Doll Therapy 4-6
Four
I taught myself, patience, making dolls. I am a high-strung, Aries: not so patient. I have always been able to draw and paint what is in mind, so I expected none less with my dolls. That was not the case. I make all sorts of dolls, but when I started sculpting, my dolls were not coming out according to plan, so, this is what I discovered: sculpting, is first, about the touch, not, the sight. You have to feel it. You have to smooth out any lump, bump, or crack. You must knead your clay, well. It is not always mixed exactly right. I think, PREMO is best. You must be very clean, and your sleeves must be rolled up, as every little fibre or oil is going to blemish your clay. I keep a paper towel next to me. If you switch colors of clay, you are going to have to wash, again. If you get up from your project to do anything else, you are going to have to wash. I actually sculpt on my white or clear glass plates that I bake my parts on, just to avoid cross contamination. Some people like to see a fingerprint to know it is handmade. I am not one of those people. I am a perfectionist, that never gets it right. I am not impossible to please, but find it difficult to please, myself. I really play with my dolls, so I try to make them very durable, and like experimenting. I say, I think, PREMO is best. I have tested it, thrown on the floor, against the wall. It is best. Fingers and thin limbs from the original Sculpey are not so durable, for play, and I do not think that wire armatures help, much. The next most important thing to keep in mind with your sculpt is to always turn it, and look at it from a different angle and perspective. The only tools I, really, use are toothpicks and needles. I smooth the clay with my fingers to a sheen before baking. This is the love part. This is when you infuse your creation with love.
So, I mostly experiment with the bodies. I have made all sorts of bodies, from leather, to clay. If you are going to make leather bodies, get leather coats at the Goodwill and save yourself. A scrap of leather at the craft store costs what a XXL man's leather coat does at the Goodwill. You will have to sew by hand with a leather needle, too. Leather bodies last a long time. I have made, mostly, all leather dolls, with just sculpted heads, hands, and boots. I almost always give my dolls wooden spines, but have made wooden dolls too. I cannot carve, but, admire the old Queen Annes. This, is what I do: I use a wooden spoon, wooden dowels, a jewelry crafting hand drill, (these do not cost much), jewelry eye screws, and jump ring connectors. The dolls are quite flexible, and depending upon how tight you make her corset, can stand on her own, but if not, a fancy, tin, cylindrical tea caddy, beneath her gown, makes the perfect stand. I paint their faces, looking at originals, and art from those days, and give them clay, or balsa wood noses. I have given them clay hands too, but prefer to fashion little lace day gloves over the dowels. I like using tapestry and velvet for the bodies a lot. They are also very durable. I get vintage furniture samples for the tapestry. Samples and remnants are blessings for dolls. Save your scraps. Some of my best dolls are made from scraps.
I probably enjoy dollhouse size dolls most. Here is the perfect body for this size doll, and a cheaper variation: wooden spine, fabric glue, Beacon is best, pipe cleaners, wrapped tight in wool yarn or crepe paper streamers, that have been stretched and cut in half, long, like ribbons. On some dolls, I use vintage lace, in place of the wool or crepe.
When I make a character doll, it always seems to sell straight away. I think the patron must've been wanting the doll, too. Sometimes, I channel the subject. Sometimes, I get the feeling that they are with me. These dolls tend to take me longer. Usually a doll will only take me a couple of days to complete. Then, there are the ones that have taken me months.
Of course, there are all kinds of dolls to make. I thought, I had made all sorts of dolls, so started giving some animal heads. You do not have to sculpt. You can even create your own fabric now, from photos, online, to make your own character rag dolls. But, beware. Although, hooray, this is awesome, do not buy the cheapest grade of this fabric, except for use in craft projects. It is not for sewing. I get the second grade of this fabric, in cotton, and it is wonderful. I still find nature dolls to be fun and the perfect, free, souvenir. I am always collecting special stones to paint, acorn caps, bits of bark. I keep my corn husks, that I dry, on paper bags, under the sink. If you do not dry your husks properly, your green dolls and wreaths will eventually, mold. You can use brads to animate your paper dolls. I have some knitted finger puppets, and, now, if only I had the patience to knit! It still hasn't happened.
