Customized Doll Information
(Originally written in 2004. Last updated on August 4, 2009.)
There are two similar methods that one can customize a doll:
Method 1: A doll customizer purchases a low-cost mass-market doll (such as Barbie) at a local toy store (like Toys R Us) or a giant discount store (like Wal-Mart). The doll customizer then proceeds to alter the doll in various ways. The doll customizer could remove the paint off the doll's face using a solvent (like acetone) then re-paint the doll's face. The doll's hair could either be cut or dyed in a totally different color. The doll's skin could be painted in a new color or nipples could be painted on the doll's breasts or a body part could be amputated or replaced with a part from a different toy or the doll could be given an outrageous outfit that Mattel would never manufacture for Barbie (such as a 1970's British punk rock outfit with ripped t-shirts and tight leather pants with a matching jacket). The many ways of customizing a mass-produced doll are only limited by the doll customizer's imagination. Examples of this method of doll customization can be found on sites like Rebecca's Custom Doll Gallery.
Method 2: A doll customizer purchases an unfinished doll kit that's manufactured by Asian-based companies like Volks, Azone, Noix de Rome, and Obitsu. The doll customizer then proceeds to finish the doll by adding eyes and lips, choosing a hair color and style, and selecting the clothes and accessories the doll will wear. This method is more akin to a painter buying a blank canvas, drawing a rough picture on it, then painting the picture using oils or acrylics. This article is more focused on this method of doll customization.
The second method of customization is slightly more cumbersome than just going to a local store to buy a Barbie doll to alter. Most of the ball-jointed doll kits are manufactured in either Japan, Korea, or China. While there are a few bricks and mortar stores that are selling these dolls (such as the one in Los Angeles that Volks have opened a few years back), the vast majority of them can only be purchased online. For the Volks line, you can purchase doll parts and other supplies from Volks directly through either its international site or U.S. site. In recent years there have been so many new doll companies springing up that it's literally hard to keep up. The News section of The Den of Angels forum is the best source for finding out the latest about the new doll companies springing up. Gigglegeek's site is a great reference that strives to keep up with all these Asian doll companies that seem to form on a very frequent basis.
You can also order doll parts and supplies through eBay and other online auction sites but it is a far more expensive option than buying at a fixed price at other online stores. I generally don't recommend this option unless the seller is having a clearance sale and is selling the doll-related merchandise at a price that's equal to or less expensive than the other sites.
Doll customization generally begins with the decision to customize your own doll, which is the first of many decisions you'll have to make. Next, you'll have to decide if you want a male doll or a female doll. (Most of the dolls are anatomically correct, although there are a few asexual dolls that are manufactured from time to time.) Then you'll have to choose what size doll you want to work with. Then decide on whether you want a doll made out of resin or vinyl. Then decide on whether you want a ball-jointed doll (which have ball joints that are strung on the inside with elastic) or an articulated doll (that have an internal skeleton and tend to have hinged joints--although sometimes these dolls can have ball joints as well). The doll sizes range from the 1/6 scale fashion dolls (which are about the size of Barbie dolls) all the way to the 60 cm/2 foot Super Dollfies.
Once those decisions are out of the way, you'll have to decide which manufacturer you want to purchase your doll parts from, which I've mentioned earlier. Once you choose the manufacturer, you'll need to sift through what the manufacturer has to offer and make more choices. You'll have to choose a body—some of which come with blank heads while others don't (so you'll have to purchase the head separately).
Then you'll have to decide on what head you'll use based on factors like whether you want a head with pre-rooted hair and no eye holes or a bald head with eye holes punched out so you'll have to purchase glass or acyrllic eyes (which are sold separately) and decide on buying a wig or rooting the hair yourself. (NOTE: Rooting the hair is NOT an option with a resin doll. You will have to buy a wig for a resin doll.)
If you choose a head with no eye holes, you'll have to decide whether you want to try painting the eyes yourself or buying an eye decal and sticking them on the face. If you decide to paint the eyes, it will take some practice. The good news is that I've come across the best English-language instructions (complete with pictures) on how to paint a doll's face that's currently posted on Volks' official site.
If you choose a bald head, you'll have to choose whether you want to purchase a wig (available in many styles and colors) or if you want to try your hand at rooting the hair to the head yourself. (NOTE: Rooting the hair is NOT an option with a resin doll. You will have to buy a wig for a resin doll.) If you want to try your hand at hair rooting for the first time, there are a few sites that offer short tutorials, including RestoreDoll.com. Dollyhair.com offers a $5 reroot kit that includes a doll needle, buttoncraft thread, and complete illustrated instructions on how to root a doll's hair.
If you decide on a wig, there are tons of doll wig manufacturers out there on the Internet such as Monique, Dollheart, Cotin, Jpop, and more. In addition, many doll manufacturers also make wigs as well. You can easily Google "doll wigs" and shop around to find something that you think will be appropriate for your doll.
If you decide on a pre-rooted head, you'll have to design your own hairstyle since the pre-rooted head have hair that is so long that it literally covers the doll's blank face. I've gotten inspiration for hairstyles from looking at anime drawings in various issues of Newtype USA magazine.
Then you'll need to purchase a tiny paintbrush, acryllic paint, and a top coat for your paint job (such as varnish). Even if you opt for acryllic/glass eyes or eye decals instead of painting your own eyes, you'll still need acryllic paint for the lips and a top coat for eye decals, and lips. (Acryllic eyes and glass eyes don't need a top coat.)
While the Volks site sells tiny paintbrushes, disposable pallets, and Liquidtex acryllic paints, it's much easier to purchase acryllic paints and other supplies from a local art supply store. (If you don't know of any such stores in your area and can't find any in your local phone book, try either Michaels Arts & Crafts, or A.C. Moore, both of which are giant chains with locations throughout North America.) Since painting a doll's face requires less paint than painting a canvas, you can generally get by on purchasing small tubes of paint. (One important caveat—purchase acryllic paints, not oil paints. Oil paints take a very long time to dry while acryllic paints will generally dry in under an hour.) As for what brand of acryllic paints to buy, while Volks recommends Liquidtex, I've used Liquidtex as well as other paint brands (such as Susan Schwee, Folk Art, and Windsor & Newton's budget Galleria line) with equally good results. My advice is to try to buy as low cost as possible without sacrificing color quality.
As for a tiny brush, you don't have to purchase the most expensive brush that's made from the finest materials. What's most important is that you buy a Size 0 brush and you can frequently find one made from synthetic materials pretty cheaply at many hobby shops (especially ones that sell model cars and planes).
As for a top coat for the painted areas, I generally use a matte varnish, which works pretty well.
As you go through the process of deciding on things like hair, eyes, and clothes, you'll have to make decisions on color schemes as well. I found that using a color wheel makes the job of choosing the right eye color, hair color, and clothes much easier. If you go with colors based on complimentary colors, split-complimentary colors, monochromatic colors, and/or analogous colors, you can't go wrong with how the doll will ultimately turn out. For more details on this, here's an online color wheel that also provides details on all the technical jargon relating to color.
Once you're through with the face and the hair (such as deciding on pre-rooted hair, rooting the head yourself, or buying wigs) you'll need to select the outfit. The easiest and cheapest option for 1/6 dolls is to buy Barbie clothes from your local store. While I've seen some Barbie outfits that are spectacular looking, the majority of those outfits definitely have that "mass-produced-in-a-Chinese-factory-from-the-cheapest-materials-available" look so you may not want to go that route unless you see something that's totally awesome and stylish.
From time to time there are major toy manufacturers that will make doll clothes for dolls that are the same size as a Mini Super Dollfie (1/4 scale doll). A few years back Mattel came out with a line of dolls called Teen Trends whose clothes fit the Mini Super Dollfies perfectly. Each outfit was priced at only $12 each but it was an affordable way for 1/4 scale doll owners to clothe their dolls. (You can still find Teen Trends clothes sold on eBay for low prices.) More recently, a few doll owners discovered that most of the clothes made for the Friends 2B Made dolls (which were discontinued in 2009) also fit Mini Super Dollfie-sized dolls as well.
Unfortunately there aren't any cheaper mass-market options for the Super Dollfie (1/3 scale doll) as of this writing. Owners of these dolls generally have to either make their own clothes or buy custom handmade clothes from other people.
The only line of mass-produced doll clothes that are problematic for Asian ball-jointed doll owners are the ones made for the American Girl dolls. Even though American Girls are around the same height as a Mini Super Dollfie, their torsos are very thick. In fact, these clothes tend to literally hang on a Mini Super Dollfie and they needed to be extensively altered in ordered to fit a Mini Super Dollfie. On the other hand, they do fit Super Dollfie-sized dolls much better but the hems tend to be too short because an American Girl is 18 inches tall while a Super Dollfie stands at around 60 cm/24 inches tall. I would recommend buying an American Girl outfit for a Super Dollfie only if the hemline is very long. Just keep in mind that a long hemline on an American Girl doll would still be a bit shorter on a Super Dollfie.
