Antique dolls for 1:12 scale dolls

I saw a miniature doll's doll that was well out of my price range so I altered it a bit and made some for myself. I will say after attempting this I see why it was so expensive. Mine are no where near the expertise that one was but I am happy with them. They make me smile. :)

First I sculpted the heads with polymer clay, a shaper tool, and a needle tool.
I watched a few online tutorials to aid in the sculpting. Very difficult so small!

I baked the heads and then attached the heads to the torsos and baked them with the arms and legs and hair buns.

Ignore the eggs. I did those for something else since I had my clay out. :)

I put a hole through the base of the torso and at the top of the legs.

Painted the socks, shoes, and knickers with acrylic paint!

I drew the faces on with fine point markers and used gloss varnish. The markers smeared even with a fixative spray first. I would recommend spraying the gloss varnish instead of painting it on.
Paint gloss on all the body parts except the hair buns.
Hair buns: Choose the clay in the color of the hair to make it easier. Roll a piece of clay like a tube. Slice a thin piece off in a rolling motion with a flat razor. Flatten very lightly. Press against the side of the head and put on tile to bake. Glue on head and paint with color and/or gloss.

Tie a knot and thread your string through legs.

 Use a toothpick to help get the second knot tight and close to leg.

Secure knots with a small spot of white glue.

Wrap material around chest. Sew and gather small skirt and glue onto chest fabric. Use a little white glue to stop fraying. Add belt.
Wrap material around arm until it reaches the material from the other side. Snip extra away, flush to the inside of the arm. Put glue down the inside of the excess at the top and fold over.
Glue arms to body.

Display your dolly and have fun taking photos!

Dollhouse bed comforter tutorial

Last winter I made a pair of unmade beds for my Santa cottage. 

I wanted the comforters to be folded open and the bed to have a “slept-in” look. I remembered years ago someone told me they put tinfoil in their mini pillows to give them shape so I thought I would try it in a comforter. I like this idea because I can choose to have the bed made or unmade without having to use glue or sewn sections.

So here is how I did it.
Measure your bed to determine the size you want for your comforter. Add about 1/4” around all sides for a sewing allowance. Be sure to remember which side is the foot of the comforter. 

Start sewing from the foot end of the comforter leaving about a 2” hole in the center. Turn it right side out.

Cut a strip of tinfoil the width of your comforter and fold in half. Then trim that piece to the length of your comforter.

Gently fold it in on both sides and slip it into the comforter. Open it up inside with your fingers.

Cut some wadding the exact same size. Don’t cut it any smaller because you want it to fill the edges nicely. Even a tiny bit bigger is good.

My wadding was peeled away so I have a flat side and a puffy side. I put the puffy side up and the smooth side on top of the foil. Slip it in the same way you did the foil. Keep the wadding side under the part of the quilt you want to be fluffy. If you are making a reversible you can use a thinner sheet of wadding on both sides.

Sew up the hole at the foot of the comforter. 

You can sew a pattern on your comforter using a sewing machine.

Place the comforter on your mini bed and shape it over the sides. 

A lot of things will determine the type of shape and fold you will get. 

1. The thickness of your fabric and wadding: The thinner the better. You may decide to use felt because it is thin but you may not get that fluffy comforter feel.

2. The pattern you sew on your quilt: The more areas you sew, the stiffer your comforter will be. Consider more layers of foil if you want this effect.

3. The size of your comforter: The larger the comforter the further it will hang over the sides of the bed.

You want the thinnest and most flexible fabric you can find. If you think it needs it then try using more foil layers. Also, I find washing new fabric first helps take some of the starch out.

This is in my Kinfeld dollhouse. (Before the window molding was installed. 

See more of the Kinfeld here.

Do some experimenting and see what happens.