Apple Bomb is Here

© Melissa Gaggiano

After many hours of work, Apple Bomb has finally landed. Apple Bomb is a thoroughly modern Snow White. At concept stage her name became Snowdrop. Through development her name changed to Apple Bomb as her fiery personality developed.

Apple Bomb is a royal and an activist. She raises awareness and is aiming to make social changes to end child slave labour.

Apple Bomb is mostly hand sewn, has hand painted facial details. Most of the fabric used came from left over fabrics; The denim jacket was originally from my old pants. Decoration on the headband was needle-felted. And the body has an internal wire armature.

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

Ronaldo C

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

 This week a spontaneous doll project happened when a lil' boy's birthday suddenly popped into calendar. What to do? What to do? I like making dolls that have a meaningful connection to the recipient, so after a bit of brainstorming I made a football doll based on Ronaldo Cristiano of Real Madrid.
I know very little about football, but after this week I know a little more than nothing. For instance I now know that Ronaldo is a spunk, and so is this little doll. My favourite part was making the shoes.
Last year I made another doll using a similar pattern. You could say it is a sister doll to this one.

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

My First Sewing Project

My first sewing project... 30 years ago.

Moon Princess

The past few days have been dedicated to making this Moon Princess doll and her loyal steed. All made with a combination of sewing techniques, fabrics and paints.

DIY Peg Doll

    This week I successfully taught peg doll making to children. The children were in awe of the handmade examples that I had to show, but for me the best part was watching them sit down and have a go at sculpting and sewing different shapes of felt material onto their individual pegs.
    No two dolls were exactly alike, which was the intended result. I could easily have instructed the children to make the dolls in my vision, but that wasn't the outcome I was looking for. It was more important for the children to make the peg dolls in their own personal way.
    I present to you a tutorial, which was very loosely used as a basis for the above mentioned doll making class. It is for people who want to make a peg doll and don't know where to begin. I recommend reading the notes, and you have two options: make what your see or sculpt the doll as you imagine it. Remember, there is no right or wrong of making a peg doll. There is only... the fun way!

Materials & Tools 

Threading Needle 

(1) Push the threader through the needle eye, insert the thread into wire threader loop. Pull the threader back through the needle.

(2) Bring the ends of thread together and tie a knot.

Making Doll Hair

(3) Cut 5 pieces of yarn, each roughly 30cm in length.

(4) With the 5 pieces of yarn together, wrap around the middle of the peg and bring the ends of the yarn together up above the head of the peg.

(5) Cut another length of yarn and tie this around the yarn above the head, and knotting it off.

Additional Note: You can also make hair for the doll by colouring in the head with textas, or gluing/sewing felt to the top of the peg.



Doll Clothes
 

(6) Choose a piece of felt and wrap it around the body of the peg and cut off any excess that you don’t need. Play with different lengths of fabric – to make shirts, pants, skirts and coats.

(7) Feed the threaded needle

into both sides of the fabric to close the opening. Repeat the stitch pictured. This diagonal sewing will create a row of visible parallel stitches. Tie a knot in thread when done. Cut the thread close to knot.



Doll Arms
 

(8) Cut out 2 small, narrow pieces of felt fabric roughly 4cm by 1cm. These will be the doll arms.

(9) Ensure your thread is knotted at the end. Stitch the arm pieces to the sides of the fabric wrapped peg.

(10) Your peg person is finished and ready for play.

Additional Note: Experiment with your peg doll designs. With freestyle doll making there is no right or wrong way of creating. You can draw faces, use glue, sew accessories, use buttons, feathers, or anything that makes your peg doll uniquely yours. 



Bonus Material: Reference Card

Luna Lovegood Inspiration

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    I am one of the masses who enjoys the Harry Potter universe and for this very reason I constructed a Luna Lovegood inspired textile sculpted art doll.

    I am so proud of the little-big details that went into making this doll. She has wire armature, is sculpted with felt. I've hand painted fabric, needle felted, blanket stitched and even curled yarn to bring this Luna to life.

    This Luna is currently available in my store. Check her out!

