I was asked to make a pair of my Story Dolls. I had to think about this one because they were to be showcased together as one piece.
I thought about their positioning and decided it would be balanced with one sitting and one standing...each holding their own space.
So now for the theme, I know the husband loves the water. I thought the fish would lovely. They are a very wonderful couple and so I choose butterfly as the other.
All Photography: Mark Mortensen
One of the exciting things about these pieces is the couple went to
Europe and brought home fabulous fabrics for me to use! Yes! I love to
make dolls specifically for people that hold a meaning personally for
them also...as in the fabric I used within the Butterfly...
The Goldfish symbolizes a word for plenty, surplus, and enough to spare. It is an essential food. The fish is a homonym for jade. It is also a symbol for happiness, good luck, and abundance. Also the fish is able to beat all odds because it is able to swim against the current.
For the fabric selection of this piece, I choose a deep orange mingled with green as in seaweed green and ocean blue...the black is silk satin. The body fabric is silk crepe.
For the fan-tail of the back of the fish, I had this wonderful Japanese cotton. I love the way it mimic scales. The gold semi circle of the scale is in metallic.
The vest opens as a book to reveal the Chinese Legend of the Goldfish printed in English on one side and Chinese on the facing side. The under dress orange fabric is a sheer that has been stitched into squares, I lined it with batik cotton that has little bubbles pattern print.
Close Up
The Goldfish design is one of my own creations. This is design that came to me naturally...maybe from my love of water??
I like the vintage Asian green and deep aqua brocade that I had a wee scrap of to use for the hat border. The hat is lined with a brilliant blue dupioni.
These hats hail from southern China and in keeping with the traditional design style, I always use a cross stitch form of geometric embroidery. Little glass green bead with interior of red used for button.
Here again the embroidery done on the sleeve cuff is a geometrical in design. The hands are armatured with copper wire.
Close up of the cuff embroidery.
Close up of the black linen shoes lined with metallic aqua cotton and soles of blue duiponi. Tiny special glass beads are used for the shoe closures.
Closer Still
Close up of the goldfish- I love this photo! Embroidery to create body and tail scales on orange-magenta dupioni. Vintage sequins center front.
Close up of hat band with hand-sewn vintage metallic trim and puffy cotton pom-pom. Fish tail just flopping over. 
Close up of face with (love this) texture of silk crepe. Hand painted eye(s). Shading in pastels. Tiny pearl earring just peeping out!
The Hat
