Sunday, October 25, 2009

Introducing 'Constantia', my slow fashion model

Hey - who is this?

Let me introduce 'Constantia' to you! A bit shy yet, she is, but I guess you will see more of her before long!



When Sara came to visit me, we talked about the possibility of using a doll for our knitting and other textile experiments, thus being able to try out patterns and ideas in a smaller scale.

We agreed on keeping the dolls quite simple, not too small, and on using the same outlines for both, hers and mine. As Sara is far more experienced than I am in doll-making, I asked her to outline it and to teach me how to sew and stuff it.

I wanted a doll looking more like a grown-up woman, with ample bosom and belly and a few grey hairs - well, more like in real life, if you see what I mean :-)!

Constantia measures about 80 cm/30 inches and is entirely made out of stash material and what I had at hand: an old cotton sheet, dyed with black tea, a red and grey tangled wool, a bag of padding and a little black acrylic paint for the boots. (For these first photos I just dressed her in one of my daughter's T-shirts - it's getting a bit chilly outside.)

Although we had almost a week together, Sara and I started making the dolls only a few hours before she had to go - so she left with only a paper pattern and I had a kind of empty fabric skeleton without a face in my hand ... So well, Constantia is not perfect - neither am I - but she's my first try-out and I would like her to serve as a model for a bit of slow fashion, for handmade and recycling wearables.



(German summary: Dies ist Constantia, eine 80 cm Stoffpuppe, die ich gerne als Model für selbstgemachte Anziehsachen verwenden möchte. Als Sara bei mir war, haben wir diese Möglichkeit des verkleinerten Ausprobierens diskutiert und zusammen ausgearbeitet - es wird also auch eine zweite Version davon geben!)

7 comments:

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Lovely :o)

ritarenata said...

wahnsinn, das gefällt mir sooo gut.
darf ich auch probieren?????
es muss aufregend sein so eine grosse puppe zu basteln.
ich bin wirklich begeistert.
und zum glück habe ich unmengen viel resttextilien die ich nich wegschmeissen kann. und filzreste zum füllen auch.
biiiitte, darf ich auch?
gruss,
ri

Sara lechner said...

jetzt sehe ich sie! wo ist der busen?
toll geworden.
die schwangerschaft von meiner ist noch nicht fertig!

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thank you so much, girls!

@Ritarenata: Ja, natürlich darfst Du auch! Ich fände es sogar ganz wunderbar, wenn mehr von uns mitmachen würden! Und wenn Du willst, verlinken wir uns und machen somit ein 'Anti-Barbie-Projekt'!

@Sara: Danke! Der Busen ist da, nur unter Emmis T-shirt versteckt! Ich freu' mich schon auf Deine 'Niederkunft'!

Elizabeth said...

Well, I am in love with Constantia. She is just my kind of girl and what a great idea to use her as a model. Look forward to see the developement of her wardrobe.

Have a great weekend.

Elizabeth

Clare Wassermann said...

Ha ha lovely. My daughter who is 8 is sitting at my sewing machine and has made a little ghost doll!!

Anneli/Bockfilz said...

Thanks for commenting, Elizabeth and Clare! Sorry I'm so late with updating ... please hang on!