Scrap Happy cloth dolls
Gail Wilson Doll
This is a cloth body doll, made from a kit produced by Gail Wilson (who makes wood body doll kits, and cloth body doll kits). The head and limbs of this doll were painted by a friend of mine, and the underwear started by my friend’s friend who had given her the partially completed kit. I ended up finishing off the kit for my friend by sewing and stuffing the body and attaching the limbs . She is doll #1…
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Head and limbs
…coincidentally another friend had an unopened Gail Wilson cloth body doll kit. I offered to finish her kit too, and planned to work on the two of them at the same time. I gave the head and limbs to one of my artistic relatives to paint – this is doll#2…
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Wooden body
…but meanwhile the wooden body Gail Wilson doll I had made from a kit a few years ago, was unhappy and stiff with her arms and legs moving in tandem…
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Sawing the lady in half
…so I decided to use the scraps of the other two dolls to make mine into a cloth body doll too. First I had to saw off limbs and head…
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holes
…then drill holes in the wooden bits, and make up and stuff the body using scraps leftover from doll #1!
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Happy Doll
This is doll #3. She’s much happier being a squishy cloth-bodied doll.
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Waiting
I actually finished her second, while I dug around for the right bit of fabric to finish doll #2…
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Three
… I had a scrap just the right shade, leftover from making a “Frodo” doll for one of my kids about 25 years ago (I knew I was saving it for something!!).
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Dolly #2
Here she is, all done!
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Three little girls
And here are the three completed dolls, 3, 2, and 1. I love that their faces are all so different, painted by different people….
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Garden Girls
I made them all under wear from scraps of a fine cotton kerchief, and trimmed it with scraps of lace from Lady Frances’s stash. It was very hot weather so they went out into the shady garden to sit around in the plant pots…
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Gloves
Doll #3 tried on the fox gloves, but the other two were only allowed to sit decorously and watch because they were both going off to their respective humans and didn’t want to muss their clothes.
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Dresses
All three dolls got new dresses made from a scrap sent to me several years ago by a Hitty friend, and using Gail Wilson’s Simple Dress pattern…
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Goodbye friend
…and then we had to say goodbye to dolly #2 who went home to Ontario with our guest from last week…
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Goodbye friend
…and next we had to say goodbye to dolly #1 who went off to Quebec to live with her human…
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Dolly
…and now we only have dolly #3 living in our house, but she won’t stay lonely for long with all the other Hittys around here!
It was fun working on three dolls at once! #1 was entirely made from the kit materials, but the bodies of #s 2 and 3 were entirely scraps, and all the scrappy clothing as well (made from Gail Wilson’s patterns and instructions), trimmed with scraps of lace.
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ScrapHappy is a group of bloggers (links below) who post monthly about using up scraps! All genuine scraps are allowed, and any material. Blog posts are published on the 15th of the month, and I love to see what people are doing with bits and pieces saved from the scrap heaps! If you think you’d like to join the group, contact Kate or Gun who devised and run it – their blogs are the first two links below:
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Quimper Hittys 
Absolutely gorgeous 😍
Your Hitty’s make my heart sing 🎶
Aw you’re so sweet! They are very fun to have n the family and always keep me entertained! I am glad they make you happy!
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I was startled at first by the photos with their slightly Grand Guignol effect of Hitty limbs scattered about, and The Terror of The Saw, but then started reading and realised it was purposeful and constructive. I rather enjoy this new (to me) style of Hitty and their pretty outfits.
I am afraid that a Hitty-making workshop is not for the faint of heart! I haven’t often sawn a dolly in half though – it made me feel like a real magician especially after I put her back together again! Little Dolly #3 is much happier now so it was all worth the alarm.
Ah, We have two GW cloth body Hittys here. They are a little spoiled by the carved girls because they are a smaller and have childlike faces. One is blonde and the other has black hair.
They have a very different look and feel from wooden Hittys but for in well with the family. I think of them as cousins rather than sisters to the wooden girls.
They are very different to the carved Hittys aren’t they? I had been wanting to try making a partially cloth doll for a while, these three certainly were amusing, I enjoyed the process of making them together.
What glorious little ladies that have been completed and come forth through your hands and scraps….love it, love it, love it!
They were fun! The kitchen table was filled with doll parts and scraps of fabric and lace for quite a while, then suddenly coalesced into three dolls! What fun for me!
They are so sweet! Well done 🙂
Thanks very much! More wee dolls in the world is a good thing, as I know you’ll agree!
Thank you so much for this lovely post! Hitty #2 is a treasure and is settling in nicely with her new Hitty family. She has brought so much joy to our hearts! Hitty #2 will always be a wonderful reminder of a week of very happy experiences and memories.
We cherished the time we had with her! Lots of sweet memories on our side too!
I love your posts, especially when you explain like this, thank you.
Thanks! I am interested in the processes and the how of things…I am glad you like the explanations!
Your dolls are so sweet looking and their dresses are gorgeous!
Thanks very much. I love that each face is different, the first two dolls especially as they are made from the same mould, and the third doll is slightly different but made by the same artist.
They are lovely! And such interesting ancestry.
It was a fun project for me – and I particularly enjoyed transforming the wooden one into a cloth-bodied doll.
That must have been interesting.
Gorgeous!
Thanks so much!
what a fetching trio. I love how you transformed the wood body doll. The dresses are just perfect. I am sure your friends were thrilled with their completed dolls.
Thanks very much indeed…The friends have both said how much they like their new girls, though Dolly #1 hasn’t reached the friend in Quebec yet!
I am partial to the expression on Dolly #2’s face. That being said, they are all beautiful.
She has a very sweet face, doesn’t she? My Artist relative did a lovely job on her!
Indeed! She has a somewhat upwards glance about her, like she spotted her favorite bird in a tree.
Love the three girls together, hope they bring happiness across the country. Their outfits are lovely as always. I discovered how to leave a comment but only on my iPad.