Thursday, March 19, 2009

Designing a new doll

For the past few days, I've been designing a new doll for the September issue of Doll Crafter & Costuming. I've been writing the pattern instructions as I go, which is a good way to avoid missing any steps. I've also been photographing the steps and imbedding photos into the instructions (I just love photos in patterns.)

The deadline is May 1, to get all the written material, photos, and the finished doll to the magazine. I've been a little stressed about it, because I don't have a really clear picture in my head about the final look and costuming. She's a project in evolution, in other words. I do have a name for her and an autumnal color scheme in mind.

This photo is prototype number 1, made from unbleached muslin. I identified a few design issues with this one, have made adjustments and have been working on protoype number 2, made from dyed muslin. She has a body, head and legs, and is patiently awaiting arms.

I work the next four days, so this project will be put on hold. I've also got to work on another doll for an upcoming function, so will probably not get back to her until early April.

1 comment:

morecoffee said...

Oh, I hope you write more about this pattern-making project. I'm interested in your thoughts and process, since I find pattern designing a bit frustrating. I am looking forward to having my own pattern that I like, but I'm far from that point now. It's like making chocolate chip cookies knowing nothing only what probably should go into them, and making them over and over and over again, each time not quite right... ;-)