Craft Evolution

Melissa's Doll Making Progress

    When you love someone, or like something, there is not a single simple answer to explain why this is. This is true for me when it comes to creating. I like writing, taking photos, digital editing, drawing, painting, stitching, knitting, crochet, armature, problem solving and I get a real kick when I bring all these things together.

    Doll making has allowed me to mix together many different passions of mine. The other thing I like about doll making is the evolutionary journey it has taken me on. No two dolls that I've created are ever exactly alike. Even after I have perfected a doll pattern I seldom stick to it. There are constant adjustments – I see things that I could do differently the next time. There are new techniques to try.

    I feel that as my dolls change and evolve I too change and evolve with them. I am a different person at the end of each doll making process. Do you feel that too, with your work?

A Week of Total Kickass Creation

Photo, photo design and costumes by Melissa Gaggiano

    This has been a mad of week of making and creating. From developing a doll making lesson plan, staging a product photo shoot and making sample dolls for said lesson plan, writing edits, to costume making for a fairy ball. Yeah! So, I was very tired this week. But I got a lot done, so, happy me.

© Melissa Gaggiano

Meet Kobie 'doll' Roberts

Kobie Roberts doll based on a fictional character
created by Candice Ransom

    I am so excited to be sharing this with you. Just today I finished making this doll, which is based on a book character who I became friends with when I was about ten years old. Kobie Roberts is a student dealing with the all the things that makes being a teenage simply awesome [note the sarcasm] – bullies, trying to fit in, worrying about what others think of her, missing her best friend, face-offs with her mama.

    I loved Kobie [still do really and I look forward to introducing her stories to my own kids]. I thought she was amazing, and I wished Kobie could see how cool she really was when she wasn't trying. Come to think of it, I wish I knew that I was okay just being weirdo-me when I was a teenager too. So I guess this is a common worry for everyone when they are growing up – 'Am I enough? Am I too much?'

    It should come as no surprise then that Kobie Roberts is in part a work of fiction, and also a mirror of Candice Ransom, based on her own experiences and feelings growing up.

    I have based the Kobie doll on her description at the start of Fourteen and Holding. The doll comes with a hand bag [AKA pocket book], and a blue binder [with a 'right things' list]. The doll is made from woven cloth, felt, is sewn and painted. This was a back burner project for such a long while, so I am thrilled to have finally reached this point.

    For everything you need to know about beloved children's lit author Candice Ransom, go here.

First Doll of 2017

© Melissa Gaggiano

    This tiny turtle was the first doll of 2017 to be made. She is a birthday gift for a lil' girl.

© Melissa Gaggiano

I Put It To You

    I've made mermaids and turtles, big little girl dolls and little big girl dolls, game and movie inspired dolls… Now I put it to you. What would you like to see me make next?

    Leave a comment here or on Instagram.

Meet Turtle Fred

© Melissa Gaggiano

Meet Fred! Fred is a turtle who dreams of being a snow bunny.Fred loves drinking hot coco with marshmallows in winter and dreams of the day that he'll actually visit a snow mountain. Till that day comes he likes to pretend by wearing his white winter boots, his pretend bunny ears and cotton tail, and decorating his shell with snow and snowflakes.

Head on over to my Etsy store, and there you will find Fred the Snow Bunny dreamer.

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Tiny Turtle

© Melissa Gaggiano

     It is an achievement and a satisfyingly wonderful thing when the design you construct comes together just as you had hoped. It is an even better feeling when you come back to your work and decide to rejig it - enlarging, shrinking, a different limb, that pattern piece that was a mask can now be a hair bow, that sort of thing.

    I recently challenged myself to take my now familiar turtle design and make an even smaller version. There was no knowing if it was going to work. After all smaller may mean using few materials, but it is by no means easier. Big hands doing little things.

    In the end I managed it and apart from scaling down the pattern pieces there was only one actual pattern piece change from the original design and that was in the legs.

    The only thing left to do is to name this lil turtle baby.

© Melissa Gaggiano

Need to Learn

© Melissa Gaggiano

    From machine stitch to hand sewing. From rag dolls to armature. From mermaids to fashion dolls. From felt pattern pieces to needle felted sculpting… My journey in doll making has been varied and expansive. 

