i got inspired by antique furniture -> decided to try and make a wooden doll.
she is whittled entirely out of balsa wood with a craft knife, and colored with wood dye. the cabinet has miniature hinges made of tube beads and a metal rod, and closes with a magnet. she absolutely should hold a sentimental & important object, but i don't have any that are the correct size, so i just put in some cute trinkets.
What dye did you use for Wisteria? I have the same doll, a CFDoll Dai (She's flesh tone though) and I'd love to make her pinkish or pinkish purple. Your dye job came out great! If you did anything special please feel free to share, I've never dyed a doll before, and I also plan to dye a doll wig in the same color.
I used Rit Dyemore! Make sure it's Dyemore and not All-Purpose :]
There are some tutorials out there for dying dolls, but here are some tips -
You will need:
- Dye for synthetic materials in the colour/s you want
- A dedicated pot that won't be used for cooking again - stainless steel is a good option, avoid aluminium as it can cause green staining
- Something to hold the doll / parts suspended in the water (eg. a mesh bag)
- A little bit of dish detergent to break up the surface tension/prevent the dye from filming
- Isopropyl Alcohol and a melamine sponge or something else to wipe with
- A plastic tub for warm water
- If you're dyeing in a kitchen, something to protect your surfaces eg. some old towels
- Some rubber gloves - you're going to be working with heat
process and more tips under the cut:
MJDs can dye unevenly in the joints - partly because the joints are usually a different plastic and partially because they're partly covered by other doll parts. You can see on Wisteria that they're a bit pinker than the rest of her!
CFDoll Dai *should* be able to come apart with some heat to soften the joint pegs, so if you want to easily dye the whole joint you have the option of dismantling - you'd then have the option of dyeing them separately to adjust the colour if you want them to be able to match the body parts.
The neck peg on mine broke so I was hesitant to take her apart, so instead, between dye dips, I bent all of the joints around to different positions so they'd get as much coverage as possible 😅
Bring your water to a boil and add your dye and dishsoap (you shouldn't need much - Rit has some recipes on their website for colour/water ratios and such but i usually use that as a starting point and then adjust if needed! If you are starting from a peach skintone you might want to do some testing on a part like the neck card as the base colour will affect the result colour).
With the doll in the mesh bag, dip them in the dye, checking the colour every so often (it's been a while since I dyed Wisteria but I think I did 30 second dips) and repositioning the joints if you didn't dismantle the doll. Once they're at the colour you want (a little darker is ok as you'll wipe some off in the cleaning step), take them out and dunk them in the warm water tub to rinse - taking them directly from hot water to cold can cause the plastic to warp. Don't get rid of the dye bath yet!
Once cooled down, dry off and wipe down with your IPA and melamine sponge - this will make sure there's no remaining dye that's still resting on the surface that didn't penetrate the plastic, so it won't stain other objects. If the result is too light you can repeat the dye dips and cleaning until the colour is correct.
If you wipe with IPA while the plastic is still hot it can strip too much dye - this is useful if you accidentally dye something too dark!
Happy customising! If you have any other questions I'm happy to help!
hey everyone, the creator of these plushies has given me permission to post to Tumblr to help advertise them, so id like to show you all the patchkins line!
Patchkins are plushies who were given a second chance by having their damaged limbs replaced and secured by magic buttons! They are happiest as lap cuddle buddies with their arms draped over yours as a gentle and reassuring presence.
Patchkins plush are roughly 19 inches tall when standing (not including ears) and are made with floppy and lightly weighted limbs. They're made with a combination of faux rabbit fur & soft printed minky. Their buttons/pawprints are a mix of applique and embroidery.
I think theyre super cute and while I don't currently have the ability to back them I'm doing my part to try and help these cuties get backed for everyone to love! :3
So far, 4 designs have been unlocked: Ploosh the Pastel Fox, Echo the Eldritch Cat, Gizmo the Retro Alien Puppy, and Taffy the Clown Bunny! Next up to unlock is Remi the Neapolitan Red Panda :3
I honestly think all of the designs are really cute, but I think if I had to pick a favorite it would be either Ploosh the Pastel Fox or Lune the Night Sky Jackalope.
There's also add-ons such as stickers, enamel pins, and acrylic keychains, some of which are received as free rewards for backers!
All patchkins also come with an adoption certificate that you can sign yourself!
You can find a link to the backerkit right here and if they reach $18,000 (about 2,000 more) in pledges Remi will be unlocked.
They're also getting closer to 200 backers, at which point every backer will receive a free sticker of Lune!
I can't back these guys right now but if a shop becomes set up or they end up around for a longer period of time I would be able to get them! It would be a dream of mine to get some really nice plushies like this and help contribute to their release and production.
hey everyone, the creator of these plushies has given me permission to post to Tumblr to help advertise them, so id like to show you all the patchkins line!
Patchkins are plushies who were given a second chance by having their damaged limbs replaced and secured by magic buttons! They are happiest as lap cuddle buddies with their arms draped over yours as a gentle and reassuring presence.
Patchkins plush are roughly 19 inches tall when standing (not including ears) and are made with floppy and lightly weighted limbs. They're made with a combination of faux rabbit fur & soft printed minky. Their buttons/pawprints are a mix of applique and embroidery.
I think theyre super cute and while I don't currently have the ability to back them I'm doing my part to try and help these cuties get backed for everyone to love! :3
So far, 4 designs have been unlocked: Ploosh the Pastel Fox, Echo the Eldritch Cat, Gizmo the Retro Alien Puppy, and Taffy the Clown Bunny! Next up to unlock is Remi the Neapolitan Red Panda :3
I honestly think all of the designs are really cute, but I think if I had to pick a favorite it would be either Ploosh the Pastel Fox or Lune the Night Sky Jackalope.
There's also add-ons such as stickers, enamel pins, and acrylic keychains, some of which are received as free rewards for backers!
All patchkins also come with an adoption certificate that you can sign yourself!
You can find a link to the backerkit right here and if they reach $18,000 (about 2,000 more) in pledges Remi will be unlocked.
They're also getting closer to 200 backers, at which point every backer will receive a free sticker of Lune!
I can't back these guys right now but if a shop becomes set up or they end up around for a longer period of time I would be able to get them! It would be a dream of mine to get some really nice plushies like this and help contribute to their release and production.
these faux porcelain & filigree animals might become a series because they are just so fun to make.
using paper napkins for decoupage has also made me a superfan of william morris. his designs have so many elements going on i could make five completely different dolls from a single one. the patterns on this bunny are from the strawberry thief, pictured below.
this thing has been rolling around on my desk since summer & i have painted it four or five times to try and get it right. finally succeeded, and here they are.
the bases the chest joints connect to are glued to the hourglass with epoxy, but otherwise the doll? sculpture? is strung with elastic, and i can take it apart like a regular bjd. as you can see, the moon & sun sides can either face in the same or separate directions.
the idea for the sculpt is legit just my brain getting stuck on the expression "hourglass waist" and immediately conjuring up this rpg boss.
