 |
| From left, the 3-piece wig turned inside out, beret wig in pink and orange, felt beret, and shaped strip wig. |
Why fake fur? It's easily available in small strips, it has
a knit backing and will stretch a bit, and it comes in nonhair colors. Dollar
stores have headbands of fake hair in electric blue, orange and hot pink. Pop
stars have hot pink, dull green and violet hair. Dolls might like fantasy hair
as well.
I have 3 bald 12 inch dolls, one Effanbee, one Totsy fashion
doll from the 1980s, and a fashion doll sold by Eagle Stores in the 1980s. My
mother acquired the Effanbee blank doll when Effanbee sold unwigged
unclothed dolls. The Totsy and Eagle dolls
lost their hair in chemical reactions when the head vinyl and the hair fiber
disagreed. One day I looked at my unopened Totsy box and thought she looked
strange. I opened the box, and her hair fell to the bottom. The Eagle doll had
come on a card and spent most of her time in a cardboard box with other fashion
dolls. Three dolls needed hair and I didn't feel like rerooting any of them.
A video on My Froggy got me started. The My Froggy wig is a beret made from fake fur, and the
dolls in the video look wonderful. I
eyeballed the first one and followed instructions carefully. Yes, the wig goes
on the bald doll and even on one with hair. It fits Tropical Totsy but looks nowhere
near as nice as the wigs on the video. I
returned to the video and followed links to an earlier one on making a felt
beret to be sure of size. This was a disaster. My felt beret is a dandy size
for a beret. It produced too large a wig, and my cutting too large an opening
for the head didn't help matters. Given specific dimensions, I would have been more successful.
I moved on to the three piece wig style used
in making wigs from sheepskin. I laid Effanbee on a piece of paper, drew
around her head, and created a notch for an ear. This is the side pattern
piece. Cut two, flipping the pattern. A long strip runs from front to back of
the head. I had no expectations for this
and hadn't even tried to neaten the rough pattern. It worked beautifully, and
is a technique I should try on all my big-headed dolls, from What's Her Face to
Liv. I'm now in love with the Effanbee doll.
For the Eagle Stores doll, I used a single strip of fake fur the length of her head from forehead to nape
of neck in back. Folding it lengthwise with fur sides facing, I pinned the
curve of her had at the top, cut and stitched it. Pretty good. I could have stopped with this, but I
gathered the other end. The results amazed me. The Eagle Stores doll went from so-so
brunette to bald doll destined for giveaway to OOh, I LIKE her! I pulled a few strands of fake fur to the
front and trimmed them into bangs. I'll be making this again and again.Tropical Totsy will get a sleeker look.
These were shoved onto the dolls without styling. I was so thrilled with my success that I took pictures first and thought about styling later.
