Dolls 10, Stitching 0

Hello!
 My pelvis is finally good enough to allow me to sit and write a post at  last. Thank you so much for all your kind wishes which  mean a lot.  Well, I'm  getting there, still stiff and sore; but it is becoming easier to move. Sadly, the one thing I can't do is embroidery, as I get far too engrossed and I can only sit for 20 mins max at a time, so I have had to put all stitching projects on hold. I have taught myself to do a lot of tasks standing up, but that's one thing it's just not at all comfy or easy to do!

So - very slowly, I have been concentrating on dolls - if there is one good thing from having this  problem it's teaching me patience.

Here's my new stump doll - Jofranka, the Romany dancer. Jofranka  is a Romany version of Frances, and means 'free'.  Her name is also a little thank you to my student Frances, who  helped me get my Singer machine sorted out.

Jofranka is in her best clothes for a Romany wedding. She is dressed in a silk blouse and wool felt bolero with picot bead edging, and a taffeta skirt which  billows out as she dances  around the campfire with her beaded scarves.

I gave her a Frida-Kaloesque sort of face ( can I even say that?)

She wears an assortment of beads and bracelets which flash in the firelight .

I need to design 2 new dolls for workshops in the autumn so I've been drawing up some new patterns for their construction. This pattern is the most complicated design I've attempted to date, and has been challenging! Odd looking body parts have been strewn around a lot!

And I 've been making heads for practice, using some new shapes.(Well, it makes a change from putting flowers in this vase!)

 I've also been experimenting dyeing fleece in the microwave with food dyes. More of this later.

Here's a sneaky peek of the next doll.

Now it's off to the chiropractor for my weekly dose of saying 'ouch' and 'aargh'! x