I was recently featured in the winter issue of Doll Castle Magazine, with this Musician Santa. He was one of my favourite creations of 2023, and was swiftly purchased at my first Christmas Market of the season!
He is free-standing, has leather boots, velvety red pants and a worn knitted shirt. He has sheep wool for his beard, and his hat is trimmed with sheep wool from Revolution Wool Company. I made his little song book, and the stand it sits on!
He is modified from my Workshop Santa Pattern, available for purchase.
And I thought I'd share with you the little article I wrote to go along with my Santa photo:
I began my sewing journey as a 10 year old, and thinking back it was always about crafts and dolls that just really captured my imagination. I distinctly remember flipping through a Mary Maxim magazine and begging my mom to buy me a kit for something, and my mother saying to me “you don’t need a pattern, you have a photo, you can make that!” So in terms of craft, it was always just limitless.
So I guess I was encouraged to push boundaries from a young age. I was never told you’re too young to do that or given a cap on my potential. Fast forward many years, careers and artistic endeavours, and here I am, a doll maker once again.
As someone obsessed with the festive Christmas Season, making one of a kind Santa’s just makes sense. I never tire of making them! I put a high focus on making each one unique, and of an heirloom quality.
I love using sheep wool from a local farm, I stuff them with fabric scraps and sheep wool stuffing, and I scour thrift stores for little trinkets and un-loved décor that I can re-purpose into something magical for Santa. Often, that is the one thing that captures the eye of a buyer.
I’ve played with both clay and soft-sculptured fabric versions of his head; I’m far more consistent with fabric but the facial features I can sculpt in a clay head itself makes each Santa so unique with his own expression. Sometimes, that’s what dictates what pose I will give him!
This one looks like a musician, or another looks like he makes toys in his workshop..And it’s really the love of Santa that most people seem to have that keeps me going.
He is a selfless, generous spirit who ultimately represents the act of giving. Which is what Christmas really is about.