A visit to Mimi’s

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I’m still catching up on writing about last week activities and will soon get to last weekend’s Conn. Book Fair and also post more pictures from my trip to Turkey.

I visited the talented doll and pin cushion maker Mimi Kirchner in Arlington, Mass. As you may remember from previous posts, Mimi inspired me to start this blog. This is the first time I’ve seen her new studio since she moved in. It was good to see that she has totally taken over the room. Unlike her previous quarters in the attic, she has heat and windows to look out of! Like her attic space, it’s chockfull of materials and inspiring objects. Downstairs, her inventory of Wee World pin cushions in tea cups were lined up on the piano.

And some dolls were piled in a wicker baby buggy. You can read more about Mimi and her work on her blog here.

Rabbitat – part 6 (rabbit characters)

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Originally, I was going to make human characters living in the drift wood house, but I kept imagining long ears sticking up from their heads, so they changed into a rabbit family. Hence the name Rabbitat (see film here). The mother and father dolls are about 4 inches tall and made with a bendable pipe-cleaner armature. The heads are made from wooden beads covered with wool felt. There’s a seam down the front of the face, under the embroidered nose.

As soon as I added front teeth, they lost their bland cuteness and took on personality, or should I say rabbitality?

Maybe I just identified with them more, having been a buck toothed child.

The faces are embroidered, with glass bead eyes.

The ears have fine wire sewn around the outside edge, so they can be bent expressively.

The baby carriage is made from this wire, which is covered with a bark-like natural material I found at a florist supply business. The wheels are acorn caps with holes drilled in the center.

I embroidered a carrot motif on the clothing.

And let’s not forget the biggest character of all — the rabbit topiary.

To see more posts in this series and to view the Rabbitat film click here.

Book giveaway on C&T pub blog

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Speaking of fairies…

C&T Publishing is offering a giveaway of my book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects. To enter the contest, leave a comment on their blog by August 21.

fairy stools

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Salley Mavor

People keep asking, “What are you working on lately?” I have to say that this summer I’m doing everything but making art. I would love to be stitching away in my air-conditioned studio, but there are too many time-sensitive administrative and promotional tasks to take care of and I’ve been traveling alot. It all has to do with my book and touring art show. And it’s summer, so there’s the garden to tend, friends to entertain and on nice days we go boating. So, I’m planning on getting back to serious art-making in September.

On a recent morning, I saw two mushrooms growing side by side, along my driveway. The next day, I finally was able to take their picture, and they had grown twice their size.

I found a boy and a girl fairy from my bag of wee folk and positioned them on the stools.

One thing I’ve learned to do is take photographs early in the morning, when the light is low. The golden glow of dusk works, too.

The gentle morning light doesn’t create harsh shadows and it’s aimed from the side, not above, like the during mid-day.

This little girl fairy looks like she spilled a chocolate ice cream cone on her dress. There’s some kind of brown stain, but I didn’t wash it off because I was too much in a hurry to get her picture taken before the sun rose any higher and the mushroom grew any bigger!

30th wedding anniversary

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Today is our 30th anniversary! To celebrate, Rob and I are going on a little trip to Long Island, NY. Ok, I know what some of you are thinking? Isn’t Long Island full of Levittown style track houses? Well, we’re going to the northern end, which we’re reaching by ferry from New London, CT. I’ll come back with pictures to show what we find. Anyway, I thought this would be a good opportunity to show the dolls I made for our wedding.

At the wedding, the dolls were hanging in a basket with helium balloons floating above and cheese cakes below.

The dolls and basket have been gathering a coat of dust over the years, as we have also become gray.

They were made with stuffed nylon stockings, which was all the rage back then.

I made my own wedding dress and Rob’s shirt and vest, so the dolls had matching outfits. Happy summer solstice!

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram

windsurfing wedding pair

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Back in the 80’s, when my friends were getting married, I made portrait bride and groom dolls for their cakes. One memorable pair was Ben and Julie, riding side by side on a toy windsurfer. Julie showed me what her dress would look like ahead of time, so that I could match it.

I don’t think Julie actually wore red pumps at the wedding, but these Tammy shoes were the right size. Ben wore Ken’s leather slip ons. The shoes are stuck onto the board with double sided tape.

Over the years, the dolls had started to fall off the boat, so I reattached their hands to the boom. Now they can go back home to Ben and Julie’s. We went down to Woodneck beach in early evening, just before sunset, to take photos in the low sunlight. See other posts about more recent wedding figures here and here.

new page added-FAQ

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Salley finishing “Rabbitat”, May 2011

The same questions keep coming up about my work, so I’m adding a page of Frequently Asked Questions. Things like, “Do you use a sewing machine?”or “Will you write another how-to book?” or “May I make and sell dolls from your book, Felt Wee Folk?” I’ve already written about most of the issues on this blog, but I can’t expect everyone to spend hours combing through all 233 posts.

See the FAQ page here.

weekend in Muscatine, Iowa

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I spent the weekend in Muscatine, Iowa, giving a doll making workshop and attending the reception for the Pocketful of Posies Exhibit at the Muscatine Art Center.

The 50 original fabric relief illustrations fit perfectly in the museum’s modern exhibit space, which is an addition built onto an old mansion. The lighting was so well done that it looked as if there was no glass protecting the artwork. Thank you to Katy, Barb and to the other staff at the museum who made the show look so good! My artwork will be on display until June 19th.

In Saturday’s workshop, we spent all day wrapping pipe cleaners and sewing little felt clothes for our dolls.

Everyone made at least 2 figures, with fairies being the most popular.

In the past, I’ve learned that my students get stressed over painting the faces, so I brought bead heads that I had painted ahead. That way we had more time to sew.

This well dressed little guy is being fitted with shoes. We had a great time working and chatting together. Marcella found out about the workshop on this blog and drove all the way from Wisconsin to make dolls with us! Sorry, but there are no more workshops planned.

At the reception on Sunday, I met Elaine and her 2 daughters, who came the longest distance–from Texas! She saw on this blog that the Iowa location was probably going to be the closest to her, so she planned a trip around coming here. This home schooling, children’s book loving family also toured several Little House on the Prairie sites in the midwest, including ones in Wisconsin and S. Dakota. Impressive!

Berry Family dolls

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I brought the Berry Family outside for an airing. They’re a bit moth-eaten–a downside to working with wool. For the last couple of winters, I’ve gotten into the habit of bringing all of my felt and felt clothed dolls outside when the temperature dips below freezing, hoping to kill any moths.

I made the mother, father (4″ tall) and baby members of the Berry Family in 2005, as a Ltd. edition of 25. They are based on the patterns from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk. All of my Ltd. edition dolls are currently sold out and I won’t be making any more.

The Berry Family, Ltd. edition 2005

doll making supplies sent off

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I sent a box of doll making supplies to Iowa today. Instead of worrying about losing my luggage during the flight changes and being without the necessary workshop materials, I decided to mail them instead.

I can easily replace missing clothes, but I wouldn’t be able to buy these materials at short notice, especially my precious plant dyed wool felt. There’s pipe cleaners, embroidery floss, wool fleece and acorn caps, too. Everything you’ll need to make the little dolls from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

I’ll be using these supplies in a doll making workshop on Saturday, May 21st at the Muscatine Art Center in Muscatine, Iowa. Please contact the center if you’d like to come. I’ve already painted some doll heads, so we can spend as much time as possible constructing the figures and sewing their clothes. I’ll take pictures of our creations and show them to you!