A Boy's Form and Clothes

I have been working back and forth on a larger head, for weeks.   Putting on clay, sanding off clay.  It's kind of like revising a story.  You have fun adding extra verbiage, and then you spend the next session taking most of it out. 

I worked out a pattern, using paper towel

and then palette paper, for the body. 

He will have short arms, and somewhat short legs.

Now it is

almost time to transfer all the paper towel patterns

to palette paper 

and then cut the body out of muslin fabric. 

For his clothing I thought it would be dated to the 1890s, with shorts, suit jacket, and a little hat.  I also want to use some plaid fabric.   Looking at some images online, the suit below from 1890 seems to be for an older boy.  It has all the elements I want, but looks pretty formal maybe due to that lower neckline to the suit.

 The 1890 outfits above are also rather complicated to sew.  I also doubt that plaid would be the right fabric choice.

 So I sketched my own take on a boy's suit with a medium-high collar, in plaid, with either plaid or plain pants.  And some hat styles and accessories that could go with it.
So I guess it's coming along, this boy doll.  

A Moment with Twill Tape

A seamstress friend gave me a box of odds and ends --  one nice thing about making dolls is that people give you boxes of notions.   In it was several rolls of cotton twill tape.
Twill tape is a reinforcement that is found in old doll clothes.  I've seen it used to reinforce armholes in human-sized costumes. 

I realized that if I sewed it on flat, the stitches would show through to the other side.  

So I figured I needed to press the seam allowances together, (not apart as they are shown here) and then hand-stitch the tape to the seam allowances.  Kind of just finishing the raw edges.

I am sure I will find other uses for twill tape.... If someone reading this knows about uses of twill tape for  reinforcement, please share.  

Inspired by Googlies

After several months of designing my own pattern for the body, and using my original sculpt for molds, I have finished my own interpretation of a Googly doll.  She is available on Etsy.

Her arms rotate forward and backward, on her wooden shoulder joints.  She is weighted with a little bag of artist sand, so she can sit well.  She also comes with a large hair-bow, like little girls wore in the early last century.  

Her head is of Paperclay, painted with acrylics and sealed.  Her hair is a wig made of human hair.
She comes with all her clothing and her handmade shoes and hat. 

You can see the listing for the doll here in my Etsy shop.