 I'm spending this lovely rainy day sewing clothing for my new collection of cloth art dolls. The dress I'm currently working on is Victorian inspired, and I've found that to get that lovely Victorian dress shape, the dolls really need to wear a petticoat and bustle underneath.
This next group of dolls should be finished and available to purchase via my online store by the end of November. To see some of my dolls, take a look at my gallery page or have a look back through the Willowynn artworks category on my blog.
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School holidays means drawing instead of sewing. I don't know why. Also there are lots of fairy wrens flitting around at the moment. If I sit very still, they come through the windows and hop around on my desk. Here's a little watercolour drawing I made, inspired by my little friends.  We've had almost a week of steady rain here in the Northern Rivers so I've been sketching my boys with their gumboots and umbrellas, among other things...  My new dolphin soft toy sewing pattern is now available to download via my online store. My boys and I really love marine creatures and I was inspired to make this one after our regular sightings of pods of dolphins swimming in the sea at our local beach.  This sewing project is nice and simple and works really well with old denim or cotton sheeting. Enjoy!    Lovely rainy day rugged up and making things in my NEW cosy work space. I'm now in the tiny cabin in our yard, surrounded by trees. It's the work room of my dreams. Thank you Matt, for sharing it with me (it used to be his).
I'll share more work space photos here soon. Another scene from the Aesop's fable, 'The fox and the crow'... a little challenge (see previous blog post) I set for myself this year. This one is watercolour, pencil and ink on Arches paper.  © 2018 Margeaux Davis 
 At work, stuffing fabric snails while warming up in the sun.
My workroom gets the winter sun and is the best place to be when it's cold. I've opened up all the windows to let in the fresh air, as it's been really wet here lately. I'll be closing them and lighting the fire soon though... once the sun disappears behind the trees.  I found an old, torn linen cushion cover. I'm keeping the zipper and making giant snails from it. I was going to try to mend it. to use it as a cushion cover but it has a massive hole which is very frayed. Also, I think this linen is the perfect fabric for making snail shells.
I use second hand fabric for almost everything I sew - old woolen blankets, scraps and remnants. With so much fabric and old clothing going to landfill, I don't like to buy new. Also, I think things like linen and wool are so much nicer when a little worn. Giant linen snails coming to my online store very soon.  The clothing sewing patterns for my stuffed animal dolls are now available to download and print! Hooray! Now you can make little overalls, pants, coats and dresses designed to perfectly fit your Willowynn animal dolls.
These little clothes are simple to sew and are the perfect project to use your special scraps of fabric. I particularly like using remnants of old woollen pants or skirts for the little coats and old denim or corduroy for the overalls (dungarees) and pants. And little squares of cotton print fabric are perfect for the dresses.
The coats (or jackets) can be made with a hood or a collar and can even be made reversible. There are three different dress styles to make - gathered, A-line and an apron style (also reversible). My boys now have a whole wardrobe of clothes for their stuffed animals which, they discovered, fit some of their smaller non-Willowynn toys.
I'm really happy with the way these have turned out and I hope you like them. Let me know what you think. How is the fit? What did you make?
I've been busy designing some little clothing pieces for my Willowynn stuffed animal dolls. So far I've made a jacket (with or without hood), overalls, pants and some little dresses. I hope to have the sewing patterns / templates for these clothes available for you to download and print in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see the clothes you make for your Willowynn stuffed animal dolls!   Sewing patterns for jacket and overalls coming soon
To challenge myself to draw and paint more this year, I'm illustrating an Aesop's fable. It's good to push yourself out of your comfort zone from time to time, isn't it? Anyway, here is what I have so far. I really enjoy illustrating and have only just recently started using watercolour and I'm loving it!  © 2018 Margeaux Davis  © 2018 Margeaux Davis  © 2018 Margeaux Davis An alternative (or an addition) to the chocolate eggs for Easter... and a little present that can be handmade by you. My bunny and bear soft toy sewing pattern is available to download via my online shop. Plenty of time to sew this before Easter!
 This little bunny rabbit softie would be an adorable companion for a baby or small child. Designed to be endlessly carried around and looks so sweet nestled in amongst a child's pillows. I think this is the perfect project to upcycled that piece of fabric you’ve been saving for something special, like an old baby blanket or soft flannelette sheet.
