French Fashion ladies

Veronique is loosely based on the French fashion dolls of the 19th century. I am devastatingly in love with them! Oh if only I had the money to bring one home to live with me! But alas, I can only dream and perhaps try to make one in cloth someday!
Here is a wonderful artist who does reproductions of a French Fashion dolls.These dolls by Alice Leveritt are just to die for! I am thinking about beginning to save for the ultimate fashion doll, perhaps after I get my Bluette.

Veronique!

Here is Veronique all put together and her wigging done. I have used boucle yarn for her hair. She still has her pins in where I have measured her for her sloper. She will be wearing a regency style costume with matching poke bonnet, long petticoat and panteloons.

Not Ready for Ebay!

I thought I was going to put this doll in the red dress on ebay today, until I decided she needed a little dolly to hold. Well I've had this paper mache doll sitting around my workroom for almost a year,but she was nekkid! It took me ALL DAY to make her some clothes! This is where I'm at, and I'm ready to go to bed. LOL! Tomorrow I hope I get the time to add some ribbon roses to her bonnet.

Reading books for kids again!

I love books written for kids! I think its an instant gratification thing-I can actually finish them quickly! haha! Here is a book that suprised me at how good it was! It is called "Dollmakers and their Stories", by Krystyna Poray Goddu. It is a series of biographies that are somewhat chronological in their effect on the doll world and its more modern development.The first one is Martha Jenks Chase,which is very interesting-especially the speculation on her face molding secret! It also covers Kathe Kruse, Sasha Morgenthaller,
Madame Alexander and Ruth Handler(of Barbie fame). What I really liked about it was that you really got a fairly good sense of what each of these women were really like, and what motivated them to do what they did. I really enjoyed this book and was able to find it in my local library-in the juvenile section of course! LOL!

Colored Pencil shading

Here I have gotten a good start on the colored pencil work. I love to see how a dolls face just comes alive when the shading detail is added. I have used a variety of pinks and oranges for the fleshtones, and the eyes are brown with pretty gold light-tones. I use Sanford Prismacolor pencil. These are just the regular artists colored pencils, not watercolor pencils.
I am especially happy with the way her lips have turned out. I will likely go back in and work some more on the fleshtones of her face.
Since she is going to be a doll whose clothing is all removable I will be expanding the fleshtones down into the chest area somwhat.

More embroidery added

Here I have added the lip outline in DMC #3328.This is sort of a rosy pink color. The center lip line, and upper and lower accents are DMC #221, a darker brick red. I also did tiny eye dots in #3328.
I stitched a tiny rim inside the pupil outline in #780, a dark gold color.Now she is ready for some colored pencil shading!

Embroidering a doll face

This doll is made from off white Kona cotton and is my original pattern. So far I have lightly penciled in her face. I do this freehand, but it would probably be better to transfer the face somehow from a flat drawing. I always vow to myself that I will find a foolproof method for doing this-next time! I am that lazy, this is one of my bad dollmaking habits-DON'T COPY MY BAD EXAMPLE! hehe!
Next I have stitched in the eye outline, eyelashes,pupil outline, eyebrows and nostril dots. For this I use 1 strand of DMC cotton, #838. I have also done the upper eyelid and nose in #3032. I use the tiniest stitches possible!She is lying on the fabric that I will be making her dress out of. I like to use the colors in the fabric for reference when I choose my floss and colored pencils.