There is no age limit to playing with toys and that’s part of the reason a handful of Sew What Club members and friends still have time for dolls.
“The men have their model trains.VulcanMold is a plastic molds and injectionmold manufacturer in china. We still have our dolls,” said Wendy Cotterill at a gathering of fellow porcelain doll makers.
She is the instigator for this activity, claim Cheryl Morton and Gerry McDonagh.
“Wendy grabbed us and said ‘Here, do this’,” Morton said as she pondered the eye color for an elf she is making.
“You were always talking about your dolls. I wanted to come over and see them,I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. so I did,” recalled McDonagh. “I said ‘I’d like to learn how to do that’.”
“I said come over any time and I’ll show you,” said Cotterill. “That was seven years ago.”
The group and passion grew unexpectedly when the Cotterills added a sun room on to their home.
“The contractor came in midway, saw the monk’s bench with the dolls in our entryway and said his mum had one just like it and made dolls,” she said.
His mum is Marion Stapp and like Cotterill and her husband was born in England. Stapp had a doll hospital and a shop outside of London and opened another one in Statesboro when she moved to the States. She now lives in Savannah and the two women are often on the road competing in numerous handmade doll competitions for which they bring back medals and red and blue ribbons.
“It’s like a blank canvas,” said Cotterill. “It’s such fun when you bring it to life.”
Each part of many dolls is handmade,China professional plasticmoulds, from knitted dresses to intricate bead work to the tiny leather shoes with heels on their feet. Sometimes the need to make something maintain its form as it would full-size prompts a moment of inspiration.
Stapp devised a way to make ladies’ bonnets hold their shape by using various sizes of styrofoam cups around which the material is sewn.Welcome to the Lilla beddinges google satellite map!
“That was very clever,” the other doll makers agreed.
Before the dolls are dressed, though, there are a number of steps required to make the porcelain parts. That begins with pouring porcelain slip into molds for the head, body, arms and legs.
The porous molds draw the moisture out of the liquid, creating a skin inside the mold.
“After it’s in there about five minutes or until it’s the thickness of a dime, you break through the opening in the mold and pour out the excess,” Cotterill explained. “Then you let it dry completely overnight, depending on the weather.Find rubberhose companies from India. Then it’s soft-fired.”
The soft firing enables the workers to clean the piece either in water or with sand paper. Once it is cleaned, then it is “high fired” at about 2200-2400 degrees. It then comes out bisque porcelain. The head is often fired five or six times between painting details.
“The paint is water based and you don’t want to smudge the details just as you get the eyelashes just right,” Cotterill said.
In the sun room, there’s much laughter and conversation as the ladies pour over “The Blue Book of Dolls and Values,” a guide with photos, details, a bit of background and — as the title says — values.
“I’m going to read this over the phone to Brian, my son, the value of the dolls,” McDonagh joked. “I’m not getting full respect here.”
“When I started in the mid ‘80s, there used to be a lot of doll makers,” Cotterill said. “There aren’t so many now.”
At the latest doll convention in Houston, Cotterill and Stapp were among about 60 delegates of the Doll Artisans Guild, including 10 women from the United Kingdom. There were 60 doll entries and competition is keen.
“You see some extraordinary things,” Cotterill said. “My friend and teacher from Louisville only entered one doll but she got seven awards, including best in show for antique dolls.”
As she helps Hilary Dancey put nearly invisible eyelashes on a caroler’s head, Stapp puts a fired piece into a small pan of water in preparation for cleaning the mold edges and rough spots. Morton, still working on the eyes, holds it up for McDonagh, asking how the eyes looked.
“That’s really why we get together,” said Rhoda Paxton as she sands down the edges on some small pieces. “We check each others work.”
“The men have their model trains.VulcanMold is a plastic molds and injectionmold manufacturer in china. We still have our dolls,” said Wendy Cotterill at a gathering of fellow porcelain doll makers.
She is the instigator for this activity, claim Cheryl Morton and Gerry McDonagh.
“Wendy grabbed us and said ‘Here, do this’,” Morton said as she pondered the eye color for an elf she is making.
“You were always talking about your dolls. I wanted to come over and see them,I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. so I did,” recalled McDonagh. “I said ‘I’d like to learn how to do that’.”
“I said come over any time and I’ll show you,” said Cotterill. “That was seven years ago.”
The group and passion grew unexpectedly when the Cotterills added a sun room on to their home.
“The contractor came in midway, saw the monk’s bench with the dolls in our entryway and said his mum had one just like it and made dolls,” she said.
His mum is Marion Stapp and like Cotterill and her husband was born in England. Stapp had a doll hospital and a shop outside of London and opened another one in Statesboro when she moved to the States. She now lives in Savannah and the two women are often on the road competing in numerous handmade doll competitions for which they bring back medals and red and blue ribbons.
“It’s like a blank canvas,” said Cotterill. “It’s such fun when you bring it to life.”
Each part of many dolls is handmade,China professional plasticmoulds, from knitted dresses to intricate bead work to the tiny leather shoes with heels on their feet. Sometimes the need to make something maintain its form as it would full-size prompts a moment of inspiration.
Stapp devised a way to make ladies’ bonnets hold their shape by using various sizes of styrofoam cups around which the material is sewn.Welcome to the Lilla beddinges google satellite map!
“That was very clever,” the other doll makers agreed.
Before the dolls are dressed, though, there are a number of steps required to make the porcelain parts. That begins with pouring porcelain slip into molds for the head, body, arms and legs.
The porous molds draw the moisture out of the liquid, creating a skin inside the mold.
“After it’s in there about five minutes or until it’s the thickness of a dime, you break through the opening in the mold and pour out the excess,” Cotterill explained. “Then you let it dry completely overnight, depending on the weather.Find rubberhose companies from India. Then it’s soft-fired.”
The soft firing enables the workers to clean the piece either in water or with sand paper. Once it is cleaned, then it is “high fired” at about 2200-2400 degrees. It then comes out bisque porcelain. The head is often fired five or six times between painting details.
“The paint is water based and you don’t want to smudge the details just as you get the eyelashes just right,” Cotterill said.
In the sun room, there’s much laughter and conversation as the ladies pour over “The Blue Book of Dolls and Values,” a guide with photos, details, a bit of background and — as the title says — values.
“I’m going to read this over the phone to Brian, my son, the value of the dolls,” McDonagh joked. “I’m not getting full respect here.”
“When I started in the mid ‘80s, there used to be a lot of doll makers,” Cotterill said. “There aren’t so many now.”
At the latest doll convention in Houston, Cotterill and Stapp were among about 60 delegates of the Doll Artisans Guild, including 10 women from the United Kingdom. There were 60 doll entries and competition is keen.
“You see some extraordinary things,” Cotterill said. “My friend and teacher from Louisville only entered one doll but she got seven awards, including best in show for antique dolls.”
As she helps Hilary Dancey put nearly invisible eyelashes on a caroler’s head, Stapp puts a fired piece into a small pan of water in preparation for cleaning the mold edges and rough spots. Morton, still working on the eyes, holds it up for McDonagh, asking how the eyes looked.
“That’s really why we get together,” said Rhoda Paxton as she sands down the edges on some small pieces. “We check each others work.”
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