August 3, 2008
Doll Makeover
I absolutely love them. I can make impulse purchases at a second-hand shop like Paris Hilton in a pet store. Of course, I was spoiled living in California -- lots of thrift stores and most of them HUGE. There was one, near a sushi place where we sometimes played Russian Roulette with food poisoning, that had two stories of possible treasures. Unfortunately, the only one near where we now live is very small, forcing me to shop eBay more often than is good for my husband thinks is good for me.
One of my recent, totally-worth-it, spectacular eBay wins was a small lot of really messed up old dolls. (Score!) I do enjoy finding dolls that are beyond restoring or not collectable -- and really cheap. Knowing that a doll isn't worth anything allows me to be creative without the vague anxiety that someday someone will see a doll that I've turned into a sewing caddy and say, "If you had left the doll as you found it, you'd be looking at value of $300. Now, because of your "improvements," it's worth about $5.50." Which brings us to Dolly Makeover, in which an old, unfortunate cloth doll is given a second chance to avoid being buried in a landfill.
Before...
Throwing caution to the wind, bravely disregarding Self-doubt, Anxiety, and Guilt, I took a shot at fixing her up my way. She was grubby and water-stained, with a dented face and deteriorated clothes. First I removed the crummy yarn wig (with a bonus dead grub of some kind -- gag). Then I cut a small opening in the back of her head so I could add stuffing to fill out her facial disfigurement. I have no idea how to go about cleaning pressed-cloth mask faces, so I used colored pencils to darken up her features a bit instead. Her new floss hair covered the opening in back and made her look slightly less grubby.
Her dress and slip were torn and I tried to mend them, but I can't darn worth a darn, so I made her a new ensemble. The pocket from a linen blouse bought at the thrift store made nice vest. I decided to paint on her stockings and shoes. Partly to hide the water stains and keep some little holes from getting larger, and partly because I didn't want to make stockings and shoes. Overall, she turned out pretty well.
After...
One of my recent, totally-worth-it, spectacular eBay wins was a small lot of really messed up old dolls. (Score!) I do enjoy finding dolls that are beyond restoring or not collectable -- and really cheap. Knowing that a doll isn't worth anything allows me to be creative without the vague anxiety that someday someone will see a doll that I've turned into a sewing caddy and say, "If you had left the doll as you found it, you'd be looking at value of $300. Now, because of your "improvements," it's worth about $5.50." Which brings us to Dolly Makeover, in which an old, unfortunate cloth doll is given a second chance to avoid being buried in a landfill.
Before...
Throwing caution to the wind, bravely disregarding Self-doubt, Anxiety, and Guilt, I took a shot at fixing her up my way. She was grubby and water-stained, with a dented face and deteriorated clothes. First I removed the crummy yarn wig (with a bonus dead grub of some kind -- gag). Then I cut a small opening in the back of her head so I could add stuffing to fill out her facial disfigurement. I have no idea how to go about cleaning pressed-cloth mask faces, so I used colored pencils to darken up her features a bit instead. Her new floss hair covered the opening in back and made her look slightly less grubby.
Her dress and slip were torn and I tried to mend them, but I can't darn worth a darn, so I made her a new ensemble. The pocket from a linen blouse bought at the thrift store made nice vest. I decided to paint on her stockings and shoes. Partly to hide the water stains and keep some little holes from getting larger, and partly because I didn't want to make stockings and shoes. Overall, she turned out pretty well.
After...
