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SDA Subscriptions, 30595 Eight Mile, Livonia, MI 48152-1798, phone 800-458-8237 or 248-477-6650

The Doll Hub is a regular department which includes a photo of a doll from the Stone Soup Dollmakers. They use polymers and lots of embellishment to make unique dolls. Show Report, Cloth Doll & Animal Exhibits of 2000 - Albuquerque, New Mexico, includes so many superb dolls, I can not mention them all. I like the Soft sculpted frog that fits over a kleenex box and the dolls by Russian doll artist Lyubov Yukina They appeared to have quilted pieces and little soft stuffed balls on their clothing plus floral embroidery on their faces and neck. They are charming and it is easy to see it took many hours of stitchery to create each doll. Simple to Complex: Taking Classes by Susanna Oroyan is a good discussion on doll classes. This information not only helps beginners as a guide to what classes they want to take, but offers excellent tips to dollmakers thinking about teaching classes.

Summer 1999

If you want to see the Sulky Challenge doll, go to page 28 and there is Emma Gene Sulky by Teresa Barrett.  Fortunately, Teresa is a bead and fiber pal so I got to see the sculpted doll/figure up close before it went on the Sulky traveling exhibit.  It is astounding and created with fabric and thread and machine and hand stitched.  Every piece is finely detailed and the photo image is very clear in the article.  The other Sulky winners are also included but Emma Gene Sulky is definitely the best of the show.

A Woman of Many Possibilities by Barbara Roberts is a project to make a doll dress in Yoruba type dress.  All instructions and a full size pattern are included.  I like Your Doll, I just didn't Like the Photo by Susanna Oroyan is the how to's of photographing your doll for record keeping, entry into exhibits or as a possible inclusion in a book.  Information about contacting Susanna for adding your doll to her next book is included.  Clues to Creating Wrinkles, Shadows and Sags by Lynn R. Yale has step by step instructions to make an old character of your doll.

Cattarina Cat Witch by Bobbi A. Chukran is an intermediate doll project.  Cat figures always catch my attention.     I find the face the most exciting portion since I have been stitching faces on fabric for dolls.  Summertime Siggy by Laura Lee Ruckle provides instructions for this doll with colors and motif to match the season.   Inspirations Gallery is my favorite of every issue I can get my hands on.   Here you see some of the most exciting work that is being created today.

Sources by Laverne has the neatest doll  that is dressed like a belly dancer.   Her hair sticks way up high, her boobs stick through long fringe, she has lots of bead embellishment and she is just overall a fun doll.  Lavern calls her Inspiration and I agree. Amy and Her Doll by Elizabeth Seibold has the instructions and patterns for making both dolls.  There are several highlights on each specific portion of the skirt patterns and other little details.  After you get the doll made, then you learn how to make the chair she is sitting on and also a slipcover for the chair.

Miss Mouffette, A Distinctive Hand Puppet by Lois Boncer is skunk puppets and are they funny.  Tips for sewing fur fabrics is included. A Primitive Topsy-Turvey Doll & Clothing by Cindi Ciampa allows you re recreate a doll like those of the past.  You have one doll in one color motif  on one side, turn her upside down and you have another with a completely different color motif.  Hans, an Old-Style German Bear by Linda Mead lets you in on the secrets of bear making   with complete instructions.

I love Gwendolyn, a doll that looks like a little old lady dressed in magnificent lace and fabric.  This is an interpretation of Julie McCullough's Secret Keeper pattern.  Koushka by Phyllis Goldman is a cat type figure and a one of a kind doll with no pattern available.   I also liked Mod Misses created by Donna Ziegler with great big booty feet and a see through dress.  All these creations makes my head spin and I get new ideas.  That is how it should be, to be inspired by other artists' one of a kind work and create new items of one's own design, not copies of the items that triggered the inspiration.   Helpful Products & Services has some interesting goodies and there are plenty of dollmakers and supplies at the back of the magazine.  Often there are online sites where the dollmaker has patterns, how-to instructions and sometimes a free lesson you can download.   I love this magazine, it always has articles of interest, exciting patterns and lots of inspiration.

Spring Issue 1999

The front cover states 49 things to make, so you have plenty of choices.  Eggbert, the Easter Bunny by Traci Benvegnu and Pam Gray is a soft bunny with big floppy ears and appealing eyes.  His belly is decorated like an Easter egg. Siggy Keepsake Doll by Johannah Atkinson has a dress, coat and lots of lace even on the shoes.   A template is provided for the face.  April Mae by June Price is a nice chunky embroidered muslin body doll and she has a profile face.   Embroidery designs and items for headdress and sleeves are broke down in detail. Flower Sprites by Maureen Carlson is a beginner project but the dolls look very sophisticated.  Heads, arms, hands and shoes are made of polymer clay and the basic bodies begin with purchased muslin doll bodies and fabrics dress the dolls.  Each one looks completely different from the other.  The new ready made muslin dolls are great, they have long legs, big feet and a different shaped head.  I need to go to my local craft store and get a few.  I could crochet over them with or without beads!

