I am a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I haven’t made a doll in 7 or 8 months! So what happened? Well, dolls happened. I have been making tiny shoes and clothes and kits! What started out as a side project for me in my Doll Destash etsy shop has really taken on a life of its own.

That’s not all—you now know a fashion designer! I have been contacted recently by two different doll companies to design and produce lines of clothing for their dolls. The little preview picture here is one of the pieces I am working on for the fast approaching Valentine’s day launch. If you are curious, I will talk more about the companies and projects in the coming months. I can tell you I am designing a new pattern almost every day right now. My work room has spilled into the hall and right now it kind of looks like Valentine’s day threw up in here. ;]

So what are your plans for 2012? Aside from clothes and more clothes, I will be working on some new doll designs, new kits and brand new PDF tutorials including (finally) one to teach you how to make my clothes pin dolls—to be released this January or February!  I have pronounced this year to be a year of experimentation and learning—don’t be afraid to try new things.

In the spirit of learning and sharing, I am having a Buy one, Get one Free sale on all my PDF tutorials in my dollproject shop! So you can save up to 50% and learn twice as much! To take advantage of this special sale visit my shop here and follow the instructions in the listing you select. This sale is only for January.

Happy New Year! I hope you try many new things, or at least get to that project you’ve been itching to do—even if it’s painting the bathroom (that’s on my list!). 

So, if you have a Blythe doll or have held a Blythe--you know her body is quite rubbery in texture. When you are dressing Blythe, fabrics tend to get caught up due to friction and it can be a challenge to put a tight or slim garment onto her limbs. (Think fat toddler foot vs tiny shoe.) 

Here is a simple, frustration-free method to put long stockings of any material onto your Blythe doll. You will need two tools--

1. Bic pen style barrel with both ends removed

2. Small rod or dowel that fits inside the barrel of the pen

Step 1 Turn both stockings inside out--To do this, feed the stocking all the way onto the pen barrel and then push your dowel into the toe end of the sock while sliding the fabric up and around the dowel. Next pull up the remaining sock up so that it is completely turned.

Step 2 In a similar fashion to step one, reinsert the pen barrel into the stocking and then push the toe area inward with the dowel. This time, only push until the sock is turned about 1 inch, as you see below. 

Step 3 Now slide both tools out of the sock and put Blythe's rubbery little foot into the 1" sock 'starter hole' you made. 

Now you should be able to slide the remaining stocking onto Blythe's leg, turning it right side out as you push it up the leg. Yay! We won the battle.

Oh, Merry Christmas too :]. This is my westie, Emma.

Tiny Doll dress Christmas ornaments

(This is a scented dresser art sachet for your dresser)

Happy Dot Doll Socks -- I now offer made to order tiny doll socks in over 50 different fabric patterns! And I have hand sewn over 1000 tiny pairs of socks...and I still love making them! That is love people. ;]

Original boot designs and patterns I developed for my ongoing tiny doll shoe workshop. Working on dress shoe designs now....

A custom party bird for a little one's birthday!

Wig size is the circumference of the doll's head above the ear line. The circumference is measured at an angle, starting at the top of the forehead and moving to the base of the skull--just like where you would place a hat. Wig size is measured in inches and often includes a slash rather than a hyphen to denote a range of size. For example, a Lati Yellow doll has a wig size of 5/6--this is 5 to 6 inches. Wig size can also be hat size, though you may want to get a slightly larger hat if the hat needs to go over a full wig.

Shoe size is the actual size of the doll's shoe in millimeters—the length is measured from the outside of the shoe, so it is larger than the actual length of the doll’s foot—usually by about 6mm, give or take. Shoes for dolls with tiny feet and big heads (Blythe, Pullip...) are often oversized to help balance out the doll's proportions.

Black & White 'Earbits' hat is available in my Doll Destash clothing & supply shop. :] I am working on a gigantic master list of doll shoe and wig sizes--so far I have logged over 100 dolls. Which dolls, if any would you like me to include in my research?

Tiny Zippers

Whether you sew or not, you have to admit that teeny tiny real working zippers are pretty darn cool. I love to use them for things like doll bodices (above)--they can be dyed, cut, altered, enhanced.... Purchase them in a wide range of colors from Zipper That Doll (they also have a huge selection of other tiny & hard to find things like micro buttons).

Pulp Lace

This stuff is weird. And wonderful. It is cotton netting with bits of paper pulp blown and fused into it. It's a paper and a fabric at the same time. Pulp lace makes awesome collage backgrounds, doll clothing and such. It is also fun just to ball up and crinkle. It dyes and colors beautifully too! Get this from Loose Ends.

Glass Doll Eyes

People often ask where I get the glass eyes for my dolls and art busts. I get these from Mini World Dolls--I love the quality and the price is great too! My favorite eyes are the third section down--the oval 'realistic glass paperweight' eyes--I buy these in all different sizes. My favorite colors are the green and hazel, but I also like the blue and violet--My favorite real-life eye colors are actually grey and brown, but the grey and brown for this brand and type of eye is just too dark. The hazel is a great substitute for brown. Get these from Mini World Dolls.

