Yeah, NO

 Sometimes things are better left alone. Sometimes things seem better in my head than in reality. This project actually fits both of those categories. I have mentioned that I am not a doll person but I do like vintage holiday things-especially for Halloween and 4th of July. And so, when we were having a few days of bad weather, I thought this might be just the project for me. Well, I was wrong. Lol 

I had a number of images pinned on Pinterest and since I have sewn for many years, I figured I could come up with something. The fact that it was to be primitive made it all the easier because most of that stuff is pretty rough around the edges...and perfection is not expected. That would work for me as I am not much of a pattern maker either so I set out.

I thought I did OK-as seen in my previous post-with making the doll but I now realize that the arms are a bit too long-even though all of the images I used for inspiration had very long arms-and, the hands are way too big. Unfortunately I decided this after the point of no return.

So today I started the dressing process. I made a pattern for the pants and it came out OK.

I wanted them grungy and since the fabric I used had a sheen to it, I didn't think the coffee stain would stick so I went with my old faithful, Tim Holtz Distress Ink. Next I painted on black boots. After the paint dried, I used a needle and fancy thread and added some shoelaces.

Then I went to the jacket. I knew that would be more difficult and I got so engrossed in it that I forgot pictures. I did it pretty much the same as the pants-I just laid the "doll" on a piece of paper and sketched what I thought it should look like. I cut it out and sewed it together and then did a bit of tailoring until it looked OK.

I had no idea what kind of hat I wanted. A lot of the primitive Sams use a brim and then a cinnamon stick for the stovepipe part-not my favorite. I toyed with the toilet paper tube but that looked too big. I ended up sewing the top and stuffing it and then making the brim from cardboard, covering it with fabric and sliding it onto Sam's head.

There was every type of eyes imaginable on the inspirations but I decided to go with the painted eye. I am by no means a painter but again, these are supposed to be primitive so I went with it. I think the eyes are too small but that was also something that showed up on almost everyone I saw.

I added the wool roving for hair and beard and, since I wanted him to be holding a flag-and all of my little flags are packed away and I'm not quite ready to go digging them out just yet-I painted a simple flag facsimile and even found an old flag pole in my stash of wood pieces.

When he was done, I was less than impressed. I don't think he's grungy enough to truly be primitive so I think he is reading as a doll-just what I didn't want. I might add more grunge but I am kind of waiting to see where he will be. I took a picture of him propped on against an urn and wasn't impressed so I just kind of threw him down on the chair and I kind of like him better there.

 I don't think he is totally done but he, and I, are for now! I have a huge mess to clean up before I can call it a day and I'm tired. Stay safe and stay tuned.