pretty-faced money sinks (i.e. the doll customs thread)

(and toys too because why bother making a separate post)

so @prismaticvoid urged me to make this thread, and because i have Too Many Thoughts about dolls and all the weird stuff surrounding them, i caved.

anyway, i've got a couple of Pullips i'm planning to customise, and a bunch of old MLP i wrecked as an overzealous 11-year-old that need some new fresh life taking acetone baths in the shed, and the one BJD who's waiting on a prettier faceup and oh god why do i do this to myself

so yeah, share all your plastic regrets here!

 

I've never done anything with dolls myself (though i have a large collection of action figures and some china dolls back home, haha) but I've always thought the results looked AMAZING.

 

Oh my god I have so many aspirations with regards to doll customisation. I follow a bunch of artists on Instagram. The popovysisters are incredible, as is varvyanskayadolls.

 

i L O V E the popovy sisters omg? i'm wondering if they're somehow connected to enchanted doll (similar face sculpts/joint style/aesthetic) which would be v. neat considering an enchanted doll is one of those things i covet but will probably never be able to own.

also that varvyanskaya acount is so gorgeoussss? the fawn-eared girl!!! (what is it with russians and really pretty artsy dolls)

 

okay so this one store with supplies was having a massive clearance same (we're talking like, everything for 2 dollars. e v e r y t h i n g.) so i jumped in on that and got a whole lot of blank eyes so i could paint them myself because i'm too picky (and the doll bakery eyes are too pretty and also limited af)

will numi regret this decision? tune in at some point in the future

 

So I don't know a lot about how to do this myself, but when my mom was growing up in the sixties she basically invented this completely by herself. She says the only dolls she had available were stiff plastic with zero joints or movement except -maybe?- the head. She cut them apart at the joints, rigged tension with rubber bands and bits of toothpick, repainted the faces and even used her own hair to make more realistic wigs.
Then this crazy lady went out and sewed gorgeous flower child/hippy type doll clothes out of things like velvet and silk bits, aaaand 30+years later let her enthusiastic but not very conscientious daughter go off and scratch the paint, lose the clothes and do things to the joints that were never meant to happen T_T

I want to see if I can find them again and take pics of the surviving ones, because seriously guys, these things belong in a museum or a showcase somewhere.

 

um, holy crap? that is amazing?
i'm honestly jealous of anyone who does things like that, because that's some serious skill right there. i can barely contemplate restringing a bjd without Anxieties tbh, srsly, hi5 your mum for me

also on that note, anyone here keep up with andreja? her video tutorials are so pleasant imo, i've been watching them on repeat while straightening mlp manes

 

I really like andreja's work but last time i peaked into the fandom(which was admittedly about a year ago bc holy shit some of it is scarier than the SU fandom lol) wasnt there some drama around a comission she did where she'd altered the posted photos or something? Sorry, its been awhile and im mostly just wondering if i actually remembered a name for once lol.

More on topic- i have a pair of hujoo dolls and if anyone knows where to get nice affordable 22 eyes and a 6-7 wig thats actually meant for short, big headed dolls rather than larger dolls id love some links. One girl is set probably for life with the eyes she came with and a homemade wig, but i cant get anything to look right on the other one. The one thats not finished is a Berry and... I actually dont remember the other girl's model! Id have to look it up again.

Eta- duh, finished girl is a Yomi!

Spoiler: Picture of her

Shes really not this yellow in person, but thats what happens when you take pics in a room with yellow walls. I have no idea what brand the eyes are, just that theyre silicon and what she came with since i got her secondhand. The faceup is also what she came with, but i did do a bit of body blushing, and i made her kigu and wig(alpaca fiber c: )

 

This thread made me remember that I bought a barbie over a year ago now to try refashioning. I've discovered two things: 1) de-hairing a doll is a surprisingly brutal and traumatizing process, and 2) that between using my own hair (because I'm a weirdo like that) licking the ends to get it through the tapestry needle, and accidently stabbing myself, I'm producing the voodoo doll that may eventually spell my doom.

Also I'm only maybe 1/10th of the way through and the poor dearie has a mullet.

 

@LilacMercenary omg i feel you on doing hair. Itll look terrible until youre very mostly done in a lot of cases, you just gotta keep going ;u; please post pics when youre done!

