Dolls! Rich Girl, Poor Girl, Part 2

Here is Rich Girl in all her finery. I used a coat of gloss lacquer over her hair and 2 coats on her shoes. It has not come out as glossy in these photos as it appears in real life.

Here is a close up of her face and the hair flower I made from 100% wool felt:

Back view with heart shaped button:



And here are the girls together:

I feel that I achieved my aim of making one doll look worn and old and one look new.

My next project is to make a Barbie dress for my artist friend Di's original early 1960's Barbie. Although she still has the original box and stand, somehow the clothes were given away.

Dolls! Rich Girl, Poor Girl; a Very Red Pair of Shoes

Here are Rich Girl's shoes. I like this red colour; I applied 2 coats to get it to this strength. I will let it dry overnight and then apply a couple of coats of clear gloss over the red. I had to paint on the socks to cover a spot of red paint that flicked off the brush when I was painting her shoes. I quite like the look of these socks and I will attach some gathered lace to finish off the tops.

Here is the completed doll body waiting for her face and clothes. You can see how I have used one of my new Lizzie's Arty Crafty labels. They are really lovely woven labels which are made in Belgium. Of course I would always give the designer credit when I use one of my labels. I would like to have a go at designing my own dolls eventually though, so watch this space!

Dolls! Rich Girl, Poor Girl, Part 1

Here is the first of the two dolls I spoke about in my last post. I have tried to make this one look old by using soft colours and tea dyeing all the fabrics including the embroidery thread I used to highlight the shape of her shoes. It was great fun to try this dyeing technique.

I used the pattern for an attic doll from the book Making Cloth Dolls edited by Dorothea Hall. I changed the pattern so that my doll looked like a young child. My inspiration for the outfit was from the children's novel The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett. I think this story was set in the 1930's and all of the children's clothes look baggy and well worn.

I used artist's quality pens and pencils and a white gel pen for the highlights on her eyes. I initially applied the colour very lightly, but it did not stand out enough. Perhaps I should have left it a lot lighter in keeping with my vintage doll theme. The rosette in her hair is made from the selvedge of her bloomer fabric.

My reference books of antique and vintage dolls show some wonderful ideas for faces. Here are some quick sketches I did of some of them:

The back of her head shows how I lifted off some of the paint to make her look old, and even sanded it back in some places with an old pumice stone, of all things.

I used acrylic paints on her shoes and hair.

Now it is time to start working on the Rich Girl version. She will get nice shiny shoes and her clothes will not be faded. I am not sure what her face will look like, as I find that evolves as I work on a doll. It will be interesting to compare the dolls and see whether I have managed to make one look old and one look new.