AuntieBunny’s blog

I wanted to share a photo of the flowers I received for Mother's Day!  They are beautiful and I love them!!

 Hitty has a dress!  This is the first of several that I have already cut out and just need to put together. I decided that I'd get a whole slew of them cut at the same time so that I could just do the sewing for each when I get the chance. Hitty Mae's clothes and undies are all handsewn with the exception of the dress hem and attaching the ruffle on this dress. The bodice is lined with white cotton lawn fabric and the back seam of the dress has a French seam. 

I have to make some adjustments to the neck of future dresses since I think the cloth Hitty doll the pattern was intended for must have a smaller neck. But easily remedied. 

I would have photographed her in front of the picture in the Hitty book of her dancing in front of the candle but I don't have the book. :)

Hitty Mae is happy and I think she'll soon be planning a tea party for the other smalls and is starting to write the invitations already.


I can't help it, I really like the way this little compromise of wood and cloth Hitty and her frilly dress turned out!

Here is Hitty Mae in her set of Undieloons(word I just made up) that I made for her out of white cotton lawn material with a touch of cream lace. I wanted to figure out a way to reduce the bulk of material at her waist once she is fully dressed so I adapted a pattern that combines a chemise and pantaloons. The waist is elasticized with stretchy thread used for making jewelry and seems to work great!

There are 1/4 inch white double faced satin shoulder straps and an opening in the back so the whole thing is removeable.

I haven't decided if I want to stitch "Hitty" in red cross stitching on the upper area yet. I sort of like it the way it is now, truth be told.

Oh my, I almost forgot!
Her full official name is Hitty Mae!!

Usually, when I have not posted in a day or two it's because I've been working a project or something.  So, what have I been doing? The cloth body for a hand carved (not by me) Hitty doll.  I noticed that some of the cloth doll people also have a bit of a passion for a little wooden doll by the name of Hitty. 

My doll collection includes dolls made in lots of different media and some of my dolls are made from wood. My wood dolls are just small little things but I'd never heard of "Hitty". I started doing some searching and good heavens the web sites devoted to her is astounding!  She's a small doll measuring in at 6 1/4 inches tall and handcarved. Lots more info on her can be found here at:
Hitty.org


Okay, so I thought I'd see if I could hunt up a doll and buy one. Uh, NOT!  My pockets are not quite as deep as that. LOL

Thankfully, Hitty can be made from different kinds of material other than wood. I compromised.  I found someone who carves whole Hitty's and her friends and also carves the Hitty head/shoulder pieces that can be attached to a cloth body.  Hooray, something I can manage! I think I'm going to have to get a nice vintage hardback copy of the Hitty book but I suppose that'll have to wait until I can swing the $$ for that though.

Thought you'd like to see my Hitty in progress.  I've sewn her arms and her legs, painted her little black boots with white stockings and red garters. They all have to be attached to the body now and a dress made.  Hope I don't mess anything up now just when I'm getting close to completing my own little Hitty!

Bless Bettsi at Tender Arts for wanting to pass along the "Arte y Pico" Award to me! What a generous soul she is for the kind words she wrote when she bestowed this award.

The "Arte y Pico" award was created/made to be given out to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their works, whether it be writing, artwork or more. When one receives this award it is considered a "special honor". Once you receive this award, you are to pass it on to at least 5 others. For more info on this wonderful award, where it originated, please visit Arte y pico at their blog.

It's only been recently that I've been able to feel any creativity whatsoever so I'm a bit speechless to say the least.  So I'll just get to passing on this award to those that have inspired me.

Margaret McInness from A Doll Shop of My Own, I bought a doll from her on my birthday and when I received it a few days later, I was truly captivated by the sweet little Treasure that is my doll. She does outstanding work and it inspires me to do my best on the dolls I make.

