Trio of Forever Friends

      
                  She is the last of my customers trio of antique dolls. She was in remarkably good
            shape (aside from her neck socket disappearing into her body) and required what is
              considered to be "maintenance" repairs.

                       
                          Her sleep eyes were perfect and her mohair wig only needed mild
                      cleaning...Of course, she spent a few days with perm rods in her hair to
                       achieve a lasting curl...

                               
                                                                Pretty in Pink

C.M Bergman Baby repair

    

            
  This gorgeous baby is the second of my customers repairs...Once belonging to her Aunt..This little lovely had a broken wobble tongue which was attached to her (also broken) sleep eyes..What amazed me was the fact that the mechanisim had broken into three seperate pieces but NO damage was done to her pristine head....Her outfit was in very good condition and only required light cleaning and mending.....

Paper-Mache Restoration

Finished doll with handmade dress using Vintage fabrics...Replacement antique blown glass eyes...
Hand knotted human hair wig

   
        
               This young lady is part of a trio of antique dolls that were sent to me for repair...She
      was a childhood doll of my clients Grandmother.  Quite large (32") and stuffed with straw and
      sawdust......As you can see, she was in rather poor condition....The back of her shoulder-plate
      had been broken off ( with some pieces missing)...Body was too fragile to handle and was
       missing an arm...no eyes or wig..... Stunning face and the most gorgeous painted legs with black
        boots...


Shouldplate rebuilt using paper-mache and reinforced underneath with Bondo for added strength

      

A new arm was sculpted for her using paper-mache..A replacement arm was impossible to find and
one original arm is always better than two replaced ones

     
      

Happy Baby Compo Repair





               A  problem commonly found with compo dolls.....Paint peeling or "lifting" from the surface of the composition base....Appears more often where there is more detail..such as deep crevices ( nostrils or corners of the mouth) Maintaining a consistant temperature in your dolls enviornment  helps to slow down or eliminate many composition dilemmas.... Happy Dolling              

Treasured Moments

Forever and Ever

Pretty Porcelain Problems

 

 Here is another example of age and "porcelain vs. gravity". Her

body was in such grave condition that you couldn't touch it without it disintergrating. Her clothing was in the same condition, fell to dust when handled..Once repairs were done to her pretty little head ( fortunately there was no damage to her face) I was able to obtain a beautiful leather body with perfect joints and compo arms. ( KISMET!! They were destined to be together !! ) Her auburn mohair wig was cleaned and curled. Once repaired she was given a new dress, pantaloons and slip (made by Moi!)...Her shoes were the only article of clothing, unfortunately, that is original to her. Again, this is why we "do what we do"....An otherwise worthless little Dolly now has a certain amount of value ( even if it is only sentimental) and she is able to grace any collection with her antique charm....

Dydee Baby Re-Invention

Some Babys that I receive simply cannot be restored to their original beauty...and I will not destroy a doll to repair one...( Kind of defeats the purpose)

                                                         

The rubber in her body wasn't the only thing that had deteriorated...So plastic surgery was needed and she received new ears sculpted from cold porcelain.....

A new baby body made of vinyl airbrushed to match her head ( Which was airbrushed,as well) Brand new outfit and she is all ready to go home with her Mom. Granted the value isn't there , but she is lovely,again, and ready to begin her new life....