In my last post I was working on this China Head doll.
She was in pretty bad shape. I could not save her
original body, the fabric was full of holes and just fell apart!
She was also missing her original
hands and feet.
After restoring her shoulder plates and
making her a temporary body,
her replacement body finally arrived!
First fitting of her replacement body is good!
The pantaloons I had made fit her new body
just fine. Sadly the camisole did not!
I went ahead and made her a new dress
out of pink taffeta, but she needs a bonnet!
I did a little research about styles
from this era.
I cut out some of the taffeta and experimented
with cardboard or felt to give it body.
In the end the lace was enough.
This is what I came up with!
I like it.
We'll see Clara all finished at the end
Of today's post!
While Clara's makeover was going on. I was
also starting to work on the Horsman baby...
At first I thought the right leg was
missing, but we found it in pieces lying
underneath baby in the box!
I took baby apart and had a meeting with
my technical advisor; my husband
Matt, the woodworker.
I tried wood putty to reattach the leg parts,
but this failed miserably. Matt suggested
some industrial strength epoxy.
This worked!
After the epoxy dried, we used a cardboard
paper roll and rubber bands to create
a rounded base to rebuild
the missing leg section.
This was also epoxied.
After everything dried Matt was able to
sand away the rubber band.
We covered everything with a thick layer
of wood putty and set it to dry.
After some building up and sanding the
leg is looking pretty good!
I have been working on baby's face paint.
There were only minor cracks on baby's face.
I'm not 100% satisfied, so I will keep
working on her face.
Baby's body was in bad shape, so I traced a pattern
and made a new body.
New body sewn from linen fabric.
I still have some work to do on baby's legs.
I can see the left leg is slightly shorter
after we rebuilt it, but
I will just adjust it in the cloth body.
Horsman baby will be finished next time!
But now
Would you like to see Clara all finished??
HERE
SHE
IS!