Individually Handcrafted 1/12th Scale Porcelain Dolls For The Discerning Collector.
Mini Mannequins
Doll kit assembly
Doll kits are 1/12th scale
Lady dolls are 5.5 (5 and a half) inches tall
Men dolls 6 inches tall
Did you know?
Your arm span from finger tip to finger tip is the same as your height.
To assemble a doll kit you will need:
Glue
Pipe cleaners/chenille stems
Wire snips
Wadding (quilt batting cut into thin strips)
A ruler or tape measure
I would suggest you have a dry run and check the dolls height and arm span before gluing.
Legs
Take two or three pipe cleaners and twist them together.
Bend the pipe cleaners in half, forming an upside down V shape.
Glue a porcelain leg onto each end of the pipe cleaners.
Wrap a narrow strip of wadding around one of the legs, continue wrapping the wadding up around the inverted V and down the other leg.
Cover the V shaped end in glue and insert up into the dolls body cavity.
Check that the dolls height is correct, (adjust if necessary).
Leave to dry.
Arms
Place a hand on the end of a pipe cleaner.
Measure and cut the pipe cleaner so that when the second hand is put on, the length from finger tip to finger tip is the same measurement as the dolls height.
Thread the pipecleaner arm through the dolls body and out the other side.
Glue both hands in place.
Flesh out the arms by wrapping with a narrow strip of wadding.
Tip
Criss cross sewing cotton around the wrapped body parts to help keep the wadding in place whilst dressing the dolls
Doll with pipe cleaner arms and legs
Dolls arms and legs wrapped
With shoulder plate dolls you will need to make a framework or armature for the shoulder plate to sit on.
Again have a dry run and check on the dolls height and arm span before gluing.
Twist two pairs of pipe cleaners together to form two legs.
Dry fit a porcelain leg onto each pipe cleaner leg.
Place both legs together with the feet level and twist the pipe cleaner legs together at crutch level.
Continue twisting upwards for another inch and a half or so to form the torso.
Open out the remaining ends of the pipe cleaners into a T shape to form the shoulders.
Try on the shoulder plate check the height, (the whole armature will be wrapped in wadding so an extra allowance for that needs to be made).
Take another pipe cleaner for the arms and lay this along the top of the T.
Twist some of the body pipe cleaners around the arm to hold it in place.
Wrap the upper torso armature in wadding to flesh out the body, (particularly around the shoulders so that the shoulder plate will have a good base to fit onto).
Check the height.
Finish wrapping the dolls arms and legs in wadding.
Glue arms, legs and shoulder plate onto wrapped armature.
Leave to dry.
See instructions on wrapping and a tip on securing wadding above.
Pipe cleaner armature
wrapped armature
Finshed doll
Head Torso Doll Kits
Shoulder Plate Doll Kits