Miniature Cloth Butterfly Dolls - The First Version of an Idea I want to Develop

 

I wanted to create a design of a line of really small fabric dolls made in cotton with an aspect of the insect about them.  This would combine my love for creating softies as well as bugs. Today I finished this first group of five designs - Butterfly dolls. 

 

They are 14cm tall cotton fabric filled dolls wit removable dresses and wings and painted faces.  They are a little bit Art Nouveau in style, a tiny bit Kewpie doll, a teensy bit fairy doll and are rather cute.

The biggest trade-offs were with size over articulation.  I went as tiny as I could comfortably sew piees so that they could still be comfortably turned.  I was able to make removable dresses and wings for each doll so it alows them to grow into part of a heirloom collection.  I found wonderful wooden stands that worked a treat for the dolls as well.

 

The faces are created by a mixture of painting and then inked in details using fabric safe pens. In the designs of the features and the hair I tried to capture the detail of the wing fabric which is gorgeous. I tried wool hair first but I was not as happy with the result.  The painted effect I think echoes the design much better.

I am inspired by this flexible design and want to create over options around other bugs. They photographed well and were fun to pose.