Hurricane Florence and Dolls

I got this cute little recast doll a while back. I noticed while looking at other dolls like her she had a gap in her mouth that was wider than the factory doll. I decided she needed some teeth. I used my art supplies to make her some teeth, freckles, blush her nails and furnish a little wig for her. I think she is supposed to be a littlefee Ante, or was? I can't seal her yet due to the hurricane weather here in NC where I live.

I was almost about to let go of this doll, because she was just another cute doll. I like to see what makes for a good doll and see how they work. Then after that, if I don't see anything else about the doll that's a keeper, I sell it.

I was pleasantly surprised that she had all her magnets, which is not always the case with recast dolls. Her head cap started getting loose but I put a super tiny thin magnet in between the two head cap magnets to shim it up a little. This helped a lot. It turns out the part that inserts into the back of her head is a mm too short to reach all the way to the other magnet.

At first I couldn't get her head to pose upward but I adjusted the hook inside her head to the front of the head instead of the back, pulled some of the stringing out as far as I could and it worked. The stringing was too tight in the upper body, so when I adjusted it, the legs started holding poses better too. The little cog things in her legs I thought were worn down, fit just perfect when the stringing is adjusted.

The wig I crocheted during the hurricane, because I couldn't sleep. I then sewed eyelash chenille around and around till I reached the very top peak. It is quite tedious but it seemed to suit the little doll better than anything I had to fit her. She looks boyish and will probably transform into a little Ante boy. To make the wig cap, I used black #10 thread and a 2.5 mm aluminum hook. I began a chain of 46 stitches. My crochet is pretty tight, so it could possibly be more or less stitches for different people, even using the same threads and hooks.

Ante has a 6.5 in. wig size, which would be a size 6-7 doll wig. I have read that Ante has a slightly larger head than other Littlefee dolls. I don't know I only have this one.  

The next row was 46 sc (single crochet). Then I went around 3 rows of dc (double crochet) After that I continue to double crochet, and decrease every 4th stitch. Decreasing "excessively" works with dolls because they are so small, and no one is going to see the extra decreases underneath the wig.

Note: I taught myself how to crochet when I was around 12 years old. So later in my life I found out there are rules to decrease every other row or something. 

I try the wig on the doll every round or so, because I don't want it to peak like a witches hat. As soon as it covers the head sufficiently I seam across the top of the wig from side to side of the rows to keep it flat to the head. Tie off the string, and weave in the ends. I start sewing at the bottom where I used the single crochet around. I like having the stitches a little more dense where I am going to start the first row of hair or yarn. These rows will overlap tightly, so no one will see the wig cap. I don't sew very straight lines. I go with what is the most intuitive. I noticed the wig seems fuller and more natural if it is a bit wavy going around and around.

I think I should rename this doll Andy. I love him now and want to keep him and make him an elf outfit for Christmas.

I was really happy to see the doll fits with Barbie furniture better than my 5stardoll Mia. This gave me another reason to keep the doll. I really love dollhouse sized dolls. Mia is going to be pretty upset. I hope she doesn't pull a Robert the Doll on me.