Minikin Character Dolls

Friends of Sherlock Holmes (Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes and Irene Adler)

Ever since we were little, we've enjoyed A. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries stories. Some of the first Minikin dolls that we made were Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In fact, we have made and sold quite a few of those, so it seems that Holmes still has quite a fan base out there. One customer contacted us and asked if we would be willing to make some of the other characters from the Holmes stories. Naturally, we jumped at the chance. It's always fun to make characters that have room for artistic interpretation and creativity. This project has been an ongoing one over an extended period of time, so keep checking back to see more characters.

Holmes characters that we have made so far: Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, Wiggins (Baker Street Irregular), Irene Adler and "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Photos of all are in the column at right (just click on the thumbnails to see the photos at full size).

Inspector Lestrade (see photos 4-6) wears his traditional long coat, which sports a belt at the waist and little belts on the cuffs. He wears a dark reddish-brown suit with seed-bead buttons and black lapels. His matching derby is needle-felted merino wool, and he has fabulous "lamb chop" sideburns and a large mustache.

Mrs. Hudson (see photos 7-9) is seen in her tradtional black Housekeeper's dress with matching white apron (beautifully hand embroidered by Elizabeth!). She has grey wool hair that has been needle-felted into a little bun at the back of her head. The feather duster is really the crowing touch on this Minikin, however. Dad made the duster from a real quill and feathers!

The Baker Street Irregular (see photos 10-12) is based on the character "Wiggins", a young boy who is often employed by Holmes to collect clues. We don't get a chance to make many child-sized Minikins, so this was a very fun doll! He wears little knickers, suspenders and a felted newsboy cap. Of course, he had to have some kind of a "clue", so we made a small paper-wrapped parcel for him to carry. Personally, this is one of my favorites!

No collection of Holmes characters would be complete without Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft Holmes (see photos 13-15). This Minikin wears a dark grey suit, a gold-colored watch chain and carried his own miniature copy of the "Strand" Magazine featuring "The Greek Interpreter" --- one of the stories in which Mycroft helps his brother.

Irene Adler (see photos 16-18) is one of the most reknowned female characters in the Holmes stories. Original illustrations of Irene are few (only one or two, I believe) and singularly uninspiring. So, we combined a few costumes and pictures to come up with our Minikin interpretation. She wears a Navy Blue dress with Fuschia accents. Her wide-brimmed hat is sewn from matching felt and is decorated with needle-felted roses and a real feather. Her wavy auburn hair is made from plant-dyed mohair locks.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (see photos 19-21) was certainly a bit challenging. He is completely needle-felted of charcoal-colored wool on a wire frame. Felting people is my specialty, so branching into the canine world was a change. There are traces of a light color running through the dark wool, which I thought gave a feeling of the eery glow. The dog's eyes are bright orange in an effort to make him a little ferocious. Of course, it's rather hard to make anything needle-felted (on this scale) look ferocious!

Professor Moriarty (see photos 22-24) is the archrival of Sherlock Holmes, so Elizabeth wanted him dressed in black. He's tall, thin, bearded and has an enormous top hat. All of this adds to his sinister appearance. He sports a black frock coat, vest and pants, and he has small wire spectacles hanging from a black cord. His head is needle-felted and his hair is grey wool.

 

Sherlock Holmes and Friends Minikins range from approximately 3 inches tall to just over 4 inches (depending on which character). All of the clothes have been handmade from a wool-rayon felt, with some seed beads and jewelry chain to create the little costumes on the various characters. All heads have been entirely needle-felted from merino wool, and the hair is wool or mohair. It's all done by hand, with hundreds of teeny-tiny stitches in each Minikin. Always top quality in a little package!

Each of our Minikin Art Dolls is handcrafted, one at a time. You will receive a Minikin made especially for you, similar to the one seen in the photos. PLEASE ALLOW TWO TO THREE WEEKS FOR US TO MAKE YOUR DOLL. There will always be slight variations in design and detail. Minikins are one-piece, non-poseable Character Dolls.