2 DAY CLOTH DOLL MAKING WORKSHOP. May 18/19th 2024

 

CLOTH DOLL WORKSHOP   MAY 18th/19th Sat/Sun

With JAN HORROX 

INITIAL DEPOSIT ONLY   £30.00 to secure your place.

TOTAL COST £130.00. BALANCE TO PAY £100.00

Sat.10am – 5pm, 5pm – 6.30 pm extra work time which is optional as I know some people may need to travel or not want to stay so late.  

Sunday 10am – 4pm.

To be held at:

The Belfry Centre for Music and Arts in Overstrand.

Cromer Road, Overstrand, Norfolk. NR270NT

The Belfry is an Arts and Community Centre and a non profit making organisation.  It is in a converted Edwardian School House in Overstrand.

Overstrand is just outside Cromer and is a delightful seaside village with a beautiful beach and many lovely walks.

I don't as yet have an accommodation list but AirBNB and Booking.com have many places to stay.  I will  compile a list of successful places to stay from people attending the classes.

Workshop for 6 people.   This allows plenty of space and a separate table for each person.  There is parking at the side of the building at the weekends or unrestricted parking on the road.

 JAN HORROX will guide you through all the basic cloth doll making techniques .

We will make the four part sculpted head as shown in JAN’S books, then drawing and colouring the face onto the sculpted he'd.

 We shall be making a cloth doll from a pattern supplied by Jan at the workshop.  This pattern will include a four part sculpted head with drawn features.  It has a fairly simple body which is shaped, three alternatives of arms with variations of hands, and three alternative styles of leg.  You can choose to make a jointed doll, a seated doll or a straight legged doll.

The patterns we shall use are all for an 18” doll (as in my books) If you keep the pattern templates ,which are all interchangeable,  you can use them to make many dolls in the future.

This year I shall be offering a couple of new patterns - the rabbit with hinge joints or a standing doll with armature.  PLEASE let me know in advance so I have enough of each set of templates plus the materials required.

You can make fairies, elves, angels, mermaids, witches, fairy tale characters or something more personal to you. Maybe a friend or family member portrait.

 If you are a beginner it will be best to stick to a simple construction doll and focus on the head, face and hands – these are the things most people find tricky to begin with.  

We shall include different types of hair and how to attach to the head. 

 Also included will be Angelina wings and other decorative techniques for embellishment.

 If you can bring a picture or have a good idea of what style of doll you want to make, this will help you decide on your fabrics and trims.  This year I’m encouraging everyone to arrive with ideas about what they want their doll to look like.  If you want to make a first doll and keep it simple she can still look stunning when you leave.  I don’t normally do complicated joints in a 2 day workshop because there just isn’t time but I’m hoping to show you some samples so that when you are working on your own you have some idea of what they entail.

 If you have any queries on what you want to do – please do email me and we can discuss it.

 Jan will supply a kit to each person which includes:

 Pale tea dyed Pimatex cotton fabric – enough for one doll.

Chenille sticks ( for wiring fingers)

Bag of filling/stuffing ( enough for one doll)This can be polyester or wool stuffing.  So let me know in advance, which you prefer.

2 x long darning needles for sculpting the face.

A folder of step by step instructions with photos/diagrams of the various techniques we shall be doing.

 I also bring for use during the workshop, plenty of the following:

 Forceps and chop sticks for stuffing.

Long Doll Needles

Fine pens for drawing in all colours on the face.

Pencil crayons for colouring the faces.

Fine mechanical pencils

Vanishing fineline pens air drying

Quilting and extra strong threads.

Finger Turning tools.

 I also bring some oddments of fabrics, trims, buttons and beads that are free leftovers – this will be fairly random and vary.

 You will need to bring:

A sewing machine in good order.  Please test before you come if you are not using this frequently and check that it is complete.

It is very helpful to have an open quilting or embroidery foot or a clear foot.  If you imagine machining with a small stitch around small fingers – you need to be able to see exactly what you are doing.  These can be bought on Amazon quite cheaply except for a Bernina, which are more expensive.

Natural polyester thread for machining.

Sharp embroidery scissors and good sewing scissors.

Paper scissors for cutting out the pattern.

Coloured or patterned cotton fabric for the dressing of the doll.  Best to use a good strong cotton fabric – quilting cotton fabric is ideal – for the doll body pieces as the fabric has to take quite a lot of stress when stuffed.  Some synthetics can be difficult to work with but silks can be good for costume skirts etc.

Don’t use anything that frays badly.  Small amounts of fabric are fine – bring things from your stash. Fat quarters are ample and will contribute to a few dolls.

 If you want to use button joints then bring 4 buttons to match your fabric. 14mm – 16mm work well.

 Trims of all kinds may be useful – ribbons, laces, beads etc.

 Hair – you can use more or less anything – but fancy chunky yarns are great, dyed fleece locks and dyed wool tops to use as a base.   Dyed fleece can be found online and also and fibre and quilting fairs.  I sometimes have some to sell.

 If you have your own doll making tools, pens or pencils then bring them.  If you do not already have them I would advise not to buy until afterwards, especially pens as people often buy the wrong kind which do bleed on fabric.

Any watercolour pencils will work if you have them but I do have plenty for all to use.

I will supply tea, coffee and biscuits.  You will need to bring a packed lunch.  There are one or two options for lunch - the garden centre nearby, the local pub and the Overstarnd stores.  All quite near.

There is a Morrisons, Coop  and a Lidl in Cromer.

  OUR SCHEDULE WILL BE:

 Saturday May13th 2023

Start at 10am - you can arrive from 9.30 am

 We shall start by going over the basics of template sewing which is the method used for cloth doll making.

 Our main task will be to make a four part head, stuff this and sculpt the features.

We shall then draw and colour the face onto this head.

We will also make and finish the body on the first day and start on the limbs.

 Sunday May 14th 2023

Start at 10am.

 On the second day we will make the hands first – then go onto arms and legs.  We shall assemble the whole doll together with hair, costume and wings if wanted.

 This is a lot to do in 2 days but I always hope to get everyone to a stage where they can easily finish off at home.  That is why I add the extra time at the end of Saturday.

 

PAYMENT and My Refund/Cancellation Policy:

You can book the workshop by paying the 30.00 deposit here on the website as above.  The balance will be due 6 weeks in advance which will be April 1st 2023.   I will invoice you early- mid March for the balance of 100.00.  You can pay online or by phone 07734747529.

Payments of full amount are non-refundable after April 14th  2022 unless I can fill the place.  Deposits are non refundable.

 

If you have any queries please email me on janhorroxx@gmail.com or phone 07734747529