Twisted Opal Wire

This wire is another Loose Ends product. It is a beautiful, shiny iridescent twisted wire called 'Neon Wire' in the color 'Opal.' This wire bends and coils and looks fantastic. It makes a super base for fairy wings and crowns--in both doll and people scales. Also excellent for sprucing up a collage or wrapped gift. Get this here from Loose Ends.

Prosculpt Polymer Clay

In honor of my newly released workshop, Face Cabs Tricks & Techniques, I am including my favorite polymer clay here. This clay is fairly familiar to many doll makers, but I am always surprised by the number of people who have never heard of it. This clay is hands down my favorite for sculpting. It conditions, blends and smooths unlike any other clay. Don't let the higher-end price talk you out of it. You will more than make up the cost difference in the time you save with faster smoothing and blending :]. Get this from the Art Dolls Supply website. Get on the mailing list, as sometimes the company offers great deals on clay!

Do you have any special secret supplies?

So, it is probably no surprise here, but I am not a very trendy person. I cut my own hair--mostly just pull it back into a pony tail-like structure and then snip off the ends with scissors (apologies to any stylists reading this). My work wardrobe consists of lounge pants and yoga pants because I spend most of the work day alone in my home working out of my studio. Not very fashion aware.

Trends aside, I am fascinated by color and the Pantone color forecast is no exception. These are specific shades of colors put out once a year or once a season--the colors designers have deemed will be 'in' that season. As artists and crafters we cannot ignore the colors that shape the design industry.

This is the forecast for Fall 2011 and Winter 2012--I combined the colors from Pantone's website and from the color assistance documents found on Fire Mountain Gem's website. I actually made this image into my desktop wall paper as a reminder of the times ;]. Feel free to nab it--give it a click to make it full size.

Lots of rosy hues, neutrals and a few bright pops of color. Many of these colors kind of remind me of lipstick. The current color of the year, Honeysuckle might have something to do with that.

I am very set in the colors I like to use--grays, browns, cream, greens, peach, orange, yellow--mostly colors in variations of those shades. So how does a stubborn palette limited person (like me) follow color fashion trends? By being picky and choosy ;].

Go through your fabric, your beads and art and selected colors that seem to fit the forecast well. Concentrate on making additional art in those shades or rebranding existing art as fitting those colors--all on your own terms.

There might only be a few colors in this color set you use for your main body of work. That is okay! You can use a dash of another color to accent or detail your work without losing your sense of you. For example, you can make a pair of earrings in shades of nougat and then add 2-3 beads in bamboo or emberglow to add pops of color.

Additionally, if you look over fashion designers' inspiration for these colors, you will see many of them use variations of the colors or pair them with colors outside of the forecast. There are no hard set rules.

Here is a new line of Lati Yellow dresses I have created using color trends without compromising personal style. See if you can spot some of the colors. You can see more new dresses in my etsy Destash shop.


So what do you think I should do to replace the lining?? We would like to use this trunk to store linens, but I want to maintain the integrity of the history.

How do I make miniature fabric flowers? Maybe you want to make petite embellishments for headbands or hair clips. Or perhaps you are seeking ornaments for tiny doll shoes and dresses.

Here is a quick and easy method for making tiny rosettes using ultra suede, felt, knit fabric, or any other fabric you want to try. The more non-fraying, the better. I am using garment weight light ultra suede. You will also need sharp scissors and white tacky glue.

Begin by cutting several small circles into the fabric. Use sharp scissors, and get the shapes as round as you can—it is ok if some look a little squatty (see my examples). You will need about 10 petals for each rose—go ahead and mix up the colors if you want.

The circles shown here are about 4-5mm in diameter for a finished rose width of 7 to 10mm. I recommend making your first rose a little larger so you get comfortable with the construction before you go small.

A tip for cutting out small circles: the easiest method I have found is to cut a thin strip of fabric and then cut the strip into tiny squares. Cut one circle out of each tiny square. This helps keep the circle diameter uniform and you don’t have to hold a lot of extra fabric while making cuts.

Once you have a lot of little circles, get out your white tacky glue—here I am using The Ultimate by Crafter’s Pick—Aleene’s is also good.

Here you can see the construction phases from left to right.

1. To form the center of the flower, begin by taking a smaller circle, add a dot of glue to the lower half and fold it in half. You want the bottom part to be sealed tightly, while the top has a small crevice. If you want, fold this first petal around a piece of wire or floral stamen to give it a stem.
2. Add glue to the bottom front of the next petal and adhere it along the seams of the first petal.
3. Continue to add petals, placing them along the cracks or seams of other petals.
4. Keep adding petals until your flower looks full and complete. Work from the smallest circles to the largest.

This project is perfect for using up teeny tiny fabric scraps. Even a 4 by 4mm piece of fabric can make a petal. You can also use knit fabric for this project. The flower shown above on the right was created using the striped knit you see here.

