Dotee Divertissement

Dotee by Wendy Anderson

What is a "dotee' doll? ... A dotee is a mini art doll, meant to be traded or swapped. The dolls 6 inches /15 cm tall or smaller, but the hanger or tail can exceed that measurement. They have a face, but do not require arms or legs. Dotees have a loop for hanging, and come with tails (tails are fibres, ribbon, charms or other string-y things that add to the theme of the doll). Dotees can be made from a variety of materials - fabric, felt, paperclay, yarn, beads, gourds or any other material/media that you can make a doll from. Most dotee makers add buttons, beads, sequins, embroidery, or charms to embellish the doll.

Dotee dolls by Wilma Simmons

At the February meeting of Gumnut Dollies Newcastle, the group activity was to revisit these little dolls, which were very popular for doll swaps around the world about 10 years ago. As our theme for 2020 is The Twenties, the little flapper girl face buttons were a good start....

Dotee dolls by Connie Allen

Dotee dolls more than often have hand drawn faces, so the beautifully painted face by Wendy Scott was perfect for a dotee . Wendy also got creative with the shape of the doll.

Dotee Dolls by Wendy Scott

The other idea was to cover a button with printed faces .

Dotty dotees by Wilma Simmons

Christmas dotee by Wilma Simmons

I am going to make more of these and will most likely revisit my own tutorial . All that will be needed to turn these beaded goddesses into dotee is to add a fanciful tail ( as pictured in the pattern image) .

Tutorial : Beaded Goddesses

As you can see these dotee are very simple to make but a warning ... making dotees can be mildly addictive! ... And "divertissement" - a minor entertainment or diversion - seems exactly the right word to describe "dotee"

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Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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