Queen of Hearts - I've finally started her!

One of my goals this year is to finish a doll about every other month. My schedule says I should have one finished by the end of February. So maybe it's time I got started :)

Remember my original Queen of Hearts sketch? This lady scares me, honestly. I don't know what I was thinking when I drew that design, but now I'm paying for it - this is a difficult project!

First, some supplies:

- Various pairs of scissors, reverse pliers, 6-inch ruler, glue

- toothpicks (those do help when making a toothpick doll)

- Thread color catalog

- Impossible sketch (hanging up)

- A mess of embroidery floss (yes, that is the technical term. A herd of sheep, a gaggle of geese, a mess of thread)

- A bowl of fruit (1 navel orange & 1 Fuji apple, chopped into bite-size pieces. Works well when there's no chocolate in the house.)

Humble beginnings, but we all have to start somewhere...

Her design calls for a nice, full skirt. This is layer 3 of a 4-layer petticoat. I start down around her ankles, & keep adding layers until we reach her waist. No, the woman will not be able to move. You'll notice Sleeping Beauty lurking in the background often. She has consented to be my reference model for this project.

Ok, 4 layers of petticoat done. Now we start the tricky process of adding all those decorative skirt layers. She'll end up with the following layers:

- subtle pink & white striped underskirt

- black & white stripe detailing

- black satin overskirt, pulled back to reveal the pink underskirt & black & white stripe

- hot pink over-overskirt (I really should come up with more elegant-sounding names...) with fringe & rose accent

This is the first layer - the sublte stripe underskirt. If you look closely, you can make out the pink & white striping. You'll see this layer is only in the front, for two reasons:

1) The back would be covered up by the black satin skirt.

2) Adding this layer all the way around would add bulk to the back. When you're working in such a tiny scale, even one layer of thread can make a difference. She needs to have a shapely silhouette, without extra bulk.

Ok, the first of 4 decorative skirt layers is finished. Now I'll start the black & white stripe detailing (see the original sketch). But first, I have to outline exactly where this detailing will go. Look closely, & you'll several lines of a single strand of white thread. Now, I just fill this part in with the striping.

I'll post more progress in a few days!

Want to know more of how I've done a certain technique? I'm planning a doll tutorial in the next month - tell me what you'd like to be in it!