Day 6: Favorite Fabrics

Today my mom called me to go to a favorite fabric store.  The Temptress.  I have memories of going to fabric stores with her from when I was a young girl. Also, I remember going to fabric stores with mom and Granny, too. This place that we go has fabric discounted because they sell discontinued fabric. This is great for ME because when I find a reproduction fabric it doesn't matter what year they came out. I found several reproduction prints from the mid 1800's.  Score!

For doll bodies, I enjoy using unbleached natural ticking for body fabrics of mid to larger sized dolls. I've found that they have a smoother appearance when stuffed and don't have as much of a tendency to "blow-out" than regular muslin would.   The doll below is made from that oh so special 5.6 hemp muslin. I used to enjoy using a 5.6 ounce hemp muslin fabric, but Hemp Traders stopped selling that weight.  It was perfect!  I've been looking for other kinds but nothing is as good as that first fabric I tried.  

Hemp fabric used in this Izannah doll below. 
This is what the doll pattern looks like before adding clay. 



Another fabric I've enjoyed using for small doll bodies is Kona Cotton.  You can often find it at finer fabric stores.  This doll below is made with Kona tan cotton. 



And lastly, my very favorite fabric in the whole world is antique muslin.  Sometimes you can find older vintage sheets on Ebay and those are lovely for making bodies.   

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1 comment:

Mary Ann Tate said...

I like using muslin for dolls too but it's hard to find. I asked in one store recently and they had no idea what I was talking about. Sad but true.


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden