Many years ago when I was teaching at Piecemakers, one of my students, Jeanne, brought in a delightful show and tell. This doll was charming and we soon found out she was a Marotte puppet, which is a single-rod puppet with a base so she will stand on her own.
She was designed as a German style doll dressed in dark subdued colors...but we loved her and Jeanne let me take her home to Colorado for an inspiration to create a doll that we could make the following year.
This Marotte was made from a composite for the head,
with wooden ball hands, and silk costuming.
One of the things I love is research on dolls styles and costuming. I could not find too much info on a Marotte, so I set out to just wing-it! Which is something I really like- winging-it...I find it most creative and love to find solutions to things as they arise! BUT I did I did find wonderful costuming on Bavarian style clothing at the library.
After sculpting the head, I made a mold so I could reproduce the face forms for my students.
I decided to use wool felt for her head, hands, and most of the costuming and then chose to add an organza apron for a light-weight contrast to the wool felt. I found a very nice buttercup colored yarn for her hair and sweet vintage flowers for her hair!
I decided to name her Etta, which means The Little One.
So this weekend, my girls will learn how to cover the face form with felt and paint her expressive face. They will create a beautiful costume for her and will learn how to assemble the puppet which will give her movement.
Here are some detail photos!
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| Etta face painted with sweet vintage flowers |
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| Drindl with vintage woven ribbons |
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| Organza apron embroidery |
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| Scallop cut edging along skirt bottom. I also found this "stain glass" type cotton for the underskirt! Want to create Etta?? Pattern click here and scroll downFace Form click here and scroll down |
