Back to dollmaking
At first I was not very happy with this "Material Girl" pattern, the one I have named "Marisol." But now that she's been lounging around the sewing room for a few weeks (hard for her to do anything but lounge, since she has no head or lower legs), I'm getting used to her shape. The wide hips bothered me at first, since the illustrations lead you to expect a less extreme curve there.
But then I had another look at my Veronica doll, and noticed that her hourglass figure is just a smidge more bottom-heavy than I would have designed it. But that isn't a fault in her--wide hips hold out her skirts (or will hold them
out if I ever make any skirts) And so it is not a fault in Marisol either.
I think the doll must have been intended to have hips like this, despite the drawings (which aren't to scale elsewhere, either). Because, as you see, the upper thigh pieces fit along the bottom edge just right--only about a quarter inch could be reduced.
So I'll just keep reminding myself that Marisol will look good in her clothes. Unless I mess up her face. Then she isn't going to get any clothes. I still haven't bought one of her $12 costume patterns yet anyway.
One thing I do not like is having to stuff that whole upper body through the neck. That's a tricky, four-piece neck with bias edges she has there, not easily replaced if it gets ruined during the stuffing process. If I make her again I will leave an opening in the upper back to stuff her.
The arms are set-in like sleeves; there is no separation or hinge to give them movement. The answer, according to the instructions, is to stuff them "softly," which is hard for me to do, with my "hard stuffing" habit, but is good for me to learn. In the picture, one is "softly" stuffed and the other is not stuffed at all.
Well, I am waiting on snail-mail delivery of the 45 mm doll joint I need for the neck (though after stuffing through it I may need a 65 mm one) so I will finish up the lower legs and start thinking about the head before they arrive.
After getting this far on Marisol, I took a break and made Penelope a cozy new flannel nightgown! She still owns no underwear...But the weekend is only half gone! More Penelope pictures to come...
Comments