Hello Sunshine!

I kind of thought I wasn't a "doll person". And yet.... it seems I definitely am! Especially when it's this Sunshine Doll made in an online class with artist Kecia Deveney. Enrollment in the class included two "sunshine" faces Kecia printed on muslin fabric, along with a couple more bonuses. The class went live on January 1 this year, but we had received our printed faces ahead of that time, so we were ready to jump in. 

Kecia shows every step of the dollmaking process in videos for which she offers the link to a special class site. Each video is a manageable length so you can work along with her, though she suggests watching all of the videos first to get an overview of where you're headed in designing the doll. Layering fabrics and elements of handwork are key elements in the design process. If there's one thing I've got, it's bits and pieces of this and that lying around in the sewing room just itching to get put to work. And here are just a few incorporated into Belle, the Sunshine Girl.

One of the videos shows how to add color to the printed face and how to include it in the construction of the doll. This was great fun and provided an evening's entertainment.

I chose a denim-look cotton print for Bella's base fabric and overlaid the back with a couple of vintage quilt blocks- a piece of a Dresden Plate and the ever-popular Grandmother's Flower Garden block pieced using hexagons around a "flower center".

But wait- there are two faces in the class package! While I was working on Bella, Faith was busy inventing herself! This time I chose a rust-dyed fabric given to me by a quilting friend as the base. Then came another vintage quilt block along with lace, button, and stitched embellishments. I can see I'm going to have to shorten those arms! They are just waaaay too long. Fortunately, Kecia has provided us with more than one construction option in her instructions, so this will be an easy fix.

This is Faith's backside, and it sports the printed badge that came with the class mailing. If you have bits and pieces and a creative urge, I encourage you to look into Kecia's fun class. Get a big bag of stuffing, though- you'll need it. And just in case you don't want to stop at two of these cute dolls, Kecia offers instruction on how to make your own faces to use in more of these projects. That, of course, will be my next endeavor so stay tuned!

PS- a note from Kecia reminded me that two printed faces were part of the early bird special for enrollment. We don't want anyone disappointed. Just so you know.