Hi!  I sometimes post in the discussions and questions board, but I never post my completed dolls.  Mostly that's because I don't take pictures of them because they're gifts and I'm finishing them at the last second   But I'm a member of a doll club and we take classes from many artists.  Leslie Molen is coming in March, which I'm really excited about.

Here are two fairies and houses that I finished recently.  The house is modified from a Julie McCullough pattern, and the doll is an original design.





I hope to post here more with the Christmas gifts I'm making. 

Yeah, this isn't the busiest board, so I don't check very often.  I do like to help when I can, though.

I also love suede for my dolls.  I also have some fleshtone craft velour I use to make human figures, and if I'm making dolls for kids, I use fleece or interlock knits.  Examples in my blog in my sig.

I love Mass Ave Knit Shop listed above.  The Heirloom Classic bead store is near it, too. 

Crimson Tate is a fabric store on Mass Ave, there's the French Seam fabric on 86th between Castleton and Keystone,  and the Knit Stop is two shops down from it.  If you go there, then you might as well drive a little farther to Quilts Plus in Nora. 

And Quilt Quarters on N. Michigan Rd... 

Broadripple Knits, and Bead Angels in Broad Ripple...  Oh man I shop too much.  Sorry, I never noticed any embroidery patterns, though.

Very helpful ~ thank you! I think it's just figuring out the size of the head gussets...is that just trial and error or is there a method to it? Love the 3 piece heads - haven't seen those before (I'm just getting into making plushies - as you can probably tell lol!).

Sorry, I'm not much help there.  I usually use a pattern someone else has drawn.  When I try my own, it's with A LOT of trial and error!

If you don't want a bunch of visible seams, you could find a pattern for a plushie that is similar to what you want and modify it. 

Or, find a round object that is the shape you want, it doesn't have to be the right size.  Take muslin or a paper towel and wrap the object.  Make folds where you think the darts should go, and mark them.  Use that as your pattern, you can enlarge or shrink it by copying or scanning it.

Most human-ish heads I've made have three pieces.  Two for the front half of the face, with the seam running down the center making bumps for the eyes, nose and mouth.  The third is the back of the head.  Like this http://www.utes-trolls.com/pumkin.htm

Animal heads usually have a center gusset to make a snout, like this one http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs16/f/2007/184/2/f/free_teddy_bear_pattern_by_sengster.jpg

Hope that helps, and doesn't repeat anything you already know.

It's really easy, here's a quick video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roSr5tHIMeQ

The Indy Cloth Dollmakers will have a booth at the Wine, Art, Music, and Microbrew Festival
in Greenwood, Indiana on Saturday, August 20th.

http://www.wammfest.com/



We will be one of about 50 artists, mostly local.  If you are interested in seeing our dolls, please stop by! 

The entire festival is a charitable fundraiser, so there is an admission fee of $10, but all the proceeds go to local charities.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310087791173+

Is this kind of what you're looking for?  Maybe you could alter it a bit.

I've only taken classes in classrooms, not in the middle of a store.  But when I'm shopping and a class is going on in the open (like at the Knit Stop), I think I am distracting the people in the class.

Either way, how exciting to have an independent craft store in town!  I'll be stopping by!  Oh, and if you're interested in having an art doll class, I can ask the members of the Indy Cloth Dollmakers if anyone wants to teach.

When I've needle felted hair, it catches to the fabric, not the stuffing inside.  That's why it's not the most permanent solution.  Hopefully you like the results and definitely post pics!