I am so excited right now, because I actually made a doll!!! This is something I have wanted to do for many, many years. She is a knitted doll, and I wrote the entire pattern myself - normally I just alter existing patterns, but I couldn't find one in this case. Oh, there are a lot of cute knitted doll patterns out there, to be sure, but none of them were suitable for this project, because I want my dolls to look similar to my illustrations. So in the end, I decided to write this pattern myself, it was my first time doing something like that. I feel like God was guiding me the entire time (I always pray before I start a new project), because all the pieces turned out right on the first or second try! I was so surprised, and I feel really blessed that that happened, I was expecting to have to remake everything several times before I was happy with it. I'm glad that I didn't have to, though!
Anyways, my first doll is inspired by my illustration of "The Scarlet Flower" (Аленький цветочек), which is like the Russian version of "Beauty and the Beast". I named her "Alyona". Actually in the story the main character does not have a name, she is just "the merchant's youngest daughter". But there is a film version of "The Scarlet Flower" from the 1970s that I like very much, and in it they call her Alyona, so that is where I got the name for my doll.
She is made of 100% bamboo yarn, and stuffed with fiber fill made from corn. Her headband is made from swarovski pearls and crystals, she has a swarovski crystal "ring" on her right hand (to represent the ring the beast gives her in the story), and she holds the scarlet flower, made from swarovski crystals and a glass bead, in her left hand. She also has "nail polish", a little feature that I like to give all the girls in my illustrations. She is about 8 inches tall. Well, enough with the descriptions, let's get to the pictures!
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| Alyona with my original illustration of "The Scarlet Flower". In person the illustration is much darker, especially her dress, but in this picture it looks kind of turquoise because I used the flash when I took it. |
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| Closeup - before I did her hair |
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| Nail Polish! |
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| I love this kind of shoe, I think they are so pretty! So of course, I had to make them for Alyona ^-^ |
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| The lace trim on the upper part of the sleeves is a variation I made of the "Torchon Edge" which was originally printed in 1891. The cuffs have gold-trimmed picot edging. |
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| Closeup of Alyona finished - her headband is made of Swarovski pearls and crystals. |
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| The ring from the Beast - a red Swarovski crystal. |
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| Closeup of the back of her hair - for some reason the color looks kind of purply in this picture, but it's actually a dark reddish-brown. |
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| A full-length shot of Alyona finished - she did not want to stand up at first! |
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| I took this picture of her in the sunlight, and thought it was pretty, so here it is! |
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| I cut a lot of her hair before, but she still has a ton! |
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| The Scarlet Flower - made of green and gold Swarovski crystals and a pretty little red glass heart. |
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| The ring in the sunlight. |
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| Took this picture right after I finished rooting her hair, I hadn't made her clothes or "painted" her nails yet... |
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| ... And as you can see, she had way way too much hair at first! lol |
Well, that's all for now. I had so much fun making Alyona, I am trying to decide which of my illustrations I want to make into a doll next!
Update: You can now commission Alyona at my store on Shop Handmade ^-^ If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
