Often times I have a customer who would like me to make a doll in a person’s likeness but cannot afford the fees for a one of a kind sculpted doll.

There are other more affordable ways to have a doll made that will resemble a person.  It helps if you have a good repoire with your dollmaker/artist.  They should be willing to work with you to find the right face and talk about options for hair, painting style, gloves, etc.

My customer wanted me to make a doll kit that she will dress of her daughter for her wedding.  She did not want a custom sculpted doll.  She chose the face from my selection of doll kits I carry on my website: Gina Bellous Dolls .  After narrowing it down, she chose Lydia from a mold by Stacy Hofman.  I had to agree with her that this was a good choice.  It is a mold that is not available commercially, but has no dropped shoulders.  Her daughter is wearing a strapless gown and her shoulders will be bare so no matter what type of shoulders we chose, there will be a seam showing.

This is Alex.  She is such a pretty girl.  After making both dolls, I realize that her hair will be worn down like in the photo so doll #1 with the full arms will work just fine, but I like the face of doll #2.

I decided to make 2 dolls and let her choose which one she likes best.  To offer a variation of the shoulders I cut the head off of Stacy’s doll and put it on my Victoria body and flattened the bustline a bit.  This gave the doll a nice youthful neckline and  body.  I was able to squeeze her face a bit when I removed it from the mold to make it narrower.