May 11

May 11 Dollmaking Online Class: Making a Weighted Baby Art Doll

As promised back in January when I released the sort of mad schedule I was to tackle this year, I have now just opened registration for one of my most rewarding classes: Making a Weighted Baby Doll with Fig and me.

The class takes a little over 2,5 weeks and is released slowly, so that you have time to watch all the pre-recorded lessons and create the doll in your own pockets of available dollmaking time.

Then we meet on the weekends for live feedback via a zoom classroom and post our progress via a private Facebook group, only available to students. You hace access to all the class content and group for a full year.

Dollmaking online class: Making a Baby Doll with Fig and Me.

Every time I have taught this class I am always enamoured with every single baby that comes out of it. It is very hard not to.

Funny how most of my students go into it with the firm intention of making the doll as a gift to someone they love and most often they are just so smitten with their baby they decide to keep it and make a second one to give away, now armed with more knowledge having gone through the class once.

If you want to read a full description of the class, watch a little video that gives you sneak peeks into the class content, see the price and book your spot, you can visit this page.

For now let me show you some of the insanely adorable babies that have come out of this class:

Of course, some of my students are new to dollmaking or are very experienced ones just trying to learn new techniques and doll design.

I have also young mothers who must be diligent with their time, to both nurture their creative spark while caring for their young tribe.

Other times I have grandmothers who doting on their grandchildren are looking for ways to make them safe and natural dolls.

Empty nesters who find themselves attacked by a myriad of ways in which to exercise that free time.

The list is quite varied and the students international.

Most students try their hardest to finish their doll in the time the class takes place, but very often it takes them a week or so after to finish the clothes and the baby’s hair.

Their access to the class is for one full year, so they have plenty of time to re-watch the class, take lots of notes and carry on with their dollmaking adventures.

Creating a doll via this class is not a rush to a finish line, it is an incredible labour of love. Both for the inner child and for the loved one you might be making it for.

We take things with care, we roll wool, we needle felt, we pay attention and we do fall in love. Both with the act of creating as well with the adorable bundle of wool we end up with in our hands.

I try to imbue my classes with a joyful spirit, to share with others how happy it makes me to be a dollmaker. I think I have mostly succeeded in this endeavour.

We also meet on the weekends and we talk a lot not just about mistakes or issues encountered during the week, in the creation of their baby doll, but we also talk about how we feel by making the doll, how connected we are becoming to the process and the beautiful quiet moments we get to enjoy by diving into a creative act, surrounded by the warmth of wool and the tactile experience of fabric and needles in our hands.

I truly believe these acts reconnect us to a gentler part of ourselves. Perhaps is the generosity of spirit we feel towards ourselves when we do something we are aching for, or perhaps is the fact that making a doll brings a childish giddyness in ourselves. It reminds us of our childhood or it makes us feel very aware of our children.

It definitely is a beautiful process and I am here to guide you through it.

Every student imbues so much of themselves in the doll they are creating and for me, as a teacher and fellow dollmaker, it is a most marvelous thing to witness. To see them gleam insights, become more assured of themselves, trust their instincts and learn a few things that make the world of difference when tackling baby dolls.

I feel so proud of their accomplishments and I feel very humbled by the fact that others out there still wish for me to teach them how to make dolls.

I feel incredibly blessed to live in these times where we have access to so many easy ways to connect and learn, even when for whatever reasons we are confined or so far from each other.

There are still more babies made via my class that I didn’t manage to include here, but will do so in the future, perhaps once the new students go through their class. If you are hesitant to join, please ask me questions, I am happy to help clear them out for you so that you can make a better decision.

Also know, though this is the only time I will teach this class this year, it will become available again next year. So if your situation is not ideal at the moment, be patient with yourself. Perhaps next year will be your chance.

Thank you so much for visiting and I will see you all soon with news on a couple of knitting patterns I am working on. Be well and keep healthy.