You Beautiful Doll Part 2

I promised you that I would post more pictures of the mermaid doll I made so here they are. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of every step but I will show you what I have.

I drew the shapes that I wanted for the pattern pieces on tracing paper, figured out how many pieces I would need to cut and then moved on to pinning the shapes to the broadcloth which I doubled for durability and because I knew I would be painting the face and I figured it would be better doubled.

 You may be wondering how I knew how to come up with the right size for the pattern. Well, I didn't really, it was just trial and error. I think I should have made the head and neck a little larger so I will know better next time. I pinned and cut out the pieces.

 Remember to leave enough of a seam allowance. I used one quarter inch on this one so I wouldn't have to do too much trimming once it was sewn together and turned right side out.

Next I needed to make a pattern for the fin outfits. I just freehanded something allowing for seam allowance and making sure it would fit around the waist, I would add a facing to the opening and use velcro for closure.

Because the back of the fin outfit is open and in two pieces you have to remember to add the seam allowance all around the piece because the two pieces you sew together to make the back need to be equal to the front piece.

I made a couple of fin outfits

After sewing the body together, trimming the seam on curves and corners and turning it right side out it was time to paint the face. I used acrylic paints mixed with textile medium. First I painted the whole face with a peachy pink so that I would have a base to paint the facial features.

I used a bit of shading around the eyes , put some blush on the cheeks and made he neck a little darker so it would look like she had a chin.

I stuffed the rest of the body and inserted a smal dowel up into the neck . It goes from the bottom of the torso right up into the neck and ends just below her mouth. It's in the middle with batting around it so you don't feel it, it is well hidden.

 Here she is with her hair attached. I used upholstery trim and sewed it on in strips with clear nylon thread and as I worked my way to the top and front I used smaller pieces and sewed them on in little bits.

Click here to see the finished doll in my previous post.

http://dressedtothe9sconnie.blogspot.com/2011/01/you-beautiful-doll.html