Creative Cloth Doll Making
with
Jan Horrox
2010 to be arranged
10am to 4pm both days
£75
We are lucky here at the Silver Thimble to have the well known Doll maker and designer Jan Horrox holding a class in April 2009. This is fun weekend which caters for all levels including complete beginners and is ideal for using up your scraps of fabric. Polly Patches is made with a wire armature wrapped with wadding and fabric. The costume is made from an ankle sock, a knee sock and some old knitwear. The patchwork skirt is made from scraps of patterned and plain cotton. Jan has promised to bring some of her stock for us and also to bring lots of goodies to tempt us - useful supplies, patterns and equipment to help in making your own dolls
Jan was always involved in drawing and painting from a very early age. She attended Norwich Art School in 1958 to do an Intermediate qualification in Painting and Sculpture.
Following a break to bring up her two sons, Jan returned to Walthamstow Art School (now East London University) in 1970 and gained a three year qualification in Fashion/Textiles. After graduating, Jan launched her own label in Fashion Knitwear – Jan Horrox Knitwear - which sold internationally for over 20 years. The company regularly exhibited at Fashion Week in London and the New York Pret and many other UK shows.
Jan taught final year fashion students at Somerset College of Art for several years in the early 1980’s.
In 2003 Jan decided that it was time for a change – by then being rather jaded by the fashion scene. It was at this time that cloth dolls were introduced to the UK at the ‘Knitting and Stitching’ shows at Alexandra Palace of that year.
Cloth doll making is an enormously popular craft in the USA as we all now know. The magic rubbed off and Jan launched into a new career – designing original cloth dolls. It soon became apparent that it was very difficult to find all the tools and fabrics recommended for this craft by the American patterns and books – so Jan decided to set up a new business 'Jan Horrox Cloth Dolls' to bring all the supplies to the UK.
Jan is now full-time involved with cloth dolls and related textile work and produces a range of her own patterns and has sold and exhibited ‘one-off’ dolls in UK galleries.
Jan now runs her business from home which is a large Victorian terraced house located on the beautiful Norfolk coast in Cromer, North Norfolk.
Jan visited us in April 2008 and the photos show what was achieved in a weekend - a complete doll using simple face sculpting, button joints and wacky hair. This doll – Tallulah to her friends – was made from a kit supplied by Jan, including all the fun bits to make her stand out.
Self Help Group
In between her visits we hold a doll making day on the first Saturday of each month where you can come and make one of Jan’s creations, (purchase of pattern required) or a doll of your choosing which you bring with you. This is not a fully tutored day, although Kath is on hand to give advice, but is for those like minded people who enjoy a good laugh while making dolls - usually the more modern type of doll but more traditional dolls, and their makers, are welcome!!
These dolls are great for using up scraps of fabric and can be made from a variety of fabrics from calico to silk and you would be surprised what can be used for hair!!
Jan has provided us with some patterns etc for sale so if you don’t have a pattern just come along with your sewing kit and we can do the rest!
To book this workshop click here
