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Custom OOAK Barbie Doll Making Tips by |
Topics |
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Welcome to the doll making tips section. Below
is a list of topics I have covered. If you would like to have a topic added
or have a tip or trick we can share please email me and I will add it to
the list. If I can expand further on a point please email me with your question. Warmest Regards, Peggy Vater |
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| Hair
Perming Here is an example of how I did a spiral curl: I cut squares of plastic wrap to be used as end papers. I then wrapped the hair in spirals around straws fastened to the head with a straight pin. Next I dipped it in boiling water for about 2 or 3 minutes. (time will vary depending on the age of the doll as different hair was used) If it does not take, dip it longer. Remove and immediately place in cold water to set it. Alcohol free gel can also be used as a styling aid. Facial Repainting First we must erase the face. Use an acetone based nail polish remover with many Qtips. As soon as a Qtip is dirty it will smudge the face and you will never get it off without sanding! To repaint I use water based acrylic paints and the smallest brushes I can find I recently obtained a magnifying glass with a built in light and that has proven invaluable for detailing the eyes. No more squinting! Make sure to use an artist quality acrylic sealer when complete to protect face against chipping and scratches. It would be a shame to paint the perfect eye to have it fall off! There is also a product called float that causes paint to dry much slower and allows you to blend the paints more readily. The secret to repaints is lots of practice and tiny brushes. Learning to blend your colors with float can really enhance the look of your repaints. Hair Coloring Tintex clothing dye can be used to color your dolls hair. Simply add some of the dye powder to water until the desired shade is obtained and dip the dolls hair in the solution. You can then use cold water to rinse out some of the color to obtain a more natural shade. Personally I prefer to re-root the hair rather than dye it because the dye can stain the surface of your doll and it is very difficult to remove. Hair Streaking This can be alot of fun and there are a few different ways to achieve this. You can actually dilute your acrylic paint with water and paint in your streaks. It works very well. You could also try dying a few highlights with the Tintex clothing dye but I fould that more trouble than it was worth. My preferred method is to re-root some different color hair into the dolls head and it is what I recommend once you get brave enough to take her head off. Hair Rooting Next to the repaint I think rooting hair is the biggest difference between a regular doll and a one of a kind. If you look closely at your dolls hair you can see it is usually terribly rooted (very thin) and by adding more hair you can achieve some beautiful results. Probably the most difficult part of rooting hair is taking off the dolls head. Rooting hair is done by removing the head and sewing hair one plug at a time into the head by attaching a group of hair to a tapestry needle and pushing it through the dolls head from the inside out. By placing a knot in the hair (just like sewing thread) you end up with a permanently attached plug of hair. The big question is how do you remove the dolls head without breaking the neck? Here is what I do. I heat the base of the neck with a hair dryer. This cause the plastic to expand and become more plyable. Now wiggle and turn to twist it off. This will take practice and you will definately snap some necks. Buy some old dolls at a garage sale and experiment with them before trying this on one of your treasures. Eyelash Rooting This is similar to hair rooting. The head must come off and you use a tapestry needle. Use some hair from a dolls head and poke it through from the inside out as in the picture below. 
This will require practice as well. One poke through the center of the eye and you now have Pirate Barbie! Also putting too many holes too close together could cause the needle to tear through and rip the eye. Best to practice on some garage sale dolls. |
Finally, my Doll Collecting Software is ready. Now you can easily organize your entire collection in this very powerful and beautiful software. Just click "View Demo" to learn more. I hope you like it.. warmest regards, |
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