Evalina Rose and her little sister Posy Anna are the main characters of a series of children's stories that I am writing. In this blog I will share the final stages of crafting their half scale house--Honeysuckle Cottage--and the miniature stuff that will make up the settings of their stories.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Make Your Own Tiny China-Head Doll

For those of you who would like to make your own "china-head doll", here is a Fimo version that anyone can make.  I am working on writing directions.  It is a whole different style of writing than writing stories--I am not very good at it.  If you have any questions, or need better photos, just ask.

The collage bellow illustrates the steps to create a tiny doll...feel free to download for your own use
  The first picture in my hand is of two porcelain boy dolls that I wanted to show you.  You will make your doll parts directly onto the wire frame.  (I fire my pieces and then glue them to the frame.) This Femo method can be used for flesh colored dolls or animal dolls, here I used white to simulate china.  I like to make mice and other animals to dress like dolls.  Once you have made the doll, you should wrap the wire with strips of cloth and glue  (I usually use white silk mini ribbon for this purpose).

First twist two pieces of wire at the center.   Bend the top pieces into shoulders and arms and the bottom pieces into hips ad legs.
  Make a shoulder-plate and neck out of   Fimo...bake it.  Be sure to bake it for 10 minutes and let it cool all of the way.  Put a very small amount of liquid Fimo on the neck.
 Place a small oval of Fimo onto hardened neck.  Note that the back of the head should be higher than the chin.
 I was in such a hurry to make this tutorial, that I did not let my neck cool enough and it snapped in the process of adding the head.  I had to plop a head on and as you can she , she has no neck.
  using a fine stylus, add some facial details...two slight indents for eyes should be pressed in the middle of the face and a slight dent for mouth.  Be careful not to over-sculpt ..this is a tiny face and you do not want to over do it.   Gently nudge the Fimo with stylus to form a chin
 I added a bun at the top of her head.
Bake the head.
Cut the arm and leg wires to the lengths that you like and make some little arms and legs right onto the wires.  I press the hands into a slight point and place them in the direction that I like.  I did not make fingers.  You may want to make fancy shoes...I made them simple and will show you latter how I make shoes out of ribbon.
Bake the doll to harden legs.
I used liquid Fimo to add  thumbs and a nose in small drops placed on with a toothpick. then I baked The doll one more time.
  I am out of black acrylic paint, so I used dark  brown to paint her hair.  Paint her hair slowly with tiny brush strokes to simulate hair at her neck and around her face.
  To paint her face.  I  made two tiny dots for eyes, two thin lines for eyebrows out of brown paint to match her hair.
  I found a nice rose acrylic for her cheeks and mouth.
  I use my thumb nail as a palette for tiny amounts of paint.
 For the cheeks I added a small amount of water to my thumb- palette and mixed it with paint, so that I made a blush.
  I used the paint straight for a clear little dot of a mouth.
  When I was done, and the head was dry, I covered the head and shoulders with triple thick varnish.


This is my latest porcelain china- head doll.  I have put a tutorial for knitting these tiny undergarments on my needlework blog
http://mini-needle.blogspot.com/
Here she is  in her new dress.  I am making her an ivy green coat , a green silk hat and I am trying to  design a "carpet" bag for her. 

I made a new slip for this little doll.


Have a Wonderful week,
Lucy Coles




19 comments:

  1. Beautiful and very generous of you to share.

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  2. Thank you to share it with us, but it seems wildly complicated. I do not think I will ever dare to try. She is beautiful.

    Hugs
    Wyrna

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  3. Hi Lucy, the dolls are beautiful! So generous of you to share the how-to-make tuto of these little treasures, thank you so much!
    Hugs, Ilona

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  4. Hell oLucy,
    What a great, informative post. thank you so much for the tips and techniques. The pictures are great.
    big hug,
    Giac

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  5. This is quite wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing. I may never get brave enough to try it, but I am hoping I do. I love the little knitted garments too.

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  6. Good evening Lucy,
    How very kind of you to share the how -to-make.. You just amaze me.. Your work is so tiny and yet detailed...
    Have you ever used Cernit polymer clay? I love this clay.. I am out of it at the moment but after it is baked it has a porcelain look.. It is available online and at Kemper Doll supply.
    Thank you so much for your visit and kind words about my wee mouse.. So happy you enjoyed.
    Blessings,
    Penny

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  7. Dear Lucy thank you so much for showing how to make these adorable little dolls. Yours really look like antique porcelain
    ones.
    Hugs, Drora

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  8. I love the delicate, antique looking beauty of your dolls Lucy & the clothes you dress them in are simply gorgeous!
    How very kind of you to include such easy to follow instructions on how to make them!
    Many thanks for such a helpful & interesting post!
    Best wishes to you! x

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  9. I saw them, feel in love with them and I am dying to try to make one! They are adorable! Thank you for sharing!!

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  10. Hi! I would love to get an invite to your tutorials at http://mini-needle.blogspot.com/
    I've seen your dolls on Pinterest; but can't look at your blog. because it is set as private.
    thank you
    my email is sylviavanhorn@gmail.com

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  11. Hello. My name is Yumi. I would like to tell you how to make your doll. Could you invite me? My mail address. mameknit@gmail.com
    Thank you.

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  12. Hello!!
    From Spain, congratulations for your wonderful work and for your generosity in sharing it.
    I would love that you invite me to your blog, because I want to continue learning from you.
    My email is encarnasleon@gmail.com
    Thank you.

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  13. Hola, mi nombre es Arcelia González, soy mexicana, acabo de descubrir tu blog y me enamoré de tus hermosas creaciones, me gustaría que me invitas a tu blog. Mil gracias.

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    Replies
    1. Hola de nuevo, soy Arcelia González, de México. Estoy verdaderamente enamorada de tus creaciones, te escribí hace dos días, por favor, invítame a tu blog. Mi correo es arcedit7@gmail.com muchas gracias!!! Tienes unas manos maravillosas

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  14. You are wonderful. Not just talented but also generous. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am very happy to have found your blog. I can't wait to see what other wonderful things you have taken your time to share. 🤩😍

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  15. Oh. I am not very good with technology and I'm not sure how to do this. I would very much like to see your other blogs. I see here that the other people are requesting an invitation. I should also like to request one. 🤞 lynnstultz70@gmail.com

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  16. Que c’est jolie ce que vous faites! Merci beaucoup!

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