#custom barbie

[otterloreart]

Barbiegator comes to life!

[a-land-of-shadow-and-substance]

Witness my masterpiece: Dark Universe Dracula in Ken doll form!

Okay, I'm not sure if this counts as my "masterpiece" (I couldn't resist the reference), but I've definitely put a LOT of work into him! I've been working on him continuously since September, even as I was working on other projects. A rundown of what I did to this doll:

-Hairline change (base doll didn't have a widow's peak hairline)

-Complete reroot and hairstyle (fun fact, a short hairstyle like this is WAY more complex to root and style at 1/6 scale than long, flowing Barbie hair would be!)

-Complete body repaint (even though only his face, hands, and feet end up showing...)

-Face repaint

-Hand-dyed fabric for his vest, jacket collar, cravat, and cape

-Sewed his entire outfit from scratch. Even pieces based on existing sewing patterns went through extensive pattern alteration, so everything on him is entirely custom. He has a cravat, shirt, vest, pants, tailcoat, and cape. In keeping with his look on Monsters Unchained, he doesn't have shoes.

-Not really a separate step, but I need to emphasize how much hand-sewing went into his suit. There was SO MUCH fine detailing, especially with the shoulder pieces

-Made cape detachable

-Fabricated his medallion out of ribbon and a necklace charm

-Gave him custom claw-nails on his hands

I put a LOT of pressure on myself for this doll, since I spent an hour stuck in front of his animatronic. I'll admit, I keep kicking myself for not getting 1:1 accuracy, even though I know a lot of concessions I had to make were necessities of Barbie scale sizing, available base dolls, and materials I had available.

Of course, I had to take pictures of him with his equivalent tsum tsum from @idreamofthemeparks, and with my other Dark Universe custom dolls and their tsum tsum equivalents as well.

I am open for art doll commissions! Want a theme park character? Your own OC? DM me for details!

Keep in mind that every doll is a handmade unique art piece, with individual variations.

Other Dark Universe dolls I've made:

Victoria Frankenstein More Victoria

Ygor

Bride of Frankenstein

[afloofybat]

Ms. Valerie Frizzle

[shepandem]

I did some customising on Madeline! I gave her a new head, because I thought that face and turquoise hair were beautiful, and I love long hair on dolls.

I also found the old leg braces I had 3D printed for my Kruselings doll a long time ago that I couldn't make work. I had a brain wave last night and glued them to the back of a pair of long socks, and now from the front and sides, it looks like she has braces just like mine! I got the Down Syndrome barbie because she came with leg braces that I was going to give to Madeline, but she has the curvy body type, so the braces were way too wide for Madeline's calves. These work well though!

I also also gave her AAC a strap so she can hold it across her body like I do. It has a tiny shoulder pad made of pink felt.

[valleydoll]

Okay so I liked Barbie Basics Claudette but wanted to see what taking the hair down looked like without ruining the original style - so obviously I had to get a second Claudette. After taking the hair down and see how straight it was at the roots I did a quick boil wash to reactivate the curl pattern at the roots and I think it turned out pretty great:

[aquareegia]

I haven't yet started customising my barbie (I literally just received her, and I'm a bit scared to start tbh lol), BUT I made her a little Sleep Token shirt. Or should I rather say she obtained some merch? 👀

It might be bc I haven't had a barbie in ages (and she's a tall barbie too) but have they always been so big? I could've sworn barbies used to be smaller. 🤨

[apanaula-art]

update on my custom clementine barbie!!

pls ignore the dress it’s from the og doll lol I’m still searching for fabric for her clothes but I have… pretty much… nothing… lmao

[dandhisdolls]

Grand finale for my 12 dancing princesses! ✨

Time to choose: who's your favorite?

It was a long (loooooong) journey, and lots of times I thought about reeling in and just focus on Genevieve, but in the end I'm glad I was able to pull through.

I honestly needed this, it helped me focus instead of spiraling and going to some bad places mentally. Between some personal life matters and...the whole world burning, I guess, I HAD to focus on something more positive, and colorful and hopeful. Some Barbie nostalgia magic, basically 🫠

Thank you all as always for the immense support, you don't even know how much it means to me 💖

Until next time! (Which will be super soon, yay!)