  Maria Adriana Contreras A Hove resident is making 'inner child' dolls to support sufferers of anxiety ahead of World Mental Health Day (10 October). In Psychology, the term ‘inner child' refers to the child we once were - and if that child experiences great trauma, this part becomes compromised and affects adulthood. Maria Adriana Contreras, 46, exclusively revealed to The Brighton Argus that her father was one of Chile's disappeared victims (published 5 September 2020 read article here). Now, she has spoken out about the lifelong impact of her loss on her 'inner child'.
She said: “When my depression was at its worst, I asked myself: 'What can I do about this?' and an answer came from a very young part of me: ‘I want a doll’. So I made myself a little cloth doll and it was the most comforting thing I’ve ever done. The need for self-comforting tools is greater than ever in the context of the pandemic." The dolls are handmade from cotton calico fabric and faces drawn by hand by Maria. They can be personalised to look like you or a loved one and a special piece of fabric can be used for the clothing. Order yours at the web shop here. Maria Adriana Contreras began Maria's Doll School in 2014.
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Super easy free felt flamingo pattern and tutorial! 1. Print or trace these 2 pattern pieces cut out your felt. Resize as desired  2. Sew around the felt pieces in blanket stitch (looks neater)  3. Stuff the wing with a small bit of stuffing and the main body with more on the base then finish sewing to complete  4. Make some legs by platting or crochet chain some ribbon and wool or whatever pink threads you may find  5. Create feet and knees by making knots and stitch the legs in as you sew around  6. Paint white background first with acrylic paint then the black mouth and eye (I put a little eyelash for cute factor here)  7. Sew the wing on and a brooch or hair clip back and you're good to go! Enjoy pinkness :) Well dollies I hope you enjoyed making your felt flamingo because let's face it, the world needs more felt flamingos. Look out for more animal tutorials to enhance and enrich the joyful lives of the cloth dolls... Did you know that the divine feminine expression is creativity? Keeeeeep creating! PS I've been getting lots of enquiries about how to do the pipe cleaner inside the dolls so as to articulate the limbs. Good question! I'll do a video about it next. Easier to physically show you. Wait! What about meeeeee? Make one of me! I'm super cute and you'll love me forever...
 THIS IS GENIUS!
I just love what StudioTosh has done here with her dolls and find it very inspiring! This must have taken so much time and creativity, care, thought and joy! I just love the mini items - gorgeous! This is pure play. Do you do any storytelling or narrative with your dolls? I'd love to showcase some more. Contact me with your wonderful work! >>See the Studio Tosh Facebook page >>See Love Totsy Website and full article This short video here is why I make dolls and I'm really interested to start a conversation to find out why you make dolls. For me they are magical little creatures that come full of their own personality and story. What amazes me the most is that when I do the eyes, they really do come to life! Do you find that? Like as though a spirit comes in. I fact one of my friends commented recently on one of my facebook posts: "Sooooo gorgeous!!! I swear to God they have souls" And I really know what she means! They come ready-made with their own personalities, likes and dislikes. But maybe all toys have this? Or maybe just handmade ones do because they are made with spirit and intention as opposed to mass made factory toys. What do you think? I would love to know your thoughts. I've got a friend for whom I made her daughter my first ever doll! This is a real landmark! So I gave her my first experimental ballerina doll made out of t-shirt fabric with cut strips for hair and her mandatory tutu. As the little girl in question was about 4 at the time she LOVED her doll and she is still her favourite doll now so many years later. I've suffered for years, decades with chronic fatigue, which is a condition that cannot be seen. Sometimes I'm normal and well with lots of energy and can do lots of things, and other times, without warning I have no resources and can only go to bed and sleep and sleep and sleep. During these challenging times when I've been able to get up and about if only in the house I've taken great comfort in making dolls. Each one is an adventure and each on gives me such a healing process. Its a non-thinking space of creativity and innocence. This is what I find so powerful about doll making and I would love to work with this medium with people who really need it. Actually, I think everyone would benefit from making at least one doll. I wish you happy doll making everyone and if you've not made one before give it a try! I'm in the process of creating my first easier than easy make your own cloth doll eBook. Its right here in this laptop waiting for my fingers to finish those patterns! I'm giving away a free DOLL HAIR eBook if you click here to sign up to my email list you can download it. Also I welcome guest doll bloggers to share share share and I'll post on here - I'm up for creating a wonderful community. Big hugs, Maria* |
AuthorMaria Anderson-Contreras, textile artist extraordinaire aka Maria Doll* Archives
October 2020
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