Barbara Willis, cloth doll maker extroidenaire and good friend recently asked me to contribute a special paper doll to be part of a new book she is working on! I was thrilled about the invitation. Her instructions to me, included a lovely victorian image and the words 'Make Her Pretty'! I immediately thought of THIS DRESS that I created for the Bloglandia Ball! If you know Barbara, you know she takes 'Pretty' very seriously, and she has a true LOVE of anything French! I decided on the sophisticated colour palette of pink, brown and tan, and a theme of Marie Antoinette. After digging through piles of papers, baskets of ribbons and a box of lovely fabrics I pieced together her skirt. The under-layer of a beautiful calligraphy (see last piece to far right, and piece just under her hand pointing down, was completely covered by the time I finished! I hadn't planned on adding the music paper panier, but felt like the skirt needed something to 'hold it together, when I reached that point.
Her blouse was created from a lovely bright pink tie-dyed silk that I had ironed onto fabric. I then added hand-painted silk flower petals for her sleeves, with music paper cuffs. For her hair, I decided to 'needle felt' white wool on top of a piece of white felt. I love the realistic look it gave! I then sewed on the ribbons, trim, and pearls and added feathers on top. The 'Golden Bough was an afterthought... she needed something to hold. I fiddled around with some Dresden antlers and came up with a branch like shape that I liked. The idea of Marie holding court with a Golden Bough in hand appeals to my romantic sensibilities!
This last photo shows the image I started with. THANK YOU Barbara for letting me PLAY with you!!!
