Rhinestones: I have rhinestones for miniature jewelry I have them in 4ss, 5ss, and 6ss pointed backs and some flat backs. I have them in different colors. E-mail me fay@fay-vourite.com for information - -- Fay-vourite Crafts & miniatures co. http://www.fay-vourite.com.

Fay

Doll Molds: You also asked for where you could buy mini doll molds: House of Caron has a huge selection, and their web site is http://www.houseofcaron.com

Paulette in IN

Doll Molds:
http://www.houseofcaron.com/

http://www.lovemedollmolds.com/index.html

http://www.jannajosephdesigns.com/

http://www.jps.net/pardinas/

http://www.jeannordquistdolls.com/

http://www.swallowhilldolls.com/

There are many more!

Marilyn, MI

Doll Supplies: Someone was looking for knitting patterns and I saw that the House of Caron had Period Patterns by Lesley Roberts. She also has the hand blown glass eyes in sizes, 2,3,4,5,6, and 8mm's. There is also a miniature eye sizer set. There are all kinds of molds for making dolls and pottery and she has Paulette Stinson's molds and pattern books. If I was a doll maker...I sure would start here first. The address is House of Caron, 10111 Larrylyn Drive, Whittier, Ca 90603. Inquiries 562-947-6753. Fax 562-943-5103 or http://www.houseofcaron.com

Jan Haring

Medieval Clothing Patterns: I have some medieval patterns of the 'easy' type on my web site (for my other hobby, historical costuming). They are on a grid,so they can be scaled up, which I imagine means that they could be scaled downas well.
http://chimericalgirl.net/costume/costume/scapatt.htm

Maura Bass

Twinfirs Dolls: Joy was very easy to work with. Please be sure and look at her site if you haven't yet. http://www.twinfirsdolls.co.uk/

Terri in NC

Russian nesting dolls: At the Allentown PA show in May one of the dealers had them and I got two sets. The 5 nested doll set: the largest is just over one inch high, a tad large, however, the smallest is the size of a peppercorn, as Helen of York indicated.
He also had a smaller, three nested doll set which is about 3/4". They were very reasonable and exceptionally detailed, with even the smallest doll fully painted (I had to look under a magnifying glass to be sure). I paid very little for the two sets. He also has porcelain dishes and figurines and Faberge style eggs which are somewhat large but would work for 1" scale I think.

His contact information is:
Alex Telyatnikov, ABE Universal Vending, P. O. Box 654, Fogelsville PA
18051-0654.
e-mail is russiantreasure@hotmail.com
phone is 610-366-9434 and fax is 360-838-6216.
I have no financial interest in this company, just thought I would post if anyone wanted to check out the nested dolls. I think they are wonderful and if you use the last 3 of the 5 doll set, it would be perfect 1" scale.

Jo in the Poconos (of PA)

1/4 scale dolls: First I use a softer clay (I like pro-sculpt). I then put it on something to hold it so you never have to actually touch the face or head, such as a toothpick or putting it on foil, visit http://perfect-touch.com/ or visit my website http://BitsnPiecesOnline.com I am linked to them, and invest in some of their sculpting tools. They have war gaming tools that are incredibly small. I have the size up from that. They make all their tools and are very, very nice.

Joni

¼ scale Fimo head: Why don't you try to put a 'skin of Fimo over an already baked small circle or head from, so that it does not lose shape while you are working on it. You can also use a pea sized ball of tin foil as the armature.

Mary Kaliski

1/4" Sculpting: I have been trying my hand at sculpting in 1/4" scale as well. I feel your pain, lol. Actually I found a different sculpting medium for the smaller scales. The commercial name is Kneadatite. It's a blue and yellow ribbon epoxy. You take the two separate halves and mix them together until the mixture turns dark green. The texture is very similar to chewed chewing gum, yuk! The mix has about a three hour working time. It is easily added to and sticks well to itself. I have never had any adverse reaction from the epoxy, although I wash my hands after each use. I like it much better than Sculpey, etc. because I have hot hands. I'll try and post some pics of my leprechauns sometime soon. I've been sculpting a bunch of goblin heads for a doll maker from the movie, Labyrinth. I'll post some pics of them as well.