To make the bunnies you see here, I used an old woollen blanket and soft pieces of grey and pink flannelette from baby bed sheets. Happy Easter! My new group of four handmade cloth art dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time - AEDT) Friday 9th March. Each one of a kind doll is around 20cm tall, handmade here in Australia from vintage and second-hand fabrics, comes with a cloak or shawl and has tiny lace-up boots painted on. Intended as an art piece to display, and not suitable as a toy for children. These dolls are priced from AUD$340 each + shipping. There's a more detailed description of the dolls below... I should also point out that these dolls sometimes sell in minutes so be sure to move through the check out process quickly if you would like one. Thank you! Margeaux Description:
Small fabric art dolls designed and handmade in Australia by myself, from carefully salvaged second hand and vintage fabric. They are firmly stuffed with wool and their limbs are attached to the body with moveable button joints. Each doll wears a removable cloak or shawl and little lace-up boots (painted on). Their dresses are not removable. Each doll bears a small 'Willowynn' logo hand-drawn onto the inside of one leg, and comes with a small signed, dated and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity. These dolls are intended as a treasure for display only and are not suitable as a toy for young children; due to delicate hand stitching, hair and small buttons. These are entirely artist-made cloth dolls with some imperfections and visible stitching. Though I have made them with the utmost care and attention to detail, spending many hours perfecting them - please be aware that limbs, head, hair and clothing are hand-stitched onto the body and will come loose if pulled repeatedly or handled roughly. Measures approximately: Length = 20cm (8in) Dolls will be carefully packaged in a lidded cardboard gift box which I have made myself from recycled brown card. All four cloth dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time - AEDT) Friday 9th March.  Lovely rainy afternoon here in my workroom, stitching tiny things.
I haven't shared any of my textile work here for a little while but rest assured, I'm still at it. I started the year a bit lacking in motivation, inspiration and confidence... so I've been occupying myself with other things, hoping it would all come back... and it has! Phew. New dolls coming soon... then lots of creatures. Six weeks at home with my kids during the school holidays means I don't get very much of my work for Willowynn done... in fact I don't really even try to get any work done. I have been drawing though... which has been so nice. I think I'll try to spend more time drawing and painting this year... it's something I used to do all the time but dropped away once I had children.     I'll have some new cloth dolls available to purchase via my online store Thursday 7th December from 10am Sydney time (Australian Eastern Daylight Time AEDT). I thought I'd add some photos of the four dolls below, along with a general description, so you can have a look before they are listed. Each doll is priced from AUD$320 + shipping. I should also point out that my dolls sometimes sell within minutes, so if you'd like to purchase one, it's a good idea to go through the checkout process as quickly as you can, so you don't miss out. Items in your cart are not reserved until you've purchase is complete. Description:These are small fabric dolls designed and handmade in Australia by myself, from carefully salvaged second hand and vintage fabric.
They are firmly stuffed with wool and their limbs are attached to the body with moveable button joints. Each doll wears a removable cloak or caplet and little shoes or lace-up boots (painted on). Their dresses are not removable. Each Willowynn doll bears a small 'Willowynn' logo hand-drawn onto the inside of one leg, and comes with a small signed, dated and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity. These dolls are intended as a treasure for display only and are not suitable as a toy for young children; due to delicate hand stitching, hair and small buttons. These are entirely artist-made cloth dolls with some imperfections and visible stitching. Though I have made them with the utmost care and attention to detail, spending many hours perfecting them - please be aware that limbs, head, hair and clothing are hand-stitched onto the body and will come loose if pulled repeatedly or handled roughly. Measures approximately: Length = 20cm (8in) Dolls will be carefully packaged in a lidded cardboard gift box which I have made myself from recycled brown card. Thanks! Margeaux  I'm running a special mushroom-making workshop in the beautiful old Federal hall, in the Byron Bay hinterland on Sunday the 10th December. We will spend the morning making some little fabric mushroom ornaments... just in time for Christmas.
