Basket of Witches

I am still playing around with cloth dolls this week. Gives me time to sit and catch up on my television shows while I sew on hair :) I made a couple of witches. Even witches pop up at the Hedgehog Hill Home for Girls. I guess it is becoming a home for orphans, strays and little lost souls. Halloween isn't too far off, witches are definitely needed as part of the gang. These 2 little witch girls have tattered silk dresses just like the others, but I dyed them in grays and blacks and midnight blues. The little hats have an elastic strap to keep them on their heads.

I also thought it would be fun to do a couple of Day of the Dead inspired cloth girls. They can live at the Hedgehog Hill Home as well, but they will probably scare the others. I love painting silly doodles, and these faces are the perfect spot to put them. I put their yarn hair in a lot of braids so that their faces aren't covered with their hair. Same style dresses, brighter colors. They have a little bit longer limbs and are more lanky than the others.

It's really chilly here this morning. We finally got our wood delivered, so we can start stacking and have it ready to go by October, which is just days away. Stay warm!

Lord Lawrence Pecok Gallamore

Continuing on with my family of eccentrics, the Gallamores, here is family member number 2, Lawrence Pecok Gallamore, second son of Grantaire de Grenfeld Gallamore, younger brother to Nelson Gallamore. Born in 1702. A tall man with green eyes and an elegant build, he wears his dark hair in masses of curls, streaked with blue-gray. He refuses to wear hats, despite the fashion trends of the day, for fear it will muss his lovely locks. He has an impeccable fashion sense and often wears elaborate, almost kingly outfits, preferring greens and golds to the flashy purples of his brother, Nelson.



Lawrence is an artistocratic playboy. Parties are his natural environment and people seem naturally attracted to him, especially fine ladies, with whom he is never shy but almost always moody. His brother Nelson often finds himself in the position of bailing his younger brother out of trouble when drinking and women are involved.

Lawrence married Helen Glenham in 1726, though once his children were born, began to spend more and more time with his birds and lady friends and was inclined to leave the dealings of the home to his wife.



He is a master falconer to the king and, though falconry had seen a huge decline in popularity in the 18th century, for him it remained a high art form.

The night and shadows are his favorite things.



Lord Lawrence is 15" tall. He is made from cotton fabric and has cotton clothing, which is all removable. He has a white chemise and drawers, a white shirt with frilly sleeves and cravat, a patterned gold, green and red waistcoat with gold-tone buttons, a green-gold patterned overcoat and matching trousers. His shoes are 2-tone black and gold. His face is hand painted. He is the perfect accompaniment to my lady boudoir dolls.

You can find him on Etsy.

Lord Nelson de Grenfeld Gallamore

I have been running through amusing dollmaking ideas in my head recently, now that I seem to be in a wave of inspiration. Somewhere in there I got the idea that I would create a quirky family of eccentrics from another century and make dolls out of these characters. The late Susanna Oroyan, a beloved dollmaker and author, had done that years ago, creating the Mulliners, a series of about 60 dolls. I don't know that I am quite that ambitious, but one has to start somewhere.



I have been hooked on rag dolls lately, and rather than making solid, sculptural pieces, like my more recent historical figures, I decided I wanted a completely fictional family of characters that were all in the rag doll style.



My first characterization in this series is Lord Nelson de Grenfeld Gallamore, eldest son of Grantaire de Grenfeld Gallamore. A lanky, tawny-skinned man with long unruly golden curls and compassionate hazel eyes. A poet, interested mainly in dance, politics and excelling at cricket. A fashion trendsetter, he insists on donning a short waistcoat because he likes to sit with his legs crossed, and wearing primarily shades of purple, because he is proud to be an aristocrat.



A man with big appetites, he considers vodka and dark chocolate a lifestyle and is passionate for Italian cuisine. He fantasizes about becoming a pirate, but is quite claustrophobic and terrified of drowning. Devilishly handsome, he is favored by both fine ladies and men of a certain age, though he insists on remaining a bachelor even into his 40s. He remains in close contact with his 3 illegitimate children.



Lord Nelson is 15" tall. He is made from cotton fabric and has cotton and silk clothing. His clothing is all removable. He has a white chemise and drawers, a white silk shirt with frilly sleeves and cravat, a golden waistcoat with gray freshwater pearl buttons and lots of machine embroidery embellishment, a purple cotton overcoat, pants and matching tricorn hat. He is the perfect accompaniment to my lady boudoir dolls.

You can find him on Etsy.