Congress Cloth Portraits & Figures, etc.

I just have to share my latest project stitching on Congress cloth...I
really enjoy working on this type of "canvas" as it's much softer
than regular canvas plus the 24 count or mesh of this cloth is a nice
size too...relatively easy to see & being able to do a goodly amount
of detail.
Best stitch to use is a tent stitch for my purposes but a cross stitch
can be used too...a half cross stitch would work well for a display
piece and save on thread at the same time.

Hopefully, I'll be able to cut out the little faces and figures
without trouble from unraveling...reminds me of perforated paper
except the cloth has a nicer feel & texture for my purposes.

What I've been stitching are faces...using shades of anchor & DMC
floss of two strands. I love the shaded effects of the floss colors
blending in a nice gradation of colors.

Even though there's no comparison between Congress Cloth & Silk Gauze,
I can't help thinking about a project using silk gauze. I really loved
how well the single strand of floss or silk colors blended together on
the 40 mesh silk gauze creating a beautiful watercolor effect...the
colors blended into each other in a smooth transition of colors.

Next threads to use will be the Gumnut yarns from Australia...I love
the subtle colorations of the blended overdye colors of this silk
floss. Will have to do a little experimenting to see if I need to use
two or one ply of this silk floss as the floss comes in three ply and
may be a little heavier than a single strand of cotton floss.

Also anxious to see how subtle the colors will actually look like once
the floss is stitched...especially the colors I plan to use to stitch
the "skin" tones of the character portraits I'm working on.
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com

says...

Hopefully, I'll be able to cut out the little faces and figures
without trouble from unraveling...reminds me of perforated paper
except the cloth has a nicer feel & texture for my purposes.

Once you cut them out, what will you do with them?

Also anxious to see how subtle the colors will actually look like once
the floss is stitched...especially the colors I plan to use to stitch
the "skin" tones of the character portraits I'm working on.

pictures, we'll want pictures!!!

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

Hi Anne,

I plan to use the cut out pieces to applique on fabric...use them as
part of mixed media fabric design panels and fabric art dolls...the
faces will be sewn to a fabric backed head shape to attach to the rest
of the figure.

Since I don't know how to sew clothes to fit as such will have to
figure other ways to decorate or dress my doll figures...as they say,
necessity is the mother of invention, that's what I have to do... find
some fun way to make my dolls look "dressed" so they won't just look
"nekkid"...they'll be interestingly embellished semi-nude figures &
whatever I can make work!

As for pics, it'll be quite awhile yet since I've only just started to
work on these ideas...
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com

On Dec 11, 7:44 pm, anne wrote:
says...

Hopefully, I'll be able to cut out the little faces and figures
without trouble from unraveling...reminds me of perforated paper
except the cloth has a nicer feel & texture for my purposes.

Once you cut them out, what will you do with them?

Also anxious to see how subtle the colors will actually look like once
the floss is stitched...especially the colors I plan to use to stitch
the "skin" tones of the character portraits I'm working on.

pictures, we'll want pictures!!!

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

wrote:
Since I don't know how to sew clothes to fit as such will have to
figure other ways to decorate or dress my doll figures



I betcha TiaMary can help with that!


--
Karen C - California
www.CFSfacts.org where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf

Finished 12/12/07 - Fisherman's Vision (Dimensions)

WIP: The Teacher (gift to the library), Bethany Angel,
Flowers of Hawaii (Jeanette Crews) for ME!!!
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel

Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com
Design page http://www.KarenMCampbell.com/designs.html

I can hardly wait to see them!
C

says...

Since I don't know how to sew clothes to fit as such will have to
figure other ways to decorate or dress my doll figures...as they say,
necessity is the mother of invention, that's what I have to do... find
some fun way to make my dolls look "dressed" so they won't just look
"nekkid"...they'll be interestingly embellished semi-nude figures &
whatever I can make work!

You've fed my addiction; so I'll return the favor. For a brief period
last spring, I attended a small art doll making group. It confirmed (a)
that I dislike sewing, (b) that I can't draw faces and (c) even with
help, my sculpted faces were so ugly that not even a mother would love
'em. BUT I came away with a pattern for a goddess doll (no arms, no
legs, just a shape that when stitched together and stuffed can be
embellished to the max), a subscription to Soft Dolls and Sculpture,
wonderfully inspiring books by Patti Medaris Culea, and more than a few
links about dolls. Here are just a few:

Dollmaker's Journey has some great tutorials and freebies:
http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/index.html

Joggles: www.joggles.com/

Cloth doll connection:
http://www.clothdollconnection.com/FreePatterns.html

Have fun!

