Welcome Back! Monika Shedden

Monika Shedden is one of two instructors brought back from the first Artistic Figures in Cloth in 2003. Seems she has been sewing round the clock, getting ready for a studio tour. Samples of her wonderful work like this Woodland Fairy are art pieces she is working on non stop. A group of 10 artists get together each year and open up their studios for the weekend. There is lots of food involved and hundreds of people come. Monika is so lucky she lives in a very artsy town. She has been doing this for twelve years now.



Dumas Valley School of Art has asked Monika to teach this fall. This is a dream come true come true for her. A twelve week workshop will be geared to students wanting to learn cloth doll making from beginner to advance with lots of costuming, exploring fibres and so much more. I was so excited for her when she said “I can't wait because i can do whatever I like in this class and we have twelve wonderful weeks to get creative and explore so different techniques.” The Fish Merchant is only a sample of the type of dolls and techiques Monika has to offer.


One of Monika's well known dolls is the Story teller, seen here. Monika talks about how she got started. “People always want to know how I got started. When I think back on my very first class in Erie Pa with eleanor and the subsequent doll camps in Meadville, then Wee Folk, I feel as if I am witnessing someone else's life. I could never have believed I would end up at AFIC. I remember sitting at the Faculty Table in 2003 and looking around, wondering how I came to be up here sitting with all these incredible people. I almost feel sometimes I'm just following blindly along these roads. I’ve been published in Soft Dolls and Art Doll quarterly. Teaching is the thing I love the most. Once I get started I get so excited about walking students through the steps to create their own version of the doll I designed. I always hope students feel the same sense of excitement and anticipation I felt in all the workshops I took.”

Monika will be teaching classes at AFIC get for more details and a closer view go to: Artistic Figures In Cloth Web site

Jenny is a doll I look forward to sharing. I love creating whole pieces of cloth with snippets of fabrics and fibers, adding collages, paints and creating a truly one of a kind piece. Draping this finished cloth around the doll in endless ways will produce some amazing pieces. I look forward to having students at all skill levels but especially beginner doll makers because I know they will be astonished what a few bits of fabric and threads will create. As there is no right or wrong with this doll, students will be free to unleash the artist within. I design my classes so everyone leaves with a finished doll.




Rose of the Wood is a doll I can't wait to teach. I have so many wonderful costuming techniques to share. From simple gathering, to making bubbles on painted cheesecloth with elastic thread in the bobbin. There is free motion embroidery, drape over the bodice, painting dryer sheets, stitching with decorative threads and beading. The techniques are simple but I have pages of them, so of course, no doll will be the same. These also become great head wraps for any student who wants to take a simple doll and add lots of pizzazz; I hope this is the class for them. All costuming techniques can be applied to any other project. This doll was designed to be finished in two days - no problem. My workshops are definitely not designed to just follow a pattern. But more so to get the basic figure sewn so we can get on with the good stuff.

I have already thought of a few more ideas for my workshops - By the time next April rolls around, I will have so many more things to share.