This is Red. She was my first rescue doll and we bonded. She gives me shit if I take myself too seriously, and doesn’t miss her long hair for a second.
I’ve been working on dolls again, prompted by Dotty’s pleas for a doll for Christmas this year. Last time I worked on dolls, I was mostly focused on Bratz dolls. The dramatic change in their faces is really fun, and their body shape is a little less… over the top. Also they have a lot more diverse racial representation. But the whole no-feet thing is a huge bummer and I never did land on a great solution for that. So now I have turned my gaze to Barbie classic (and similarly footed dolls). Modern ones have a lot more racial and body shape options now than there used to be (blow-up sex doll and…wait, that’s it). Although these newfangled ones haven’t all quite trickled down to the local thrift stores yet, I’ve been using my pandemic versions of thrift stores more lately anyway- Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and BuyNothing- and they’re findable there.
I’ve also been looking into other options besides a total face wipe. I was inspired by this image I found:
It’s basically just taking off the makeup with acetone Qtips and leaving the features. It’s tricky to get that close to the eyes without messing them up, especially since the acetone gets a little smeary. But I am encouraged by my first attempt! I used an Anna doll that I had in my thrifted stash from yesteryear. Her straight arms and legs and hard plastic everything made her a good “first doll” for Dotty, I think, and I’m hoping that I can individualize her enough so that Dotty doesn’t just see her as Anna. I didn’t get a before picture, but here’s my after:
I managed to leave the freckles, but the eyebrows fell victim to a rogue Qtip. Also, the top edges of the eyes got a little blurred. I used a fine tip sharpie to re-line them and bulked up the brows a little while I was at it. It’s not perfect, and the brown is a little dark, but I think she’s still cute without being over-the-top Disney-cute. It’s surprising how much makeup they start off with. Next time, I think I’ll try to be better and smoother about the eyes so I don’t have to re-line them. The darker brown made her look more made-up than I was going for. Perhaps I should look into a range of skin and hair tone fine tip sharpies… if there is such a thing…
But, since I am just getting this one doll ready for Christmas, let’s move on.
I have made doll clothes before, but impatiently and lazily- full of unhemmed edges and stretched out jersey necklines. This time, I wanted something that would be easier for a kiddo to put on and off, hold up well over time and use, and look more quality. I am also thinking about making a lot more of these in the future to gift/sell, and I want to have a good stash of patterns in my toolbelt that I can whip up and have them look really good. Here is what I’ve made so far:
I still used jersey fabric and just traced the doll for the pants- it works best for tight pants and leggings. I used old clothes of ours and tried to use the existing hems for waistbands, etc. The hardest part was the tiny, tedious hemming. Also darts- I sewed my first darts! The A-line dress has some “Barbie classic” sized darts, I think next time I’ll scale that back a bit, she is kinda swimming in that chest area. The poofy skirt was the easiest, by far. I followed a simple tutorial here:
froufy barbie skirt tutorial
Top left is the pattern I used for the green polka dot top, bottom left for the blue paisley one. The green skirt was just a rectangle with elastic sewn on, the tutorial with the measurements and tips is from the same website as the poofy skirt tutorial. They have a few other cute things I’m gonna try as well.
Whelp, that’s it for now. Next up: my sock-knitting shortcuts and the pair I’m making for mom for Christmas!
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