I research to find the best pictures to work from. I do all the work myself. Much to my husbands dismay I’ve taken over much of the basement. I have about 110 different reproduction head molds, and 20 or so body molds that go with the head molds. Pouring the porcelain into authentic reproduction molds is the first step, then cleaning and firing the greenware into porcelain. It takes up to 4 firings to finish painting the faces.

The bodies are a bit more involved. There are many more parts to pour. I use a papier-mâché slip that gives the bodies a real old fashion look and feel. Once they are dry and painted the bodies are strung together. Some of the bodies can be leather. I have many patterns that are copied from antiques bodies that fell apart. Then there are cloth bodies too. The leather and cloth bodies are stuffed with very fine sawdust. I have a great lumberyard that saves only the finest sawdust.

So, now we have a body with a head. The eyes come next. I use only glass eyes. It’s always a joy to set the eyes, and they seem to come alive.

The wigs are next. Most of my wigs are made from mohair. Mohair comes from a goat. I have a woman from Oregon who raises mohair goats and she has one in particular, named Katie, which grows the best fleece. Sometimes it’s 12 in long. I get the raw fleece. It has to be washed, combed, and wefted into long pieces. From this point I sew the lengths to a wig cap in the style I want for each doll. I do have some dolls with human hair wigs and these I do purchase. Some things are better left to the manufactures.

Then it’s on to the clothes. I only use the type of fabric that was available around the turn of the century, like silk, wool, cotton and linen. I’m lucky enough to have a relative that lives quite near NYC. I love to go fabric shopping in the garment district. I can find all the best fabrics and accessories. I also try to find old fabrics , trims and laces to give that antique feel to my dolls. All my dolls have cotton batiste underwear and slips. The trims and laces are also cotton. Most ribbons are china silk or silk satin. For the dresses I’ve been lucky enough to find many copies of old patterns. It’s amazing how detailed some of them are. I did dressmaking for 25 years, and some of these patterns are more difficult and time consuming. The end result is well worth it!
The last stage is the shoes. Most of the shoes are made of leather. Some of the French dolls have cloth or satin shoes. Again I fashion all my own shoes. Each pair is custom made for each doll. I have a large collection of old leather so the shoes have that wonderful aged look.

I pay very close attention to every little detail. I do all of this, not only because I love to do it, but also to make the best reproduction of the original doll possible.

Please feel free to browse through all the doll pages. All of my dolls are for sale unless otherwise noted.

Thank you for visiting Evelyn Meyer Dolls. :)