Simple to Complex Pattern Drafting by Susanna Oroyan gives you all the techniques you need to make your own doll shapes. Three Faces of Eve by Nita Autrey is one wild doll.  She does have three faces so she is pretty much in your face no matter which direction you look at her.  All the instructions are included to make her.  I found the insert with full size patterns to be of interest because the three faces pieces could be worked into a a three face purse using various hand stitching techniques.  Painting, Staining & Varnishing Techniques by Pat Twitchin offers easy instructions for painting, staining, varnishing plus tips.

Pat Wong, Singapore Dollmaker by Barbara Evans brings some sweet images to view; happy little dolls in the form of play dolls, pincushions, bookmarks and chopstitch decorations. Cloth Dollmaking Techniques by Gloria J. Mimi Winer is an advanced dollmaking article with several specialty techniques for eyes, ears, noses, lips and body parts, making them younger and older.  Buyer's Bazaar offers a variety of doll patterns for people and critter dolls.  Join the Club is news about dolls clubs and their meetings  Helpful Products & Services has some real treats including Floppy Floozy patterns that look like fun to make and touch.  You can purchase finished dolls or get the pattern.  There was also some cloth dancer lapel pins that are a real treat and are ready to wear when you receive them in the mail and lots of other exciting dolls.  This column also includes information about a  book featuring 250 works of dolls from the 2,500 doll exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM.

Show Report, Cloth Doll and Animal Exhibits of 1998 highlights some of the outstanding dolls.  They are all outstanding, my choices were a dragon by Carole Doubek, mermaid by Claire Wichelmann, a zebrawoman by Veronica Armstrong Lynch and the four speckled dolls by Linda Stockton. These four dolls are on a surface that looks like soap suds and three of the dolls are riding on a brush cleaner while the other doll has slipped in the suds! Wow!

The doll pattern I went wild about in this issue was Peepers an Adaptable Frog by Kelly Lynn Smith.  I recently have found myself collecting frog charms, patterns and making frog forms, I am becoming a frog person and this is one more for my experiments.  This frog has great big suckers on the frog legs and the body is perfect for beading.  It is made for soft fleece fabric but I could see making it by crochet or using leather/ultrasuede, hand stitching it together with beads and thread and then embellishing it with beads.  The full sized pattern could be reduced to a smaller size for a smaller frog and there is just lots of possibilities with this pattern.  It is definitely going in my project folder.

Winter Issue 1998

I was so excited when I looked through this smashing issue and found it full of delightful dolls and ideas. Sources by Laverne offers you ideas for making dolls with inexpensive materials and easy to do techniques.  The sock doll is a real winner, I wanted to pick her up and hug her.  Even if you do not use a sewing machine, you could hand stitch a sock doll.  It would be a real treasure for a child or to keep yourself.  Several holiday decorations were used in embellishing some of the dolls. The Royal Gathering by Pam Gray and Traci Benvegnu is a group of characters that will be lots of fun to make and you will end out with a real conversation doll grouping.  Each character includes complete instructions, illustrations and patterns.  The Elephant King, The Giraffe Queen, The Royal Throne, Micro Siggy, The Court Jester, Rabbit Page and Courtly Toys including a rhino and mousses make up the gathering.  I liked the court jester and the micro siggy best.  You could make siggy jewelry and embellishments with that pattern. Inspirations! Gallery splashes across two pages with one of a kind dolls; a 30" teddy bear dressed in cloths that match a little boy's clothing and the little boy is the same height as the bear, it is difficult to believe the bear is not real; Well Kept Cat is a sculpted doll with a wonderful painted face and Angel Wear has a splendid doll dressed in fabric with geometric motifs that makes it very contemporary.

Next is Basic Weaving Techniques, Warped Women by Donna Rhodes.  This is an exciting concept with easy to learn instructions.  This is needleweaving with new ideas, adding appendages to form a doll and using other techniques to enhance the figure.  Even if you have never tapestry or needlewoven, all the instructions are included plus color images to give you ideas.  My favorite is the doll on page 38, I like the streamlined dress and button as the head plus a tiny purse attached to one arm.  I was very  impressed with this article and how easy you could make these dolls and create doll pins, necklaces or adornment.  This is a terrific new concept, fun to do and end out with superb results.  Donna has written a book on this technique, Warped Women and Material Men, which will be reviewed in our Pages Book Reviews soon.

