Guinevere, the last doll of 2019.

Phew! We barely made it, squeezing her into the hall of fame (aka my blog) before the year ends. How lucky am I that I got to spend these last few days of the year in her glorious company? Very lucky indeed.

Guinevere, an art doll by fig and me.

As is our regular custom, we had to fuss and decide on such important details as what lace to use, how to use it, where to put it, which felt beads to trim her boots with, what colour of embroidery thread to choose for her bonnet, etc, etc.

You might shake your head, dismissing these decisions as frivolities, and I guess to an extent they are, but to a doll who is to spend the vast majority of her earthly life in her outfit, these are most important decisions.

We want her to go home in comfort and style, with items that reflect both her personality and my love for her creation journey. Things that over time will become a very essential part of who she is and will be ingrained in my memory forever. Therefore my dear friends, we take such decisions as being some of the most essential kind.

Guinevere in her handmade red wool cape and bonnet. Doll clothing style by Fig and Me.

Take her cape and bonnet for example. I truly wanted to embroider the entire cape, but her wise advice told me not to over-do the embroidery. That the heavy and plump roses of her bonnet were more than enough detail and that she was very happy like that. I pouted for a few days before finishing the cape, hoping she would change her mind, that she would allow my nimble fingers to embroider a few more roses on the cape or collar (as to match the bonnet) but she just looked at me with her big eyes, whispering: exercise constraint. Less is more. Less is more.

After the whole outfit is now completed, I have to say I agree. My dolls are always much wiser than me and they do guide the very moves of my hands.

Guinevere, a custom made art doll by Fig and Me.

Guinevere, a natural fiber art doll by fig and me.

I took you with me on (on Instagram and Facebook) through the journey of making her beautiful dress. And if you are most interested to see me how I attach insertion lace to a dress like this one, you can peek into this tutorial video.

Truth be told, I acquired this length of antique lace quite a long time ago and I have used it sparingly on very special dolls. I thought I had used it all on Guinevere but after I cleaned my studio last week I found just the tiniest piece left. I am glad because I want to have it as a keepsake, to remind me of Louna Tumbleweed, of Hepsibah, of Winter and Mori. This last one is ultra special as the hair I used for her is the same I used on Guinevere. Very similar dolls, such different personalities, don’t you agree?

These boots are made for walking, says Guinevere. By fig and me.

Art doll clothing by fig and me.

Little embroidery stitches on her sleeve, custom art doll clothing by fig and me.

Little pearl beads on her angora collar and antique lace, doll clothing details by fig and me.

Her dress is made with medium-weight pure linen, such a joy to work with. The weave is perfect and creamy and it feels sturdy yet beautiful. The dress has slightly puffed long sleeves, with cuffs made of the same angora ribbing I used for her sport collar. We wanted to dress the collar a bit more, as you can tell Guinevere is a little bit fancy (usually, my end of the year dolls are all a bit feeling the fancy theme) so I sewed pearl beads to the collar. The ample skirt also has two lengths of the same shadow-work lace and I did the hem by hand.

I remember so much how I hated to make details by hand on the doll clothing. Back then I only liked doing embroidery bits or sewing buttons, but having to do actual construction details by hand was such a pain in the neck for me. Who would have told me that now I actually leave those construction details on purpose, so that I can finish the clothes better and spend more time on them? This doll making journey is full of magic I tell you!

Guinevere, an 18” Petite Fig doll by Fig and Me.

Guinevere, a Petite Fig art doll by Fig and Me.

As you might already know, Guinevere is a custom doll. She is made in my Petite Fig style: very tall but lanky dolls, that have the body proportions of those children in between worlds (the 10 to 12 year old kind). Not yet teenagers, but still with a child heart. You start seeing their mentality change, their bodies change, with one foot in their childhood and one growing up.

Petite Fig dolls have a lot of construction details and I use a lot of needle-felting techniques to make them look and feel just they way I want them to. Guinevere is made with such a warm and beatiful skin tone in De Witte Engel cotton fabric and her luscious hair was hand-dyed by me. The process entailed dying the most amazing Teeswater locks (procured many moons ago from my dear friend Monika at The Olive Sparrow) with apple branches and leaves, then over-dyeing it with onion skins. The result is this multilayered look. So pretty.

I normally use this technique to sew all my locks into wefts, and that is still true for when I am working with alpaca locks. But this time I experimented with a different technique and the tutorial is coming tomorrow to Patreon via the Doll Making series tier. It works really well to make tiny wefts (when you have bulky locks), especially with Teeswater. I will still use my other technique for the Suri Alpaca though.

Guinevere by fig and me, natural fiber art doll.

Beautiful winter, by fig and me.

Wee took a bit longer to take her final photos because the temperatures dropped so much I wouldn’t venture with the camera outside. Then it got really dark and I truly wanted that gorgeous winter light to take her final photos.

This is why you simply can’t rush anything in art dollmaking. You might have finished an item but then the doll needs time to ponder things. You might be finished entirely but then you will need the right moment to take those final photos that bring your creation to the best light possible. After all, you wouldn’t be working for so many hours on a doll only to snap final photos with a phone? That’s not my style at all. You know I love to photograph my dolls outside (I happen to think it really, really suits them) and this entails a lot of preparation and a lot of editing. I hope you agree with me that the final product is that much better because of it. The dolls certainly are on the same page with me on this.

Guinevere admiring the winter light, art doll by fig and me.

So now, all we have to do is wrap her in the coziest box ever and send her home. I am glad I waited until the crux of holiday mailing is over because I just couldn’t fathom sending her home at this crazy time for the postal service. She will arrive promptly to her new home and I hope open arms are waiting!

Guinevere, art doll by Fig and Me.

Thank you so much for watching my dolls’ journey, for watching me as a dollmaker and storyteller, and for your continued support through all these years. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying the pause of these last few days between years, but also looking forward enormeously to get back into my studio and make all the dolls that keep dancing in my head.

Lots of fresh ideas and new plans for this new year, which I hope to share with you soon.

Happy 2020 to you all!