This page is constantly under construction. As I have time I will be adding to it, hopefully a bit each month. It is a bit of this and that... a few stories, a few hints and tips. If you have a question that perhaps I can help you answer, send me an e-mail. Even If I don't know the answer I may be able to point you in the right direction to find it. -- Sammy

So You Want To Make A Doll
The First Kit

My Early Experiences

Most folks start out to make a miniature doll by getting a kit that contains the porcelain pieces. I know I did. I fell head over heels in love with a doll that was way over my budget so I did the next best thing - I bought a pre-painted kit figuring I could make it myself. It was not until I got home that I realized there were no directions. I was on my own! HELP! I had to wait for the next Miniature show to get a book to find out how to put it together. I rushed home eager to get started, grabbed a few pipe cleaners, a bottle of glue and came to a dead stop. There were no holes in one arm and one leg for the armature wires. Poking through the book I found the solution. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the arm or leg in the groove where the body fabric is supposed to be attached and then straighten the pipe cleaner out to make the armature. I did it... What a bulky mess. There went those lovely tight sleeves I had so loved on the original. This doll was going to have to have full sleeves and pantaloons to cover the messy wire armature. Never mind. I persevered. Following the patterns and directions in the book, I finally got the doll dressed and wigged even if she was so fat around the middle she looked like she'd eaten a years production of a cookie factory. I held her up to admire her, pleased a punch with myself when her head promptly parted company from her shoulder plate! I almost cried. I couldn't find any remedy for that problem so I finally just glued it back on and covered up the mess with a HUGE collar. Not deterred, (I am a stubborn soul) I bought another kit. Unfortunately this one came with seams that had never been smoothed down.. More long pantaloons and sleeves... The third kit? Almost as bad, she had pock marks in the porcelain everywhere so I turned her into a fairy and put jewels in all the holes. She is a strange looking fairy to be sure.

At this point I figured it was time to learn how to do the porcelain myself so I signed up for doll classes at a porcelain studio. They were not interested in miniature dolls except as an oddity and had no molds. I began collecting my own molds and continued the classes to learn the techniques. Most studios will teach cleaning and painting but do not like or want to teach pouring or firing so eventually I had to change studios to learn these techniques.

So You Want To Make A Doll
The First Kit

You've made the decision to make your first doll. Now to find the kit. Be sure to ask where ever you get your kit how the porcelain was fired. It should have been fired a full 9-10 hours so the porcelain has time to make the molecular bonds necessary for strength. Many people figure that because the pieces are small, a small test kiln that will reach cone 6 temperature in an hour or so is the answer to economical firing. Unfortunately, the porcelain does not have time to mature and it will break easily. Check to be sure there are no mold seams showing and that there are holes for the armature wires. If you wish to paint the face yourself you can use acrylic paints or the newer Acrylic Enamels which are more permanent that are now on the market.

Assembling Your Doll

Get a good book on making miniature dolls. There are several good books but the one I like the best is the English book "Making & Dressing DOLLS' HOUSE DOLLS in 1/12 scale" by Sue Atkison (ISBN 0 7153 9909 8) , a David & Charles Book imported into the USA by Sterling Publishers, NYC 1-800-367-9692. This book has chapters on not only making the doll, but also the history of fashion and accessories for the doll. It has patterns for all periods which, while they are a little large, will give you a good idea of how to achieve the look you want. The armature: Most people start by using pipe cleaners - either craft pipe cleaners or the ones sold in pipe stores. Strength of the wire varies so test and use the strongest. You can also go to the your local welding supply and get stainless steel wire which makes excellent rust proof armatures. Whichever you use, double it for strength as any wire will eventually break if bent in the same place often enough.

Measure the height of your doll from the heel to the top of the bald head. a 6' man is 6" tall, a woman is 5 1/4 to 5 1/2" tall, a child ranges from an premature infant of 1 1/2 " to a 3 year old of almost 3" to a pre teen of 4" to a teen of almost full adult height. These heights are not set in stone. The height varies in the real world and should in the doll world. Our older citizens really are shorter than they were in their prime. A 6 foot man was truly extraordinary in the 15th century but quite common today.