Want to learn more mixed media and doll making techniques? Sign up here for my free email newsletter. Get tips, tricks, patterns and techniques sent to you twice monthly.



I am not ashamed to admit that my slippers are the most popular pair of shoes in my closet. Dolls like slippers too, I am sure-who doesn't like slippers? Here is a free online tutorial I developed for making doll shoe slippers. The pattern I have designed is for smaller doll sizes, but can easily be adapted to fit larger dolls, like 18 inch play dolls! With this simple slipper method, you can make lots and lots of slippers for your doll in all different colors!

Here is what you will need:

• Wool Felt (or some other low-fraying fabric)
• Thread
• Needle
• Leather or vinyl for soles
• White felt or thin plush fabric for slipper trim
• (You could also trim with a fluffy yarn)
• White tacky glue
• Optional--trims, beads, sequins

Ok, here is the pattern!

The scale is set to make a slipper for a Lati Yellow, Blythe or Kish Riley sized doll. To print the pattern, simply right click and open the image in a new window, then go file, print.

Here are the pattern parts explained. The right and left soles are to be cut out in thin vinyl or leather for the sole of the slipper. The rectangular blob at the top left is for your plush felt or fabric--this lines the inside heel of the slipper and spills out over the edge to make a nice fluffy slipper trim. The bat looking thing at the bottom in the slipper upper. The bat's 'head' is the top toe portion of the slipper. The wings are the sides and the bat 'body' is the insole where the doll's foot touches. See? Super simple :].

Begin by cutting two uppers in your choice of felt or other fabric. This project is great for scraps, cause you only need a little bit of fabric! Using a whip stitch, sew one of the sides to the insole along the bottom. Then sew the other side the same way. If your fabric has a 'right side,' make sure it is on the inside for these steps.

Both sewn sides should meet along the back center of the insole. If a side is too long, trim it a little on the end. Then whip stitch up the side ends to form the heel of your slipper.

Now flip the slipper over and stitch the two small sides of the upper toe portion to the sides of the slipper. (Bob the bat's head down and secure it!!)

Stitching is done! Now carefully turn the slipper right side out. It may take a bit of pushing to get everything to its right sides. Now use the sole pattern to cut out two outsoles from your vinyl or leather. I am using a textured vinyl.

You can glue these on now using white tacky glue... or you can add some embellishments to your tiny slippers first! I am using some tiny pearly flower sequins and some beads to add a bit of slipper excitement.

Now let's add the fluff. I am using some thin furry fabric provided to me by my good friend and talented doll maker Sharon Johnson! If she had a website, I would link it here (hint, hint) Thank you Sharon :].

Just glue it on with some tacky glue. The narrow portion tucks into the slipper and the wider portion is folded back and glued around the outer rim.

Voila!

Okay, now I glue the soles on using white tacky glue--my favorite is The Ultimate by Crater's Pick, but Aleene's is good too. This picture (below) sort of makes me think of a passed out Smurf. Did you see they are making a Smurf's movie? I wish they would stop tainting my childhood with uncomfortable 3-d renditions of my Saturday morning cartoons. :/

Wee! The slippers are done! Now you can make them in many colors! The ones shown below include slippers I have trimmed with boucle style yarns--I do prefer the luxury of the fluffy fabric though.

This slipper tutorial was inspired by my new workshop series, --Making Tiny Doll Shoes. The series is an in depth guide to making perfect tiny shoes of all kinds! Right now I am working to develop fantastic boot patterns :]. You can read more about the series here.

It is called "Cats, Bugs & More." I just love the little swirls and strange creatures.

This got me thinking about the drawing style of a young person. Have you ever deliberately tried to draw like a small child? It is actually quite difficult to capture the uninhibited abandon they place in their lines and forms. I took a few minutes today to actually try it.

My first attempt was these three faces. I used a Sharpie marker on heavy paper. I held the pen in my wrong hand (my right) and I drew with my eyes closed. The misplacement of features came out semi-authentic to a small child’s drawing, but the lines are much too deliberate—the curves too smooth because I was imagining the shapes I wanted rather than just drawing what I felt...

My second attempt is a little better—here I created three animals—I will let you guess what those animals are. ;] This time, I held the pen by the very end tip so that my lines lacked the typical leverage of a firm grip. I was very afraid I might take the pen off the paper while my eyes were closed and end up writing on my desk or my computer—I guess that is also authentic to a small child ;].

This exercise was a good break from my typical art making sessions and I highly recommend it if you need a little 'time out.'

In Summary, here is how to draw like a small child

• Clear your mind
• Close your eyes
• Hold the pen or marker in your wrong hand
• Hold the pen by the very end tip so your lines are shaky
• Keep the cap off the marker for long periods of time so the lines become irregular due to drying out—little kids seldom remember such trivial things as marker caps ;p
• Don’t perform this exercise near any furniture you care about ;]

If you do this--I would love to see your results!