Customer Reviews

Creative Cloth Doll Making: New Approaches for Using Fibers, Beads, Dyes, and Other Exciting Techniques

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Get out your scissors, girls, Patti Culea is taking you on an adventure in dollmaking creativity!

This is surely one of the most artful and inspirational dollmaking books to come along. There are three body patterns -- beginning, intermediate and advanced -- they build upon one another and are totally mix and matchable. The instructions for constructing each level of doll are superb -- clear and well-illustrated with the very best step-by-step directions for needle sculpting I have seen. Culea then details how to embellish your doll with fabric, with painting, with beading, with collage, with stamping, with Tyvek, [wow!] to make it your very own.

The best part of the book for me is seeing how all of the doll artists [and there are many in this book] get a full page to share not just their creative process -- but a close-up look at their interpretations of the doll patterns used in the book. What a cool idea, Patti!

This is a wonderful book! If you are looking for creative inspiration, or just want to see what's happening in the world of "doll as art," this book is it!

If you don't have an Idea of how to begin making dolls this is the book that will take you from the beginning to the end. You want to get creative and make abstract projects this is it. If you already know the process of making dolls this book will only enhance the way to make them. The book has explanations on how to create a tye-dye fabric for dolls and also painted fabric. I think once you get into the process you will enjoy the book as much as I have.

This book contains 3 doll patterns, in levels so you can choose the difficulty of doll you want to make. The parts are also interchangeable so you can select the hand, legs or torso that you wish to create your own doll. There are plenty of pictures and step-by-step instructions for the novice, as well as lots of photos of what other doll artists have done with the patterns to inspire creativity galore. Definately eye candy for the crafty. Patti Culea's dolls are dyed individually for stunning effects.

Not for the faint-hearted. Newbies should be advised that these dolls are not as easy to make as the author suggests. At the very least, intermediate sewing and stuffing skills are needed.

To avoid or minimize disappointment with the finished product, beginners should experiment with a fully adjustable sewing machine and a small selection of the expensive materials required before attempting to make projects shown.

The other reviews for this book were so glowing that I thought this was the end-all-beat-all of doll-making books. It's not that it's bad. The process is just a lot more complex than I hoped it would be. The dolls are beautiful, but I was hoping for more variety. The first doll--the beginner level doll--requires lots of dying of fabrics. Pima cotton--the basic ingredient of almost all the dolls--cannot be bought anywhere (the large fabric store I usually shop at didn't even know what it was) except online or at the referenced locations in the back of the book. I would have appreciated some alternatives. I'm in the process of making the beginner doll, but am making a lot of alternations to simplify the process. Maybe that's not a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice to have directions for a simple first project, with easily purchased materials, so that you can see if you want to continue.

This book is part of a series of 3 cloth doll making books. All three are wonderful and this is probably the best because it is the most general. It reviews making the doll and gives good detail on the formula for placing facial features (there is a book in the series devoted to doll faces but this is enough to get started). The dolls are not all women or even all people, some are characters and are magical. The clothes are colorful, the variety of dolls is large and everything is unusual and fun. There are lots of pictures for inspiration and patterns to do the work. I recommend this book first but I also recommend the entire series (Creative Cloth Doll Faces and Creative Cloth Doll Couture).

As a brand new dollmaker, I found this to be an inspirational book filled with dramatic color photos and easy-to-follow instructions. She includes several doll patterns from beginner to advanced with instructions and beautiful examples from other doll artists. As my doll materialized, I was so excited to move to the next step! I also highly recommend "Creative Cloth Doll Faces, Using Paints, Pastels, Fibers, Beading, Collage, and Sculpting Techniques" !

In my opinion, this book is great. The patterns are interchangeable, and the instructions are easy to follow and complete. The photos are beautiful, and the gallery photos are inspiring. There are new techniques to try, and this is how I've learned to draw and paint faces, and needle sculpt.
I really like the patterns and use them (or parts of them) frequently. I use this book and Patti's other book Creative Cloth Doll Faces constantly as reference books.

I was having a few problems with parts of the face scultping and making hands and this book is so helpful in all these areas, if your making cloth dolls YOU HAVE TO OWN THIS BOOK.
Look, without spilling all the beans, as they say, about the book, you will get every pennys worth of what you spend on this book and then some.

Lin

Patti Culea's book Creative Cloth Doll Making is the best tool to use for cloth doll making. Clear step by step instructions and mix and match patterns to create beautiful dolls.