Primitive Black Dolls and Folk Art Dolls - In The Making

The 2 Primitive Black Dolls
The black dolls that I was working on are coming along great.

They are both ready to be dressed and have some hair put on them.

They are approximately 22 1/2" tall now - without hair.

The little girl will be dressed in a red and white dress with a bow tied in the back. I think I will give her puppy tails tied with white bows. She is a real cutie. Her name is Chloe.

And the handsome little boy will be dressed in blue homespun pants and a green checked shirt. I have decided to name him Booker. He is a real heart stealer with those big brown eyes.

Both of these dolls have wire in their arms so that they can hold something. I will be making a doll for the girl, I am not sure yet what Booker will hold.

The Christmas Elf

This little guy is adorable. He is so funny, I laugh everytime I look at the profile of his little face. He is approximately 16" tall. His shoes and socks are painted in traditional Christmas colors.
He has very pretty green eyes that seem to be full of mischief. I will give mohair hair, I haven't yet decided if it will be dark brown or blonde. His arms are also wired to hold something. I haven't named him yet but I am sure by the time he is dressed I will know just who he is.

Other Folk Art Dolls in The Making
The 2 sawdust filled dolls that I was working on are only on their second coat of paint. I hope to have them finished (or close to it) by the end of the week.


The Halloween Mystery Doll - A Devil

The Halloween mystery doll I have been working on is not a mystery anymore. You can tell by the photo that he is a devil. I really like the way he looks so far.

This week I hope to finish up most of these, and I need to start on some others that are special orders.
That's all for now, have a great day and THANKS for stopping by!

Meet Abbey - a Black Folk Art Primitive Doll

Meet Abbey,
she is the newest black primitive doll. I just finished her this evening.

Isn't she cute?

Abbey is the doll I was previously working on. I had planned on making a man doll but she emerged instead. And that's o.k. - sometimes you just don't know who will come out in the end when you start making a doll.

Abbey is approximately 22 1/2 " tall. Her little doll that she holds is just a little over 8 1/2" tall.

She has mohair hair that is kind of wild, I was going to style it differently but I really liked the untamed look on her.

Her face is needle sculpted. She has big brown eyes, and blushed cheeks.

Her dress is made of cotton fabrics, the bodice is checked green and off white as are the cuffs on the sleeves. The dress skirt is a double skirt that is made of a off white cotton gauze fabric. The bow in her hair is of fabric that matches the skirt. Her pantaloons are made of muslin trimmed with checked fabric that matches the dress bodice.
Abbey's socks and shoes are painted on. I attached brass buttons to her shoes.
All of her clothing is lightly stained with coffee to give it an aged appearance.

Abbey's little doll is made of muslin, like Abbey. I painted on the shirt and bloomers and sewed the skirt on to her. The skirt is not hemmed.

I think I will put Abbey and her little doll up for sale on eBay this coming Sunday.

Dolls in The Making
The group of unfinished dolls is what I am currently working on. The bigger ones have the same basic body design as what Abbey has, but I have made some improvements. I have put wire in the arms so that they can hold things better and made the feet larger. There are also some that are like these only a smaller size, approximately 15-16 inches. One of these smaller ones will be a Christmas elf. Also in the group photo there are 2 sawdust filled pet dolls.

That's about it for now, I need to get busy on the others, and work some more on my Halloween Mystery doll.

Thanks for stopping by. Please come again.

Old Fashioned Dolls - Mabel and Clara

Thaddeus Monroe has been listed on ebay - such a cute boy he is.

Mabel and Clara are finished! They are proper primitive old fashioned young ladies.

I hope you like them.

I made them into pet dolls - like the pet china dolls that were popular in the late 1800's they have their name written across the front of them.

Both dolls are made of muslin, with painted head and shoulders, lower arms and lower legs. I tea stained all their clothing and splashed tea on their bodies as well to give them a aged look.

Mabel is stuffed with sawdust, because of the weight I have given her a boxed seat to help her sit up better.

Mabel has brown eyes. She is wearing a dress made of unbleached cotton that has been sanded, patched and stained to give it an aged look. I used antique pearl and shell buttons are Mabel's outfit and olive green cotton lace around her neckline.

Clara is stuffed with fiber fill. She has blue eyes. She is wearing a dress made of cotton gauze, that has been sanded, patched and stained. Clara also has a camisole on under her dress.

I really like the cotton gauze for primitive doll clothes. It looks very worn with just a light sanding and it takes the coffee or tea stain wonderfully.

Both girls are wearing bloomers made of unbleached cotton that have been aged with tea.

I think my favorite is Mabel, the sawdust gives her a real old-fashioned feel.

I like the finished doll when they are stuffed with sawdust, the more you handle them the more compact the sawdust becomes and the floppier the doll will become.

