Problem solving: LOL Doll
I do love problem solving.
It has been a staple of what I blog about when I blog about dolls.
If this hobby were easy, it wouldn’t be mine. I need a delicate combination of being able to absorb/execute a skill to an aesthetic degree that I feel comfortable sharing it AND tricky roadblocks that give me reasons to brainstorm.
This month is full of little fixes and blocks.
My first Black doll of the month was dedicated to my friend Ebony. I miss being in the same country as her. We still use LINE a lot to keep up with each other and craft/sewing project. I’ve been wanting to do an Ebony inspired doll for a while because she has LOOKS.
I’ve made dolls FOR Ebony before. Not commissions, surprise gifts.
Anyway….I could ramble a long time about missing Ebony but we’re here to talk problem solving.
My problems:
I planned to use a LOL Surprise doll because the hair reminded me of Ebony’s…but I HATE LOL Face sculpts.
I’m trying to use my fabric stash because it’s well stocked and the local Joanne Fabrics is a cursed place of sadness and chaos.
Montage of Making Her
My issue with the face was somewhat mitigated by sculpting eyelids for her. It was a first try. It’s still a child-like face with no nose but at least she can give side-eye now.
I’ll be more careful with the sculpt and clean-up in the future. I used Apoxie Sculpt smoother on the lids and it left too mush residue on the face that needed cleaning up. I also, once more, made the mistake of doing clean-up with acetone while the neck/body was wraped in fabric, causing the acetone to leak down and fuse the fabric to the neck. I had to carefully sand her neck when the project was finished.
Dying trims
My co-worker Enid had given me a collection of trims for my Snow Princess. She also gave me historical rundowns on where some of the trims came from, which is part of why I like her.
I decided to dye the trims with synthetic dye I had on hand. The synthetic items turned deep orange and the non-synthetic took the red.
I didn’t want to risk the dye staining the doll so I kept fabric from the dye for other projects and used the trim.
EbonyDoll before and after. Skin tone hasn’t been changed, that’s just a difference in lighting.
All of the trim comes from the stash Enid gave me. The dress fabric is a discontinued suiting fabric from work Enid also gave me.
I still DON’T like the face sculpt and will re-head most of the other LOL dolls I have…except I might make one into a Sexy MothLady.
LOL body and Hairdorables head.