Btw if anyone would like alpaca fleece to play with making doll wigs(or just to have bc its soft and nice to touch) i can totally send you a good couple of handfuls in a big envelope? I have more than i know what to do with, seriously, and have all different natural colors. Only white suri though, which is the nonkinky fleece type that most people use for wigs.

 

@Alska Will do! I also want to try re-painting her face for a more realistic look, but I have to wait until I can find some acetone (regular nail polish these days doesn't have any in it for some reason??)
The kigu you sewed is super cute, btw! I'm in love with those ears @w@

 

What the heck, really? The remover i got from CVS does... Im not entirely sure you want to be using acetone on a vinyl doll anyway- check some resources for modding monster high dolls to be sure, but I believe rubbing alcohol is preferred usually.
Also thank you so much <3 i really need to make a new outfit for her eventually though if im gonna take her to the convention i go to in january though! They take a group picture every year and she wore the kigu last year(and maybe the year before... I am not good at actual clothes let alone tiny ones)

 

Really?? I'll look that up! I remember a loooong time ago reading that acetone was the thing to use, but who the heck knows where I read that.

I'm really into hand-sewing teensy things, if you can find a way to get size dimensions to me, I could totally make a stab at sewing something for your bby sometime <3

 

Theres all sorts of coflicting information out there, so id definitely look at what a lot of people are saying and decide from there. I know I used rubbing alcohol to wipe my Berry doll, and that worked well- but she's ABS plastic, not vinyl.

That would be wonderful! Im pretty sure yosd patterns would work for her, but ill definitely double check before saying for sure. Would you want something as a trade? Im way better at stuffed toys than at clothes, so i could make a small plush for you, or possibly some itty bitty ones for your doll?

 

Aaah, oh gosh! I'd def be making it for you as a friend-gift with no reciprocation necessary (especially because work is crazy rn and who knows how long it'd take me to finish) but if you ever felt like making a small plushie for me of some sort I'd die of delight and also not say no >.>

What kind of clothing is your style? Googling "yosd pattern" is showing me everything from red riding hood type stuff to kimonos to full on loli/wedding stuff. I can totally wing something, but what sort of direction are you pointed towards?
ETA: I'm also seeing teensy knitted shrugs and such like this for instance I bet I could whip something like that up pretty easily! because I am a glutton for punishment

 

Lol im in the same boat but with projects and christmas gift making, so that works out fine lolol, just let me know what sorta plush you'd be into and ill put it on my to do list! ^^

For her im leaning toward something with soft colors, and probably fairly simple? Like um.... Floral pattern skirt and a white/pale colored blouse/shirt or something like that haha. Maybe with a green(?) shrug or jacket or something? Since ive been ignoring her for awhile i havent given it much thought in a long time ^^' but her name is Aster, if that gives you any ideas! Also probably avoid anything with a hood bc her head is huge so youd probably have to use a hood pattern for like an sd sized doll, and splicing patterns together is a pain.

 

Ooh, that does give me some ideas, I will see what I can do! :3

 

I made some progress! (I give up trying to embed images from google drive, it's evil and it hates me, so I'm just going to link) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzCF88BfJu7ocVg3MXZnLWtXZ2s/view?usp=sharing

I'm really pleased with how her face turned out! I used Liquitex heavy acrylics and clear acrylic medium to get transparency, and while you can kind of see the brush strokes on her face I think it adds texture that looks more natural than completely pore-less shiny skin.

Mini rant: I'm only 1/3 through with her hair (mostly because I think I used too many strands per hole) but she'll have to keep her updo for now because I am running out of hair. Seriously, I thought what I had saved from a hair cut would be enough, then it wasn't. Then I took what I sincerely hope to be small, inconspicuous snippets to try and fill it out, and that too wasn't enough :o
I don't want to switch to doll hair now, because it'll look weird mixed with real hair. I also don't want to undo all my work and go full doll hair, nor do I want to by some stranger's hair off of ebay. I seem determined to keep myself frustrated here.

 

halfway done with a little sweater dress made out of an old sock, since the dress she came in kept riding up over her butt and the straps didn't even fit properly, like, honestly mattel i expected better, even in your seven dollar barbies.

not sure what next. legging made from the other sock? i need to look for some ways of fastening them. -must acquire some velcro-

 

@bornofthesea670 I can't find it right now, but I saw a really cute tutorial a long time ago on doll garters made out of those cute-but-kinda-useless mini hair clips they sell for toddlers, that might be an avenue to explore =)