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

Snow White Concept

© 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.

Concept Futura

    This afternoon I created in Adobe Illustrator this idea that was bouncing around in my head. An outfit that could either be sportswear or office wear depending on the materials that are used to make it.

Cat Rabbit & Sausage Dogs

    Today I took the girls for a train ride into the city. It was a beautiful day for it, and I wouldn't even let a squished banana [gross!] mar the day. We visited NGV to say hello to Cat Rabbit in the Great Hall [I just love saying that – Great Hall], who was running a workshop: Dog Mechanics with Soft Stories. The girls sat down and made their own paper sausage dogs and got to admire a hilarious and colourful sausage dog factory which was designed and built by Cat Rabbit and Isobel Knowles.

© Melissa Gaggiano

    This was followed by a roam into the NGV atelier, which housed the Viktor & Rolf for Kids event. The girls sat down and made their own fashion art using a variety of paper materials, staples and a hole puncher. I couldn't help myself! I had to sit down and join the fun. I made a hat that would have made Isabella Blow rather proud. Gwen proudly wore the hat for me and paraded it for the rest of our city trip. Perhaps I missed my calling as a milliner.

     Before heading off to eat lunch [prepared Vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches] I chose a kids fashion activity book from the Viktor & Rolf souvenir shop. On the train ride home I read some of the book to the girls. Going to have some rainy day fun with the girls doing the activities in this book.

© Melissa Gaggiano

    I look forward to returning to NGV to visit the main Viktor & Rolf exhibit.

    The Cat Rabbit workshop will continue to Thursday this week. If you're going to be in the city with the kids and looking for free fun NGV is a great place to go. The paper crafting is good, quiet fun, and the sausage factory on display is worth a good long stare. If you can't make it you can check out this video of the factory.

Inspiration Board

Inspiration Board

Pretty in Pink

© Melissa Gaggiano

    When I came across this small metreage of pink tulle it called... Nae, in a whispering cry it told me to pick it up and pay for it. At the time I had no need for the fabric. There was no master plan for it to be turned into something more beautiful, or alternatively disastrous. Any fabric addict can understand what I am talking about here.

    As luck would happen I did find a use for this gorgeous material, and much sooner than I had imagined would happen. This tulle had me imagining Marie Antoinette, as played by Kirsten Dunst. Of course I didn't have nearly enough material to create anything that grand. The next best bit of inspiration did come along, in the form of Kylie Minogue.

    The previous week I took my daughters to the Kylie on Stage exhibit. All three of us were utterly enamoured and arrived home with stars, pearls and sequins in our eyes.

    This week is my eldest's birthday and I decided to make her a pretty party dress to celebrate. And so a meeting of many wonderful ideas – Kylie, pink, tulle, sequins, birthday, love for my daughters – culminated in my pattern making and sewing this gorgeous slip of a dress, which can be worn with singlet, shorts and leggings.

By the way, did you know the fabric tulle is named after the French city in which it is manufactured.

Inspire You

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