Dory O’Dell

You met Dory O’Dell yesterday on Bellamine’s post. She is my latest completed project which took me nearly a month to make from the time I started sculpting her head to the last button I stitched onto her little overalls. 

While visiting with my sister Maggie last month I saw a doll that she was remaking and fell in love with it. She had given the doll a new head and the cute little face with the big blue eyes and the mouth with the pouty lips inspired me to try making another doll as well. When I told Maggie I was tempted to try my hand at doll making again she said she would give me a copy of the pattern for the doll body she used if I was interested. Being the lazy old broad that I am I took the pattern.

Remember this photo from the post I did awhile back?

What a big difference having hair makes to one's appearance.

Maggie has finished her doll, Agnes May and posted photos on her blog, Off My Rocker on Thursday. After seeing how adorable little Agnes turned out I wasn’t sure I wanted to post pictures of Dory so soon as I didn’t want people comparing the two and have Dory come up short. Maggie is a much better doll artist and her talent and skill makes me feel like such an amateur. Check the link above to see Maggie's sweet doll. I'm sure you'll agree with me that she really is adorable.

Although our dolls are similar in the way they were made, and the pattern I used for the body is the one I got from Maggie with only minor adjustments, the two dolls really look nothing alike.

Dory O’Dell is a modern little girl who is happy running and skipping and jumping. She likes wearing jeans or overalls rather than a dress because you can’t hang upside down or turn a cart wheel or do a somersault in a dress. Her curly hair is cut short to keep it looking as neat as possible. Dory doesn’t worry about getting dirty when she plays. Thoughts like that never cross her mind.

Dory’s hat and little pair of overalls is made from soft up cycled denim from a work shirt and her blouse with the rolled up sleeves and the reverse side of the hat are fashioned from good quality quilting fabric. The patterns used for the outfit are my own creations that were made especially for this little doll.

Dory’s head is made with paper mache clay that has been painted with acrylic paints and sealed with Mod Podge. Her hair is made from crepe wool. The head has been attached to the body so that it can be turned from side to side. The body is made of bleached muslin using Maggie’s pattern which had to be modified so I could make it smaller and so the legs could be jointed to the body to make her easier to pose in different positions. For whatever reason I’m really into making things that can be posed. I can’t explain it, but I have to be able to pose things. Must be some control issues I need to work through. I then painted the arms and legs with acrylic paint.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the cute little blue shoes that Dory is wearing are made by applying paper mache clay directly over her muslin feet. The little droopy socks will always be just as they are now because that’s the way they were made.

At 13 inches tall, Dory is about 2 inches shorter than Maggie’s little Agnes May. I have another doll in the works that will become Dory's younger brother, Donner. It may take awhile until he's finished because I have several I'm working on at once and I have a habit of hopping (not literally) back and forth and work on whatever I feel like working on at the moment.

Hope you and yours are healthy and happy and enjoying each day and as always, thanks for stopping by.