Dollmaking

I have probably mentioned this before, but I am venturing into dollmaking. Specifically, the Waldorf-style doll.

 

Oh, and I have something like internet again.

 

This fellow here is one of my smaller dolls, about 9" long. I'm experimenting with various styles - there's the traditional floppy ragdoll style, or the half button-jointed style (arms jointed, legs simply sewn on or an extension of the body), full button-jointing, and of course, any of the above button-jointing variations done with HIDDEN button-jointing (the buttons are INSIDE the limb, so they can't be bitten off or just be, you know... unseemly.) This fellow below is fully hidden button-jointed.

 



He embraces big hair.

Originally, this doll was going to be a girl. Or, since dolls really only have secondary sex characters (and in saying that, I'm being generous - it's really just the hair and clothes) this fellow could also be a short-haired girl. I don't know. Much like with the scrupulously blank expression, you can go ahead and imagine whatever you want with this doll. Whichever they are, they like butterflies. The hair is a mohair wig I crocheted, and since I am experimenting left and right, it was an experiment that proved to me just how to make extremely fluffy, full, too much hair. So I cut most of it off. I didn't want the doll mistaken for a feather duster.

The artistic photo. Sort of.

I made the clothing and shoes, which were also all prototypes and took forever because of it. I am very pleased with the shoes, which are a kind of simplified Converse-inspired style with an elastic band cunningly (if I do say so myself) used to eliminate pesky issues like buttons and Velcro and snaps. The pants have pockets in front and back. The butterfly t-shirt Velcro's closed in the back.

Some quick thoughts on dollclothes
About the same time I was sewing up the clothes for this blondie, I was making Barbie clothes for V. Barbie. Oh, ok, I was making myself Barbie clothes for V.'s Barbie that she didn't play with. I was getting fairly into it. Which led me to the discovery of specialty notions for doll clothes, such as almost completely flat, super-thin Velcro and itty-bitty buttons and snaps the size of French lentils. (Although not quite as tasty.) I wasn't easy, even in this internet age, to find these micro items, just as hat wire for a 12th century headdress is a bit of a hunt to find. You know how it is. But once found, they are worth it. I don't know how I got by without them.

I made this light-box type thing to photograph the doll in. It's working out okay. Once again, an expensive architectural education is paying off, sort of. In areas completely unrelated to architecture.