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

Anne,

I'm really glad to know you've discovered a doll you can make and that
is the wonderful thing about today's art dolls!! Dolls no longer have
to be humanoid shaped!! They can be any shape at all! I just love that
fact!! And that is another idea for me to do, all kinds of shapes!!

There are so many wonderful fabrics in my stash, gorgeous colors of
batiks among all sorts of prints...my favorite is a large polka dot
collection, all kinds of dots in all colors, shapes and sizes
collected from everywhere.

I've seen all those great URL's you posted...thanks for thinking of
me! Anytime you find something interesting let me know anyway as I'm
not able to get on-line as much as I'd like.

Going back to the non traditional doll "figures"...I can hardly wait
to cut out shapes from all those gorgeous colors and prints and sew
all together to embellish just the way you've described!!!

One figure I've worked with and you might consider is a matroishka
shape, the famous Russian nesting dolls.....a roundish shape with a
round head...can be a round shape all over or elongated.
Loads of interesting embellishing or even painted patterns can be
added to the shape.

Don't know if you've seen the book by Sherrill Kahn about
embellishments...a wonderful book full of inspirations for
embellishing.
One inspiring image I got was to make my own embellishments such as
stuffed fish shapes to use as trims and so on.

The author uses fabric paints, especially Lumiere paints, the
beautiful metallic colors that glow. I also have small set of paints I
found in a scrapbook shop...brilliant watercolors with shiny mica bits
so the colors have a lovely metallic glow to them! Paints beautifully
on fabric!
---
Lula
wwww.woolydream.com


On Dec 13, 8:52 am, anne wrote:

You've fed my addiction; so I'll return the favor. For a brief period
last spring, I attended a small art doll making group. It confirmed (a)
that I dislike sewing, (b) that I can't draw faces and (c) even with
help, my sculpted faces were so ugly that not even a mother would love
'em. BUT I came away with a pattern for a goddess doll (no arms, no
legs, just a shape that when stitched together and stuffed can be
embellished to the max),


Dollmaker's Journey has some great tutorials and freebies:http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/index.html

Joggles:www.joggles.com/

Cloth doll connection:http://www.clothdollconnection.com/FreePatterns.html

Have fun!

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

On Dec 11, 12:52 pm, "
wrote:
I just have to share my latest project stitching on Congress cloth...I
really enjoy working on this type of "canvas" as it's much softer
than regular canvas plus the 24 count or mesh of this cloth is a nice
size too...relatively easy to see & being able to do a goodly amount
of detail.
Best stitch to use is a tent stitch for my purposes but a cross stitch
can be used too...a half cross stitch would work well for a display
piece and save on thread at the same time.

Hopefully, I'll be able to cut out the little faces and figures
without trouble from unraveling...reminds me of perforated paper
except the cloth has a nicer feel & texture for my purposes.

What I've been stitching are faces...using shades of anchor & DMC
floss of two strands. I love the shaded effects of the floss colors
blending in a nice gradation of colors.

Even though there's no comparison between Congress Cloth & Silk Gauze,
I can't help thinking about a project using silk gauze. I really loved
how well the single strand of floss or silk colors blended together on
the 40 mesh silk gauze creating a beautiful watercolor effect...the
colors blended into each other in a smooth transition of colors.

Next threads to use will be the Gumnut yarns from Australia...I love
the subtle colorations of the blended overdye colors of this silk
floss. Will have to do a little experimenting to see if I need to use
two or one ply of this silk floss as the floss comes in three ply and
may be a little heavier than a single strand of cotton floss.

Also anxious to see how subtle the colors will actually look like once
the floss is stitched...especially the colors I plan to use to stitch
the "skin" tones of the character portraits I'm working on.
---
Lulawww.woolydream.com

Hallo Lula i am nopt sdure yiu saw my request to tell me if you saw my
post, as i have some trouble on Agent ,, thus now i am looking into
through the google window !!!!and now to this extra wonderful
discussion between you and Anne ,

I have given long thought to your idea of making faces and than , in
fact applique them on another cloth , it reminded me that in older
times , Doll faces were drawm on cloth , and that cloth was attached
to a china or later Bakalit head and that again was attached to a
cloth body ,,,
In a way you touch slightly on the ancient traditional way of making
dolls , that were more Room adornements than real playing dolls.
Thus WELL done !! Well thought about ,,,,
mirjam

On Dec 18, 5:46 pm, "
wrote:
Anne,

I'm really glad to know you've discovered a doll you can make and that
is the wonderful thing about today's art dolls!! Dolls no longer have
to be humanoid shaped!! They can be any shape at all! I just love that
fact!! And that is another idea for me to do, all kinds of shapes!!