Besides the height of the doll you also have to consider what the doll will be doing. If the arm will be bent, as in holding a tray or baby or hammer, it must be made longer so that the fabric will fall correctly and the arm will not look too short and stumpy. Yes it is possible that you could have to make two different length arms but usually if one is long for bending, the other is also bent. The same applies to legs if the doll is to be seated without /his/her feet sticking straight out in front of him. At least 1/4" longer will allow the legs to bend naturally at the knee, the legs to cross, etc.

Left: 5 1/4" lady, as measured from heel to top of head (high heels make her height 5 1/2"). The pantaloons are tucked into the porcelain torso so there will be no bulk when slip/skirt is added. The dress waist line can be anywhere the style and foundation garments decree. The elbows should bend at the waist. Right: If you were to measure several people of the same height, you would discover that there is quite a variation in the relationship of torso to leg length. Basically, the figure loses the length of the upper leg when seated. So a long-legged person may actually "sit shorter" than a short legged person of the same (standing) height. Again, the elbows are at the waist, pantaloons tucked under the long porcelain torso.

This male doll is just balanced and propped together for the picture. He shows wrapped armature before shaping and sealing. The top of the arm should continue the line of the shoulder (many of the men doll molds have "wimpy" shoulders which need to be padded if they are to be in modern clothing). This doll's arms are long because he is going to have his arms bent in order to hold a pipe and a book, and the fabric will need room to drape at the bend. The tips of the fingers should come to about mid-thigh normally. The crotch is high to allow for the seam fabric of the pants as well as soft sculpting. To reduce bulk at the waist, he will get his pants before the legs are joined to the breastplate/torso. The bulk of the fabric is then concealed inside the breastplate/torso and does not add extra fabric to the waist area. The shirt/vest will define the waist. The feet are simply sculpted so that leather shoes can be applied.

Building the Armature

It helps to work on a grid marked out in inches, such as a piece of graph paper , a hand drawn grid, or, as I do , a quilt cutting mat. Use a wire to join the feet and thicken the torso by gluing a foot on each end of a 12" piece of wire. Once the glue sets, bring the feet together so they are even and fold the wire at the top. Check to be sure the right foot is on the right side. Change if necessary by re-bending the wire. Line up the pieces on the grid and fold the extra wire down, making the torso thicker. The top of the folded wire should come just under the edge of the breast plate if you are going to bring the pants/underwear up under the plate to reduce bulk at the waist. The original bend of the wire will be down near the doll's knees. Bend this loop back up to form the armature for the buttocks. If you wish to glue the armature in place before adding pants/underwear make the wire loop go well inside the breast plate before bending to form torso/buttocks. The leg assembly is now ready to be padded.

There are several ways of doing the arm wires depending on the type of breastplate the doll has. The easiest is to cut a piece of wire slightly less than 6" and glue it into an arm. (Use a shorter wire if the arm is longer.) Hold it against the breast plate on your grid and bend the wire down so the finger tips reach the mid thigh area. (The classic saying to remind one how long to make the arms is is that he must be able to wipe his bottom.) Put the wire in place inside the breastplate and bend down for the other arm. Put the other hand in place and check length. It will be too long. Cutting off a small amount wire at a time, shorten the wire until the arm/hand is the same length as the first one. Glue arm in place. IF YOU CUT IT TOO SHORT, don't panic. Just glue the second arm to a wire and proceed as you did the first, adjusting so the arms/hands are the same length. Bind the two wires together with thin wire the whole length of the arm assembly. This gives two wires the length of the armature and the arm will be less likely to break when posed repeatedly.

Gluing the Armature

Many mini doll artists center their armature wires in the porcelain pieces by using lint free tissue pushed in around the wires. The thin tissue quickly sops up the glue. This helps the glue make a strong bond between the wire and the porcelain. If you are doing you own porcelain, its a good idea to rough up the inside of the holes before the pieces are fired. Glue holds better to a rough surface than a smooth surface.

