I'm into RECYCLING!

Towards the end of last year, well around the Autumn time,I was mooching at an end of season Boot Sale and saw this little doll dressed as a clown in black and white silky stuff- she was in a box of 10p things at the front of a table, among a load of rubbish, very dirty, unloved and sitting/glued to a grotty cushion, all very small of course, she is only about 9" tall. I love making cloth dolls, and have been having a go at small ones, so thought I'd try my hand at this recyling lark!

Once home, I stripped the doll of everything, and discovered she was made from pipe cleaner type stuff. I washed all the china bits and took this pic .............

Well, she sat around like this, looking nice and clean but still very sad, until I saw this book advertised. I have the Patti Medaris Culea Cloth Doll Making Books, but Ray Slater is an English lady with a different slant of things, mainly making dolls by wrapping wire....... bingo!

I wrapped my little doll in a strip of polyester wadding, about an inch wide, all over the fabric covered wire, to make a body arms and legs, then using an old silk multi coloured scarf (from a previous Boot Sale of course) I wrapped her again, until she was covered - following very loosely the instructions in Ray's book. I then added stitches with silver thread, and wound some more with thicker thread etc. until I liked what I had done, and finished off with a piece of the silk machine stitched on the bias, and wound it around her head.

You can see she is not very big - she is sitting on the side of the bird bath.

I have made a small wire frame and wrapped it in wadding, following Ray's book. This one is only about 11" tall. I'll show you when I have finished it. In the meantime, I am hunting for more of the little dolls to recycle. I recently bought a soft mermaid doll ...........! (watch this space)