The Batman Doll is Ready for Action

I finally finished Batman.  Actually, he's been mostly done for quite awhile, but he still needed a cape, which my son was adamant in reminding me about on a regular basis.  So here he is, with removable Batarangs and a utility pocket for his rope.  My son is quite happy with him.

Here are some things I learned from the process:

The paint really does stiffen the fabric, so if you want less of that, use more GAC  (or something equivalent), which thins the paint rather than weakening it.  Since this toy is for a boy, the stiffness and durability of the paint is a plus as the doll will be easier to clean and will stand up a little better to rough use.  He is still squishably soft.

Tacky glue seems to be holding up with the utility belt, quite well.  I generally sew everything down, but glue was more practical in this case.

All in all, I felt this was a success.  My daughter, of course, wants a Batman doll, too.  Gotta love siblings :)  Maybe Wonder Woman . . .

PS, if you want to view the Batman doll before paint, click on the post link here.

Some More Dolls in Progress

Here are two more dolls in progress.  I created the pattern, cut out doubled muslin and cotton fabric and machine and hand stitched these two little lovelies.  I  painted the eyes last night.  I decided to keep the focus on the eyes and make the mouth and nose very simple.  For me this harkens to the Waldorf ideal a bit, where their dolls have neutral, primitive faces to engage the imagination.  The eyes go beyond primitive here, and certainly indicate personality, but I don't think that's a bad thing, in this case. 

I think these dolls must be friends, even though they have very different personalities.  Originally I was making one doll as a birthday present for a little girl I know, and then I figured I'd make two.  I'm torn now, as I'm thinking I'd like to send them in to see if they might get published in Stuffed or Prims.  I might just have to make some more with the same pattern.

I'll post more pictures when they have hair and clothes :).

 

 

Batman Doll

So my son informed me a couple of weeks ago that he felt like I was making all these dolls for my daughter and he wanted a doll too. Keeping in mind that he has a very expensive Bamboletta doll he never plays with (no worries, Bamboletta lovers, my daughter has appropriated him), as well as an elf doll I made for him that he ignores, I wasn't exactly jumping for the opportunity to make him one. However, he was very specific in wanting a Batman doll and gave me all sorts of details for how the doll was to look. I figured if he was that interested in the planning that he might actually appreciate the end result, especially since Batman is his current favorite superhero. Really, how different is a doll from an action figure, with the exception of scale (which is why I tend to chuckle when people are adamant about not letting/encouraging their boys to play with "dolls").

 

I went ahead a drew out a pattern and received the nod of approval. Here is the doll prior to adding the details.  I'm mid-way through painting and I still need to make the cape and utility belt (with removable batarangs, of course).

Let's hope the excitement stays and this doll doesn't suffer the same fate as the last few.

Want to see the finished doll?  Check out the blog post here: