This is the 6th of the new HD videos. It’s one you’ve seen before in SD, but I have also simplified it and made the explanations clearer.
When you watch the video, pay attention to the doll in the cable-knit sweater with the big glasses, the teddy bear and balloons. The doll is named: “Sylvia – Groovin’ Granny.” It’s actually a self portrait of Mimi.
I have just posted the new, HD version of How to Ladder Stitch. It has been considerably updated to include more information on properly pinning doll parts and to make the general presentation easier to understand. I hope you enjoy it.
Something new is coming up soon. I have just completed the 3rd Edition of Victoria Rose. It has been updated and simplified with more pictures. It can be displayed on your smartphone or tablet as well as on your computer and possibly your television. The instruction book (and 2 shopping lists) come in three formats: AZW for Kindle, EPUB for most smartphones and tablets, and PDF for large screens such as laptops and desktops, and for printing.
There are two special new features that are included in the pattern:
1. Mimi’s Video Handbook for Cloth Doll Makers contains 13 videos about all aspects of cloth doll making, including the new videos posted here recently. They will play as a regular DVD on your TV or computer, or you can play them as MP4 videos on your smartphone or tablet.
2. Mimi’s Basic Shopping List for Cloth Doll Makers discusses everything you may need for dollmaking from sewing machines to pins and needles, dressmaker’s shears, pipe cleaners for wiring fingers, armature materials and tools, and where to find everything along with specific brands and recommendations. It can save you lots of time and money by showing you what to get (and why) without having to do the research yourself.
It should be ready to go in the next two or three weeks. It is currently out being edited by Vicki Petticord to help make sure I haven’t missed anything, and that it is as simple as possible to understand and use. Look for the announcement here soon.
Jim
Here is a new video on disappearing markers for dollmaking. It includes the new Pilot FriXion heat-activated disappearing gel pen. Mimi and I created this as part of Mimi’s Mannequins, and I’m finally getting around to posting it. I have several more videos and patterns to post, so expect them soon.
Happy Dolling,
Jim
I have just put up two new HD videos covering Sewing Machine Basics for Dollmakers and Machine Stitching Techniques for Dollmakers. It’s basic, but important stuff. There are more coming soon as well as download and storyboard versions.
We want to know what you think about making our patterns and videos available for use on tablets and smartphones so that you can have the step-by-step instructions right next to your sewing machine. Do you think it will help us find more dollmakers? Do you like the idea or not? Do you have any suggestions? Please drop me an email Jim@JimWiner.Com. (or leave a comment here)
Thanks to all of you for your good wishes for Mimi’s health. The new chemotherapy (Vectibix, described in an earlier post) seems to be working well. Mimi is very tired, but still gets in 3 to 4 hours a day of dollmaking. She is working on Father Christmas sculptures for each of her grandchildren. After the new year, we hope to get back to publishing some new articles, videos, and patterns.
In the meantime, here’s our first Christmas Present for you, the new HD version of Anatomy: Scale & Proportion. It has been edited to make it shorter and easier to understand.
I’m hoping to be able to post every week as we have a lot of stuff to share. (I’ve tried to post this on Facebook, too, but I am not being very successful.)
Have a great holiday, and a happy new year!
Jim
Mimi’s Mannequins and Pattern Draping (Techniques for Dollmaking) is almost finished and it is spectacular. It has almost 6 hours of classroom video full of techniques for dollmaking. We began this project almost 5 years ago, and we got interrupted by cancer. Now we’re back on track for Christmas of 2015.
Mimi’s Mannequins presents quarter-scale male and female mannequins as separate patterns with a single set of instructions for both. The dollmaking workshop is all about techniques and the similarity of the human form. Mimi’s Pattern Draping shows you how to create patterns for clothing that will fit your own dolls. It uses the mannequins as tailor’s dummies for draping the clothing patterns.
We have condensed the 4-day dollmaking workshop and the 2-day pattern draping workshop into almost 6 hours of video. Unlike previous workshop DVD sets, we will not be manufacturing this one by ourselves. We are forced to go to a pre-ordering setup to have the money to pay for the manufacturing.
In addition to the video, Mimi’s Mannequins includes:
Who is it For?
In addition to the videos, the go-at-your-own-pace, step-by-step, picture-by-picture storyboards make Mimi’s Mannequins & Pattern Draping suitable for all levels of doll makers from beginner to advanced. You need some hand-sewing and machine-sewing experience, and it’s not really for first time (novice) dollmakers. It is particularly good for those who have trouble fitting clothes on dolls.
We’re opening a Kickstarter campaign on Thursday, Oct. 15th for pre-orders. We’re launching it on Kickstarter so we can raise enough money to publish the 4-DVD set. We’ve got some really great discounts, and some nice perks and souvenirs like the 2015 Kickstarter Hall of Fame at Mimidolls.Com, a chance to vote on features of what we do next, a signed & numbered limited edition, having your name listed in the ending credits, all the way up to a visit to Mimi’s studio.
Here’s the opening video that tells you about Mannequins. At the Kickstarter pre-order campaign.
You can also see the full video (24 minutes) of Lesson 5: Making Arm & Hands by visiting the kickstarter campaign.
Click to visit our Kickstarter pre-order campaign
We expect to mail in time for Christmas 2015 to the US and Canada (possibly later elsewhere) for orders received by the end of the Kickstarter campaign at midnight Nov. 15, 2015. (You can still order after that on Mimidolls.Com, but you’ll miss the special prices, perks, and Christmas delivery.)