These 2 charming old fashioned girls will be for sale in the Doll*Shoppe at the Olde Primitive Sisters Marketplace.

Mabel will be $40.00 + shipping Clara will be $38.00 + shipping

I will be posting them for sale when I get back from the coming holiday no later than Wednesday 5/28/08.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday!

Meet Thaddeus Monroe

Thaddeus Monroe is for the most part dressed, the only thing he is missing right now are his shoe strings.

I have been calling him "my lad Thad."

Thaddeus Monroe will be listed on ebay next Thursday, May 22, 2008.

This doll style that I make was inspired by many great doll artist's of the past including Izannah Walker. His face and boots are needle sculpted. I painted his eyes blue and his hair in shades of brown.

He is jointed with slightly rusted tin buttons at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

Thaddeus has been painted in layers, and sanded between each layer and stained to give him a primitive antique look of an old toy.
He is wearing a button up the front undershirt made of muslin, under drawers, also made of muslin that button at the waist.

His shirt is made of a off-white/tan cotton gauze fabric.

His tunic suit is made of a dusty blue homespun. I dyed all the clothing with coffee to give it an aged look. As a result the dusty blue color has darkened and has some streaks of coffee stain that makes it look as though it has been around a long while. The pants are short pants with a button fly and buttons on the side of the knee. The jacket is modeled after the Norfolk jacket style that became popular in the 1800's, it has buttons up the front and matching belt that buttons in the front.

I am working on some new larger sawdust filled dolls. I'll be giving you an update on them soon. I think they will be going to my site at the Olde Primitive Sisters Marketplace when they are finished. Be sure to visit me there, and take a look around while you are there, we are a group of primitive artist's uniting together to bring you the best of our prim world.

Thanks for stopping by, come back soon!

New Duckling and other updates.

I have designed a new duckling for Easter, I think he is a cutie with his little wings. It stands about 5" tall. In order for him to be able to stand without any support I put a fairly heavy gauge of wire in his legs. His little ducky feet are very cute! I will paint and antique him with my usual process. I may make him in a larger size in the future.
I am making 3 more Victorian style bunnies, the ones that are standing up on their hind legs. I have made them in 3 sizes ranging from approximately 8" - 16" The middle sized one will have his head slightly turned.
The little Uncle Sam Sawdust Dolls are finished and will be going up for sale on ebay this weekend. I am selling them both together in a set. They are about 7 1/2" tall.

The Rabbit Pull Toy and Sawdust Sisters

Wow - what a week.

I managed to finish up the rabbit pull toy, I hope someone else likes him as much as I do. He will be up for sale on ebay later this evening. I stained the wheels and axles with walnut stain they match the bunny nicely. The pull chord I made out of hemp, I braided it and added a wooden bead on the end. It looks pretty authentic, like a vintage toy.

I went ahead and aged the sawdust sisters even more than they were.
Then I made cute little muslin dresses for them and crudely embroidered flowers around the skirt bottoms, then stained them with coffee. I sanded the dresses - yep, took out my frustrations on these, they have some thin places and some places that I sanded all the way through and made little holes. I thought about putting patches on them but decided that would make the dresses look too busy since I had embroidered them.

I gave each sister a aged brass heart and tied it to the bodice of their dresses. Instead of making the tiny hand stitched button holes that I usually make I used rusting safety pins to close up their dresses in the back. They are very sweet, very primitive looking.

The Sawdust Sisters will be listed on ebay later tonight. I do hope they find a good home with someone to love them.

I will be working on the things I didn't get finished this week - plus a few new things. The ideas are endless.

What Am I Working On This Week

This week I have several dolls going at once, which isn't unusual for me. There is a Uncle Sam and Yankee Doodle Boy set, a old fashioned Bunny pull toy, 2 little old fashioned sawdust filled dolls that were inspired by a combination of the old printed panel dolls and china dolls, and 2 little Uncle Sam sawdust filled dolls.

The Uncle Sam Yankee Doodle set is made of muslin and will be painted dolls with jointed shoulders and knees. Their facial features will be needle sculpted. So far they are looking very good. Yankee Doodle was around for some time before Uncle Sam came to be - I just thought maybe it was time that they meant.

The old fashioned bunny pull toy is being made of osenburg fabric. It will be painted and aged to look like an antique toy. I will give him wooden axles and wheels.

The sawdust filled dolls will be jointed at the shoulders. I think I will paint their underclothes on them and then dress them in simple calico prints or some sort of cotton material that has been aged.

The Uncle Sam sawdust filled dolls will be all painted and aged.

I have a very busy week this week - I hope I can get them all done by next Sunday.

And that catches us up for now, I will up date this at the end of week.

Thank You for peeking in on the Doll*Shoppe.

Don't forget to check out my eBay auctions. Just click on the link below:

My Primitive and Folk Art Auctions


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