Casting

First, porcelain slip is poured into a doll mold. This is the clay stage of the head. It will turn into porcelain after it's fired in a kiln at 2200F for 6 to 8 hours.

Painting

The head is carefully painted according to the picture of an antique doll. In order to complete the painting, it needs to be fired an average of 3 to 4 times.

Eye setting

Once the painting is completed, it's time to set the eyes. I use either brown or blue-gray paperweight glass eyes. Choosing the right eye size is very important. Inserting the eyes gives "life" to the doll.

Making the body

I use two kinds of doll bodies. One is a composition body, which is common in Jumeau or AT dolls. The other kind is a kid-body, which is often used for Bru dolls. I make composition bodies for my dolls by using body molds, but the kid-bodies I purchase and stain to give an antique look. Each brand of doll has a specific body style. It's very important to match the body style to the head.

Costuming

Costuming the doll is as important as creating the head. I try to recreate dolls that are true in their entirety to original antique dolls. I spend many hours researching the correct design for each doll before choosing colors and materials. Though I prefer to use antique fabric, I often use new silk and cotton. All the lace trim I use is antique to provide a vintage look. The undergarments are made of Swiss cotton batiste with French cotton lace. I also ensure that the design is correct to the era. Shoes are made of kid-skin. I use Jumeau and Bru style shoes which was
common for French dolls.

The wig

The wigs for my dolls are either mohair or human hair.
For the smaller dolls, I sometimes make the mohair wigs
so that I can create certain styles and colors.
My mohair comes from Australia and I hand dye it.
Styling the wig is also very important to achieve a correct doll look. While the right wig can make a doll beautiful, the wrong one can make it ugly .