Story Dolls- The Vest

The Asian cultures are diverse and multi layered. From the Japanese I love their sense of graceful simplicity... the beauty is in the simple line.

embroidery from Japan

From the Chinese culture I love their sense of the lore and legends that are imparted into their daily lives. In their clothing it is through their exquite and quite detailed embroidery. In the Southern region of China I have been focusing my studies on the Miao Minority People. As you will notice their embroidery has more geometrical designs that what you normally think of Chinese...

traditional Chinese embroidery

Miao embroidery

I am quite excited about creating these three Story Dolls- they will each have a story depicting the carefully chosen lore of one Chinese symbol...Goldfish, Lotus, and Tiger. The story will partly unfold through the vest and mostly through each specially designed hat (see blog 4-24 for more info on Chinese Children's Hats)...

Vest drawn out and embroidered

Fabric printed in Chinese and English of the lore

Vest top layers cut out and
ready to be sewn to interior printed linings

Completed Vest
with fronts opening as
a book to tell a story..

Next week- the completed dolls
Keep your fingers crossed for me! Time is of the essence!...