Welcome to the workshop!

My name is Annabelle Weisberger, I'm the creator of the project Maison Fantastik :)

I'm the one making everuthing here! I created this business to join my two passions: art and education.

Since childhood, I like drawing, sewing, writing, taking pictures... Dolls, of course, have always interested me. I started customising my barbies in elementary school!

During my studies in Fine Art, I made my first textile doll. At the same time, I was working with kids after school. At the end of my studies, it all came together, and Maison Fantastik was born.

Nice to meet you!

I've been working four years now with kids from age three to eleven. I have workshops every wednesday to teach them new art techniques. At the same time, I create dolls, and I love what I do ❤

If you want to follow my adventures

on social media, it's right there ➡

Materials

Texel wool

This carded wool is produced by Filature Terrade, in Creuse.

Mérinos wool

This carded wool, produced by Filature Terrade, is softer and geat for smaller details.

Madder

Madder is the most commonly used plant to obtain red.

Sophora

Sophora is a plant that gives a bright and luminous yellow. It is sometimes accompanied by myrobalan, which gives a more beige yellow.

Indigo

Indigo is a dye that has been used to create blue for centuries. It is a dyeing technique that is different from other colors.

Cochineal

Cochineal is not a plant, but an insect, which gives a deep pink. It is the only color used that is of animal origin.

Needle felting

Needle felting wool is a very old technique, that existed back in prehistoric times. The wool fibers are tangled together, using water and soap, or using a needle. Maison Fantastik's dolls are all needle felted, which gives the possibility of making very small details.

You have to sting the wool hundreds of times before you feel the felt forming under your fingers. It is a strong material, very durable, but also soft and fluffy.

Natural dyes

Natural dyes allow makes beautiful colors from plants. It's a very old technique as well, that's been used for centuries. Today, history and science are combined to make it a very reliable process. Thanks to two training courses in the Couleur Garance center, Maison Fantastik's colors are solid, vivid, and do not fade over time.

To make a color solid, you must first mordant the textile, wich means cook the wool with an ingredient that will catch the dye. After a good bath, the wool is ready to receive the color! You then have to cook it again, this time with crushed plants or plant extracts. You can do this several times to mix the colors.

There are many different methods of plant dyeing, and perhaps just as many coloring plants. The possibilities are endless!