STARTING A NEW DOLL

Hi All,
I'm starting a new doll for my class in Oct. I'm teaching at the Windy City Doll Conference (here) in Chicago. The class is titled "Evil Queen Candlestick Doll". I give the students different costume patterns to make an Evil Queen or Witch doll.

So, here's how I start:
First, I make the torso and arms. Then, sew the head and hands. I hot-glue the torso onto a large candlestick. Then, sew the hands to the arms, and the arms to the torso. (I don't sew the head to the torso yet, as I will be needle-sculpting it first.)

The torso and arms are made of Craft Velour, which has a slight stretch to it, and has a fuzzy side and smooth side. (I used the fuzzy side, to look more like velvet). The head and arms are made of Doe Suede, which is thinner than craft velour, and has more of a stretch to it. I like using Doe Suede for my dolls, as it makes turning fingers SO EASY, and when I needle-sculpt the head, there aren't any wrinkles. I hand-dyed this color to a pale green/grey color. I'm designing her to hold a staff made from a wooden dowel.

If you are taking my class, this will be your homework! You do all this at home, and show up to class with the doll this far along, so we can focus on the face and costume.

Okay, so after looking at my unfinished doll for a day, I decided the Craft Velour wasn't going to work as the fabric I wanted the torso to be made of. (The fabric for the torso will be the finished fabric for the doll.) I felt she needed something with a bit more pizazz! I had a stretch-velvet fabric with sequins, so I made a quick slip-cover for the torso. Because it's a stretch fabric, I was able to take the arms off, then stretch the velvet over the torso and make a small dart in the back to fit.

 

 

Next, I'll show you how I do a face. Stayed tuned!