"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue?
It rather denotes a lack of courage."


~Practical Magic~

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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Rag Doll

Finally, a little spare time to sit down and share.

My grandmother would spend her winter months sewing .
At any given time you would see her with some type of thread or yarn in her busy hands.
Whether it was tatting , embroidery ,yarn ,doll dresses you name it she created with it.

Her stitches were perfect with speed from her hands.
I imagine working in a glove factory in her early years did help in improving the speed at which she was able to create.
Under Grandmother's watchful and helpful eye she guided all the women in our family to learn how to sew.

My first lesson to learn was mending socks.
Having painted faces on Grandmother's Darning eggs helped to hold all our attention.
As we grew older so did the lessons she would share.
I still find myself looking for a needle and thread in the winter months as some old habits are hard to give up.

I love the look of Primitive Art and decided I would try my hand at it.
Here is a little project I created while teaching myself some of the tricks to Primitive cloth creations.

Lets see...there is tea dying , Using Ranger Ink, painting, embroidery, creating hair from Rags,stitching a 3d nose and drying techniques.


I used an old shirt of mine and some lace from a set of my grandmothers old curtains (just to old to hang :) for the dolls dress. Touch of embroidery for the smock.


A close up of her face and hair. Not having any yarn for her hair ,I used strips of left over cloth from my doll pattern.



I need to finish her shoes with laces, still have not decided on how I want them to look.



Here are some links I found helpful in helping me to create this doll.

Pattern Jackie's Girls by Annie's Cupboard
How to Needle Sculpt a Nose tutorial by Traci Dunn Courtesy of PrimMart
contributed by KKL Primitives
If you really want to see some wonderful Primitive Creations out there...check the ones showcased on the Ditty Bag...such creativity and talent in the World of Primitive Crafting.
Just a little thanks to all the crafty folks out there,who spend the time and willingness to share all the helpful tips and Craft tutorials found in the cyber world !
They help bring Crafting back to the kitchen table for sharing.
Take Care and a Crafty Day to you all :)


5 comments:

Lauri said...

Wow! THis is so cute!!!! I think this is such a sweet and lovable doll; so much love went into making it!

Anonymous said...

I like it Mom. Reminds me of the dolls that Grandma Jones made for us.

Anonymous said...

I love her!! Nice creation!

Angie Blom said...

wow, this is wonderful Jean Marie, you have a knack for all sorts of crafts. I love it.

Marcie said...

What a sweet doll, a real treasure!