Shaun C

African dolls: looking for African dolls, if you want doll kits to make yourself with African skin tones, I believe Dana & Gwen of www.miniatureart.com will be able to help you. They made me an Asian lady kit and two Asian girls kits. I just looked on their web site and chose the doll kits I preferred, and they were made in Oriental colored porcelain just for me! Cute as a button! And the kits are wonderful - lots of materials in case you "mess up" and easy to follow instructions.

Whui

Wax dolls: Heidi asked about wax dolls as were made in days of yore. I was reminded that I have seen large porcelain dolls (we are talking close to life-sized here) who are coated in wax. They have a thin wax coating over the porcelain. Their "skin" glows with a depth that is very life-like. I wonder if you could take a miniature porcelain doll and buff it with paste wax (available at hardware stores) and get a similar effect? You may want to tint the wax to make a rosy glow...
I did a search in Google ( http://www.google.com ) for "wax dolls" and came up with these promising sites:
http://www.sowatzka.com/dolls/wax.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3808/lmakwax.html
http://www.hattonsgallery.com/antique/wax.cfm

Anne Gerdes

Faux Fur:
http://www.dollsinminiature.com/index_e.htm
http://msatminidolls.minilists.com/index.html
We have experts in this field who comb shops in Europe for the perfect material. We do not have to reinvent the wheel on this Mink Question. Or patterns for that matter. I have given two sites. The first is a lady in Belgium who carries wonderful findings. The second is an alphabetized list of doll makers and people who have specialties such as leather or feathers to be used for doll making. The MSAT mini dolls list is a great resource for people in any stage of making a miniature doll who might need a hint or two. They also run a contest using the same format every now and then that keeps things interesting. I play there often.

Laurie Sisson

Historical Fashion Site: Tracey requested a URL for Historical Fashion. I have The Costume Page bookmarked because it is a wonderful source for all kinds of things related to costuming on the web: books, supplies, museums, etc. I think that I probably learned about the site from a posting her on Small Stuff. Anyone interested in costuming, clothing, sewing, etc., full size or mini, will appreciate this site. http://members.aol.com/nebula5/costume.html

Rachelle Spiegel

Fur: I frequently use fur in my doll making (one of my least favorite parts). I either trim rabbit fur or any other type of fur I have found at garage sales and antique shows with a scissors or just recently with a dog clipper (do outside if possible!). I have found that a lot of furs have been pieced together and are not one nice, big piece of fur. Also the fur may appear a beautiful, rich black, or brown on the top, but as soon as it's cut short, the underfur is a different shade like a gray. I usually blow on it or sweep my hand across it to see what the underfur color is.

Connie Sauve

Costumes: This is a great site for those of you who like to dress your own dolls...loads of ideas to work with and loads of links too. http://www.costumes.org/

Sheena Cain

Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls: Carol Spence Sellner makes these and they're good sellers. You can see a picture of them on my web site at http://www.spminiatures.com/sellner.htm

Carol

Bunny Morris Molds: There is a doll supply shop here in the UK who sell Bunny Morris molds:
M.Wanke (UK) Ltd, Dollmaking Supplies and School, 468-470 Old London Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN35 5BG, Tel.01424 444 692. Bunny Morris is "Dollis Galore" 18 Beeston Green, Sandy, Bedfordshire. SG19 1PF Tel 01767 682 981. Both supply the molds and in some cases will send unpainted bisque.

Claire in Morecambe. England

Baby dolls: Read your question about anatomically correct babies. I just bought one from Darlene's Dolls. The one I bought was a boy but she also has little baby girls. These dolls are porcelain and she will give them any color hair you want. You can see them on her web site at: http://Darlenesdolls.com/

Katy in Concord

Dolls from Fimo: There are a lot of sources to get information on making miniature dolls from Fimo, here are some online:

http://www.englandthings.com/carrington/ James Carrington wrote a very nice book on this subject.

http://www.heaser.demon.co.uk/sue/suetemp.htm And so did Sue Heaser.

http://home.ici.net/~sams/happiness/howtos.htm Here you can learn a lot about size and proportion.

http://members.tripod.com/~Astralos/clay-intro.htm

Marjon de Haas