New Easter Peg Doll

I came up with a new design for my peg dolls, just in time for Easter.  Meet the Easter gnome, who loves Easter so much she dresses up like the Easter bunny.
I needle felted the nest and eggs from roving and I have been trying out new embroidery stitches.  Recently, I went to the library and checked out about 10 books on embroidery and crewel.  Generally, what I found is there is a short basic set of stitches with a lot of variations to make them look different. 

 

 

Lastly, here is a photo of one of my lovebug peg dolls.  The heart felt is from an experiment with alcohol inks. 

Some More Dolls in Progress

Here are two more dolls in progress.  I created the pattern, cut out doubled muslin and cotton fabric and machine and hand stitched these two little lovelies.  I  painted the eyes last night.  I decided to keep the focus on the eyes and make the mouth and nose very simple.  For me this harkens to the Waldorf ideal a bit, where their dolls have neutral, primitive faces to engage the imagination.  The eyes go beyond primitive here, and certainly indicate personality, but I don't think that's a bad thing, in this case. 

I think these dolls must be friends, even though they have very different personalities.  Originally I was making one doll as a birthday present for a little girl I know, and then I figured I'd make two.  I'm torn now, as I'm thinking I'd like to send them in to see if they might get published in Stuffed or Prims.  I might just have to make some more with the same pattern.

I'll post more pictures when they have hair and clothes :).

 

 

I Love Making Gnomes

So, to take a break from making dolls and collages to sell, I decided to make some toys for my kids. I have been wanting to create these little guys for awhile. I came across this style of peg doll when I was researching Waldorf dolls. They fit with the connection to nature that is part of the Waldorf philosophy. Mine are made of wood pegs that I bought. I covered them in 100% wool felt and embroidered with cotton embroidery floss. Everything is hand sewn except I did use a little bit of fabric glue to attach the hats. I'm thinking of maybe creating some to sell. What do you think?

By the way, there are more pictures of these little guys in my new dolls and sculpture gallery on my webpage. You can click here and visit, if you are interested.