more sewing in miniature

All right, I haven't been directly asked how I made those adorable character dolls in my Dream Angel stuffed dolls hub, but I figure, "what the heck, I'll share anyway so people like me can make their own character dolls for their stories." For those that read my Author Websites hub, you'll recall that making character dolls makes a great visual aid for descriptive purposes.

http://dollmaker.nunodoll.com/ She's made some wonderful patterns and magnificent dolls - but be warned, some of them are quite difficult, even for me, to make. I can admit that I've been trying to make her 1/2 girl doll or "Boobie" as I call her (not intending any sexual reference, it's just the doll's appearance) and finding that the fabrics I've been using aren't the right types. The other warning I can offer is that her directions are a bit vague. Not trying to sound prejudice or anything like that - especially since I spent 2 years studying Japanese - but she's Japanese and her English is a bit on the weak side, making it a little harder than normal to understand.

I won't give up my doll patterns - I do have the dolls themselves available for purchase on my club site - but I can offer advice on making your own.

Some of the questions I'd expect:

How'd you make those beautiful little faces? Well, that's something somewhat special. Places like JoAnn's or Michael's have a special medium for acrylic paints called "Fabric Medium." Between this, a lot of patience, and a moderately small brush, I was able to hand paint each doll face.

What are your dolls made of, it looks like fleece? Primarily craft felt. In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend it unless you plan for your characters to be just a sit-on-the-shelf type and never washed even of dust. Craft felt will simply disintegrate in water. The other problem is pilling. If you work with it too much, you'll get these annoying little balls of felt building up and ruining the texture of your character. Given the financial ability and choice, I'd pick a simple knit fabric. The dolls are so small, that a weave would ravel down to nothing before I could finish the seam. The trouble with the knit would be that it stretches - be careful of that.

Did you use yarn for hair? For some of the dolls, yes.Winding it on things like paper towel tubes or the really big juice mix tubes helps to make an effective wig of yarn hair.

You mentioned making little weapons for these dolls, how'd you do that? Truthfully...? That was with the help of several miniature doll books from the local library. Especially for the things like spears and axes. Ironically, my particular dolls are small enough that cocktail picks - the swords for olives and such - painted with acrylics, are just the right size.

Could you make video tutorials of a generic doll? Would anyone like that? Really? I could make such a tutorial if anyone were to ask.

While I won't give away the secrets to my own characters, I can offer help for someone wanting to make their own.