Linda June 9th, 2010
Here is the progress on my “gypsy” doll so far. 
The bead strands below will be part of her “hair”. I have had to put this project on hold for awhile….the reason is in my next post. Stay tuned..”same bat channel, same bat station” (yes, I AM dating myself LOL!).
Linda July 14th, 2009
I finished his hat and am pleased with how it turned out. I had originally envisioned black as the material but the contrast was too much…when I went to Pacific Fabrics I found this dark tobacco green..yes, the color is actually green but in some light is appears brown (i.e. this photo!) I also learned that you really should bring the doll with you unless you want an excuse to buy a few extra fabrics (in case the one you picked doesn’t work LOL!!!).
Yes, this is a picture taken on my desk…you can see it is a “creative spot” huh?!
I made the pattern for the hat from an old Chinese hat that I have (it folds up). I must of made 6 hats before I got the right size, argh!!!
Scott now has his portion to complete. It is an invational doll for the “Art of the Doll” show that is part of the Treasures of the Gypsy doll show…there are really 4 doll shows in one, the gypsies are actaully just one portion. We have been batting ideas around. It will be some kind of throne for him. (Well I need to add a golden ball in froggies palm but other than that I am done LOL).
Linda February 27th, 2009
After much consideration I have decided that Scott and I will make an anthropomorphic frog doll for the “Art of the Doll” portion of the Gypsy/Quilt show. I was considering using a batik for the the body but decided to dye some raw silk that I have had for a long time. It turned out a bright green.
I had also wanted to used a sleeve of a Kimono that I was given by my mom (she bought it at a garage sale–WHO would cut up such a thing???) But the greens didn’t work out–it is on the right. Scott had a friend from school who went to china for a missions trip and bought back the red brocade on the left. We decided that the red did not make it look like Xmas colors so we will use that for the costume.
The doll is a frog after all so I tweaked the hands from a normal doll. I elongated his fingers and made webs between them..the fingers have pipe cleaners to help them “hold things”. I am thinking about a golden ball for him (think “Frog Prince” fairy tale).
He did not start out with “hardly” a chin, that was added to make him appear more frog like.
He has a very plump body–I put plastic pellets in his butt so he would have weight and would not fall over easily and would sit more stable. His arms and legs are done from a modified Patty Culea pattern. I had the darndest time getting his face color right. It was just working out to be too dark (see the question was–do I paint the head and then try to dye the fabric to match–Nay, too hard–or dye the fabric and try to paint the head to match?!) After alot of coats of paint and lots of frustration (I was afraid that his head would be round from all the coats of paint!!!!), I am pretty well satisfied. He will have a kimono, a coolie braid, a hat and some kind of pants–I researching that right now. He does not need to be done for a long time yet but once I get started on a project I want to continue so I don’t lose momentum.
