The Folly of the Dolly

When  about to put this dolly's head through a hole on the fragment of lace cloth (the starting point of the costume) I thought of the artist Mirka Mora. Many years ago I attended a workshop and spent some time with her,. Her hair was greying at the time, dark eyes and ruby lips. She expressed herself lots of cheeky smiles and giggles and had wicked sense of humour.  This dolly with flowing grey hair ( of old darning wool) and flowing dress for me has a spirit like that of the Mirka I remember.

Girl with Attitude

A friend delivered a box of treats tonight!  A beautiful tatterered, woven and drawn threadwork cloth, very, very passed its useby date, has become a costume for this little character with attitude.

I stitched the fine linen cloth onto a dolly shape, filled the sections with a soft washed and carded wool and she started to come to life

. The limbs twisted and turned and even before she had a face, she had a mind of her own.

 The hair was form an old card with darning wool on it, and the pig tails emerged after the wound section was cut away from the card and stitched into a wig shape.

I thought the section of embroidered cloth with the most holes and wear would make an old time dress.

 The doll and the cloth had other ideas!

 I slipped a holed section over her head and the piece became a cheeky little' short dress number'. Of course under the 'cossie' she has some very classy underwear. Pink lace knickers and bra. ...and she has the cutest of belly buttons.

Forage Dolly recovers from New Years Eve

 Sometimes you need to a helping hand to get up after an event that knocks the stuffing out of you!

 This little dolly is made of linen scraps and apron fabrics that were left over from the Apron Forage Quilt. She is also filled with offcuts from the cotton quilt wadding used for the quilt. Her face is hand stitched with painted cheeks and woollen dread locks.  In one hand she clutches a bunch of flowers.