Martha of Jelliesjamsdolls, she jumped right in and gave me the warmest welcome and said the nicest things when I first joined the Edith Flack Ackley doll group. Her encouragement made me feel right at home, just like her blog does.

Ruth Wilson at Tricks and Manners, she created the Cloth Doll Makers group on Vox and I was very happy there was a place I could join right off the bat. Her dolls are wonderful!

Terri at Reikidolls, another great inspiration on the Vox Cloth Doll Makers group. She uses the neatest materials when she makes her dolls, makes me want to try that sometime!

and, Natalie at The Wades Blog, how she finds the time to create all the lovely and various things that she does in tandem with all the things required of a wife and mom, is definitely an inspiration!

You all are fabulous and I want to thank you all for everything you all write about, every photo you all share, every message you all send that helps your fellow artist along!!

                       I am having a hard time deciding what to  do next. I'm happy making the EFA dolls but, at the same time, I don't want to stop making other types of dolls either.

I've discovered a vintage book on making what would be termed in modern times as ethnic dolls. They are cloth dolls about fourteen inches tall. The torso/head/neck are one piece and the arms and legs are sewed on separately. Hair is made of yarn and can be done in a few styles and the facial features are embroidered. There are simple patterns for the costumes, mostly it's the embellishments and such that make the difference in how they look. In a case or two, though, there are even knitting instructions for making the outfits. I love that! All the colorful outfits and different ways that the various cultures of each doll is depicted, once a doll is finished, are wonderful to me.

Interestingly enough, there are also patterns for making six and eight inch dolls for some of the dolls. They are strikingly similar to the EFA patterns.

So now I waffle back and forth about which doll I want to do and which size, ad infinitum.

Dollie in Waiting, waits no more and she has a name, Beth!! She's all done and we are both relieved that there weren't any more mishaps in the making of Beth. She is tall for her age, I must say. But I think that has to do with the fabric I used for her body. Her clothes are sewed to her body so they can't be removed.

Truthfully, I can't say that I like that in the long run. If she should last any length of time, and needed sprucing up just how would a person do that?  I dunno.
She also has a cape and bonnet and as soon as I get the chance I'll photograph her in those too.

It seems to me like I take a long time in making them, and quite a few, oh what's the phrase...oh yeah, man hours. :)
 
The time put into them almost makes me want to shut them away where the sunlight won't damage or fade the fabric and such. But then, if I did that I couldn't enjoy them. And I get much enjoyment from these little dolls being all around.

And just think, there can never be another made exactly like it. They can look similar but there can only be one because each face is sewn individually and can't be replicated again so there are no manufactured carbon copy any where else in existance. I think that's sort of awsome!

Here's a close look at her.

Didn't think I'd take so long for something so small (only one and a half inches long) and easy to make but real life things need to get done too. But I've got my first pair of little suede leather doll shoes done and I'm happy with the way they turned out.
I didn't sew them they way the way described but the way I did it, I only had to sew through one layer of leather at a time which was much easier on my hands and fingers. 
They are tied with some black DMC Baroque Crochet Cotton which is a heavier colorfast cotton thread.

One of the first books that Edith Flack Ackley had published was, "Marionettes Easy to Make! Fun to Use!". This particular book I have was published in 1957 but even earlier editions are still floating around out there. Included in my book are three large sheets of tissue patterns folded up in a back pocket that can be used to create many interesting characters and scenarios. Once the marionetts are made, in the book there are even a handful of scenes written for use to put on a small play.

I remember once that my two older daughters had each gotten a marionette from my cousin  while he was on a visit during one of his trips. My kids had just watched the movie, "Sound of Music" and thought the marionette puppet play was funny and fun to actually do so the girls decided to use the marionetts they had gotten to put on a small play for us. I thought it was so cool and really enjoyed watching them use their imagination like that. And, talk about eye/hand control. I think instead of playing quite as many video games kids should learn to work a marionette, that would give them some fine eye/hand control and they'd learn a whole lot more along the way!