    More than a decade ago I fantasised about constructing my own china dolls. I imagined modern dolls made with old school doll making techniques. Nothing came of this, as these thoughts were before the dawn of the online crafting renaissance. Then two years ago I discovered there were artists achieving this very thing. It gave me hope and with gradual research have discovered resources that can demystify these doll making techniques.

    After at least a year's worth of um-ing and ah-ing I began practicing and teaching myself how to sculpt. This is no easy task, as I am back where I began when I first tried making dolls. When you are learning from scratch the path ahead looks scary and bumpy. There will be mishaps and the outcome seems so far away. Despite all this there is something inside that says 'just give it a go'. 'Surely a couple of steps forward wouldn't hurt'.

    My first sculpted doll head was simply fugly. Though with each attempt at sculpting, while rough, it comes closer to what I need it to be. I've still got a long way to go with this sculpted doll making, and ultimately it may not be the right thing for me, but for now it's what I need to be learning.

© Melissa Gaggiano

Nothing's Gonna Stop This Doll

© Melissa Gaggiano

    As I progress on my latest pose-able fashion doll I am almost a little amazed when I see it coming together. Usually when I am at the stage of creating the armature there is always a moment of 'I don't know about this'. The truth is anything can happen during the doll making process. And it is only when that final stitch is tied and cut that a doll maker can rest.

    The next stage for this doll will be wig making and designing the costume. Stay tuned…

    Since I'm bringing a doll to life it is only appropriate that I share this eighties music video by Starship [awesome]. Mucho love for Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy from the film Mannequin.

Rockabilly Belle

© Melissa Gaggiano

    Now that the Journey doll is complete I am ready to begin working on something new. Once a project is finished I have to quickly move on to the next thing. No time like now!

    The next doll will be a gift for someone who as a child loved Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Of course I will be giving this doll a rockabilly twist. Stay tuned to watch the progress.

Journey's End

Journey inspired game art doll.
Based on Journey by That Game Company.

    It took me a while, but look I got there. I just finished construction of my Journey doll. For those not in the know Journey is a soul moving game by That Game Company. After playing the game only twice I was inspired to make an art doll, which is what you now see.

    The doll is made from felt, thread, stuffing and armature. A variety of sewing stitches were used to pull the doll together. There was much trial and error in getting the pear body shape just right. Along the way I realised that the wire I was using for the doll's skeleton could be used in the ribbon that trails from the body, to make it look like it was floating behind.

    It was an exciting experience bringing this doll together. It was like putting together a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle, but one that not yet been created. Get  your mind around that.

Journey inspired game art doll.
Based on Journey by That Game Company.

Week of the Dolls

My youngest daughter with her Journey inspired doll.

    Over the past week there has been a fair share of doll making in this creative environment. I continue to work on a Journey [That Game Company] inspired art doll. It has been a matter of sculpting the pattern pieces bit by bit. Building up the doll a little at a time. The process for making this doll really has been so very different to my other designs. It is an experience I am learning and growing from.

    My youngest has watched me make the Journey doll and naturally she wanted to make one herself. I took a break from my doll making as I encouraged and guided my daughter in designing and sewing her own Journey inspired doll.

My Journey doll: A work in progress.

My Journey doll: A work in progress.

    I pulled out one of my older doll designs, made her a bag and off she went on her merry way as birthday gift for a lil' girl turning five. I love this doll design. I remember making it while watching the Elvis Presley film Roustabout. Ah, happy memories!

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

Tropica

© Melissa Gaggiano

    This week I have been working on a birthday present for a lil' girl. Since the theme of her party is tropical I went with that concept when accessorising the doll.

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

Beginning of a New Journey

Journey
That Game Company
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    Over the weekend I played the computer game Journey for the very first time. A long awaited experience for me, ever since watching a review of it on Good Game.

    Journey was a unique gaming experience for me. At times it was an emotional roller coaster ride. It's a short game, but it is replay-able game in that there is a lot to learn, and no two journeys are exactly alike.

Doll making sketches by
Melissa Gaggiano

    I was so inspired by this game, and having finished The Clueless Collection I have decided to sculpt a new doll based on the little soul that I play. I'm thinking of using armature and felt. I'll be doing some embroidery and putting my new needle felting tools to use. Watch this space for updates...