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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Smaller, The Better...

Lucille asked, the other day, if I had a tutorial for making the quarter inch Tessie.  I don't.

I do need a new quarter inch Tessie though.  When she shrinks down and uses that body, she forgets that she is much more fragile and she tends to break bodies regularly.

The neck on her last body was cracked when I was taking photos, the other day.

I start with a couple of pieces of the same covered wire that I use for wicker.  The wicker wire is already cut, so I have a lot of pieces that are about 4" long.
I bend one of those in half and lay it along a ruler.  Then I bend where the heels of the feet will be.  In Tessie's case, that is 1 1/4".

I then wrap another piece around where the shoulders will hit.  It's a simple loop that I squeeze together with a pair of needle nose pliers.

The next part, I can't really show you.  I just start using a toothpick and an exacto knife to model a face.

For the hands and feet, I just make a loop at the ends of the wires and paint them skin colored.

Tessie came in and saw what I was doing and said, "You know.... You have never made me a half inch body to use.  I need one if you ever finish the Fairfield...  Get to work on that. Now!

So... I did as I was told.   That one still needs a bit of refining. She says that the arms are too clumsy. 

Hey!  At least it stands up by itself.  For that one, I do the head with a blob, the neck and shoulders are wrapped with a flat piece and refined.  So are the hands and feet. I do put #14 seed beads into the eye sockets on the half inch.  The 1/4" ones just get a dot of black ink for eyes.

I am sorry that I can't be more specific, but it is next to impossible to even get decent photos of the smaller sizes.

When I was taking the photo of Tessie with the  two bodies, Spike wandered in and, through Tessie as interpreter, politely requested a half scale of himself... I need to make his ears stand up more.

 I suppose that Tessie will want a quarter scale one as well...

After they are completely the way that I want them, they will go in the oven for just a few minutes for the smaller ones and about 15 for the larger half inch scale pieces.

Tomorrow, I will show you how to fill out the bodies and dress them.

See you then.

7 comments:

Giac said...

Hello Casey,
I'd go mad working on something that small... simply mad.You have my respect!
Big hug,
Giac

Simon said...

Very clever, I can't wait to see them out of the oven and fully clothed...
Si

elizabeth s said...

Hi Casey! Thanks for showing us how you make the mini Tessies! What I have always been impressed with Big Tessie, is her ability to stand upright! (Don't let Tessie know that I said that) She has perfect balance both she and Zar!
By the way you CAN tell Tessie that I like her new Pinafore with the ruffle around the shoulder. She hs probably had it on for a while but it was only now that I realized that the zebra stripe was no more.
My bad

elizabeth

mcddiss said...

seguro que esas mini mini miniaturas te quedaran genial

besitos

Mari

Julie said...

Thanks so much for taking the time to share this tutorial, Casey!
It is amazing the patience and expertise you have!
So clever!

Caseymini said...

Elizabeth, that is one of the main requirements for my people. They have to stand alone. They just naturally move by themselves...

The apron is one that Tessie has had for a while she literally has two closets full to choose from.

Lucille said...

Thanks, Casey! Wow! That's quite a process! So nice to see Spike in a smaller size. I suppose he wanted to participate in the 1/4 and 1/2 inch world right alongside Tessie!