New Doll: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

I made this doll in the spring, but wasn’t sure how I wanted to dress her, and over the summer I had a lot of pain in my hands, so I had to set her aside for a while. 

She is made of organic color grown cotton, but her hair, face and nails are bamboo. Her dress is made of organic cotton fabric, and she is stuffed with organic cotton too. She has a steel wire armature, and is approximately 7.25 inches tall.

I decided to make her after reading a very interesting book about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha called "Saint Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks" by Matthew and Margaret Bunson. Her clothing is inspired by the way they said Kateri dressed in the book after she moved to the Sault Mission, in a simple long blue dress. I knitted a shawl, I wanted it to kind of look like deerskin or something like that. They said she usually wore a shawl, sometimes covered her hair with it, but they didn't say what it looked like, so I just made it up to match her boots :P

She is holding a “rosary”, made of a little ball chain and a sterling silver cross (yes, it’s actually an Orthodox cross, but it’s all I had on hand that could work for now!). Eventually I would like to make her a rosary out of glass beads, but I haven’t’ quite figured out how to do it yet…

Anyways, I think she turned out pretty cute, I am happy with my little Kateri ^_^ Here are some photos of her:

Cute Kateri

I just want to share a few pics of Kateri in her new wig - actually, I made this wig for Katya. But when it was done, I just didn't like the style on her. So I tried it on my other girls, and it looks really cute on Kateri, which means it must be hers! I also made her a new long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings to go under a little knitted skirt I made a few years ago. The wig, shirt and leggings are made of organic cotton. I think the knitted skirt is made of corn, either that or bamboo/soy, I can't remember which... 

Llamas, Frogs and Forget-Me-Nots

What do they all have in common? Well, nothing much, really, except that they all have something to do with doll clothes I've made recently :P Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things have been kind of busy lately. In addition to making the clothes below, I have been working on a new book, taking a tapestry weaving class, knitting a new little dolly, studying Russian and Korean (well, the Russian is just brushing up, since it's not the first time I studied it, but still, it's time-consuming), and I am still working on the Snegurochka costume for Elena (look for an update on that in the next week, hopefully, I'm almost done sewing the dress). 

So the first outfit is the Llama outfit, modeled by Kateri. The llamas are handwoven out of organic colorgrown cotton. I used the same yarn to trim the top and skirt, as well as on the sandals and the handle for the purse. The rest of the outfit is made of organic cotton too :) I picture her going to an outdoor market, or some sort of art show or something in this outfit. Some place outdoors, in the summer, just relaxing and doing a little shopping, or something fun like that ^_^

Here are a few pics of the llama pieces, just off the loom:

The second outfit I call "Forget-Me-Not", just because the color of the fabric looks like certain kinds of forget-me-not flowers. Well, that, and I couldn't think of what else to call it! lol It is modeled by Bu-Yong, and is made of organic cotton with swarovski crystal accents. I made the shoes too. I was going for some kind of ballet flat. I can't say I succeeded entirely, but they are useable for now...

And now for the frogs. I am making Kisa a costume inspired by the Russian fairy tale "The Frog Tsarevna". This trim is based on a charted knitted pattern created by Huldamor on Ravelry. She was nice enough to allow me to weave it :) I will actually be weaving two of her patterns for this costume. I'm using very fine, organic cotton lace-weight yarn. Here are some pics of the trim I have finished so far (and of course, Kisa too!):

I'm really happy with the way this trim turned out! I haven't been able to start the second trim yet - I had to put this project on hold temporarily, because I need to use this loom for the tapestry weaving class that I'm currently taking. But as soon as that is done, I'll weave the other trim, and then get to sewing the costume!

Well, that is all for now. I hope you're all well, and enjoying Spring!

~Debi

P.S. Ringo says "hi"! He is doing really well :) The warmer weather is making him quite sassy.

Kateri

Kateri arrived on January 25, and I have been so slow about posting her pictures! I apologize, I've had a lot of work and a lot of projects going lately. Like my other girls, she is a porcelain BJD made by JRDolls, and is 35cm tall. I named her after Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, who I admire very much. I think this doll is beautiful and sweet, very loving, just like the real Kateri :) Here is the first picture I took of her when she arrived:

Here are a couple of pics I just took of her today. She is holding pieces that I wove for her, I am still working on this project, but I want to make her a skirt out of them - they all have cute little llamas on them, and are made of 100% colorgrown cotton. I am pretending that she took a trip to Peru ^_^ The first photo shows her holding a piece with llamas at night under the stars. The second piece depicts llamas during the day, with a volcano in the background.

I will post more photos of this llama skirt as they are completed. Of course, Kateri will be modeling them all!