Goddesses, done and in progress

We had three amazing finished dolls, by Nita, Katie, and Martha at our September 2013 meeting.  Nita's fabric choices are perfect, as always, with hand-dyed velvet, cheesecloth, shibori silk and ribbon yarn draped in the costume.

Maiden, Mother, and Crone by Nita

Katie's doll is more fully costumed, again in wonderful colors and trims, with lovely hair-dos.

Exuberance, Joy, and Wisdom by Katie

Martha could not bear to cut into the fabulous spangly blue scarf she used, so the goddesses will keep it safe for her.

A Woman's Journey by Martha

So far we have many more dolls in-progress than finished.  Mary's doll showcases fabrics she hand-dyed herself, combined with purchased batiks.

by Mary

Andrea pieced the body strips to vary the value in her monochrome scheme.

by Andrea

She also worked out the scale needed to stand her goddesses on a found stone base. Here's a perspective shot:

four-fifths and one-third scale

Back up to full-size... Jude made delightful hair for her maiden from narrow pinked strips of fabric, and added sleeves and metal bracelets to her costumes.

by Jude

Next post, we'll show the back of this doll, as Jude kicks off our 'embellishment' program.

Just us, sewing and having a good time

At our weekend workshop this August, sewing along and having a good time.

Watched over by Barbara's dolls...

As well as Barbara herself.

We worked in groups...

And in twos...

(stuffing, stuffing, stuffing...)

And threes...

Sharing ideas...

And making goddesses.

Thank you, Barbara!

Barbara Schoenoff's Three Phases of the Goddess workshop

The Indy Cloth Dollmakers hosted member and teacher Barbara Schoenoff for our annual workshop, the Three Phases of the Goddess.  Finally, here's some pictures from our wonderful weekend with Barbara!

This is the face-drawing diagram she drew for us in class.  The way she added age to the face in layers was really extraordinary.

We spent part of the first day needle-sculpting faces, (as seen above), and we got to color them on Day 2.  Here are just a few of our finished sets of 3:  because, of course, if you are making all three aspects of a goddess, then you need to make 3 of everything!

by Katie

by Jude

by Andrea B. (just a little smaller!)

by Leslie

We also spent the first day sewing curved fabric strips together to piece the bodies.

Altogether a very large group of us got to attend the workshop.  The more, the merrier!

Here you can see our goal -- this is Barbara's original doll.

Three Phases of the Goddess, by Barbara Schoenoff

No August meeting

Just a reminder -- there is no regular club meeting this month!  If you are signed up for Barbara's 'Three Phases of the Goddess' workshop and need driving info, please read the August Directions tab above, or check the newsletter.
Now back to sewing arms and heads!!