abstract painter but I also paint and draw realistic things as well as my cartoon-like little characters. When it comes to dolls, I have made my fair share of art dolls and contemporary dolls as well as art paper dolls.

At one point I spent a year making primitive dolls. Here is a very tiny primitive doll I made. That is a tablespoon, by the way, not a tea spoon.


Here is a poppet from a pattern by Christine Le Fever. I made it a little smaller than her original pattern.

It is an endless exploration. In the beginning, more than a decade ago, I was really into making money with them. Then for years I just gave them away. Now I do both--sell and give away --and also make them for myself!

What is your passion? What do you collect? Do you go from one genre to another like I do? I switch from paint and paper to cloth or wood and sometimes combine them all in one doll.

The vintage style/pattern dolls below are all made by doll makers who are still active (with the exception of Mary ) on the Internet and were in the group I belonged to. I have many more cloth dolls by known and unknown makers in my collection. At some point I will share some of my favorites.

I hope you enjoy looking at my dolls...and that you enjoy your day!

made by Eileen Stewart

Made by Danna Banana

Made by the late Mary Vlasak

Made by Ike Putney

Poppet

Last week I was going through my book marks and came across some that were defunct/dead, some that I had never visited, and some that were just so nice that I had to stop and look at some web sites and blogs.

One of those sites was by Christine LeFever. She is a doll maker whose work I have always admired along with artists like Nicol Sayre, Christine Crocker and others. I didn't discover this type of doll or doll making until it was almost too late. When I discovered Folk & Whimsy catalog, it was at the end of publication.

At her web site, I saw a pattern for a doll called a Poppet. I decided to make the doll. But, I made the doll 9 inches tall rather than the size in the pattern. I think she came out quite cute.

While I was looking through Christine's site, I saw that she has a blog.

In her blog, there is a link to an estate sale that she has online. She has some unusual and well priced items. I did make a purchase while I was there. You will enjoy looking around and if you make a purchase, Christine is a delight to buy from.

Now that I made this doll, I must return to the ever-present clutter here and go on with some other projects that need attention. The weather has gone from wicked cold to wicked warm here , so it is finally looking a bit like spring. And that means? Spring cleaning.

Enjoy your day!