Hot glue, while easy, is not a good choice as it deteriorates with time and also the doll will be in trouble if left in the sunshine on a warm sunny day. Super glue is fast but does not form fillets (webbings that fill gaps) so if the doll ever goes for a plane ride it may fall apart. A good choice is a medium set cyanoacrylate type glue such as PIC© or ZAP-A-GAP© . Do not use an accelerant such a Zip-Kicker© as it will set the glue before the gaps are filled. You can also use two-part epoxy.

Padding the Armature

There seem to be as many ways to pad the armature to fill out the figure as there are dollmakers. Some of the more popular materials used are strands of fiber fill, thin strips of quilt batting and strips of nylon stockings. If you use nylon stockings, wash them thoroughly first to remove any of that stocking smell..... it is as characteristic as the smell of a Band-Aid! Hold padding in place with good quality white glue. Some artists coat the whole padded armature with a flexible glue to make a figure while others cover the padded armature with various tapes. Floral tape will deteriorate over time so is not a good choice. Some use sports tape available at drugstores and supermarkets but again look for good quality tape and tear strips into the widths you need. Sports tape also needs to be sealed with a flexible glue or polymer medium. Sealing prevents any moisture from attacking and rusting the wires, particularly important in humid climates. Remember to keep you doll slimmer than your eventual goal so that the clothing will look natural, not bulky.

But, What If...

Well, at this point if all has gone well, you should have a doll body put together ready for his/her underwear/body stocking. Hold on, suppose you ran into some major problems like I did.... a leg or an arm without any hole to glue the armature wire into? Or seams that were poorly cleaned and show? Instructions I have found in books have recommended wrapping the armature wire around the end of the piece of porcelain. There is only one problem.... BULK! Even trimmed of its fuzz, a pipe cleaner is thick. The armature wire is too heavy to go around the arm or leg piece, even if it has a groove, without making a conspicuous bulge under a tight sleeve. The solution is to use several strands of thinner wire one at a time, such as #28 gauge wire, to securely wrap around the end of the porcelain piece and then around the armature wire which is butted up to the arm or leg piece. Secure with Zap-A-Gap glue, then wrap tightly with sports tape to further strenghten the join. The thinner wire will hold remarkably well and will not show terribly when the doll is dressed. A bit of lace or trim will hide the slight bump easily. The seam is harder to fix, particularly if you want to leave the leg or arm bare. It takes time but you can file down the seam ridge with a file or even coarse sandpaper. Switch to finer files or sandpaper as the seam wears down so you do not scratch the good porcelain. End by polishing with very fine sandpaper. If you are near a porcelain studio they will sometimes have used porcelain scrubbers that they will let you have for the final polishing.

If a piece breaks, you can glue it back with a good china glue or Zap-A-Gap glue. Replace a missing part with polyform clay. You can model the clay right on the porcelain and bake it. Some artists put a tiny drop of Zap-A-Gap glue on the porcelain and then add the clay. If a dressed doll needs a new finger you can try baking the whole doll at a slightly lower temperature than usual. The wigging will probably not survive but natural fibers usually do. Man-made fibers are "iffy" -- some survive, some do not. It is worth a try if you can't cover up the missing finger by having your doll hold flowers or a hankie. Another type of clay to consider using is Paper Clay, which air dries. It must be glued in place and generally needs a good sanding before sealing and painting to match the porcelain.

Size Variables Within Scale

It is important when making or buying dolls to be aware that even though a doll may be sculpted in 1/12 scale, they differ greatly in size from one artist's work to the next. For many years Janna Joseph Molds and Parker Levi Molds set the standard measurements for modern 1/12 scale doll molds. Now there are several artists, among them Theresa Glisson and Dawn Adams, supplying molds which are finer in detailing and sizing. This can be used to advantage if you are making a scene where you wish to force the perspective. By putting larger dolls in front an smaller dolls in back it can be made to seem like the scene is deeper than it is. However, if you put both dolls on the same "picture plane," the differences in sizes becomes very apparent and can be disturbing to the eye.

Note the relative sizes of the heads, the feet, and the hands of the two dolls pictured. Everything about the doll on the left is much smaller and finer. The smaller lady would look fine beside the bath tub lassie shown on the Historical Doll page, but the larger doll would look out of place.... a bit like an elephant had come to call... yet the difference in height is minimal - less than 1/3 of an inch!