Maria Mascarilha: handmade cute fabric dolls

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Meet these cute fabric dolls handmade by Maria Mascarilha. Learn how it all started, what makes them special and what else Maria Mascarilha makes.

Name: Inês Caraça
Where were you born? Lisboa
What is your favourite place in Portugal? Serra de Sintra has a special place in my heart.
What is your favourite Portuguese food? Bacalhau com Broa (codfish with cornbread) or gazpacho Alentejano (a variety of the gazpacho dish of the southern-central southern regions of Portugal).

I’m a designer who likes drawing, reading and who has a head full of ideas.

 

What is Maria Mascarilha?
Maria Mascarilha is my alter ego, which has become a brand of handmade gifts for children and which is based on environment education.

 

How did the idea for Maria Mascarilha come about?
It came when I decided to make some dolls to give to some of my friend’s children. I have always liked to give things made by me as presents, I think it makes them special, they are made with a particular person in mind.
At the time, the dolls were patterns downloaded from the internet and nothing like what I have now, but everyone really enjoyed them and encouraged me to sell them.
The idea then developed and, influenced by my own interests, I started creating the imaginary of the project and the dolls, which I named Galhatrapos.

 

How did you come up with the name? 
The name was created for a Spanish illustration competition that I entered long before Maria Mascarilha started. The competition required artists to create pseudonyms with which to label the work and I then deconstructed my own name.
Even though I’m not actually called Maria, “Maria” is a name that girls who are called Inês are usually given too*. Mascarilha is a synonym of my last name.
When I created it, I identified with it in such a way that I ended up using it as my signature for the work I do as an illustrator for children’s publications. When I started mapping out this project it seemed like an obvious choice.
*NT: Maria is name widely for women in Portugal and usually appears associated with a second name, e.g. Maria Inês, Maria Teresa, etc. It is common, and usually done in a jokingly way, for women to be addressed as Maria even if it is not their name.

 

What inspires you?
Fairy tales, the stories with magic-filled narratives that my aunt used to tell me when I was little, between forests, fairies and elves.
What also inspires me is the will to work in such a way that all children can have this same imaginary world, happy, and who can understand nature as something incredible that needs to be cherished and respected.

 

What are your favourite and least favourite aspects in the creation of your products?
I like to choose fabrics, to see the dolls taking shape and I love to draw them. As a designer it seems natural that drawing is the thing that I enjoy doing the most.
What upsets me most is time that each doll takes to become the finished product. Everything is handmade and I love to pay attention to detail, so I end taking a bit longer than what I hoped, which hinders my order management process.

 

What stands out in Maria Mascarilha?
I think that what makes a difference in Maria Mascarilha is the care and attention to detail that I bring when making the products. The creation of a story for each character (doll) makes them special. The quality of the fabrics and materials are chosen with the environment in mind, so that they are the most natural possible and eco-friendly. It all culminates in the pride that I take in the manufacturing of each of the products and the love that I put into it.

 

To what countries do you ship Maria Mascarilha’s products? What are the most popular?
Portugal is still the country to which I sell the most, alongside the US. I also sell to Slovenia, England and Germany.

 

Have you ever lived outside Portugal?
I would have loved to have done it while at university, but it wasn’t possible.

 

If you could choose the products to send in one of our Tugaboxes, which would you choose?
Excluding the thousands of doces de ovos** that I love so much, but which don’t travel well, I’d chose the following:
.Coffee
.Sea salt
.Queijo da Serra***
.Bolo-rei****
.Olives and olive oil
.Lupin beans
.Chestnuts
.“Música Portuguesa a Gostar dela Própria” (a project which aims at divulging, via video, forgotten musical traditional in Portugal)

**NT: Doces de ovos ou doçaria conventual (conventual sweets) are characterised by mostly being composed of large amounts of sugar and egg yolks. Conventual sweets and desserts have their origin in the Portuguese convents of the XV century.
***NT: Refers to Serra da Estrela cheese, made from sheep’s milk and under very strict maturation periods in the mountainous region of the same name.
****NT: Refers to a traditional Portuguese cake usually eaten around the December festive season. The cake is characterised by being round with a large hole in the centre and covered in crystallised and fried fruit.