I’m Sarah - otherwise known as Curious Pip. I make dolls and illustrations from my sweet nook of a studio at home in Bristol U.K

Life has taken me in many different creative directions but drawing and making has been a constant since the day I could hold a pencil or pin a piece of fabric. As a child, I’d always be drawing faces with big eyes or mermaids with shell crowns and long hair that would fill an entire page. A little later it was the costumes worn by glamourous starlets in old Hollywood movies that dominated my sketchbooks.

My love of fabric really began to take shape when I started using off cuts from my grandma’s sewing projects to make outfits for my dolls.

Several decades past and I dipped in and out of my drawing and making but it wasn’t until 2011 while on a short art course I was encouraged to take my pencil sketch of little red riding hood and make her in a different medium. I made a small cloth doll with very long legs and a felt cape. She was an incredibly simple design but from there on in all my character studies became sweet cloth creations you could pop on your shelf.

I began sharing my creations in a blog and generated such a lovely audience full of encouragement and support that gradually my little side hustle became a full-time niche. Since then, my work has evolved, and my life has ebbed and flowed but all that inspires me has pretty much stayed consistent.

I’ve always been fascinated with old handmade dolls. They hold a unique quality that you just don’t get with mass-produced pieces. This is the vibe I aspire to in my work. All my dolls are made to look like they could of possibly been made in the 1930’s or 40’s

When I’m not making dolls or drawing, I like to get out in nature and am especially drawn to the sea.

My other favourite things include travel, dresses, books, movies, shells, mermaids, and cocktails.