Attention Dollmakers:
It's Time To Apply Your Dollmaking Skills To Create One Of The Most Sought After Dolls Of The Early 1900's!

When Master Dollmaker Lee Feickert teaches you how to make an antique doll, she doesn't just share her techniques with you, she also gives you a history lesson to help you appreciate what you'll be doing even more. In "Antique Reproduction Googly Doll," Volume 12 of the Master Dollmakers Video Instructional Series from Mindstorm Productions, Lee will teach you how to make an 8" porcelain Googly Doll using a Kestner #221 mold. This was one of the most sought after dolls from 1913-1930.

"Googlys are characterized by their round, side-glancing eyes, slanted eyebrows, watermelon mouth, and cute nose which adds an impish look to their faces," says Lee. If you're not lucky enough to have an actual antique doll to guide you, photos of these dolls, found in catalogues and reference books, are a good alternative.

Before starting, Lee reviews the tools and materials you'll need for this project. These include items for cleaning and painting your doll, and those needed to assemble the doll and sew her dress.

Your first step will be the most delicate: cleaning the head with a detailing tool. It's here that Lee will tell you why it's critical to begin with the doll's eyes. "It's important to do this very slowly," she cautions, "so you don't put any strain onto the greenware."

Once the eyes are done, you're ready to clean the seams from the doll's head. You'll follow this by adding a "personalized touch" and firing the head for the first time. Then, using a picture of a Kestner Googly as her guide, Lee shows you how to first prepare the newly fired head with alcohol, mix the paint, and then paint eyelashes, mouth, nose dots, and eye dots before firing for the second time.

You're now ready to move onto the second stage of painting: adding the accents to the lips and eyebrows, and applying blush to the doll's cheeks and above the eye sockets to create an eyeshadow. Once done, you'll fire the head for the last time.

Your next step will be to set the eyes, assemble the doll's body, and attach the head. You'll first apply wax around the eye sockets. "The wax is important," says Lee, "because it will fill any space between the eye and the eye socket. Then when you apply the putty to secure the eyes, you won't have any of it seeping through to the front of the head." You're now ready to attach the eye into the eye socket and clean any excess wax.

Lee then shares a technique to insure the eyes are positioned correctly, and she shows you how to set them with putty. The final step in this section will be to assemble the rest of the doll's body and attach the head.

Now you're ready to dress your doll, but first you'll prepare the China silk to make her dress. You'll dye the silk, stretch it, gather it, and wrap it with string to create the pleated fabric, which makes a lovely dress for your doll. Next you'll cut the China silk using the pattern that's included with this video, and begin sewing the dress. For variety, you'll use different types of lace in conjunction with the silk.

Although somewhat detailed, sewing is easy if you follow Lee's instructions closely. Once you're finished sewing, you'll decorate the dress and hat with silk ribbon and flowers. Finally, you'll dress and wig your doll with a simple method using pre-waved mohair.

Once you apply her hat, and add a few finishing touches to her dress, your doll is ready to be proudly displayed. "And by varying the color of the fabric and the trims you can make interesting variations of the Googly we made on this video," says Lee.

The video ends with a wide variety of sources where you can obtain the materials and molds you'll need to create an assortment of Googly dolls.