doll design sketch

doll design sketch, originally uploaded by kat coyle.

Happy Sunday everyone! This drawing is for one of my fantasy dolls that I've yet to make. I thought she could be made with hand knit pieces and fancy fabrics dotted with embroidery.

doll

This weekend we helped to celebrate our friend’s 7th birthday!
We made her a doll as a gift. I employed Johnny’s help. He was the master stuffer; the parts I stuffed he re-stuffed to look better. There is an art to stuffing. After trial and error we discovered that a size 19 Daisy knitting needle was the best tool for getting to the bottoms of the arms and legs. The needle nose pliers helped in extracting stuffing that had gotten packed too tightly.
Felix tentatively named her Marcia but the naming is entirely up to the recipient.
I dug through my swatch stash and found an exact replica in doll size of my Knitty skirt. And, the best part is that the knitty skirt belongs to our friend’s mom.



Her blouse is made from two swatches I knit for the lace dress in Greetings from Knit Café. I crocheted them together with some bright pink mohair. Her necklace is a string of sequins and her hair is Donegal tweed.

dolly

Yesterday, I made another doll. Felix asked me, "what's her name mommy?" I told him to come up with one and the first thing he said was Freddy. But, he changed his mind to Dimples. In the evening when we sat down for a marathon imaginary tea party and (imaginary) video game session with the dolls he decided on Dolly. Dolly it is.

Her little dress is made of two hand knit rectangles with a centered cable. Dolls don't have shoulders so I just ran a drawstring around the top ribbing to shape it. The hem is a crocheted shell edging. I was thinking about embellishing her some more with big heart hair ornaments and some beaded necklaces but Felix was opposed to the hearts. He grabbed the heart out of my hands and tried to rip it in half. Boys!

The best part of making these little dolls is when Felix plays with them. He wants me to talk to him through the dolls. He says "talk to the dolls mommy" which means make the dolls talk to me. I love that. Before I had Felix I didn't spend a lot of time around kids so I forgot what goes on during play time.

pirate kitty

My days this week are spent playing with Felix, running errands and making a new toy, Pirate kitty for our little friend who has a birthday this coming Saturday with a pirate theme.
Nights are spent working furiously towards my fast approaching deadline for Interweave Knits next spring issue. I don't like knitting on work projects with Felix around because I tend to make a lot of mistakes that have to be ripped out. So, I've been knitting from 9 pm until 3 or 4 in the morning. After one in the morning I usually get a second wind, and as long as I don't have to think too hard I can knit without falling asleep in my chair. The pattern writing part has to happen much earlier in the night.


Pirate kitty without her hat and eye patch, you can see her earring made from an I-cord in two shades of gold crochet cotton.
Felix and I looked at Jack Sparrow’s costume for some sash and jewelry inspiration. Her eyes and nose are from my vintage button collection.


Pirate kitty with her hat and eye patch, Johnny pitched in and built the hat with felt fused to a plastic form. He painted the skull and crossbones.
While digging through my drawers looking for scraps to use for the costume I realized that I have A LOT of knit swatches that will make fantastic doll clothes. I’m excited about making more dolls and dressing them up in knitted skirts. Most of my finished skirts have swatches that are miniature versions of their grown up selves.