In this workshop you will learn some soft sculpture techniques as well as various stitches for hand-sewing and embroidery. This class is most suitable for adults with some machine and hand sewing experience. For more information, or to make a booking, please visit my online store. I've been slowly making a sort of diorama / doll's house room to display my cloth art dolls in. As with most of the creative projects I take on, this one took a lot more time and effort than I anticipated... but I've really enjoyed it and have learned a lot along the way.  Diorama / room made using coffee-stained popsicle sticks I wanted to make one large room with interchangeable walls, windows, a door and wooden floor boards. I really love the way it's turned out - kind of like a cottage or cabin in the woods. I'll continue working on it - adding things like book shelves, furniture, curtains etc., but just wanted to show you what it looks like at this stage and describe how I made the floor, windows and door. I'll start off by explaining how I made the tiny floor boards, and save the window/door tutorial for a later post...  To make the floor boardsYou will need:
Instructions:
Suggestions for non-toxic DIY wood stains*:
 One of my dolls inspecting the new space. So delighted to find this lovely article written by Janai Velez featuring my workroom in the November issue of Homespun magazine. It really is beautifully written and I love the way Janai has described my dolls. I always draw a blank when asked to describe my work so it's really helpful to hear someone else's words.  Homespun magazine November 2017 Homespun is a treasure of a magazine, if sewing is your thing, and is packed full of inspiring projects, tips and interviews. The magazine is available from Australian newsagents throughout November and is also available as a digital copy online at www.zinio.com.  Homepun magazine November 2017
These embroidered star, tree and round ornaments are easy to sew, make great presents and look lovely on a Christmas tree. I've put together some simple instructions, an illustrated stitch library and templates, to help you make these at home. You can download the PDF sewing pattern here, ready for you to print at home. I hope you enjoy making these. You'll find more Willowynn sewing patterns available to download here.
I've finally finished the group of dolls I've been working on these past few weeks.
So I'll have five new cloth dolls available to buy via my online store from Thursday 12 October, 10am (Australian eastern savings time (AEST). I hope you like them. They each have a little cloak or cape and are packaged in their own handmade gift box with letter-pressed certificate of authenticity. Each doll will be priced from AUD$280 + shipping costs (worldwide). I feel I should point out too that these dolls are intended for display only and are not suitable as a toy for small children, as they are quite delicate.  Tiny doll dress by Willowynn The group of cloth dolls I'm working on right now are taking a LOT longer to finish than I anticipated... and school holidays start next week. Soooo I hope to have five new dolls available here in early October rather than September (as originally promised). Here's one of their tiny dresses...
 French knots on one of my mushroom hanging ornaments I made a little video demonstration (below), showing how to embroider French knots. I found this embroidery stitch quite tricky when I first tried it and looking at diagrams in embroidery books didn't really help me. But I've since taught myself how to sew them so thought I'd show you how I do it. The key is to hold the thread taut with one hand while you wrap it around the needle and insert it into the fabric. Hold on to the thread until just before it is pulled all the way through the fabric (see video below). This is an example of a singular French knot but you can make them larger by wrapping the thread around your needle twice rather than once. This video shows how I stitch the French knots onto my fabric mushroom hanging ornaments. ... and here is a little diagram showing French knots in more detail. I drew this a while ago for one of my sewing patterns. Enjoy!   Thimblettes with leather disks glued inside - great alternative for hand-stitching. I've been searching for the perfect thimble... comfortable but sturdy enough to protect my finger. Hours of hand-stitching and embroidery can result in a very sore (or even pierced) middle finger tip, but the hard thimbles always seem a bit cumbersome to me (maybe I'm not using them right?).
Anyway, a while ago I found a rubber thimblette, usually used for handling paper... I tried it out and now I never hand-sew without one on my finger. They are very comfortable, but a bit too thin to protect your finger when pushing a needle through thick fabric, so I cut a little disk of very hard leather and glue it to the inside of the thimblette, in the tip. The rubber helps to pull the needle through fabric too. It works really well and feels so comfortable that I often leave the house with it still on. You can get them for around 70 cents each and they come in different sizes. I buy mine from my local office supply store. I know there are a lot of different thimbles on the market that will probably do what I need. and I'd like to try them out, but these do work pretty well for me. What do you use? Can you recommend a good thimble?  This face looking up at me while I embroider his tummy. I know he's not real but I kind of hope I'm not hurting him...
Two new barn owl soft sculptures will be available via my online store from 10am Thursday 31 August (Sydney time). |
Hello and welcome...My name is Margeaux Davis. I design and create cloth art dolls, textile sculpture and soft toy sewing patterns from the beautiful Northern Rivers region in Australia. Categories
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