Comments on: Experimental Dollmaking

By: Tina Carter

Tina Carter — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:50:22 +0000

I love your jointed dolls. It is really nice and I would love to see You as your “in your zone” when u made ur doll. Cute!!!

By: thessalyrose

thessalyrose — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:26:15 +0000

Thank you for the kind words, Ros! The place you need, though, is a forum for ball-jointed doll makers called The Joint. Here’s the address: http://www.bjdartists.com/joints/index.php

Don’t forget to bookmark my new and improved blog at http://www.needleandclay.com.

Good luck with your dolls, I’d love to see pictures!

By: Ros Fischer

Ros Fischer — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:15:07 +0000

Hi ,
What a facinating site ,
I am currently making a collection of very big dolls,
and working out how to ball joint them…..
so far the best idea Ive come up with is ….plastic Golf balls for the joints
and pvc piping in between …with a scoop cut at each end to accomodate the joint ….still in the prototype stage ….as I am getting ready to sell up and move back to the uk,after 35 yrs in Oz.
needless to say the idea of a fully posable hand made my ears prick up ??any more info would be much appreciated…please
re you doll skins ….I find using streachy tubular finger bandage fabulouse for the smaller dolls,as the first skin….it gives them a bit of muscle ….its really cheap if bought in a roll.
also have you thought of using a soft tie wire to connect your bead joints..again it might give a bit more controle…
I bought one of those jointed wooden artists models recently ….to see how the work
and was amazed at the intricasy in such a small cheap item [$6.00]…
inside the hollow of each arm and leg part is a small spring.attached to each end of the little ball joints..[I have the awfull fear some poor child in china is making these for a small bowl of rice a day....and getting very sore little fingers...oh dear,isnt it awfull]
thankyou so much for your inspiring page ….
I shall go back to the drawing board with renewed vigor…
all the best ..and happy jointing
Ros

By: needleandclay.com » Update — Butterfly wings, ball joints

needleandclay.com » Update — Butterfly wings, ball joints — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:24:53 +0000

[...] wrists and ankles are “bead joints.” I’m not sure if bead joints are the same as the ball joints I’ve been working on, but it sure looks like it. If anyone has made this pattern, can you leave us a comment about how [...]

By: Update — Butterfly wings, ball joints « Needle and Clay

Update — Butterfly wings, ball joints « Needle and Clay — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:58:53 +0000

By: Esther

Esther — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:49:29 +0000

What a great experiment, With my current smallest sprog taking up most of my time I am only doing small projects currently both in size and time or I’d be tempted to have a go too.

By: thessalyrose

thessalyrose — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:31:35 +0000

Ronalyn: Wow, I am honored to be the inspiration for you to get back into art dolling!

Susan: Great post! I will probably not have time to post again until Monday, but I already have bunches of things to show people!

I want to thank everyone who has read this post without commenting. My hits have been through the roof yesterday and today. I used to think I was shy, but I love this kind of attention.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:45:26 +0000

Oh please do ! I posted that other doll on my blog:
http://www.webcastle.com/susansplace/blog.cfm

I’d love to hear what you think.

By: Ronalyn

Ronalyn — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:49:53 +0000

What a wonderful post! My focus at the moment is Reborn dolls but I have made cloth dolls in the past and really enjoyed it. I have the book you mentioned and your blog post has inspired me to once again venture into the art doll world.

By: thessalyrose

thessalyrose — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:42:58 +0000

I was very happy with the thigh joints. They have extremely realistic movement, even to the point of being limited in the same ways that human hips are. I wish I was so lucky in every accident.

The grapes make perfect sense, actually. I was trying to come up with some kind of socket for the ball-jointed type beads. I think I’ll try that, if I can find some plastic grapes at the thrift store.

The problem you mention is exactly why I don’t want to string the joints like a BJD. Any kind of tension is eventually going to break down or deform the cloth parts, unless it has a hard skeleton underneath, and at that point, you might as well make a hard media doll. The way I’ve sewn the beads in, the tension is mostly supported by the bead itself, so I’m not worried about it deforming over time. I think sockets will remedy the loose joints by providing more friction to hold them in place.

Thanks for commenting! i’m going to have to post again later this week with all the good stuff people have been sending me!