Category Archives: progress report

update on gourd head girl

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I wasn’t happy with the white arms and I decided they needed to be painted. After I gessoed them, I realized that the legs, which show under the dress, would also look odd in the white of the fabric… but I didn’t want to paint them because then they’d get stifff, and then the shoes I made might not fit and stopping the paint at the ankles would be too weird- and now I am getting frustrated…

So, after thinking about it for a day, I decided to take a risk and experiment. I mixed some Rit dye (about a teaspoon of peach) into some water, in a half pint take-out container. The granules from the dye were not dissolving so I tried microwaving the mixture- bring it up to a boil, then stirring. It still had sediment that I couldn’t get rid of, so I went back to the project at hand. I thought about painting the dye on… I did a test which reminded me of something I had tried before with tea dyeing- it comes out blotchy. So, I had the idea of using my spritz bottle. Before I transferred the dye mixture into the bottle, I sprayed the body with enough clear water to make it damp. Then I poured the dye into the spritzer. I sprayed away until it was pretty evenly covered… it looked a lot like a rash, but not too bad, and I had hopes that by waiting, it might even out.

I came back an hour later. The color had not evened out- actually it looked worse. There were bright pink spots growing on the damp fabric- little bits of dye, unmixed. It looked pretty bad. Time for more experimenting. I got a piece of old towel and wet the corner- I started rubbing the worst of the rash like blotches. Well- they blended in! I rubbed over all the dyed areas with a very damp, almost drippy, towel and the color really evened out.

It is now almost dry and it looks good. I might put another coat on… maybe. I still need to paint the arms.

little heads

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These heads are made of Fimo. We did a little workshop on sculpting heads at doll club. Now that the gourd head girl is almost finished, I am starting in on these guys. They are sitting on various possible hairs. We are suppose to bring finished dolls to doll club in June. It is fun to play with something completely different…

shoes

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shoes.jpg

Her dress is finished, I bought baby socks for her, and the shoes are just about done. I just have to trim the straps, but will do that once they are on her feet. The underwear just needs elastic. So, now that she is just about done, I’ve decided that the white arms just won’t do… I need to paint them a flesh tone. I probably should do the legs too. This is not the order I usually do things! And she still needs a name.

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vintage fabrics

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I love working with the old fabrics in my collection. They each have a bit of history that I think about as I use them.
The white windowpane comes from a badly damaged dress, found in the basement of the house in Woodstock- I aquired it during the clean out. It was probably from around 1900- the corset age. It has some stains and damage, but I am working around and ignoring them.
The stiff white fabric came from my Mom’s stash. It was a brown sort of color on the top layer of the roll. I put it through the washing machine and it is fine- it is a cotton “organza” (? I think). It is stiff without starch- good for a petticoat. The polkadots came from a bag of fabrics that my neighbor gave me when they did a clean out. Judging from other things in the bag it was probably from the 60’s or early 70’s.
I am working on a dress for the gourd head girl… inspired by memories of a dress I had as a child.

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I am 4 in this picture- it’s my birthday and I am holding a gift from my brother Paul- it is a helicopter that he made and I am very pleased with it. What doesn’t show in the picture is the large cloth red rose at the waist of the dress, the dotted swiss fabric- red dots on a white background, and the memory of the textures of the dress.

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Here she is, trying on the dress in progress.

she’s got hair

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wigcap.jpg

Miss gourd head doll has her hair now. I tried something new, inspired by some info on wig-making at Susan Doyon’s site. I often use wool felt to make a wig cap… Edinburgh Imports carries it in nice hair colors. Usually I make a paper pattern and then use it to cut out the felt. This is what I did this time-

I measured the head- ear to ear across the top of the head and again across the back. This gives 2 measurements- in this case 6″ and 8″. I use these numbers to cut out a rectange- 6″ X 8″.
I wet the wool and squeezed the water out so it was damp, not drippy. I put a plastic bag on the dolls head and upper body. The bags was taped around the dolls neck to keep it from moving. The felt rectangle was placed on the head and the excess was pinched up into 4 darts with the clips. Easier said than done- the plastic bag made the head very slippery and since it is a gourd head, I couldn’t use pins. I ended up using rubberbands, which as you can see in the picture, I anchored in the front with tape.
Then wait for the felt to dry… by the next morning it was ready to go. I carefully cut off the flaps and sewed the darts closed.
This method made for a much better fitting wig cap and cut out one step (the paper pattern). This method also works for lambskin wigs, so I will try that next time I make one.

The yarn hair is sewed onto the wig cap and the wig is glued to the gourd.

