with commercially
made bodies
I've
always loved making dolls. But eventually I got tired of sewing and stuffing
their bodies, because what I REALLY like is making the costumes and sets and
props.
I have many patterns
that I’ve drafted, but I got very tired of making and turning and stuffing the
dolls because the fun part is dressing them up! Click
here to see a page with cloth dolls that I've made from my own
patterns. The page you are currently viewing features dolls I decorated and
dressed using commercially available doll bodies.
I started to purchase
“doll blanks” or dolls that had no faces, but were ready-made. These
dolls were made in China using cotton and new stuffing materials, and sell for
around $1 to $5 dollars each when imported to the USA, depending on their size.
It would be hard for me to
make them myself at that price, and then there are licensing considerations.
Stuffed toys and soft sculptures are subject to ever increasing legislation
concerning safety, and require special permits and licenses to sell them
legally. This is true even when they are not meant for children.
My favorites were 15"
muslin dolls, which were unfortunately discontinued shortly after I drafted a
whole series of patterns for clothing them as Heirloom Lady, Girl, and Boy
Dolls. So, I created a pattern for the body too. Eventually the patterns
and a complete how-to article will be finished, but its not today's project. Here’s
a flirty flapper in pink lace and pearls. She started out as a pre made-white
cotton doll body purchased in a store. I added color to her face with acrylic
paints, and sewed rows of pink and white lace directly to her body to create her
Flapper 1920's style gown. Pink and white pearls give her jewelry that Deco
look, as do feathers at her shoulder and in her pink felt cap.
These dolls are still
available in many other sizes , and a source I use frequently is Factory
Direct Crafts. I like to dye
the doll bodies and add polymer clay faces too!
The
same face that I draw by hand with a pen on my paper
dolls like Belle and her more sober sisters the Heirloom Lady and
Heirloom Girl is one I often put on cloth dolls.
I have another one for the
Heirloom Boy face that has smaller and less rounded lips, less eyelash detail,
and thicker eyebrows. It also has some freckles and works well for tomboy faces
too, as it is less "girly". Both have larger-than-life-size eyes. Many
dolls do--it is one aspect of facial anatomy that makes the face more
"appealing" to the brain. Its no coincidence that babies and children
have eyes that are larger in scale to their mouths and noses than they will have
later in life.
At first I didn’t draw
noses. After a while though I decided I liked them better with noses….this is
one of the perks of being the designer. I also wanted to be able to reproduce
the same faces, and sell patterns and kits or classes with my designs, so I used
the black and white drawings I did with a pen to have rubber stamps made through
an office supply store. It cost about $28 for a 3inch by 2inch mounted rubber
stamp, and I thought that was a pretty good deal. This was before I knew about
Ready Stamp in San Diego, where you can have
rubber stamps made from your designs. This includes a sweet deal where you
send in a 9″x7″ sheet of b/w artwork along with $32.00
(plus $5.00 shipping/handling) and you get a sheet of
unmounted rubber stamps along with the matrix tray (mold) in which it was
formed. This tray is great for polymer clay projects!!
I used the stamps to
transfer brown acrylic paint to the cloth dolls, and then I color in the
features using acrylic paints. Acrylic paints or fabric paints can be used. I
often use acrylic paints for boots or shoes as well, the slight stiffness of the
paints works to a realistic advantage there. Beads or puffy paint can be added
as "buttons" or other details on the footwear. Eventually there will
be a how-to article about painting and dressing them, but not today. Yarn
or fibers make simple but effective hair.
You can also purchase
pre-made cotton animal bodies, including rabbits, chickens, frogs, cows, puppies
and cats...there are lots of anthropomorphic options! Although I do love making
things entirely from "scratch", and being able to choose fabrics, and
trims and everything else, its hard to beat the prices of the pre made bodies,
which be as low as a dollar or two.
Copyright©1995-2010 Sarajane Helm All rights
are held by the artist
Reproduction without permission is
a violation of copyright law
