I have had a love of cloth dolls for years, I even collected several magazined for the cloth patterns alone. I decided if was about time to actually make one.
The doll pattermn I used for my first doll was perhaps a complex one, but after years of sewing complex costumes I thought I would have hte skills to tackle such a project.
I used a pattern from Australian Dolls and Bears and Collectables. Actually their single issue of 9 cloth doll projects.The pattern was created by Patti Medaris Culea, and the doll (Dream Fairy) had appeared in an earlier magazine.
I had wanted to use an existing pattern for my first doll, however I wanted to mark my own style on her so altered the feet and used different fabrics and colours. She is no longer a dream fairy, but a monochromatic creature perhaps yearning for her own world of colour.
I used fabric scraps from my White Eowyn dress which was a micro crepe. The texture is almost velvety and was perfect for this doll.
There is an internal wire armature which was difficult to try and stuff around.
However I managed to cut, sew, stuff and paint her in one day so I feel very confident in creating my own patterns.