Category: Dollhouse

Needle felting

‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello!

It’s been a long time since I posted last .. but then, it’s few spam messages less in your inbox 😉 I post more regularly on my Instagram page.

Meanwhile, I’ve discovered and developed a new hobby, if not an obsession.  It’s all started with a birthday present from a friend at the end of last December – a basic needlefelting kit.

And half a year later – ta-da! I’m into making animals, who are soft and poseable and  warm to touch and can be almost alive. I never thought that you can say so much through felting!

I take commissions. From £30, including a gift box.

Here are some examples.

And a little film about Arnie the dog.

Venice of Winchester

It takes a very good discipline to DO creative stuff and to keep WRITING about it! I’m not the type. My favourite subject at school was maths – maybe that’s why I like counting the stitches in crochet… but critical writing – 🙄

Anyway, I wanted to share my recent discovery – a wonderful and humorous crochet world of a Russian artist Yulia Ustinova. The piece below was inspired by her work. I was given lots of red yarn by a friend, and for a long time didn’t know what to make out of it, and then suddenly I thought that’s it would be perfect for a ‘Red girl’, which in Russian is synonymous to a ‘Beautiful maid’ (Красна девица).

She’s on a wire armature and can change positions like a real model.

She somehow managed to sign up to some life drawing classes, and was even invited to few temporary exhibitions at the Louvre. A fine example when your creation starts to live a life on its own!

And finally, few pix of the work in progress, because I like studying this kind of pictures on other people sites.

Lara

Lara, who turned 13 last month, has been my oldest daughter’s friend since they were few months old, so her birthday present had to be special. Also she is half Japanese and since ‘Amigurumi’ dolls originate from there, I had a little pressure to make this Amigurumi be worthy of its name.

I planned her slightly differently, but at some point the doll took over and started to tell me what she wants… like a hat with a feather, or buckled shoes. I made her a belt, but she didn’t like it. My shoulder was aching by the end of the week from constant crocheting, I couldn’t stop. Crocheting is a true addiction!

I used 0.75mm and 1mm hooks and Anchor cotton no.8. On a wire base.

Here is a little overview of the process with little explanation in the photo captions

The picture wire was a perfect find for making fingers
Fingers are a bit fiddly job.
The legs came a little plumpier than I hoped.
Victorian bloomers
She even has toes, which are about to be forever hidden in the sewn on shoes

Somehow I chose the same colours as my previous big doll! I must be in my blue period, like Picasso.

The efforts paid off – Lara liked it.

Amigurumi doll Anna, 12.5 cm

This is getting a little repetitive, I know, but having 5 children means that birthday parties they are invited to occur almost every other weekend. By now quite few children in our circle know that I crochet dolls and that is what expected to be a present.

This one is of a 12 year old Anna, my oldest daughter’s friend. She is English, but she came out with a little bit of Ukrainian hint to her somehow. When I started crocheting she even started to look like a Spider-Man, so I had to hide those blue leggings under a long skirt.

A studio for an artist

Continuing the theme of housing our crocheted family members into decent places to ‘live’ I decided to treat myself (as a doll) to a ‘detached’ house, or rather an artist studio. Just as well the Hobbycraft store had a perfect size wooden house for that purpose. It turned out to look more like a countess’ boudoir at the end but never mind.

I meant to take pictures of it ‘in the making’, but was so engrossed in the process that I completely forgot. I can only add that for decorating the walls and the floor I used the offcuts from some discontinued fabric/wallpaper sample books bought cheaply from the local sewing shop. The pictures on the walls are original art, drawn by our children and the flowers are real and come from our garden. You may also see the crocheted portraits of me and my husband on the wall, which sometimes leave the room ‘on loan’ to my ears as earrings.

Amigurumi presents for friends

Having five children means that there are quite a few birthday party invitations we get through the course of the year. Adjusting my late crocheting hobby into a practical one I started to make Birthday girls and boys into little amigurumi figures to give as gifts.

They are crocheted on a wire base and are about 7,5cm tall. I used 0.6 and 0.75mm hooks and Anchor no. 10 and no. 8 cotton threads

Here is Sofia’s friend Merry, who is a keen Liverpool supporter and a football player herself.

And this is Alexander’s friend Daniel, who likes tennis. He is Dutch, hence the orange colour in his clothes.

Mini home for Sofia

Lately, I have made quite a lot of stuff to share, but I find it a cumbersome job to create  a presentable post with good photography and something to write. I will try to catch up before all ‘the stuff’ goes away as presents or gets children fingerprints all over them.

This is Sofia’s space, the first room in our mini ‘bungalow’, where all my chrocheted children live. I found the ready made wooden house in Hobbycraft the other day, which has 5 little spaces, exactly the amount of my children. (Hobbycraft should give me a commission for this!)

I used lolly pop sticks for the shelves, a toothpick to make pencils and wallpaper and cloth from discontinued sample books, which you can buy cheaply in our local sewing shop. The mirror on the wall slid down while the glue was wet and I wasn’t looking, but never mind!

Oh, yes, and the chair was made from a cork wire – they make perfect chairs, why did we throw them away before??

Amigurumi #3 – Gabrielle

If you have 3 doughters – you gotta make them all!

Meet Gabrielle, the youngest. She is 3 yo., 10cm tall and can stay unaided when wearing her shoes. She is fully wired (even 3 of her 4 fingers can bend individually to hold things – don’t ask me why I didn’t give her 5 fingers – I don’t know!) and is quite flexible even to do yoga.

– What do you think of your new clothes, Gabrielle?
– I wish my eyes were blue as well, but not bad, not bad, I suppose!
– Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest to fly them all?
– I look best in an Autumnal garden!
– I hope these brunches are strong enough to hold the swings!
– Maaaam, Gabrielle has the best clothes! – Sorry, girls, quality comes with experience.
– Voulez-vous du pain, un petit oiseau?
Gabrielle welcomes you in our family home

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And now a tiny inlook of the process

Belly button – tick
First wrong face
Nearly there

Amigurumi no.2 – meet Sofia. 

 

– Can I read your book, please, Sofia? You can try on my new red shoes!

– All right then. But save my page!

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– When I grow up I’ll have a pet… like this Hotdog, the dog..

– Naaa, I bet you’ll have a cat!


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– Sofia, do you want to see my drawings?

– Hmm… The one of the panda is not too bad.


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Meet Sofia, the older sister. She loves reading, so much as she often reads while cleaning her teeth, or walking on the street, not to mention eating lunch or as the last thing before bed.

She took me as much time as painting 4 portraits would. Her sister Catherine acquired new shoes and a sketch pad in the process.

This is when ‘she’ was still ‘it’.