Choosing Firm Knit Fabrics for Dollmaking by Judi Ward describes knit fabrics and which are best for the doll your are making.   Timothy Evans, A Man of Exquisite Detail by Barbara Spencer is a look at a doll artist and his work.  These soft dolls are embellished with lace and other soft materials, the faces are very individual and embroidery is part of the details.  Jolly Jingle Mrs. Santa by Sherry Thompson could be a project for next year if you did not use the pattern for '98.    This is a cute dolls and would look great under the tree.  Show Report, Cloth Doll & Animal Exhibits of 1998 is a real treat to the eye.  Every single doll is a beauty.  My favorites were Fuchsia Elliott's Sewing Spirit sitting on top of fabric swatches, Nita Autrey's Three Faces of Eve, Motherhood by Maureen Swint and Mary Porter Vaughan's Geisha.  There is also a photo image of Pat Twitchin in a class making a Christine Shivley's doll which I really enjoyed because you can see her stitching the doll together.   There are calendars of events and advertisements for which I am very thankful.  I found some companies that make armatures which I have been looking for and other items of interest.  Don't miss this magazine issue, it is a classic.

Fall Issue 1998

Sources by Laverne covers cutting, sewing and stuffing dolls from fabric panels.  There is are photos of dollmakers holding larger size dolls on their laps.  Q&A with Mimi also has a Mimi's Sources for Q&A with website and email addresses for most of the companies listed.  Simone the French Revolutionary by Jesse Chandler is a complete pattern and how-to instructions to make this soft doll.  There are details for making the hands on page 13 and hen on page 14 there is a complete break down of the whole torso, arms, head, legs and sculpting and finishing the face.  Next are all the instructions for dressing her and even making a walking stick.  Joyce Patterson Personality Plus by Kathleen Ryan is an interview with this dollmaker.  She has a variety of one of a kind dolls including Ann's Harley Spirit that has a chunky cowgirl type doll sitting on a her own Harley-Davidson motorcycle.  There are several fun an delightful dolls.   Her Circus Clown Doll is a treat; I love the bloomers. Footloose Flamingos by Julie McCullough shows you how to make a soft flamingo with baby shoes on the feet!   It is a real sweet pattern.  If you do not sew on a sewing machine, you could easily make this pattern by closing all the edges with bead edging.  I often find other ways to make an item after reading how to articles.  I also am thinking of making the flamingo by crocheting one following the basic lines of the patterns provided.   The shoes are the finishing touches, however, I would probably have added beads to the shoes and the flaming wings.  The flamingo is 28" long but you could make a miniature by down sizing the pattern.  Julie McCullough is one of my favorite dollmakers, I love to see all the new dolls she is creating.

Pre-teen Siggy, Ready for School by Cinci Ciampa is a doll that can be made into a variety of different characters or people dolls.  In this case, instructions show you how to make an African-American schoolgirl.  On page 26 is a full figure color image and I love the pants she is wearing; they look quilted.  How To Marble Fabric by R.P. Nelson tells you how to marbleize fabric for your dolls.  You can even marbleize the fabric you make the dolls from.  There is a photo on page 129 of one doll made this way and it's great.  She also has some beads in her hair!  On page 30 is my favorite, a mermaid with squid in hand.  Again, the doll and clothing are made from marbleized fabric. Snip, Stitch & Stuff by Linda Mead answers questions about making forms of animal, fish and fowl.  So if you have a questions in this category, you can ask and get an answer.  Bitty Bear by Cynthia Quan has the instructions to  make a bear 1 5/8" in size.  The bear she made is very adorable.  She has every step included and says not to get intimidated by the size, you can do it.   Our Nemesis The Nose by Francis Herbert is basics for beginners on fixing the nose problems on bear dolls.  Painting a Cloth Doll:   A Soft Look for Acrylics by Cindi Ciampa offers suggestions and instructions for painting on cloths dolls to end out with the right look for type of doll you are creating.  It includes painting a finish on the arms and legs too.  Inspirations Gallery are submissions by readers and everyone of them are wonderful.  My favorite was Cats by Bobbie Matus which has tufts of ostrich feathers or something else all over the cat and a fun cat face.

Cloth Dollmaking Techniques, Shoes Bob's Way Adapted for Cloth Dolls by Gloria J. "Mimi" Winer is advanced techniques for making high heel shoes.  This was perfect timing for me because I have been working on shoes for my Gene doll and trying to figure out how to make that heel portion.  Now I have all the answers  There are step-by-step directions and illustration provided.  Helpful Tips & Hints by Cindy Quan gives you an idea for another use of the hemostat.  Join the Club is a column where you can list your doll club with a contact address for free.  Show Report highlights cloth doll and animal exhibits of 1998.  There are plenty of color doll images  here and in all shapes and sizes of people, bears and dragons.  Swan Boat by Wendy Trommers is a real original.  There are also product reviews, a calendar and ads from many dollmakers and suppliers.  All the patterns in this issue are included in the insert for full size dolls.