Designing Rose
I'm writing this in answer to deliriousnanite 's comment made on the Rose - Back to the 50's doll pattern post.
From the viewpoint of the person following the pattern, she is the most complex for the hairstyle, the embellishments, the two color crochet of the feet, the extra stitching round the shoes, the torso shaping. She requires the most variety of materials and a knowledge of more of the basic embroidery stitches. Second most complex is Boomtown Rose, requiring more colors of yarn and more parts.
She was more challenging to design than the first Rose, even though some of the parts are the same. I studied photos of the costume from an exhibition and went through looking at lots of pictures. The first problem was finding just the right colors. I purposely decided it would be cuter to have a lighter color denim than the original. I looked at a lot of shades of pinks. This pink yarn shines and glows like her dress. Should it be the same pink for everything or different pinks? What color should her legs be? So that it would be easier for others to make her, I selected the same pink for all pink parts. The legs are heather gray rather than solid gray, so that it is clearer they are stockings and not bizarre skin color. Originally, the actress wore sheer black stockings.
The shoes and skirt were each prototyped a couple of times. I had to decide what to do about her shoes - separately made or part of the foot? Heel? What will the stylized chibi!shoes look like? So that the shoes wouldn't fall off and be lost, I chose to make them part of the foot and have a rounded "Minnie Mouse" style. The skirt - how to do pleats in crochet? How can I make it fluff up without an underskirt? Should I knit it with pleats instead? How many increases and where to get the right bell shape -- not too wide and just the right length. I decided to add a thin hoop of wire to help shape the pleats, like a real hoop skirt.
Torso: should the jacket be removable? Her sequined pink top is just so beautiful and it is all covered up. I opted for the original look. The sleeve is part of the arm because in the original they fit closely to the body. The torso itself is the same as the other Rose pattern. It was prototyped nearly 15 times to get it to be the right shape.
The hair. I studied photos from as many angles as I could find to replicate the hairstyle, which was more complex than the other Rose doll's. I discovered that she had a sort of beehive, a bun, loosely falling hair strands, and a hairband. The other haircap would not do. I created a different cap for this doll and did a couple of prototypes before I got a style match I was happy with. Then I made myself photograph it at every step so that others could make one too. I mean this stuff takes a heck of a long time. You think it takes long to follow a pattern? Designing and documenting take sooo much longer.
The face I always have trouble with. I do it over and over. It's tricky with chibi! faces. They are only to suggest the real features, not be the same as. I'm not completely happy with her lips. I feel like they should be bigger.
Another thing I struggled with were embellishments. At first I spent time embroidering a daisy on the jacket. When it finally was passable I realized that cloth would be better! I cut the flower out of felt and stitched it on with a french knot over the embroidery (just in case I changed my mind). I knew she had to have earrings and that I wanted them to be clear pink beads. I went out several times looking for them. I ended up buying a kit since I didn't have any tools and had no jewelry making supplies. Yeah, I know. Crafting insanity! But I just wouldn't be happy with it unless the doll had real dangly pink earrings.
You may think it a bit nutty to spend so much thought over a little 8 inch doll. But the fun of it is in the design problems that are presented, and working out what will solve them. Instead of focusing on techniques in crafting, I focus on what is it that I want as the end result. And I work backward from there to find out what I need to know to accomplish that end.
From the viewpoint of the person following the pattern, she is the most complex for the hairstyle, the embellishments, the two color crochet of the feet, the extra stitching round the shoes, the torso shaping. She requires the most variety of materials and a knowledge of more of the basic embroidery stitches. Second most complex is Boomtown Rose, requiring more colors of yarn and more parts.
She was more challenging to design than the first Rose, even though some of the parts are the same. I studied photos of the costume from an exhibition and went through looking at lots of pictures. The first problem was finding just the right colors. I purposely decided it would be cuter to have a lighter color denim than the original. I looked at a lot of shades of pinks. This pink yarn shines and glows like her dress. Should it be the same pink for everything or different pinks? What color should her legs be? So that it would be easier for others to make her, I selected the same pink for all pink parts. The legs are heather gray rather than solid gray, so that it is clearer they are stockings and not bizarre skin color. Originally, the actress wore sheer black stockings.
The shoes and skirt were each prototyped a couple of times. I had to decide what to do about her shoes - separately made or part of the foot? Heel? What will the stylized chibi!shoes look like? So that the shoes wouldn't fall off and be lost, I chose to make them part of the foot and have a rounded "Minnie Mouse" style. The skirt - how to do pleats in crochet? How can I make it fluff up without an underskirt? Should I knit it with pleats instead? How many increases and where to get the right bell shape -- not too wide and just the right length. I decided to add a thin hoop of wire to help shape the pleats, like a real hoop skirt.
Torso: should the jacket be removable? Her sequined pink top is just so beautiful and it is all covered up. I opted for the original look. The sleeve is part of the arm because in the original they fit closely to the body. The torso itself is the same as the other Rose pattern. It was prototyped nearly 15 times to get it to be the right shape.
The hair. I studied photos from as many angles as I could find to replicate the hairstyle, which was more complex than the other Rose doll's. I discovered that she had a sort of beehive, a bun, loosely falling hair strands, and a hairband. The other haircap would not do. I created a different cap for this doll and did a couple of prototypes before I got a style match I was happy with. Then I made myself photograph it at every step so that others could make one too. I mean this stuff takes a heck of a long time. You think it takes long to follow a pattern? Designing and documenting take sooo much longer.
The face I always have trouble with. I do it over and over. It's tricky with chibi! faces. They are only to suggest the real features, not be the same as. I'm not completely happy with her lips. I feel like they should be bigger.
Another thing I struggled with were embellishments. At first I spent time embroidering a daisy on the jacket. When it finally was passable I realized that cloth would be better! I cut the flower out of felt and stitched it on with a french knot over the embroidery (just in case I changed my mind). I knew she had to have earrings and that I wanted them to be clear pink beads. I went out several times looking for them. I ended up buying a kit since I didn't have any tools and had no jewelry making supplies. Yeah, I know. Crafting insanity! But I just wouldn't be happy with it unless the doll had real dangly pink earrings.
You may think it a bit nutty to spend so much thought over a little 8 inch doll. But the fun of it is in the design problems that are presented, and working out what will solve them. Instead of focusing on techniques in crafting, I focus on what is it that I want as the end result. And I work backward from there to find out what I need to know to accomplish that end.