I delivered my 'Punch and Judy' dolls to the Castle today, and they are very comfortable in their new theatre/home built by John McRae! When John gave me the project a couple of weeks ago, the first thing I did was go through all my boxes of fabrics and trims and pull out things that I thought would work for the dolls. I knew I wanted to work mostly with primary colors, and that I wanted the 'Baby Punch' to be done in baby blues. Amazingly, I ended up having everything I needed on hand, which is always a wonderful feeling, and the only things I purchased were the mannequin's! The heads were sculpted out of 'DAS' paperclay on 12" and 5" mannequins.
For Punch, I found a wonderful rich red wool that become the main part of his 'costume'. He "had" to have a bump on his back and a big belly, which made pattern drafting a little tricky. I was really happy how the embroidered fabric from Guatemala turned out on him, and the combination of vintage laces with other trims. I put one of the red anchors on the back of his hat, a quiet nod to all the 'Seaside' Punch and Judy shows that are so popular in England now.
Judy was less defined initially, so I gathered fabrics that had a 'country marm' feel. As you can see, I didn't use all of them. Her bonnet was created from a piece of an antique French baby bonnet, that is wired for form. Her apron is also a vintage piece. You can't see them here, but she has bright red bloomers on underneath her skirt!
Baby Punch was a surprise, as I had been asked only to do Punch and Judy. But I just couldn't leave him out! Shari, one of the Castle's employee's had recently given me the little 'duckling' handkerchief that belonged to her mother, and it became the focal point of babies costume! His dress was created of a vintage tea towel, and the hat used one of my favorite trims with bunnies on it!
All in all, they are a very happy family, full of mischief and the usual dysfunctions! ENJOY!!!
