polymer vs. porcelain: I absolutely believe dolls made from hand sculpted clay take more time! I've done both, so I think I'm qualified to put in my opinion. In porcelain, the time SEEMS longer because after pouring you have to wait for the greenware to dry, then clean it, and then fire it. After that, it still needs sanding, painting, and refired if face paint requires it. But you're doing a lot of other pieces at the same time, so it's hard to calculate exactly how long each doll takes to make. I can get all the parts to about 20 dolls in a kiln load. So if you divide all the time by 20, it still is less than if you were sculpting each doll from scratch.
On the subject of the artist who didn't send the Elvis doll - I don't think there's a miniature Elvis doll mold out there (maybe there is) but perhaps she is sculpting his head and face, which would take more time, but not 7 months.

Paulette in IN

polymer vs. porcelain: Pearl, I see your point. I assumed that the Elvis was a custom doll (much like my portrait dolls) and not one made from a previous mold. Therefore, starting from scratch, the whole process can take 3 months or more. When I make a portrait doll I make a model first, then the mold and finally the finished doll. I make a mold even though it will be a one-of-a-kind to ensure that there are no kiln disasters which would require starting over from scratch.
It is true that dolls made from previously made molds would go much quicker. How quickly depends on several factors. If the doll maker only makes the doll in one way - one pose for hands - eyes one color- etc. and he/she is not out of any of the parts, the doll would only have to be put together and costumed. If there are a number of choices, including custom posed hands, eye color etc., the wait can be longer. Invariably someone orders a doll that needs a custom posed hand immediately after you've just fired the kiln.
So they not only have to wait for their posed hand, but the rest of the kiln must be filled before firing. China painting also takes a lot longer as we can end up doing up to 10 separate firings. If the artist offers a lot of dolls and options (i.e. shoe styles etc.) then they are more likely to be out of parts. How long it takes to fill a kiln also depends on the doll artist/maker. Some doll artists refine all the parts before they go in the kiln. For me, each head takes an hour of 'resculpting', to make all the features as realistic as possible. The hands and shoes also take a good bit of time. Some other doll makers don't do much more than get rid of the seams. They can have a full kiln load much quicker.
So Pearl, I agree with you that a polymer doll would take longer to make than one that is made from already made porcelain parts. I know that the models for my portrait dolls and some of my regular dolls take up to 40 hours to sculpt. The shoes also take about that long. So yes, polymer dolls do take longer in that respect. But then, you are nearly finished. The porcelain doll artist is just getting started. The molds and all the firings take a lot longer, not to mention all the time we spend waiting for things to dry. I was thinking that Elvis had to start out a lump of clay, so to speak, and so he would take longer than a regular porcelain doll. :-)

Debbie Olsen

Glue for wigging: I use plain old Elmers Glue for wigging miniature dolls. Let it set til it's a little tacky and it's easier to work with. If you don't like the results you can pull the hair right off a porcelain doll head, or of it's polymer, you can wet the hair and because Elmers is water soluble, it will come right off and you can start over.

Paulette Stinson

Glue for wigging: "How difficult is it to remove hair that doesn't work? What kind of glue should I use?"
It's not too hard. When I want to remove a wig, I usually put the doll in a 250 to 300 degree oven for a short time to soften the glue... then I yank it off. I use Aileen's tacky glue and it seems to work just fine.

Viola

Raggedy Ann & Andy - Sizes: You asked about making Raggedy Anns and Andys in miniature. First- yes, people love those dolls and they should sell well. 2" for a 1:12 scale is a little large (would be a 24" doll) but I have seen them that size. They would be a little large to display in a doll's arms. The 1 1/4" doll would probably look more real to life. (would be like a 15" tall dolly) It would be too large, I think, for 1/2" scale - I don't think you could go over 1" for that scale. Remember, a grown adult man doll would only be 3" (corresponding to a 6 ' tall man)- so a child is only about 1 1/2"- 1 3/4" tall. I think you would only need boxes if the dolls were to be displayed for sale in a toy shop, and maybe not even then. (They could sit on shelves) People wouldn't need boxes if the dolls go right into a scene; in a doll's arms or in a bedroom or nursery. That's my "2 cents' worth".

Paulette in IN

Homes Tea Cozy: I believe the website you are looking for is mine -
http://www.weedarlings.com

The Homes tea cozy kit was also featured in the Dollhouse Miniatures, July 2001 issue, Kits Blitz article. Just click on the cross stitch kits buttons to view the kits page.

Thanks, Debra

Tea Cozies: They can be made out of just about anything, just as long as it retains the heat:). I made a real sized one via crochet last year for my teapot, and it can keep the tea in it hot for 3 hours at least even on the coldest of days. I have also knitted mini cozies. There are also cozies that hide various things like toasters and such, usually those ones are fabric but not always and can be very plain but can also mimic animals or whatever.

Kim from Canada

Quilts: The problem with "totally sewn quilts" is that they are very stiff in miniature, making them very difficult to drape naturally onto a bed. Lolly's Lilliputians sells a Yellow Booklet with lots of how-to projects and in it are instructions for making a pillow (make it bigger and it's a quilt) that drapes beautifully... new sewing at all. Her web page is http://www.lollyinc.bigstep.com and she shows the pillow that one of her customers made from the instructions.
This is the way I've done it: I cut a strip of cardstock about 1/2" wide and about 7 or 8" long (the length the quilt should be). Then I wet a strip of fabric and place the cardstock strip inside it. (The fabric should be wide enough to wrap around the width of the cardstock and overlap in the middle with the raw edge turned under). After I've wrapped the fabric around the cardstock, I iron it until it's dry. It now resembles bias tape except that it's not cut on the bias. Then I slide the card stock out of the material, and use the cardstock strip to make another fabric strip. That way I can chose the colors and patterns of material that I want for my quilt.
After I have enough fabric strips, I follow the pillow-making instructions in order to assemble it to become a quilt. I've always been very pleased with the results and it's so easy to do.

Viola

Easy Quilt: thought I'd share my easy quilt with you. I cut up lot's of tiny triangles of material and ironed them onto Vilene/iron-on lining in rows. i them used a small piece of quilt padding and a backing material cut to the size of the bed. stitched them all together over the raw edges of the triangles with a small close zigzag satin stitch and then used a matching ribbon to bind the edges, i hope that made sense.

Julia

Gauge: I find that the best way to test how big your work will be is to make swatches. All a swatch is is an example of the work done with x thread and y hook, just made into a simple square. Remember to always keep a note on the swatch to what went where! Then with the swatch you can figure out the stitches per inch and the rows per inch that any given thread and needle combination that are unique to your tension, and then be able to figure out how tall the animal will be approximately (remember there is a stretching too, so your actual finished size may vary a bit after stuffing.).
It is somewhat tedious to make these swatches, but once done and labeled you don't have to make any more and you will have a library of information when you decide what will work best (and you can use it for other projects too). They are also nice because you can see the texture of the material as well.
The math isn't really that scary, as when you have the swatches all you need to do is count and compare it to rows in your pattern, no worse than any other math we do inadvertently in minis;). You do get a feel for what will work best, too, and after a few different threads it becomes apparent what will work and what won't. You can also get away with thicker threads when you knit, as the stitches tend to fall smaller and the fabric is thinner at completion.

Kim From Canada