Vampire Halloween Doll 2

Armature covered with batting.

A little progress has been made on my latest Halloween project.  I have been so busy this year that every day has been turning into a 20 minute crafting day.  I run into the studio, do some small thing, then head out to get on with the day.  Sometimes it is frustrating to always be so busy.  I have learned to be my own cheerleader for even a small step.  Recognizing even a tiny amount of progress helps keep me on track to completing the project.  Otherwise I might feel discouraged and let the project drop.

Muslin on the torso and arms.

In the last few days I have begun working on making the doll.  In my last blog post I had only completed the armature.  Now the batting layer has been added to add some shape to the doll.  In the photo you might notice that the batting is stitched on with a teal colored thread.  I use thread left over from other projects on this layer.  It will be covered by a layer of muslin, and the stitches won't show through.  This helps me use up some thread that I have left over.  That helps keep crafting costs down.  When I add the muslin layer, I will use matching thread.

Front of box.

This is a tiny doll.  It will only be about five and a half inches toll (13.97 centimeters).  I am using small scraps of muslin to create the "skin" for this doll.  Practically no scrap is too small to be utilized on such a small object.  Of course, the body will eventually be covered with clothing, so most of the skin layer will not be seen either.  I try to make sure that areas that will show will have a smooth appearance.  I have almost completed the muslin layer.  I have sewn on the upper torso and arms, but the legs and lower torso are not finished.  This section takes longer than you think it might because of the difficulty of handling and sewing on such a small piece.

Hinges on the back.

Once I finish covering the torso with muslin, I will add the head.  On a doll this small, you cannot have but so much detail.  I will do a little fine needle sculpting around the nose and eyes, but the rest of the detail will be paint.  I will add some sort of doll hair, but I have not investigated the colors of doll hair I have in my doll making supplies.  I may have some black, but most likely it will be dark brown.  The head will be so small that it would not be worth it to go out and purchase a package of black doll hair.  I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Open box.

I put the hinges and hasp on the coffin shaped box.  That did not take long, but the screws are very tiny and hard to handle.  Before I replaced the hardware, I experimented on the bottom of the box with full strength glow in the dark paint.  In my last blog post, I had mentioned that I had used some of the paint diluted with some glaze and some gold sparkle paint.  That did not glow.  But, it does glow when used full strength.  However, the paint had a very streaky look to it on this project; the balsa wood box is a bit rough.  I decided not to paint the full box with the paint. 

I plan to do some work on the inside of the box to make it look more like a casket.  I will have to start digging through my scraps for something that will add some detail.

I think this glow in the dark paint would be great on Halloween items that you might leave outside such as tomb stones of other yard objects that will be seen from a distance.  I am thinking of painting one of my painted gazing balls with it just to see how long the glow lasts.  But that is a project for another time.