And even more new dolls...

More new dolls...

Eilis

Celeste
(a custom doll)

Elena, a centauress

The Grey Lady Ghost doll

Lura

Amaranth the witch

Anelise the gypsy

Annabelle the acrobat and her Amazing Pony, Pete
(One of the ghostly orphans from the Orphanage of Lost Souls)

Cat

Ava

New Dolls -- Meg

A lot of things happened between 2001 and 2006, when I started making dolls regularly again. There were some in between--I think I stopped making Horned Faeries sometime in 2002--but I didn't make many dolls at all. Part of the reason was that most of my dollmaking supplies were in Storage for almost three years, which kind of cut back on my ability to make dolls, don't you think? :)

And I made other things during that time--I crocheted bears and learned how to knit, among other things. But I missed dollmaking.

After buying my own house and finally having all my supplies in one room and rather organized, I made a couple of dolls in 2005, but I wanted something different. It wasn't until I made my first sweater bear (and those that came after him) that I started considering the use of cashmere, merino wool, and wool sweaters for dolls. For bears, that's one thing, of course. But dolls? I wasn't certain it would work.

Meg was my first attempt at recycling sweaters to make dolls. On April 11, 2006, I finished her, and I was very pleased at the results:

My goal was to have a fairly simple arm and leg pattern as my nod to my love of primitive style dolls, but still have a sort-of different look as well. If that makes sense. I wanted to try for joints, or interior wiring for posing, and I wanted to utilize recycled fabrics, beads, yarn, vintage buttons, and just about anything else I could manage to come up with.

Specifics: Cashmere 'skin', needlesculpted face, cashmere blend tunic, mohair/angora/acrylic 'tights', chenille crochet beaded belt with czech beads and rainbow fluorite chips, handknotted black handspun yarn hair, antique mother-of-pearl button joints (all matching) on both her arms and her legs. Painted face. Chalk blush. Jointed arms and legs (button joints on knees and sewn on elbows.) 13" tall.


Meg is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Old Dolls-- Edara

Edara was my first Horned Faerie, from October 5, 2001. She was fun to make, and that's why I ended up making quite a few dolls with the same pattern before life interrupted and I had to stop.

She was made out of tea-dyed linen, although you can't tell in the picture above. Here is a close-up:

That 'birthmark' you see was actually a stain on the linen that I didn't notice until I had already cut out the pattern pieces.

She is made from the same pattern as Mel and Celeste below.

Her hair was vintage wool yarn, and she wore an outfit recycled from old t-shirt fabric. She even has a very nice cloak. Here's a picture from the back:

She sold on ebay, which is one of the reasons why I kept making them! :)

Old Dolls-- Celeste (pic in progress from 2001)

This is a picture of Celeste-in-progress from October of 2001. I'm not sure where the finished pictures are, but if I find them, I will post more.

Celeste was one of the Urban Fae--Horned Faeries. I still have a lot of snail shells left to use, actually.

Old Dolls-- Mel

Mel--Oct. 14, 2001.

Muslin, velvet, recycled shimmery polyester underskirt, vintage beads, paint, and handspun yarn. Crocheted mohair hat with beaded accents. Here is a closeup of her hat:

I believe she was about 11" tall, and handsewn. She sold on ebay.

A detail of her dress:

This was the simple doll pattern I have--it's really not difficult, but the head is three pieces and makes it harder to sew if you don't know what you're doing. :)

Mel has the distinction of being my very first witch.

Welcome to House St. Clair's Doll Gallery

Here is where I will put pictures of my dolls, both old and new.