You can use a pattern made for an American Girl doll for making a Super Dollfie outfit--just make longer allowances in the hemline when sewing the outfits. Sometimes you may even have to sew extra darts in the bodice and waist in order to compensate for the American Girl doll's thick torso.
Usually I tend to hand-sew the clothes using patterns for Barbie and other 11 1/2 inch fashion dolls that are manufactured by companies like McCall's and Simplicity. I've heard of other people who have used patterns for larger fashion dolls (such as Gene) and making photocopies by shrinking the copy to 66% in order to fit the smaller dolls with equally good results. I've also heard of people using patterns from Japanese magazines like Dolly Dolly and Dollybird but—as you can guess—all the instructions are in Japanese, so this option is for those who understand the language or non-Japanese speakers who are willing to wing it while trying to figure out what to do with the patterns.
I've also used patterns from a book that I purchased at Borders titled The Dolls' Dressmaker that's written by Venus A. Dodge. That book has mostly patterns for Victorian era and early 20th century clothes in sizes ranging from 11 1/2 all the way to 2 feet (the latter is the size of a Super Dollfie and Dollfie Dream).
There are times when I love a particular pattern that's made for the wrong-sized doll so I use a mathematical formula to adjust the pattern size. Basically you take the size of the doll that you have, divide it by the size of the doll that the pattern fits. Then you take that total and multiply it by 100. You'll get the number that you'll need to enlarge or reduce the pattern by in order to fit the doll.
Here's an example: Let's say I would love to make a particular outfit for my 22-inch Dollfie Dream but the pattern only fits an 11 1/2-inch Barbie doll. Here is how I would use the formula to enlarge the outfit:
22 ÷ 11.5 = 1.91 * 100 = 191%
This means I would have to enlarge the pattern by 191 percent in order to have the outfit fit my Dollfie Dream.
The formula works for reduction as well. Let's say I'm interested in creating an outfit for a 11 1/2-inch doll but the pattern fits a 22-inch Dollfie Dream, here's the formula:
11.5 ÷ 22 = .523 * 100 = 52.3 %
This means I would have to reduce the pattern by 52.3 percent in order to have the outfit fit a Barbie, Dollfie Plus, or other 1/6 dolls.
You can use the same formula for metric as well as other units of measurement so it is very flexible.
I like making clothes by hand because I have a greater control over the type of fabric used and how the outfit should look. I can buy remnant fabric very cheaply at the local Jo-Ann's Fabric and Crafts store as well as other supplies (like needles, pins, and thread). For making jewlery, I generally use string and beads that I can find either at Jo-Ann's, A.C. Moore, or Michael's Arts & Crafts. It is a cheaper method of obtaining clothes for your Dollfie Plus. The only disadvantage is that sewing doll outfits can be time-consuming, especially if you're making a very fancy outfit. If you're the kind of person who's busy all the time or if sewing is not your thing, you may not want to consider this option.
The major Asian ball-jointed doll companies manufacture clothes as well. The clothes tend to be more expensive than a Barbie outfit or a generic 18-inch doll outfit that one would find at places like Wal-Mart or Target but the outfits are usually more stylish and made of higher quality materials that would make Barbie envious if she were a living doll.
In addition, there are a number of independent doll clothes tailors and seamstresses who work part-time or full-time at making doll clothes. They tend to advertise themselves on doll forums like The Den of Angels and Resinality so you may want to go there. The quality and service are only as good as the person who makes and sells the doll clothes so you may want to look up any feedbacks or reviews before you decide do business with that person.
Conventions are another great source for buying doll clothes, wigs, shoes, and other accessories. Many people sell such items in the Artists Alley section of most anime conventions these days. More and more people are also selling similar items at doll conventions which, in recent years, have been trying to move away from Barbie and the traditional Victorian porcelain dolls into different kinds of dolls like Asian ball-jointed dolls, Blythe, Pullips, and Ellowyne Wilde dolls.
You'll also need shoes. The good news is that there are a number of companies that specialize in making doll shoes. In addition, many of the same doll manufacturers also manufacture shoes. For the most part, you can only purchase shoes online. The prices vary according to materials used and quality so it pays to shop around.
Probably the coolest part about doll customization is that once you start choosing the hairstyle (or wig) and painting the face, the doll seems to take on a personality of its own. Usually I'm satsified with how the doll turned out when I'm done with it.
To learn more about Asian 1/6 scale articulated dolls, Asian ball-jointed dolls, and doll customization, I highly recommend the following links:
Volks' guide to painting a doll's face
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