Inside the Studio
A Day in the Life of Mira Petkova's Workshop
Light, repetition, and carefully timed pauses shape a working day in Mira Petkova's Sofia studio.
ArtDoll archive
Stories
Studio visits, artist conversations, collecting guides, and essays on material culture.
Collector's Guide
How to Pack Handmade Art Dolls for Shipping: A Materials-Based Method
Protect what can bend, snag, compress, abrade, or detach—then prevent the entire doll from moving in transit.
Care & Display
Displaying Mixed-Media Art Dolls: Light, Dust, Weight, and Support Checklist
Choose the room, enclosure, and support around the doll’s most vulnerable material—not around the shelf that happens to look best.
Process
How to Build a Wire Armature for Textile Art Dolls Without Lumps or Weak Joints
Build a smooth, stable core by matching wire and joint design to the figure’s load, scale, and intended degree of poseability.
Care & Display
How to Store Handmade Textile Dolls with Delicate Clothes and Accessories
Support each vulnerable feature separately, stop movement without compression, and use a rigid, lined box in a stable storage location.
Materials
Needle-Felted Doll Faces: How to Prevent Pilling, Cracking, and Distorted Features
A wool-sculpted face should have a firm structural core, broadly integrated features, and care suited to a delicate fiber object—not a washable toy.
Process
Building Stumpwork-Inspired Textile Figures: Armatures, Wired Leaves, and Stable Embroidery
Use internal supports to carry weight, then build raised embroidery and delicate textile details as tested, repairable surface elements.
Collector's Guide
Documenting Handmade Art Dolls for Provenance: A Maker and Collector Checklist
One living record, begun at completion or acquisition and updated carefully, makes a handmade doll easier to identify, care for, and transfer …
Materials
Wire Armatures for Textile Art Dolls: Choosing Gauge, Joints, and Padding
Choose the least complex internal structure that supports the intended pose, surface work, and handling of a collectible textile figure.
Process
Needle-Felted Doll Faces: How to Shape Features Without Weak Spots
Build facial planes first, then integrate each feature across a broad, blended base to reduce fragile protrusions, hard spots, and visible needle …