pirihirajames
  • about
  • home
  • sculpture
  • Listening to the Land
  • fibre works
    • Artworks & Exhibition 2020
    • Artworks & Exhibition 2019
    • Art Works & Exhibitions 2018
    • Art Works & Exhibitions 2017
    • Art Works 2016
  • photojournal
  • Blog
  • Contact

Dolls . . . an origin story

4/5/2015

 
When my daughter was little I didn't need to make her knitted toys as her Nanna was a knitting whizz, fast & clever. 
Nan used to make all sorts of animals, people, & the most amazingly cute bobble-eyed frogs !  She often used Jean Greenhowe patterns and both my daughter & I loved them.

When my niece was born 5 &1/2 years ago I was ecstatic for 2 reasons.
For the first time I became a real Aunty & she was a girl !

I don't remember when or how I came to know of Fiona McDonald's book
Babes in the Wool but I knew that I would knit one of her dolls as a Christmas gift for my niece & so I did.

Picture
Dolly
Picture
Montana
We called her Dolly.

I knit another doll from the book, just for interest sake & thoroughly enjoyed the process, particularly making the doll size garments. 
Her name is Montana & she lives in my studio.

I put the big dolls aside after Montana and was thrilled when I found Fiona McDonald's next book Knitted Fairies which enabled the next Christmas prezzie. 

Picture
Lilly
I made Lilly.
Picture
Lilly with her wings
I wanted to make another fairy & decided that I had learnt enough from Susan B Anderson's Craftsy class 'Wee Ones' to have a go at knitting a little fairy in the round. 
So I did. 

Picture
Fairy with no name
Picture
Montana & Fairy with no name
 . . .  Sad to say I could never decide on a name for this wee girl & she was made out of scraps so her proportions are not quite right & she is a little wonky. After completing her I realized that what really appeals to me about these fairies is their faces. 
It's those little painted eyes, sculpted noses & painted lips which bring these fairies to life.

Picture
Queenie
Picture
Queenie, Rita & Lizzie
I was delighted to be able to create Queenie using top quality New Zealand wools. 
I also enjoyed designing a knitted skirt & jacket for her. 
Her jacket is based on another patten from Fiona's book.

I further refined my doll pattern whilst making Rita & Lizzie, who came to live & hang out with Queenie.
Picture
Raupo & Rata (twins)
Picture
A friend commissioned twin fairies as Christmas gifts for her twin granddaughters so Rātā & Raupō came to be. 
I had been struggling making child safe wings with enough integrity to hold themselves up & then, out of the blue, my daughter told me she didn't like the fairies ears as they were too big & made them look like trolls!

I was shocked & saddened … to me, apart from the wings, the ears are what make a fairy.
I thought, well, I'll just make them smaller, then I realized that if I don't make ears there's no point making wings. . . . & amazingly that was an enormous relief . . . 

. . . my fairies became dolls again.

Picture
Storm
Picture
(L to R) Sage, Moana, Amber, Storm & Ruby
Storm was the first.

I sent a photo to my now 5yr old niece for approval & she suggested to her daddy that Aunty Sal could make an 'Elsa'. I took that as a compliment.

With my pattern worked out, materials for eyes & lips that I was happy with & an assortment of New Zealand wools that I liked, I made the first 5 sisters.

I have found that their personality & story usually come to me as I'm knitting them, often their name as well. 
This combination of details & the colour I've chosen for their body suit somehow determines their eye & lip colour.
Their hair is always fun & I usually choose the hair colour & 'style' based on whim. 
These 5 girls all wear bespoke knitted skirts & I have designed & knit custom coats & cardis.*  
Their clothes are removable. 

Picture
doll clothes: coats, cardis & skirts made specifically for each doll
Picture
RoseAnna
Picture
RoseAnna & her outfit
RoseAnna is the latest, using a different wool & she has a sewn fabric skirt & a crochet cowl instead of a coat. 

I'm happy with their base pattern & I'm continually planning & making new dolls. 

Although time consuming they are a pleasure to make, because all of a sudden, there they are, complete. 

Beautiful, small, silent companions . . . . waiting to catch your eye & make you smile.

All the dolls who are currently available for purchase can be found here.


* I have used techniques I learnt in Wendy Barnard's Creativebug class Top Down Sweater knitting, including taking the dolls measurements, to calculate stitch counts & shaping! This was an enormously satisfying achievement. 
I was amazed that it worked & that they fit so well.
I look at these tiny little garments & giggle as I still can't believe I managed to do them. 
I have never designed & knit garments for humans !


Comments are closed.
    About
    ​
    Picture
    Hi, I'm Sally
    I'm a fibre artist who loves botanicals - especially NZ native plants
    you can find me on 
    ​instagram & ravelry 

    Categories

    All
    2017 IG Challenge
    2018 Challenge
    #52weeksofbotanicals
    #64millionartists
    #anotheryearofbotanicals
    Autumn
    Biblio Art Awards
    Birthday Sale
    Botanical Dyes
    Botanicals
    Chestnut Springs
    Clothes
    Collaboration
    Covid 19
    Daily Practice
    Diary
    Distractions
    Diy
    Drafting Sewing Patterns
    Embroidery
    Embroidery Artworks
    Exhibition
    Feathers
    Holiday
    Listening To The Land
    Making Ink
    Making Your Own Clothes
    Market
    Matariki
    Melbourne
    Monoprints
    Natural Dyes
    Natural World
    New Works
    Origin Stories
    #our52weekproject
    Paru
    Personal Map Making
    Plant Dyes
    Poetry
    Puanga
    Purses
    Recipes
    #recipesforRuchita
    Resources
    Sculpture
    Seamount Series
    Sewing
    Sewing Garments
    Shades Of Place
    Spring
    Summertime
    Thoughts
    Thread Work
    Toys
    Weaving
    Wheest Creative Assignments
    Wild Writing
    Wintertime
    W I P

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly