Tarja's Crafts

Greyscale Ghoulia

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I started removing the head from a Monster High Ghoulia doll. I did it with that small screwdriver you can see in the photo. The construction turned out to be similar to Barbie's. The only reason for that odd round knob seems to be that Monster High dolls have such a thin neck that the post could not be attached to it without making that part thicker.

Next, it was time for the hair to go. I cut the hair as short as possible and then used the wide tweezers to scrape the inside of the scalp to pull the hair in. When everything was inside the head, I used the other tweezers to pull it all out (those tweezers are easier to use as you press to open them, so their "default position" is closed).

After removing all original paint using acetone, it was time to apply some new. I used Folk Art's acrylic paints and mixed the different shades myself.

I had thought that I would do a reroot, but I came across the perfect yarn for her hair and it was too thick for rerooting (or at least I couldn't figure out how it could be done). So, I used a sewing machine to sew the strands together for easy gluing. It's fairly easy when you arrange the strands on top of baking paper and sew at least twice across them. When finished, you just need to rip off the paper (by this time, it will have so many holes in it that it will be easy to remove).

I used three strips: back, front, top. The top one is sewn from the middle to make a parting. I used PVA glue to glue the hair in place as it has worked with a smaller doll I customized earlier. If it won't hold, I'll use super glue to glue it back. Even if I have to resort to that, the first gluing won't be a waste of time as I expect super glue to work better when there will be a smooth surface (the PVA glue strip in the hair) against a smooth surface (the vinyl).

And here Ghoulia impersonates Cousin Itt as she waits for the glue to dry.

Finally, photos of the finished doll. She's wearing a business suit for now as I haven't yet made her outfit. The boots are the ones I made for Draculaura a while ago.

Small custom doll

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:23:00 +0000

As I've got two basic Draculauras, I also had a duplicate of Count Fabulous. I decided to try some customizing on him.

The first thing to do was to cut off the head and wings and to find a suitable donor body. I don't remember what kind of a head that doll originally had, but it was some kind of a fairy.

The picture shows the parts and the tool used for making a hole for the neck post. Here the wings are glued together with super glue, but that didn't hold, so I had to find another solution.

Front view with head and wings in place.

Back view with head and wings in place. I used hot glue for the wings and that made a bump on the back, but at least it held the wings in place.

First coat of black paint applied. This was easy as black is black and the usual problem of finding the right shade could be avoided. The feet are not yet painted as I needed some place to hold the doll while painting.

After a couple of coats of black paint, pink on the clothes, and satin sealer to protect it all, the doll was finished. She's shown here with the first Count Fabulous. I only noticed at this point that their eyes are different for some reason.

Steampunk softies

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:07:00 +0000

On the crafts fair last weekend, I came across the book Steampunk Softies: Scientifically-Minded Dolls from a Past That Never Was.

Unfortunately, the price was too high for such a small book (because of 23% VAT, customs charges and everything else that gets added on top of the original price when books are imported here).

So, I just browsed through it. The projects looked interesting and simple enough for anyone with basic knowledge of sewing to make. If I was more interested in steampunk, instead of just finding in an amusing curiosity, I probably would get the book.

Easy wig for Miss Piggy

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:43:00 +0000

Miss Piggy's blonde wig, which has holes for ears and therefore stays in place very securely, gave me the idea of trying to make her a wig myself. This is just the first version and I'm sure I can improve it.

The basic structure is very simple, just a piece of fabric attached to a rubber band.

Measure the rubber band so that it goes around the ears snugly, sew it into a loop and sew the fabric strip to it. The fabric in this one was first sewn into a tube to prevent fraying and to make it a bit sturdier. If you use thick fabric, just one layer is probably better.

Finally, sew yarn into the fabric as shown in these pictures of the finished wig. You'll need quite a lot of it to get a wig that covers the entire head.

Overview of past 6 months or so

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:31:00 +0000

I haven't been posting anything here, but I haven't been entirely idle. There are photos on my Flickr account on stuff I've been making during my absence and I thought I could post an overview here.

Bobo and Nikki got some crocheted dresses:

I got Robert Tonner's 11" Miss Piggy and made some clothes for her. You can find the patterns for these on my website.

I am also in the process of customizing a Bratz Boyz doll. He will become a feline and has already had his hands and head replaced, although the head is not ready yet.

And finally, I've been making some 1/6 scale furniture, for example, a chair for Monster High dolls.

Printables

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:17:00 +0000

As the cartridges for my old color printer would have cost more than an entirely new machine, I bought a HP Deskjet 1050 all-in-one. It replaced not only my old printer, but also the scanner.

Among the first items I made with it are these 1:6 scale printables from Jim's Printable Minis.

I also wanted to test the new scanner, so I scanned some of my magazines for 1:6 scale. Vogue had a black back cover, so I didn't scan it, but the others have the back cover as well.

I also scanned my crossword book and a cardboard package of chocolate and resized them to 1:12 scale.

I made a miniature version of Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" with Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations. I made a smaller version first as it didn't need as many inside pages as the 1:6 scale version. The miniature version has a few pages from the beginning of the book, selected by how they would look in small scale, and about dozen pages starting from the first page of Chapter 1, which is the right side page here.

The inside pages are black and white (except the left side page here, which is grayscale), so I printed them with a laser printer on regular copy paper. Laser printer meant there was no need for fixative for these pages.

The cover was printed on cardstock. It looks a bit worn as I scanned the separate paper cover rather than the covers of the book. The book is so big that it was easier this way. The light parts of the cover are gold colored and that doesn't seem to print very well.

I have asked the current copyright holder, Random House UK, for a permission to make the files for this miniature book available for others. If I get the permission, the files will become available on my web site at some point.

Dresses for Bobo

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:29:00 +0000

My latest doll purchase is Doll Factory's Pet Ari 2nd Edition Bobo. She's a very small BJD doll, but as she is a mouse, she fits in well with the Baha Cat.

Before she even arrived, I started making her some dresses using Mattel's Kelly/Shelly doll as their measurements are almost the same. Bobo is more pear shaped, though, so the dresses had to be loose at the hips.

Here are pictures of dresses I have made for her. I used the same pattern for all of them and just varied the fabrics and decorations. The pattern is available as a PDF file on my web site.

Dress with an iron-on picture:

Wool fabric with a felt flower in front and cotton yarn on the edges:

Slightly shortened pattern and lace added to the hem:

Baha Cat's costume

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:49:00 +0000

The costume is finally finished. It usually includes a jacket, but as that is not absolutely necessary, I am not going to make it. The background is not quite suited to the style, but this was the sunny spot in my living room and good lighting was a greater concern.

Related earlier posts:
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary
Hat for the Baha Cat
Shoes for the Baha Cat's costume
Helavyö
Baha Cat's shirt

Baha Cat's shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:38:00 +0000

The shirt for Baha Cat's folk costume is not made of right kind of fabric, but it looks good enough for the purpose. The pieces are all rectangles, with seams on the shoulders and sleeves.

I was going to sew the cuffs and collar in place, but as the fabric was a bit stretchy, I thought fabric glue would be a better choice. It does look neater this way. The opening on the back is closed with two snaps and the cuffs are closed with one snap each. Actually, there should be buttons, but for this small scale, I'm content with this solution.

Related earlier posts:
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary
Hat for the Baha Cat
Shoes for the Baha Cat's costume
Helavyö

Brother Dreary's sweater

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:33:00 +0000

Brother Dreary's sweater is finished now. It is a bit tricky to get on the doll, because of the yarns on the back of the pattern, especially in the sleeves. However, this is a traditional model that has fairly narrow sleeves, so I couldn't make them any wider.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary

Helavyö

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:59:00 +0000

The most problematic part of the folk costume is the belt, called "helavyö." It consists of a leather belt adorned with metal pieces. I've got a choker I can use for Brother Dreary's belt, but the belt for the Baha Cat needed to be made from scratch.

The dangling metal pieces in the belt are not actually hearts, but more like leaves, but as I only had a heart shaped hole puncher, this belt was going to have heart shaped pieces. The metal sheet in the picture is relief foil (meant for making embossed pictures).

Next, I glued pieces of metal wire to the back of the hearts. The square parts are made of two layers of cardboard glued together. It would have been much too difficult to actually make tiny buckles, so I decided to simplify things quite a bit.

Then I painted the squares. Gold color on the edges and the belt color in the middle.

I made holes in the bottom edge of the squares and attached the hearts using the metal wires. I thought of gluing also the other end of the wire in place, but decided not to. I will do that, if the pieces start getting caught in the fabric or yarn of the doll's clothes.

Finally, I glued the squares to a strip of red leather and made a buckle using the same foil I used for the hearts. The buckle is much simpler than what is used in real belts, but the mechanism should be correct.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest
Parts of the vest
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary
Sewing the large vest
Hat for the Baha Cat
Shoes for the Baha Cat's costume

Max is finished

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:24:00 +0000

I finished the larger version of Max. The main part that was missing were the hands. I made them from Cernit modeling clay. The picture below shows the hands after baking, but before painting. I had to paint them as the white was wrong shade. I had painted the head with titanium white, so the hands had to be the same shade, not the slightly translucent cream color of the modeling clay.

The next photo shows how the head will stay in place. First I thought I wouldn't glue the head in place, although the metal pipe is glued to the body, but the head is fairly heavy and if it fell, it would probably break (or at least the ears would), so I decided that glue would be safer.

I'm using PVA glue for everything else, but for the hands, I used hot glue. The hands turned out to be a bit too big and I noticed that already before baking them, but they were so good that I didn't want to spoil everything by trying to make them smaller. This large version isn't exactly like small Max in any case, so some differences in proportions won't matter.

Finally, here is the finished figure with large Schizo and the mini figures for both.

Related earlier posts:
Maxi Max
Body for Max

Shoes for the Baha Cat's costume

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:22:00 +0000

I made the shoes for the Baha Cat's costume. Those are described in the Fashion Doll Shoes blog.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest
Parts of the vest
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary
Sewing the large vest
Hat for the Baha Cat

Hat for the Baha cat

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:52:00 +0000

Before starting to make the hat for Brother Dreary, I wanted to test the technique with the Baha cat. I bought 4 mm thick black felt for the purpose.

First I made a paper pattern to get right size of hole in the middle of the brim. The ears were the main problem and the hole also needed to be the right shape to allow them through without needing a too big hole.

The felt was a bit difficult to cut, so I needed to draw the hole on the felt before cutting. Usually I just attach the pattern on top of the material to be cut.

Here are the necessary pieces:

I started assembly by gluing the vertical parts to the top.

Then I glued this to the brim.

Here is the hat seen from below. I'm thinking of gluing light-colored band to the inside where the felt touches the doll's head to avoid any staining.

This is how the hat looks on the doll:

The pattern for the hat is available on my web site.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest
Parts of the vest
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary
Sewing the large vest

Sewing the large vest

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:29:00 +0000

I started sewing the vest for Brother Dreary. The picture below shows how to sew the card-woven bands together. The thread goes from left to right and back between the threads of the first and second card, always going forward and never going over the edges of the bands.

The two bands in the part where the lapel was going to be caused a bit of a problem. As the lapels are turned, the side where the edges of the band are visible needs to be changed at a point where the change will remain invisible. I started from the upper edge with edges of the band on the outside, sewed a little bit to make it easier to turn the lapel, and checked where the change should be made.

The next picture makes things a bit clearer. The point of change mentioned above is visible on the side that will be the inside of the vest and under the lapel on the outside. This way, everything that is visible stays neat. The inside of the vest and the parts under the lapels won't show, so they don't matter.

I also had to try making socks for the Baha Cat, although I had already deemed the idea mad. It wasn't easy, but I managed to do it. Of course this is just the first one, I still need to make the other.

As you can see, the sock doesn't have a proper heel. I just made the decreases on one side only to give it this wedge shape.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest
Parts of the vest
Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary

Baha Cat's vest and stuff for Brother Dreary

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:59:00 +0000

As I was planning the Baha Cat's vest, I realized that I needed narrower band for the pieces that go up to the shoulder height. So I made yet another band with just enough length for the two narrow pieces you can see in the picture below.

Then I sewed the pieces together and made the back piece from wool fabric. I treated the edges of the fabric with Fray Stay, although the fabric does not fray easily. I just wanted to be sure the edges will stay neat. Before sewing the back and front pieces together, I pressed the front pieces.

The picture below shows the finished vest. The buttons are fake and the front closes with two tiny snaps.

Brother Dreary's sweater has progressed a bit. This is the point where the front and back pieces separate and where the opening in the back piece starts. I'm not sure how big armholes are needed to be able to get the sweater on the doll, but I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

I got the socks finished on Saturday. Here are views from different sides.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest
Parts of the vest

Parts of the vest

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:54:00 +0000

I made the first band too short, so I had to make another one to get enough material for the vest. When the bands were ready, it was time to measure and cut the needed pieces. First, I measured the required length and applied Fray Stay to the uncut band (on both sides of the place where it was to be cut). When the band was dry again, I cut the band in the middle of the treated parts. In the picture below, you can see two parts of a band treated with Fray Stay. The places where it was later cut are marked with black lines.

The parts where the direction of turning the cards was changed (to remove twist in the threads) cannot be used for something like this. Because of that, it is a good idea to plan beforehand and place the reversals so that you can cut the band there. All it requires is that you know the lengths of the required pieces and measure the band as you proceed.

For example, I needed one 6 cm piece, one 12 cm piece and two 10 cm pieces for one side of the vest front. I started by making the 12 cm piece turning the cards forward, then I made a little over 20 cm turning the cards backward (removing the twist created earlier and adding some new in different direction), and then 6 cm turning forward (again removing some twist). Even using this method, I had to open the far end of the setup once to remove twist.

I used Fray Stay for this as it is much better for the purpose than Fray Stop. Fray Stop is really glue and looks and behaves a lot like PVA glue. It's thick and remains visible, unless you dilute it heavily with water. Fray Stay is a bit thicker than water, but still leaves an even surface and is almost invisible when it's dry. (Fray Check looks similar to Fray Stay, clear liquid in a bottle with fine tip.)

The picture below shows all the pieces of the vest front, except the collar pieces, which I haven't cut yet. These need to be hand sewn together and pressed. I'm planning to practice that with the leftover pieces of the band, which I'm going to use to make a vest for the Baha Cat. I want everything I make for Brother Dreary to be as perfect as possible, so I'll try stuff in a smaller scale with the Baha Cat and it may end up having the same kind of costume.

The mail delivered today my order from Little Trimmings. Unfortunately, the buckles I ordered were much too small for this purpose, but they are still very nice and I can use them for some other doll's shoes. Here they are shown with a buckle that's too big. I really need to find something in between these sizes.

I had much better luck with buttons. The ones on the left are those I ordered earlier and plan to use for the vest (the yellow ones). The gold colored are from Little Trimmings and they are perfect for the jacket.

I also ordered some fabrics and simple white buttons for Brother Dreary's shirt. There are enough buttons for two shirts as I ordered two sets of 10 buttons, so I'm planning to make a shirt using that tartan patterned fabric. I still need to find suitable white fabric for the shirt to go with the folk costume. I'm not striving for strict accuracy, but I still prefer using fabric that has the right kind of look and feel.

Related earlier posts:
Brother Dreary project
Socks and the beginning of the vest

Socks and the beginning of the vest

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:37:00 +0000

I have only knitted one pair of socks before this, about 30 years ago at school. Those took a long time and I was never tempted to try to knit another pair. However, as I am making a sweater for Brother Dreary, I thought I could try socks as well. I searched for instructions for regular size socks and then scaled them down. The first sock has progressed this far:

The heel doesn't look very pretty, but the shape is correct. The rest should be easy, just a bit more as it is and then decreasing steadily. The part I don't like much is that I need to make the other sock as well, although it will be a lot easier as I wrote down how I made this one.

I also started making the vest for the folk costume. The first thing to do was to set up the threads for card weaving.

The next picture shows the pattern more clearly. The problem is, I'm not sure the pattern I made is correct. I saw a picture in a book at the library and this is what the pattern looked to me, but it was very small and I can't be sure I got it right. However, it is good enough for the first version. I may end up making a better vest later as I am not quite happy with the shade of brown I'm using. It should be darker, I think, but as I got this shade now, I thought I might as well use it.

The thread turned out to be excellent for card weaving, much better than ordinary sewing thread. I think I'll order more of it, if I decide to order a better shade for the vest. I might do that as there's quite enough of the red thread for making another vest.

Here is the chart for the setup. I used alternating threading as I thought that would be best for this pattern.

Classroom desks and chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:14:00 +0000

I realized I hadn't added these here. I needed a classroom setup for my photo story, so I had to make some desks and chairs. The table tops are made of pieces of cork left over from other projects and the vertical parts are made of wooden cigarette holders.

Here are the unfinished desks and chairs:

The wooden cigarette holders belonged to my uncle and my father saved them for me when cleaning the house after my uncle passed away.

Here are the finished pieces in the classroom set, which is just a temporary one, set up inside a painted plastic container.

More iron-on transfers

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:37:00 +0000

As I still had a lot of small pictures printed on an iron-on transfer sheet, I decided to make some doll clothes using them. The best way to iron a picture on the fabric is to cut the piece first, because then it is easy to get the placement right. Here is a small top with a picture ironed on.

Here is a shirt with the picture ironed on and some of the seams sewn. This is for a Monster High doll and the pattern is included in the full set.

Here are the dolls wearing their new clothes. The pattern for Nikki's dress is available on my web site.

Another sweater

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:06:00 +0000

I also got thinner yarn from the crafts fair, so I was able to knit a better version of the Jussipaita. The first version of this pattern was for a 1/6 scale doll (see the earlier blog post), but this yarn was much more in scale.

The yarn is 70% wool, 30% silk, and meant for 1.5-2 mm knitting needles. I used 1.6 mm needles. I knitted all three parts as a tube all the way to the red upper part as the pattern was much easier to knit that way. The back has an opening, which closes with a wooden button.

Top for Baha Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:19:00 +0000

The fabric with cartoon cats required careful examination to find just the right spot for cutting a sleeveless shirt for the Baha Cat.

The top is fully lined and the same pattern can be used as the upper part of a dress. The pattern is available on my web site.

New dresses

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:50:00 +0000

My purchases from the crafts fair last weekend included some really nice fabrics.

Of course I had to try them right away. The first thing I made was a dress for Nikki. You can find the pattern here.

The most challenging part for making clothes for Nikki is her tail. Here is a back view to show how I solved the problem in this dress.

Next, I made a dress for Daisy Slae (Living Dead Doll). This is a fully lined A-line dress with an open back closed with snaps. The pattern can be found here.

As I was cutting the fabric for the dress the first time, I made a mistake. Fortunately, I did not need to discard that piece as, after a little modification, it was fine for a Baha Cat's dress. So, the two now have almost identical dresses (the Baha Cat's dress is not lined and it has side seams).

Clothes for Monster High dolls

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:41:00 +0000

I have made some clothes for the Monster High dolls and, as I was making them, I also made the patterns for them. The piece of clothing that proved to be most difficult was the jacket.

The leftmost one in the picture below is the prototype, which provided the basic pattern for modification. The rest are shown in chronological order. You may not notice any major differences between the different versions, but that is because the problem was getting the back of the jacket right.

As I made the different versions of the jacket, I also made matching bottoms, mainly skirts, but the fourth picture shows the first version of trousers. I also tried different ways of closing the jacket. The one in the third picture actually has working buttons, although the button holes were a major challenge.

The PDF file containing all the patterns, including the jacket, is available on my web site for a nominal fee. There is also a free PDF with two of the patterns available here.

Brother Dreary project

noreply@blogger.com (Tarja) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:56:00 +0000

I haven't started this project yet, but I have been planning it. I got the doll this week. Here are photos of him in the original outfit.

I will dress the doll in traditional Southern Osthrobotnian clothes. I'll probably start with a better version of the Jussi sweater as I got the yarns for it.

The needle size is 2 mm and the grey yarn is for 2.5 and red for 2.5-3, but that shouldn't be a problem. The main thing is that the colors are just right.

The larger project is the men's folk costume for Southern Osthrobotnia (Härmä-Isokyrö). It consists of trousers, shirt, vest, jacket, hat, shoes, belt and knives. For copyright reasons, I cannot add a picture of the costume in this blog post, but you can find it here.

I've already got the belt as I bought a leather choker with metal parts similar to those used in the belt. It only needs a buckle, which I'll probably need to make myself once I find a good enough picture that shows what it should be like.

The most problematic part is the vest as it has proven impossible to find fabric with suitable pattern. I've decided to try card weaving as that is what I know best. The result should look good enough. The yarns I got for this are cotton and I'm not quite sure about the colors, but the book I found says that the shades used varied a good deal, so I guess these are fine. After all, I'm not going for historical accuracy, just the right kind of look.

The book also mentioned that in earlier times, the vest had similar front and back as it could be worn without a jacket, but later the jacket became so integral part of the outfit that the back of the vest could be made from different fabric. That should make things a lot easier as I only need card-woven bands for the front and can use fabric with one color for the back.

The doll will also need new shoes for the outfit. The original ones look like this.

Even if you ignore the fact that these are plastic, the design is too modern. I'm planning on making leather shoes with buckles. I already found a pair of buckles, but they are a bit too large. I'll try to find better suited ones, but if I cannot, these will do.

The book I found for reference in the library is this.

The book includes drawings of the trousers and shirt. Those are the parts of the outfit that are very hard to see in photos as the photos usually show the entire outfit with jacket and vest on.