Summer - a tropical girl

So here is my first finished complete customisation!

For the first half of her preparation click here. When I showed her the finished face up, Monkey looked at doll and said ‘wow, that good!’ So gratifying! Anyway, after doing the face up I tried to decide on her clothes.

When I was trying to get ideas I found a picture of a Polynesian girl in a black crop top and tropical print skirt. I made the top first by sewing a simple tube of black jersey fabric and adding a strap made by plaiting cotton sewing thread.

I had some gorgeous tropical fabric which I wanted to make into either shorts or a skirt. I didn't think I had quite enough to make a sarong-style skirt, soI drew up a pattern for shorts based off the jumpsuit Clawdeen had been wearing when I bought her. I made a mock-up first and then made these cute little shorts for my new doll.

Finally I added an anklet of plaited embroidery thread and a flower hairband made of a plastic bottle seal covered in black fabric and pink flowers made from tissue paper.

Once I'd finished, I asked my daughter, who is 3, what I should call her and she replied 'Dolly'. We already have a doll called Dolly, so I suggested Summer as it's been gorgeous summery weather recently and she is a tropical doll. Fortunately Monkey agreed, so doll has been christened Summer.

Comments

What do I do with a green doll?

The first Monster High dolls I bought for customisation were a set of two from eBay - Clawdeen Wolf and Venus McFlytrap. As I mentioned in another post, I don't have any pastels or airbrushing kit, and I don't really want to invest in them at the moment. So what was I to make of a green doll like Venus? I had two ideas - something to do with plants or something to do with the sea. I did a few sketches and decided to go along a plant-based theme and make her into a dryad. Her hair was in good condition but I wasn't sure I wanted that colour, so I cut it off and kept it for a future project. After the usual prep (sanding down any lines in the plastic, clean face with acetone, take out hair roots, etc) I repainted her scalp in a dark brown and also painted the ends of her arms and legs in brown acrylic paint. I had the idea that she would have the same colouring as a tree, so I used a brush to get lines in the paint like bark. I fully expect the paint to chip off a littl...

Making skirts

This week I've been working on drawing out some patterns for clothes and testing them out. My favourite so far is this skirt. I used a factory outfit to get the basic dimensions, then worked out how long I wanted the skirt and how high I wanted the waistband to be. The blue skirt, modelled by Catrine, was the basic skirt design I came up with, with a silver ribbon added at the bottom and a bow at the back to hide the velcro stitching. For Draculaura's skirt (...I think it came undone when I was taking pictures... oops!) I shortened the pattern and added ruffles to the bottom and a ribbon at the top and on the ruffles. I pulled threads out of the tweed-type fabric to give it and frayed edge and I used the thread to sew the beige ruffle and the bow on, so that it all matches. I'm going to try a few more styles with this basic pattern - making it full length, having a high-low hem, a mini skirt and a petticoat - and then will see it I can modify it again to make a ...

First attempt at boots

My mini-me needed boots - I love brown knee-high boots, especially in winter. I've drafted a tights/socks pattern that I haven't got around to making up yet, but I used it as a base for a boots pattern. I traced it out, making it a little larger all around, then cut it into two parts - the leg and the top of the foot. I found some lovely faux suede materiel that was really thin and easy to work with. I used it to make the boots, including a fabric sole, adding stitching detail around the join of the two pieces of pattern and along the top of the boots. I deliberately made them loose enough that I wouldn't need a fastening or opening anywhere along the seams. The two boots didn't turn out exactly identical, but for a first attempt they were close enough for me to be happy. The next challenge was finding something suitable for a sole. I eventually settled on using a firm foam that had been included as packaging materiel in something I'd ordered. It was handily cut...

Pam's Dollhouse - a doll customisation journey

Search This Blog