There are so many wonderful fabrics in my stash, gorgeous colors of
batiks among all sorts of prints...my favorite is a large polka dot
collection, all kinds of dots in all colors, shapes and sizes
collected from everywhere.

I've seen all those great URL's you posted...thanks for thinking of
me! Anytime you find something interesting let me know anyway as I'm
not able to get on-line as much as I'd like.

Going back to the non traditional doll "figures"...I can hardly wait
to cut out shapes from all those gorgeous colors and prints and sew
all together to embellish just the way you've described!!!

One figure I've worked with and you might consider is a matroishka
shape, the famous Russian nesting dolls.....a roundish shape with a
round head...can be a round shape all over or elongated.
Loads of interesting embellishing or even painted patterns can be
added to the shape.

Don't know if you've seen the book by Sherrill Kahn about
embellishments...a wonderful book full of inspirations for
embellishing.
One inspiring image I got was to make my own embellishments such as
stuffed fish shapes to use as trims and so on.

The author uses fabric paints, especially Lumiere paints, the
beautiful metallic colors that glow. I also have small set of paints I
found in a scrapbook shop...brilliant watercolors with shiny mica bits
so the colors have a lovely metallic glow to them! Paints beautifully
on fabric!
---
Lula
wwww.woolydream.com

On Dec 13, 8:52 am, anne wrote:



You've fed my addiction; so I'll return the favor. For a brief period
last spring, I attended a small art doll making group. It confirmed (a)
that I dislike sewing, (b) that I can't draw faces and (c) even with
help, my sculpted faces were so ugly that not even a mother would love
'em. BUT I came away with a pattern for a goddess doll (no arms, no
legs, just a shape that when stitched together and stuffed can be
embellished to the max),
Dollmaker's Journey has some great tutorials and freebies:http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/index.html

Joggles:www.joggles.com/

Cloth doll connection:http://www.clothdollconnection.com/FreePatterns.html

Have fun!

--
another anne, add ingers to reply- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I see my posts didn`t show up at your side as well !!!
I have learned to use Ribbons , little socks [ kids sizes] as close
fitting elastic clothes for dolls, You can also use those Finger
bandages that one buys in a pharmacy , they are in tube form ,and are
very easy to dye with colors , sew over embroider etc,,,,
mirjam

Hi Mirjam,

I haven't seen any posts from you until now & glad you posted here!

Yes, you're right about using applique to apply doll faces...one can
either paint, embroider or use another way to create a face and then
applique the face to a "head" or whatever shape the doll might be made
in.
That's what I'm doing with the faces I've embroidered and painted on
fabric.

Another technique is to scan faces and print these on fsbric sheets
made for computer printers...all these variety of faces can then be
cut out and appliqued to the doll fiqure or shape where needed.

After the faces are appliqued, then will add "hair" (or headdress)
made from yarns, roving or anything that works including strings of
beads!
It's amazing how a doll's personality appears once hair or headdress
is applied...these new personalities will then "tell" or even demand
what they require for me to finish them!!

Dollmaking is extra creative...every skill I've learned from
needlework & the arts are being used to make these dolls. In my case,
making dolls will also improve the few sewing skills I know as well as
teaching me new sewing skills too!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com







On Dec 19, 9:28 am, wrote:

Hallo Lula i am nopt sdure yiu saw my request to tell me if you saw my
post, as i have some trouble on Agent ,, thus now i am looking into
through the google window !!!!and now to this extra wonderful
discussion between you and Anne ,

I have given long thought to your idea of making faces and than , in
fact applique them on another cloth , it reminded me that in older
times , Doll faces were drawm on cloth , and that cloth was attached
to a china or later Bakalit head and that again was attached to a
cloth body ,,,
In a way you touch slightly on the ancient traditional way of making
dolls , that were more Room adornements than real playing dolls.
Thus WELL done !! Well thought about ,,,,
mirjam