Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Things I Love - A well designed doll pattern

If you are like me, you appreciate good design in whatever form it takes. Being a doll maker, good doll designs make me happy. I've made my share of poorly designed patterns and welcome the change when a good one comes along. All the parts fit, directions are clear and concise, illustrations are well drawn, photos are good quality. There are many excellent designers out there...Judi Ward, Deanna Hogan, Jane Coughlin to name a few. And now, although she has been around for quite awhile, Colleen Babcock. A delightful person with full-blown chops behind her in the design arena.

Recently Colleen put out a challenge mystery doll pattern that participants got to buy at a greatly reduced price and the opportunity to join in the Yahoo group to follow along on the construction and have the help and guidance of Colleen. How could I resist? Although I own a couple of Colleen's patterns, I've never made one of them. You know, gotta get the pattern and then it languishes in a folder for days, months, years on end. My mojo had taken a hike lately and this was just the jumpstart I needed to get her back in the saddle again.

This is my doll created from Colleen's wonderful pattern. A doll perfect for use as a mannikin for making endless assortments of clothing for. The body is beautifully proportioned with the use of darts for shaping. Gotta love that! If you design with darts, you know what you are doing. Colleen does. A full wire armature for stability, exquisitely detailed face, and the costuming, to die for. The premise behind this doll was truly an original concept. The points of the skirt overlay are meant to have numbers applied to them and be able to fold up and attach to beads, thereby allowing the participant to reveal each Advent day as the calendar progresses. Brilliant!

I took a few shortcuts when making my doll...because I could. Years of doll making have given me many tools and techniques to use in getting to the end faster. I added beaded edging all around the overlay and gave her a silk shawl for the cold. I love the addition of the fan. What a great accessory!

This doll did for me what I needed her to do. She brought back my mojo. I've already started another doll from one of my own patterns and have another of Colleen's planned. Thanks Colleen.

11 comments:

  1. Kate,
    What lovely comments! Thank you so much. I'm thrilled that you are enjoying the pattern so much that it brought back your mojo!
    Colleen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kate and Happy New Year!

    Your doll is AWESOME! (when has one not been) lol. Her costume is really pretty, love it! I haven't started mine yet as I'm still in pursuit of BBs. She will be my first doll project in the new year. Happy to hear your MOJO has returned.

    hugz
    Pam

    ReplyDelete
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