And here she is with her new hair… it still needs cutting and fixing, but I’ll wait til she is dressed to do that.

hairon.jpg

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she’s got hair

Posted on by

wigcap.jpg

Miss gourd head doll has her hair now. I tried something new, inspired by some info on wig-making at Susan Doyon’s site. I often use wool felt to make a wig cap… Edinburgh Imports carries it in nice hair colors. Usually I make a paper pattern and then use it to cut out the felt. This is what I did this time-

I measured the head- ear to ear across the top of the head and again across the back. This gives 2 measurements- in this case 6″ and 8″. I use these numbers to cut out a rectange- 6″ X 8″.
I wet the wool and squeezed the water out so it was damp, not drippy. I put a plastic bag on the dolls head and upper body. The bags was taped around the dolls neck to keep it from moving. The felt rectangle was placed on the head and the excess was pinched up into 4 darts with the clips. Easier said than done- the plastic bag made the head very slippery and since it is a gourd head, I couldn’t use pins. I ended up using rubberbands, which as you can see in the picture, I anchored in the front with tape.
Then wait for the felt to dry… by the next morning it was ready to go. I carefully cut off the flaps and sewed the darts closed.
This method made for a much better fitting wig cap and cut out one step (the paper pattern). This method also works for lambskin wigs, so I will try that next time I make one.

The yarn hair is sewed onto the wig cap and the wig is glued to the gourd.

And here she is with her new hair… it still needs cutting and fixing, but I’ll wait til she is dressed to do that.

hairon.jpg

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she’s got hair

Posted on by

wigcap.jpg

Miss gourd head doll has her hair now. I tried something new, inspired by some info on wig-making at Susan Doyon’s site. I often use wool felt to make a wig cap… Edinburgh Imports carries it in nice hair colors. Usually I make a paper pattern and then use it to cut out the felt. This is what I did this time-

I measured the head- ear to ear across the top of the head and again across the back. This gives 2 measurements- in this case 6″ and 8″. I use these numbers to cut out a rectange- 6″ X 8″.
I wet the wool and squeezed the water out so it was damp, not drippy. I put a plastic bag on the dolls head and upper body. The bags was taped around the dolls neck to keep it from moving. The felt rectangle was placed on the head and the excess was pinched up into 4 darts with the clips. Easier said than done- the plastic bag made the head very slippery and since it is a gourd head, I couldn’t use pins. I ended up using rubberbands, which as you can see in the picture, I anchored in the front with tape.
Then wait for the felt to dry… by the next morning it was ready to go. I carefully cut off the flaps and sewed the darts closed.
This method made for a much better fitting wig cap and cut out one step (the paper pattern). This method also works for lambskin wigs, so I will try that next time I make one.

The yarn hair is sewed onto the wig cap and the wig is glued to the gourd.

And here she is with her new hair… it still needs cutting and fixing, but I’ll wait til she is dressed to do that.

hairon.jpg

—-

she’s got hair

Posted on by

wigcap.jpg

Miss gourd head doll has her hair now. I tried something new, inspired by some info on wig-making at Susan Doyon’s site. I often use wool felt to make a wig cap… Edinburgh Imports carries it in nice hair colors. Usually I make a paper pattern and then use it to cut out the felt. This is what I did this time-

I measured the head- ear to ear across the top of the head and again across the back. This gives 2 measurements- in this case 6″ and 8″. I use these numbers to cut out a rectange- 6″ X 8″.
I wet the wool and squeezed the water out so it was damp, not drippy. I put a plastic bag on the dolls head and upper body. The bags was taped around the dolls neck to keep it from moving. The felt rectangle was placed on the head and the excess was pinched up into 4 darts with the clips. Easier said than done- the plastic bag made the head very slippery and since it is a gourd head, I couldn’t use pins. I ended up using rubberbands, which as you can see in the picture, I anchored in the front with tape.
Then wait for the felt to dry… by the next morning it was ready to go. I carefully cut off the flaps and sewed the darts closed.
This method made for a much better fitting wig cap and cut out one step (the paper pattern). This method also works for lambskin wigs, so I will try that next time I make one.

The yarn hair is sewed onto the wig cap and the wig is glued to the gourd.

And here she is with her new hair… it still needs cutting and fixing, but I’ll wait til she is dressed to do that.

hairon.jpg

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working on doll hair

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swift.jpg

I rooted around in the attic to find this- an umbrella swift. It dates back to weaving and college days. The strings holding it all together are rotting so they needed to be replaced and then I found that 2 of the slats were missing. I went back up to the attic and found one of the slats. By the time the other one shows up, I will be thinking- hmmm, I remember I was looking for this- now what did I need it for.
Anyway, I have resurrected this because I realized I could use it as a way of winding yarn off a cone and making a large number of threads all the same length… i.e. doll hair!

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Well, it works well enough even with one slat missing. This is the yarn I bought at Pasa Yarn. I have no idea how much I need but I got tired of winding. Next time I will find a place to set the swift upright.

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Here is Miss gourd head, showing off her soon to be hair. After I wound it out, I tied it off and washed it. It had a grimey and oily feel to it. Much better now. I need to make a wig cap and then cut the yarn. Oh yeah… and make the wig.