We’ve opened the new Mimidolls.Com. Everything has changed to make it easier to use. The Studio Sale section is open and you can save up to 50% on books, magazines, videos, and everything while supplies last. (We’re moving and don’t have space.)
Mimidolls.Com New Home Page
The new home page has a list of category buttons on the left, and a group of subject tiles on the right. You can select any category or subject by clicking on the button, or, if you have a touch-screen or tablet, by tapping on the category button or subject tile. The number of subject tiles displayed adjusts to fit on your screen.
If you have a small screen, like a netbook, hold down the CTRL key and press “-” to shrink the page so you won’t have to scroll sideways. If you have a giant page, hold down the CTRL key and press “+” to expand the page and make the type larger and easier to read. The F11 key makes the display full screen without the browser at the top and bottom. F11 again brings back the browser. Finally, if you have a wheel on your mouse, you can use it to scroll up and down in the subject tiles.
Navigation Panel
Getting around Mimidolls.Com is easy. Simply click any category 
button at the left to display appropriate subject tiles and then read or click on a subject tile. Some subject tiles have full information (just a little bit) available by scrolling on the tile itself. Other subject tiles open new pages with the information described in the tile.
Click the return 
button to get back to the same category, or click any category for the desired category.
Some related pages are connected by previous 
and next 
buttons that let you see all of the pages in the group without going back to the category each time.
Mimidolls.Com Polilcy Page
For example, the “Contact Us / Policy” button at the top shows you tiles about our policies. Similarly, the “Studio Sale” button near the bottom shows you subcategory tiles for all of the things we don’t have the space to take with us. Check out the bargains — most items are priced at half price or less compared to other sites or eBay.
Mimidolls.Com Studio Sale
We’ve also posted our latest FREE Video Tutorial for dollmakers: Anatomy: Scale and Proportion on the home page and the Video Tutorials page.
Beau of the Ball by Mimi. 20″ muslin — One-of-a-Kind — Prototype. ODACA Convention Centerpiece.
Beau is a cloth doll. His body is sewn from Mimi’s original Stud Muffin (Indoor) pattern using a 240 thread count muslin. He is stuffed with Airtex Premium polyfil.
His clothing is mid 15th century. He wears canions and trunk hose (undergarments), silk knit hosen and garters made from golden Kreinik thread. His shoes are painted leather fastened and embellished with antique buttons.
His coral canions are made from silk chiffon. His pansied slops (short, wide breeches) are silk stuffed with netting. (The ones actually worn at that time were often stuffed with the slashed garments of the man he bested in a duel.)
His chemise (shirt) is silk. The cuffs are embellished with antique French gold lace. Buttons are seed beads. His jerkin is golden silk lined in coral silk. The shourlder wings are embellished with gold lace as are the jerkin front and neck.
The picadis on the hem of the jerkin are lined in the same coral silk embellished as the rest of the garment. His ruff is several layers of orange silk netting.
His cape (not shown) is made of re-embroidered (gold on gold) silk lined with a coral and gold silken fabric and embellished with Kreinik threads.
His mask is cut from the same fabric lining the cape, trimmed with antique French lace and tied with Kreinik ribbon.
Hair, goatee, moustash and eyebrows are hand dyed short curly fabric.
And here’s Mimi’s latest doll: Beau of the Ball
Mimi’s Christmas sale is still going on. Get 20% off DVD sets and most E-patterns.
(Opens a new tab.)
Mimi will be online for a chat with dollmakers on:
Friday, December 2, from 7-9 pm Eastern time and
Sunday, December 4, from 6-8 pm Eastern time.
We have two NEW FREE videos to show you how to get to the chat room.
Join the Screaming Mimis Workshop Step 1 of 2 shows you how to get a FREE Yahoo! account that can be used for groups and email.
Be sure to put in a birthday that shows you at least 18 years old or you aren’t allowed in the chat room!
Join the Screaming Mimis Workshop Step 2 of 2 shows you how to join the workshop when you already have a Yahoo! account.
You need to sign in to Yahoo! with your Yahoo! account ID and not your regular email address to get to the chat room!
Check them out and come visit with Mimi Saturday, 12/2, and Sunday, 12/4/2011.
How can it be a Mimi Doll without a needle-modeled face? See for yourself! I painted the face of the male mannequin (manikin) and we made a FREE VIDEO that you can watch on here and at (http://Mimidolls.Com).
Mimi’s Mannequins are a pair of adult dolls, a 15½” female and a 17″ male. They are very easy dolls to make. The shape is built into the patterns and the techniques are built into the instructions. The 2-disc Dollmaking Workshop Classroom on a DVD will be available in mid-November, 2011.
The body requires little or no needle modeling – just a stitch or two to pull the breasts in and make the crotch V-shaped so the legs will fit. The face doesn’t need to be needle modeled at all. (You can if you want to, or paint eyes, or just leave it blank.)
The second disc is a class on how to drape the bodies and feet to make basic contemporary patterns for bodices, shirts, skirts and pants, and shoes as well as wigs. Once you understand how to drape you can drape anything, even a horse.
Be sure to keep track of the status here on the Diary of a Mad Dollmaker blog. There’s a place over at the end of the right column where you can get an email subscription.
Happy Dolling,
Love,
Gloria (“Mimi”)
http://Mimidolls.Com
Diary of a Mad Dollmaker 