My little friend Celeste has made several wee folk dolls and the latest is a miniature Yo Yo Ma. Celeste is studying cello and she had the opportunity to see him perform in Hyannis last week. The doll and a card were given to an assistant, who was to pass it on to Yo Yo himself. The doll is appropriately dressed in a black tuxedo, with wire rimmed glasses, holding a cut-out cello. Thank you, Celeste, for making such a nice gift and letting me share it. I’m sure that Yo Yo will be thrilled!
fairies from “Felt Wee Folk”
Sometimes I look at my blog statistics to find out how people find me. Quite frequently searches like “pipe cleaner dolls”or “wee felt people” bring them here. This week’s wordy favorite was “how to wrap embroidery floss around pipe cleaners for fairies”.
Last week, I received the most wonderful e-mail message from Michele in Nebraska, who wrote, “I didn’t do anything else yesterday evening except enjoy every single thing on your blog.” She went on describe how she and her family have enjoyed the doll projects in Felt Wee Folk.
“I purchased your book when my daughter was 15 (she is now 20 and a new mother). She had a close friend spend the night once that year and I brought my new book, along with lots of felt, threads, combed wool (I spin) and all manner of goodies, into the kitchen with the two girls and announced we were going to make tiny dolls. You should have seen their teenage faces! At first hesitant and then fascinated and completely absorbed, those two girls insisted on staying up till 2:30 in the morning so their little people could be finished! We talked about everything and laughed and laughed and when we were done, we sat and looked at our little people with the greatest satisfaction and joy. Just recently, my daughter’s same good friend came to our house to visit and told me that night spent here was the most fun she has ever had and that she felt so much love in our home. She has her little Wee Folk doll still and wants to make more with her children when she has them.
I just thought you might like to hear that your art has the most profound effect on others in such a positive and loving way. Thank you for your years of sharing. Thank you for leaving your examples of doll art on your website as inspiration for those of us who cannot get enough of them. I am sure you will be blessed in all your new endeavors.
And finally thank you for being true to yourself, for in doing that, what you have created is truly magical.”
Stories like Michele’s make me feel that sharing my fantasy/play world is truly worth it. It warms my heart to think of kitchen tables around the world scattered with silk flower petals, pipe cleaners and acorn caps. I can imagine faces of all ages and colors bowed in concentration and busy hands engrossed in making wee dolls. It’s been almost 9 years since Felt Wee Folk was released by C&T Publishing. Since 2003, the book has been reprinted many times, selling over 50,000 copies, which is way more than any of my children’s books.
For the past few months, I’ve been wrapping legs, sewing felt tunics and painting faces for a new Ltd. Edition fairy doll. During those months, I found it harder and harder to find the time to work on the 25 dolls and kept putting them aside. Even though I still like making them, I’d rather be working on other projects, so I made the decision that PANSY would be the last fairy design in this series. It’s true, I won’t be making any more dolls to sell. Last week, I sent an e-mail announcement to those who asked to be put on a mailing list and all 25 have already sold. It has been a joy to create the dolls and I thank all of you who have purchased other wee folk characters. Over the past 8 years, I’ve made 21 different designs and sewed 750 individual dolls.
Since the age of 12, I’ve been making and selling things, often mass producing large quantities of the same item. My little factory began with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band playing on the record player and now I work to the sound of Rosanne Cash. It’s time for a change, but I wanted to make one more fairy before devoting 100% of my studio time to my fabric relief artwork. Here are some photos of PANSY in the making.
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.
Since last week, many new subscribers have signed up, with dozens from France. They may like to know that my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk was published in French in 2003. It is titled Personnages et Motifs: Creations Malicieuses, published by Les Editions de Saxe. I believe it is out-of-print, but used copies may be available.
Depuis la semaine dernière, de nombreuses personnes, des douzaines de français, se sont inscrites. Soyez les bienvenus sur mon Blog! Sachez que mon livre explicatif Felt Wee Folk est publié enFrancesous le titre Personnages et Motifs: Creátions Malicieuses par les Editions de Saxe.
Felt Wee Folk, French edition
Also, the Rabbitat film has been viewed over 1000 times! Word about the film is spreading through cyberspace, with links on several websites and blogs. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can see it here.
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
I like they way she captured the spirit of Thanksgiving by giving this woman a rolling-pin. The dolls look comfortable in their natural environment, surrounded by moss, flowers and branches. Great job, Shirley, and thank you for sharing a part of your Thanksgiving celebration!
She learned how to make these dolls from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects. It’s rewarding to see how people use the patterns and directions from the book as a spring board to creating their own characters and scenes.
I’ve finished another limited edition of 25 fairies, just in time for the holidays. Iris has auburn braids and a purple petal skirt and wings.
Iris Fairy
Update: All of the Iris fairy dolls have sold. Sorry, but I no longer make dolls to sell.
Iris Fairy
I’ve found that I can usually find enough matching flower petals and wings to make a group (or swarm) of 25 fairies.
a swarm of fairies?
It’s a manageable number to make at one time and then I feel free to move on to other projects.
fairy legs
Instructions and patterns for making fairies like this are in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures.
embroidered fairy tunics
Here are the petal petticoats, all stacked and ready to dress the fairies.
petal fairy petticoats
Now they’re waiting for their turn in the braiding salon.
before going to the braiding salon
This rebus was a fun project I did for Threads Magazine about 10 years ago. I wrote the verses and made the figures and props which were photographed and shown in the magazine’s Closures section.
Carol Chittenden from Eight Cousins bookstore asked me to come in and sign another box of books. She sold out of the copies of Pocketful of Posies I signed last week, so I was more than happy to sign some more. To order autographed copies call Eight Cousins at (508) 548-5548. Judy Richardson and I went by this morning after our dance aerobics class at the Rec center. 19 years ago, Judy and I celebrated the publication of our book, The Way Home. Read about the making of our book on earlier posts starting here. We gathered in the back room at Eight Cousins.
I signed a book for Judy’s relatives, a family with a boy and twin girls.
Out front, my book was in good company, next to a card board display of David Wiesner’s new book, Art and Max. David and I were both illustration majors at RISD, class of ’78. He was quiet and serious, but had a bold, determined side. I remember a mural he painted on the wall in the house he shared with some friends of mine. It was a huge copy of one of Henri Rouseau’s fantasy jungle scenes. I saw David at a RISD reunion a few years ago and was happy to see that he was still as kind and friendly as he’s used to be.
In the recent post about my book release party at Highfield Hall (see here), I said that I hadn’t taken any pictures of the wee folk centerpiece. Well, Carol from Eight Cousins was thinking clearly enough to take some, so here are her photos of the me setting up refreshments in the dining room.
SALLEY MAVOR 