Handmade dolls

[DollyKim]

The pattern for those dolls is easy to find, it's from Annie's Attic, but there's sellers on Ebay who also have crochet Barbie size female and male dolls. I his on the idea to skip the legs and stuff the skirt a few years ago when I first got some of the patterns. Not like those big bed doll dresses are meant to come off.

As for your aliens you know we like to see all kinds around here

[Tam I am]

LOL. I wish I still had the pattern book the alien doll was in, but I was dumb and gave all my patterns away. And now I'm trying to remember to try and find a place that will print out the PDF patterns that I've bought. They're not the same vintage coolness as the old patterns, but they're designed by talented artists from Etsy.

[Beeves]

I need to sety account up to alert me when I get posts. I missed some cool dolls!

Tam, do you have pictures of you alien doll? And how on earth did you acquire real fingers and toes anyway? O.o

I have been trying to sculpt a ball jointed doll out of clay but i'm finding it to be above my head. I admit when i started the thread I was sort of expecting other clay made dolls, but these little soft ones are very charming. I kind of want to make one!

[DollyKim]

@ Tam I Am you should be able to print a pdf on a regular printer.

@ Beeves What kind of clay are you using? Are you following a tutorial? Keep trying and you'll get there!
I've tried on and off to make a ball jointed doll for 10 years and still can't quite make it work. If the joints work they don't lock and the doll slumps, if the doll stands upright the joints have limited movement.

[Tam I am]

I need to sety account up to alert me when I get posts. I missed some cool dolls!

Tam, do you have pictures of you alien doll? And how on earth did you acquire real fingers and toes anyway? O.o

I have been trying to sculpt a ball jointed doll out of clay but i'm finding it to be above my head. I admit when i started the thread I was sort of expecting other clay made dolls, but these little soft ones are very charming. I kind of want to make one!

No, sadly, I have no photos from back then. Cameras have never been a common object in my possession. And the fingers and toes aren't hard... okay. Maybe they are. It's all just changing stitches and careful shaping. They weren't rounded, just flat, but it was all five fingers and toes.

Soft dolls are great. Especially if they're floppy enough in the limbs to take on their own poses when you set them down. Very amusing, except my tiniest braided doll seems to like to flip me off for dropping her.

@ Tam I Am you should be able to print a pdf on a regular printer.

Aye, but I'm one of those peons who can't afford a printer! lol

[Beeves]

@ Tam I Am you should be able to print a pdf on a regular printer.

@ Beeves What kind of clay are you using? Are you following a tutorial? Keep trying and you'll get there!
I've tried on and off to make a ball jointed doll for 10 years and still can't quite make it work. If the joints work they don't lock and the doll slumps, if the doll stands upright the joints have limited movement.

I'm using paperclay and following a tutorial I found on deviantart a while back. This is a link to the first part of that tutorial: https://deskleaves.deviantart.com/art/Ball-jointed-doll-tutorial-part-1-303710466

I'm just having troubles making my sculpting look smooth and like what I want it to look like. The whole body and all the details all wind up looking clumsy and child-like, lumpy and asymmetrical and not very realistic. It's very frustrating. :/

Also: I think you can go to a library and use their printer. If you go to a school or uni, they'll usually have some too.

[Tam I am]

Also: I think you can go to a library and use their printer. If you go to a school or uni, they'll usually have some too.

My school days are far in the past. And the last time I looked at the library, they didn't have colour. I know I don't really need colour pictures, but it's just another excuse to avoid the library, as I've been avoiding it since my city got a bedbug epidemic a few years back. Bedbugs love paper.

[DollyKim]

@Beeves

Mkay, I can see several places where an inexperienced sculptor can face challenges. There really isn't much there to help unless I'm missing something.

How experienced are you with drawing and making art of the human form? Archive.org has fabulous and free books by Andrew Loomis for general drawing and people.

What type/brand of clay are you using? Have you made things with clay before? Some of it will come with using quality clay and practice. I've tried a few of them in my times.

Look up other tutorials like the Morezmore blog and just doing searches for ball jointed doll making tutorials. You might need to invest in a tutorial book, don't worry about reading them because the step by step pictures are great. There is one in particular that makes an adult looking female body. It could be under a dozen names but this is the cover. You just have to look around for a good price.


It covers making them from a drawing to basic casting, finishing, and painting. If you only have room for one BJD book this one covers the most.

I've had just about every BJD making book in my hands so if you have more questions let me know. I also have quite a few other types of doll making books and really need to make a blog post about them.

[Beeves]

@DollyKim
I'm using a brand called paperclay. Probably not the most expensive brand of clay, but not the cheapest either, and takes paint really well. It aor dries over a period of a few days and is surprisingly durable. I figured if I still don't like the texture at the end of sculpting i can make a mold of the pieces. I've used about half my brick with mistakes and trying again by now...

I'm actually really experienced with the human form. I've been drawing for almost 15 years now. I can do stylized and realistic human forms pretty well, i just don't know how to make my hands do what my brain wants with the clay. I'm thinking i should just make a stationary human sculpture before i try making a bjd in parts like I've been trying.

Are there any high quality bjd-sculpting books in english? I've seen that cover before a few times, looking for tutorials online.

You should totally make a blog post. Even if it's not about scultping a doll, it'd still be neat to read over.

[DollyKim]

Paperclay should work, just be ready for another brick or twelve A static pose might be a good start. Try using a damp sponge to smooth out the surface but dry Paperclay naturally will have a bit of a texture to it. My doll in the brown dress is Paperclay and she's got acrylic sealer over her.

It took me a bit to remember but atelierpoupee.blogspot.com has some great posts about her doll making journey even though she's using wax. The only book I know of with an English translation is the Yoshida book. Between searching for "Yoshida doll book translation" and some image searches about the book you'll probably be able to piece most of it together. Just about every other book works off the same basic principals.

I did a quick blog https://littlewalken.tumblr.com/post/17 ... mendations