Crafting post: Duchess Swan's Makeover, part 1

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven! Today, I'm bringing you guys a little something different. Hopefully, you guys remember that earlier, I picked up the basic doll for one of my favorite Ever After High characters, Duchess Swan. (And in the same post, I complained about all the changes they made to her design.) I figured, why not be proactive and give her a makeover to have her look more like the cartoon/webisode design, since that's what I liked?

Thus, I have undertaken the process of giving Duchess a makeover to have her look more like her classy, sassy webisode design. It's the first time I've ever done anything like this, so I've documented my process here step by step: feel free to use my ideas as a template if you're planning on doing something similar!

I've broken this post down into multiple posts, to save on space. Look for the second part coming soon! Everything can be found after the jump.

Okay, so step one on my list was to figure out what exactly I needed to change. I compared Duchess' doll with the original design to note the differences. I determined that I needed to do the following:

1. Restyle her hair.
2. Repaint her accessories and shoes.
3. Buy her new pantyhose.
4. Tailor her dress.
5. Sew her a new petticoat.
6. Make her a new choker necklace.

Well, that's easier said than done, right?  Number three was the easiest: I went onto etsy, which is a great site for buying handmade crafts, and found a seller that makes clothes for Monster High/Ever After High dolls. All I did was type "monster high doll pantyhose," and was able to find some sellers. I picked out a pair of white pantyhose, which was about $5. A little expensive, compared to the official fashion packs you can buy, but hey, where else can you get this? Plus, it's handmade. (I'll point out that Duchess' tights are opaque, like the ones I bought, but have patterns on them. These don't, and I can live with that, since it is more true to the design than those horrible black fishnet stockings that make her look like a can-can vaudeville dancer.)

The other steps will require some craft supplies, so you can't start on them until you pick everything up... I will put a shopping list here of materials that I acquired, so if you want to replicate the process, you have an idea of what you need to get:

For her necklace:

• A teardrop-shaped amethyst-colored bead that is drilled horizontally; the smaller the bead size, the better. (Mine is about 1/8 of an inch thick and 1/4 of an inch long.)
• About 12-18 inches of thin black ribbon, about 1/8 of an inch thick.
• Some Velcro--one strip will be more than enough.

For her accessories:

• Acrylic craft paint in the following colors: silver (ideally metallic), black, white (ideally, pearl-metallic, but glossy will work too), a blue-tinted medium-to-dark purple, a blue-tinted lavender, and a dark ruby (ideally, gemstone-metallic).
• An acrylic sealer (I got a spray kind, be careful with the fumes!), ideally the non-yellowing kind.
• A fine-tipped paintbrush; make sure that it is one that you can use with acrylic paint. (Please do not use one of the brushes that you can get in the kids' craft sections for cheap. Spend the $3-4 and get a decent brush meant for this type of fine, delicate work.)

For her clothes:

• Doll tights/pantyhose (you can get these on etsy, like I did) in solid white or lace.
• A needle, white thread, and black thread.
• A small square of white fabric (about 2 inches by 2 inches should give you more than enough) that is shaded as close as possible to the shade of Duchess' white dress. Cotton or even a knit fabric would work.
• A strip of interfacing fabric, ideally heavyweight interfacing.
• About a square foot or so of tulle fabric. Stiffer tulle is easier to work with, but it depends on what you can find. Any neutral color will do.
• About 6 inches or less of elastic, no more than half an inch wide.
• You'll also be using the thin black ribbon (mentioned under the "necklace" part up above) for tailoring her dress.

For her hair:

• A fine-toothed comb with a long, thin handle.
• Hairspray: there is a kind for dolls, but you can also use human hair products. You can use hair mousse, too.
• A thin, short bobby pin.
• If you accidentally threw out the rubber bands that came in her hair, get some very small rubber bands; the brand Goody sells them under the name "Ouchless" rubber bands

You can find all of these supplies at craft stores and sewing supply stores; you might have the hair materials already, but if you don't, a quick trip to the grocery store or drugstore should take care of that. Once you have all of the supplies, you're ready to begin...But we'll leave that for another time.

Miss Scarlett is signing off for now!