I currently am working on soft body dolls; the first in The Grandmothers series is called Veda Leona after my paternal grandmother. All of the dolls in the series will be based on actual photographs, showing a variety of ages and stages in the lives of women and girls of the twentieth century.
My wood stove has been called into action as I stain the pimatex cotton for the body with coffee. Then, I draft the patterns for the doll body and clothing and make many sketches of the facial features, trying to capture the essence of the individual: time-consuming yet enjoyable processes.
The actual sewing includes my 1913 treadle sewing machine for the puffing stitches, as well as the pleats on the bloomers. I cannot begin to say how long it took me to figure out how to wind the bobbin on this machine. Thankfully, I have the manual; however, there are no pictures or diagrams for this particular function, and the written directions were slightly difficult to follow!
There is more information about the five current soft body dolls on the Dolls' pages.
Besides the soft body dolls, I have been embellishing my hand-painted silk with beads and embroidery. This particular piece was for a jacket entitled Trailing Clouds of Glory.