Jan's Blog

My last year exhibiting at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in October 2017.  After 22 years of exhibiting at this show and venue I have decided that this will be my last year.  I have had a long relationship with Creative Exhibitions and exhibited at a number of their shows since 1995.  However I now find this venue very hard work and the show at 5 days is just too long.  I have decided to take a year away from exhibiting anywhere and concentrate on new designs and workshops.  These type of retail shows are incredibly expensive...

Glastonbury Girl is an 18' doll made with a full armature on a stand.  She is all cloth as all my dolls and is made as a separate body and then costumed.  She has Indian style silk trousers - these are a habitai silk which I have tray dyed.  Her tunic is a floral print with bell sleeves and a braid trim.  Note the lovely waistcoat which I have crocheted into granny squares from a fine cotton thread. The mixed beads around her neck were my actual hippie beads worn in 1970's. The fringed shoulder bag is suede and her...

I am just adding the workshops for 2018.  These are all weekend courses and will include making a button joint doll, A choice of making a sitting doll, a stump doll or a jointed doll.  This year I am introducing a three day workshop in May for 5/6 people only to make a doll with a full armature on a stand.  These are all individually entered on the shop menu under 'cloth doll making workshops'.

My latest pattern is a cloth stump doll - a really good type of doll to make if you want to focus on costume and of course she stands independently very well.  Lady of Avalon is named thus as I now live most of the time in the Vale of Avalon, in Somerset.  There is a paper pattern available for this doll under Jan Horrox patterns.  This is a fairly easy to make project and great fun to costume.  I based my costume on a medieval type dress - very popular in Glastonbury.  For hair I have used  bleached Tibetan...