So, I'm making another one and thought I'd take pictures of the process, what I do. I don't know why, just.. thought I'd share. I'm constantly refining it so this is slightly different than Fear Darrig, and rather different than Otto and so on, at least of those works I have taken photos of and made available. This particular method I like very much though. Deirdre's played with it quite a bit and it's no worse for wear, so this is not a fragile doll or dollmaking method. The head armature is there for proportion, it twists off to be sculpted over and baked separately.

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Step one. Create the armature out of wire. The limb wires are twisted around the spine wires and then soldered in place (see upper right hand corner). Then everything is wrapped in masking tape for a few reasons, to decrease slipperiness for the batting to be applied later, to eliminate sharp points from the wire which also make batting and stockings more difficult to apply and to provide a bit of cushioning and added strength over the wire.