Originally Posted by KLO
drgranny, I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about how you go about making these dolls .... such as: do you use a "doll pattern"; how do you do the joints; what materials do you use for the doll bodies, etc. I am sure you don't have time for a novel but these dolls are so wonderful that I would love to know what goes into the process of making them. Thanks if you can do that; I understand if you cannot.
OK. First of all I make my dolls from commercial patterns that are available from multiple sources(on the web). I don't make patterns. Some of my dolls are made from woven cottons such as Egyptian cotton. Some are made from knitted faux suade fabric. The mermaid was made from cotton and her tail is batik. They mostly 5 piece bodies + the head. No armature. The hands and arms are wired with chenille stems. The legs are cut so the top of the legs lap over the buttock area and as they are stitched, stuffing is added to make a butt cheek. The torso of the body is cut at the top sort of like a full corset ie. it has bust shape that can be stuffed just enough to make boobs or stuffed a lot to make her bodashus. The feet have heels of various shapes and heights and then are painted and decorated. From here some artists make the bodies and fully cloth it and then make the head and put on the neck. I usually get my body made and the legs positioned like I want them and maybe have an idea how I will cloth her, but the actual decision there comes when I give her her head. I always make 2 or 3 heads and needle sculpt them and then give her eye color etc. I make mostly red haired dolls. Don't know why exactly but it seems that is always what they want. Then I sometimes go ahead and dress her and try the heads on to see which one she wants. Sometimes she doesn't want any of them and I have make another. The bird cage doll I made the body onto the handle of the cage and dressed her from a blouse I found at the resale shop. Then she had to have a head and face that went with her looking into the sky for her bird that flew away. I think I only made 2 heads for her. The sky is the limit for embelishment. She will tell you when she has enough.
I thank you all for the great response to my babies!!!