Victorian Belsnickel - Part 11

Doll covered to protect clothing.

Today I am blogging about adding the beard and hair to my Belsnickel doll.  I have been working on the doll for weeks now and adding the hair and beard is one of the things that really makes the doll.  Until now, the doll could be just about anything.  The long white hair and beard is one of the things (besides the red suit) that brands this as a Santa or (in this case) a Belsnickel.

I began by wrapping the doll in some plastic bags to protect the clothing from the wool roving and/or strings of hot glue that tend to get everywhere. Pro tip here:  keep a lint roller handy because wool roving is loose wool and it gets all over you and all over your work surface.  The lint roller not only gets the roving off of your clothes, but it can also be used to clean up your work space.  A lint roller is also useful in picking up small bits of clay that fell during the sculpting of the doll.

Just as there are multiple ways to perform the same task on a computer, there are multiple ways to add hair to a doll.  In some cases, a wig is made and glued to the doll head.  In other cases, the hair might be sewn or glued directly to the head.  The choice is made on many factors, including time, the material of the doll, and comfort level with the techniques.  For this doll, I chose to use hot glue.

First row of beard.

Using hot glue has advantages and disadvantages.  The advantages are that the materials stick together quickly and that the glue has more holding power than low temperature glue.  One of the disadvantages of hot glue is that it tends to have stringy tendrils of glue that get all over the place if you are not careful.  The other disadvantage is that you can get a bad burn when pressing the glue and the materials together or by accidentally coming in contact with the tip of the glue gun.   

The blue silicone finger tips that I blogged about a couple of blog posts ago were really helpful in preventing burns.  Once the glue dried it peeled right off the silicone.  That was a big help especially since I was working with the wool roving which was sticking to the glue.  I think I will buy some more of those next time I am at the craft store.

Please keep scrolling below the photos to see more text.  I am having one of those days where the blog platform will not allow me to place photos where I want to place them.

Second row.

I started by adding the beard because I had a plan for some of the beard hair.  I start with hair much longer than I plan to have for the finished beard.  The beard will need to be trimmed eventually.  If you start with hair that is the length of your planned finished beard you will have less leeway when it comes to trimming.  If you have ever cut someone's hair you may have experienced the phenomenon of cutting one side then the other side is too short, then going back and trimming the other side to match but that is too crooked, and so on. Now you know why I start with a longer beard.  

On the first row of the beard, I cut a strand twice the length I want and fold the strand in half.  Then I glue a row on along the jaw line.  This row will soon be covered with other strands of wool roving and the glued section will not be seen.  By doubling the strand, it builds volume on the beard while using less roving. 

Third row, mustache, and first layer of hair.

The next line of roving will be applied in a different matter.  The method is a little more difficult, but the look of the beard line is better.  Timing is of the essence in this technique, with dexterity running a close second.  A small dab of hot glue is applied to the doll's face.  The glue gun is pulled away by pulling down in the direction of the beard.  That way, any glue strands that do form are lost in the beard rather than getting on the part of the doll's face that will be exposed.  (If you do get glue on the face, take it off immediately before it dries.  It is much harder to remove once the glue has dried.)  Immediately after applying the glue, add the wool roving in the following manner.  Lay the roving over the doll's face in the opposite direction from the beard.  Attach the tip end of the roving by pressing it into the glue.  One the glue has set, fold the hair down in the direction of the beard.  This gives a more realistic appearance to the beard because the fold will cover the glue line. 

Full head of hair.

The third line of the beard hair will come just under the cheeks, below the lips and end at the tips of the mouth.  Fill in any gaps or cover any areas where glue is showing from the previous  rows of hair.  Keep working until things look right.  It is probably best not to overdo this layer.  If it gets too thick the beard may be thicker than you need it to be.

After the beard, it is time for the mustache.  Cut a small strand and attach the roving under the nose.  Once again, cut the mustache longer than its finished length.  If it is cut too short, the mustache will bristle rather than laying close against the beard. 


More text and a photo below.  I cannot make the blog perform today.  It will not let me move the paragraphs around either. 

Once the facial hair is complete, it was time to start on the hair.  I trimmed some of the hair from the end of the beard.  I will probably trim more later.  The Belsnickel is supposed to look scruffy and rumpled.  He will need a long beard.  His beard will probably need more trimming, but I want to see it in relation to the clothing before I trim more.  I used the trimmed roving to glue to the head for the first layer of the hair.  Just as thin hair on a human head will show the pink scalp beneath, a doll's head will show whatever layer is beneath the hair.  By gluing a layer of hair to the bare head, it will help disguise the pink color of the head.  I could actually have stopped at this point.  The glued hair looks like short hair. And besides, this doll will be wearing a hood when his clothing is added.  However, I decided to go the full hair treatment.

Back of the head not combed yet.

The next layer of hair is added in rows, starting at the bottom of the hair line at the back of the neck and working upwards.  The strands of the first row can be a little shorter than the other rows.  With each row, add a little more length so that the hair will match the beginning row.   This technique works until you get to the top rows of hair around the ears and forehead.  For the final rows the technique of laying the hair across the face, gluing the tip of the wool roving, then folding the roving back into the hair is used.  If you are careful with the glue, and push the fold edge of the roving slightly forward you should not be able to see the glue line.

After that, more trimming of the hair and beard is needed.  That is about where I am on this doll now.  Afterwards, I will dress the doll.  Once I see how it looks in its clothing I will know better where to trim the beard.  I also have to make a few accessories for the doll.  Once they are complete, it will be time to mount the doll on it's stand. 

Check back next blog post to see the latest on the doll on Sunday.