Five
Collecting dolls and making dolls will have you wanting new clothes for your dolls and furniture. You will find lots of reasonable goodies on Ebay. Say, you collect Monster High. There are umpteen Frankie dolls, etc... But, there are Ebay shops that specialize in doll clothes, so if you like Frankie's new dress, but do not want another Frankie, you can likely find the dress, alone, for under five dollars with shipping. Amazon tends to be more expensive for dolls, unless, like me, you find a collector, selling their collection, out of the box. Most of my Monster Highs cost five dollars, but I have bought a couple, on sale, at The Mattel Shop and TOYS-R-US. Both run good sales. As much fun as I have looking at doll clothes on Ebay, it is even more fun to make them, yourself, as they do not take long, and you can make them from scraps. They only take some tight, little hand stitching and snaps. I like using vintage lace and make my own patterns based on their clothes. Just remember to leave room for stitching and stretchy fabric works best for turning the tiny clothes, that, and a knitting needle or wooden skewer. Some dolls hands, etc, are removable for easy dressing. You can make tiny bags and knapsacks with bitsy scraps and ribbon. I have made a travel doll, Jane Eyre, who comes along with a trunk and wardrobe, as described in the book. I've made other dolls that come along with trunks and wardrobes too, like Lady Vi, a Georgian reproduction, and my dancing Fred Astaire doll, with clothes to match his films. I've seen them all. I love making seasonal dresses for my antiques, and discovered one was solid wood that way, as I could see the grain as her paint flaked. I have some big dolls that wear childrens size clothes, like my Himstedt, and Christine Orange; so, they are fun, and have gotten hand-me-downs and antique gowns, too. Doll clothes can be a lot of fun, but why stop there, when you can create an entire bed set for your doll? There are lots of ways that you can create a cheap or free doll bed. The carved, wooden, Indian cigar boxes make perfect dollhouse beds and couches, as they provide storage, too. You can make bigger doll beds from: craft foam, cardboard boxes, fabric scraps, fabric glue, or needle and thread, lace, and stuffing. I like to save my doll boxes for things like headboards and dresser tops. I love Susan Sirkis's Wish Booklets. My first was, Potpourri, as it is a mixture of craft projects from dresser dolls to a pattern for a big, flapper doll, bride gown. These books are loads of fun and I find the projects inspirational, as they all allow room for personalization. I have other Wish Booklets with all sorts of miniature projects, from vanities, to entire cake shop and hat shop facades. Dressers are easy with a couple of fabric skirts, lace, and a mirror. Bottles of perfume and powder boxes are fashioned out of glass beads and glue. The same goes for lamps. Rhinestones make for the perfect movie star lights, when glued around a mirror. I made my Gene doll a bedroom. The dresser was an old, wooden, jewelry box, that looked like a dresser. I spray painted it gold and glued gold trimming round. I used animal print velvet for her bed. I made my Lagoona Blue a big hutch, covering it with handmade paper. How about hat boxes? I like them for storage and make them out of little boxes, fabric scraps, trimming, and fabric glue.
Six
I'd always wanted a real dollhouse, and while I was teaching, I had made myself a couple out of cabinets. One was an old ice chest: three stories, and too heavy to move. I stuccoed that one. They both had faux windows, that is, they were just fancy paper, wood frames, curtains, and drapes: they were not cut-out. I like reading books about dollhouses: old ones, collecting them, miniatures, making miniatures, etc... Among my favorites are Vivien Greene and Flora Gill Jacobs. The first dollhouses were called babyhouses, and they were cabinets. Later, I started making single room dollhouses out of wooden boxes and old drawers. I would, first, draw my house, in pencil, on the outside, paint them in acrylics, and add several clear coats. I even did one facade in watercolors, on watercolor paper, and glued it to the front of an old wooden box. These houses are ideal for small spaces, as they look nice hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf. A few years ago, one of my best friends sent me a vintage dollhouse kit of an old Creole cottage, like down in The French Quarter. It took me a month, lots of glue, fancy paper, paint, and varnish, but once I filled it with my little treasures, many gifts from my two best friends, it became The Magic Shoppe. The dining room became Doll Land. I sold a lot of the little houses, bought more dolls, and my boyfriend brought me home a big wooden cabinet, that he got at auction for two dollars. I painted the outside with my favorite view of Collinwood. The inside has three floors, but they are not very deep, so I used watercolor sets on watercolor paper and prints on cardstock for the sets of six rooms. Collinwood is my biggest painting yet, and although I do have quite a lot of time in it: the outside took me a couple of days, as did each set, I do not have much money in it. Then, dream of all dreams, my boyfriend brought me home a solid wood, two story, Amish dollhouse: perfect for The Collins Port Inn, and without knowing it, Doll Land has taken over the doll room, once, again. I even make dollhouses for my dollhouse dolls out of mint tins with miniature dolls with magnetic feet. You can make a dollhouse of your house like this using art, photographs, and momentos. There are wonderful miniaturists on Etsy. My favorites happen to be Italian, but there are some fabulous English ones, too. The miniature handcarved furniture is expensive, but you can make copies with balsa wood. You can cut out balsa wood with scissors, glue it, sand it, stain it, and finish it with clear coat or fancy paper. Will your's look as good as the professionals'? Probably not, but it is fun, and you can make sofas and chairs out of fabric with either little boxes beneath, or stuffing. I use corks with fabric tops for stools. Antique catalogs are gold mines, as they are printed on heavy paper. Then, you can decorate your dollhouse. I have too much fun with my dollhouses.
