August 2006
elinor’s Tips
1) Even small projects can be affected by grainline. Spend a few moments focusing on how the crossgrain, straight of the grain, and bias are going to affect your project. This is exceedingly important when stuffing a form to make a doll.
2) When you are collecting fabric - Make certain the fabric is working for you. If you have pieces in your collection that once sang to you from across the room, but now appear dead and uninteresting - purge them from you collection. The reason for buying fabric is to look at it and be inspired...Once you have looked at it and been inspired you have used it and no longer have any obligation to it. If your collection of fabric is out of control - hidden in boxes, stuffed in bins, filling your attic and basement - you are suffering from creative constipation!
3) Your BEST FRIEND is your sewing machine. Clean and check it regularly. If this is an old relic that you hide from your friends, it is time for a change. Work nights if you have to, or sell one of the kids, but get a good machine. This machine will facilitate your life's statement. Every eight hours of sewing, you MUST change your needle. I use a #12 or UNIVERSAL SCHMETZ needle. Cheap thread, the kind that's 2 for a dollar, will wreak havoc on your machine's tension. The stuff on a wooden spool is for your memory box - It's too old to use. So, now is the hour. If you are the only person at your house who is living as if they were poor, it's time for sweet justice. Go get that new machine, thread, a dandy pair of scissors, and go to work!!
elinor peace bailey / epbdolls.com
elinor peace bailey received her art education through Parson's School of Design, Tyler School of Fine Arts, and Brigham Young University. She has written; Mother Plays with Dolls, The Rag Doll From Plain to Fancy, and recently, Two Doll Makers Meet In The Middle, publish by Krause. elinor has self-published 65 doll patterns and 7 books which cover doll making from the simple to the complex. She has illustrated books for Bernina of America and Fairfield Process, and has designed fabric for P & B Textiles, Daisy Kingdom, and Concord Fabrics. She has acted as consultant for Crafts Magazine, Prym Dritz Corp. (who has manufactured her dolls), Fairfield Processing, and Springs Mills. elinor is a writer of not truly bad poetry, and she sings with great energy. She presently is experimenting with journaling and altered books, in addition to creating art to wear, which she shows off by wearing herself. She has enjoyed great kindness from her friends and audiences wherever she has gone and there fore, she plans to continue.
For more information about elinor and epbdolls.com go to www.epbdolls.com
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