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The Show Me Doll Club did this as a club project in 2001 and it was a big hit with everyone! |
| Before the instructions - here's some comments on how other doll clubs have done their Friendship (or Round Robin) Dolls..... |
| Canadian Doll Artists Association | |
| For those
of you interested in doing "Round Robins" with your group there
is an excellent example of one that was completed by CDAA members last
year. I was so lucky to be a part of it. It was a learning experience
and a lot of fun! (the doll I sculpted became the Red Leprauchan) Here
is the link to the site with photos and the participating artists explaining
each stage: CDAA Round Robin Tracy Tremblay, King's Court Creations |
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| From Kelsey in Perth,
Western Australia Six members of our doll club are doing a "round robin doll swap" for the second time. We used the same group as last time and it's still a hoot!. Each of us make a head and body (finished doll to be approx. 16-20" in height) , it can be in coloured fabric or plain fabric but with no needle-sculpting or anything else done to it. This is then put into a BIG bag and passed on to the next person (you have to work out an order - we went with alphabetical - it was easiest). The next person does the arms & hands and attaches them to the doll. This is passed again so the next person does the legs & shoes. Passed once again so the clothing can be done. This is then passed so the hair and face can be added. Finally, the 6th person gets it to embellish & add any accessories. Everyone gets to do one thing to each doll. We then organised a dinner at a restaurant and made much fuss of presenting them to each person who had made the original head and body. I made some little cards for each of us that said "Head & Body by ........ Arms by......... Legs by........." etc. so everyone had a record of who had done what. The dolls turned out absolutely amazing and the pieces were swapped at each doll club meeting so we had a month before the next bit had to be done. We have since had two other groups of 6 ladies doing the same thing. It was definitely worth doing and the dolls are great! |
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The Show Me Doll Club did this as a club project in 2001 and it was a big hit with everyone! |
| The Friendship Dolls begin as a basic, unadorned, cloth doll body made by participating club members. You can all do different body patterns or do them all alike - it's fun either way. The bodies are placed in a brown paper grocery bag and brought to the meeting at the start of the project. |
| A Coordinator of the Friendship Doll Project (a non-creating participant) assigns everyone a "secret" number, keeping a record of who has what number, and marks each doll's bag with the original creator's number. Only the coordinator knows everyone's number. Depending on the number of participants, a plan is created to assure that everyone has a chance to do all of the assignments (listed below), that all dolls are completed, that the participants only get the doll one time each, and that no one gets their own doll. |
| A list of what assignment is to be done each month and a space for the participants to write their number next to the assignment they completed is included in each doll bag by the Coordinator. As each participant adds their special creative touch to the doll, they sign their number on the card beside the part they completed and on the outside of the paper bag. The Coordinator exchanges the closed bags at the next meeting, following the Coordinator's plan. Every month thereafter the dolls are exchanged, in closed bags, among the participants, taking care that no one participant gets the same doll twice. |
| 1 | At the first meeting everyone brings their basic blank doll body in a bag, the Coordinator assigns numbers and passes out these dolls to the participants. |
| The first month each participant is responsible for creating the facial expression on the doll. | |
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In the second month the participants are responsible for the doll's hair -- color and style to compliment the features created previously. |
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The participants are responsible for dressing the doll. |
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The doll is given the doll some underwear and shoes to wear by the participants. |
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In the fifth month the dolls are given accessories to compliment the outfits. |
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The sixth month is "Show and Tell". Every participant brings the doll they have just finished working in a closed bag and gives it to the Project Coordinator. |
| The Coordinator presents the dolls to the original (doll body) participants. | |
| Of course every Club member is anxious to autograph the dolls they've worked on for their friends who have participated in making their new doll and then taking it home to show off. | |
| Don't forget to have everyone Sign the Dolls they worked on and take pictures! |
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| Stuffing | |
| Type and method of filling the body is important to make the doll skin smooth. Small pieces of cotton batting or polyfil may be used to stuff the body, but should be done in such a way that the body is smooth on completion. One way to do this is to put a "lining" inside the body using a single piece of cotton batting; then filling with smaller pieces of batting or polyfil | |
| Faces | |
| Create a face on the cloth doll using freehand, stencil, or iron-ons. Many commercial doll patterns have face patterns that can be used. Suggested ways to complete the face creation: Acrylic paint, colored pencils, gel pens, embroidery floss, permanent paint pens, iron-ons (either purchased or done on a computer and printed with the special iron-on paper), buttons and/or beads. Don't be afraid to create a face - it's easy and their is no bad face! | |
| Clothing | |
| The dolls tend to tell you who they are and what to dress them as. You may make the outfit from an existing pattern or create an original costume. There are many commercial patterns available from your local craft or fabric store for dolls. You can always size any pattern to fit your doll using a copy machine and proportion wheel. | |
