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A broken ankle
Those of you who have been with me for a while might remember that in 2003 I took a class in Color and Design at the University and made a fabulous cloth doll for the final assignment. She is an adaption of Pam Grose's Basic Woman and is named The Last of the Faeries. I had posed her so she was a bit bent over with osteoporosis. Probably not my best idea as she's always had a bit of a problem with leaning. She's traveled a bit for art shows and this month she got knocked over while we were decorating the house. Well, she has a huge problem now ...
Her ankles have folded. I imagine the stuffing has compressed from the weight or something. The bad news is this doll is gessoed and painted; she's stiff as a board. I don't think there is a way to take it apart and fix it without leaving big holes in the bottom of her foot or something. Plus I actually used Aves Apoxie Sculpt to stick the one foot to the base. Like I said - she ended up with some real balance problems after a while. I did manage to stick a rod up one leg and it helped for a while. It's such a shame. This is my absolute best doll; my pride and joy. Look how far off balance she is - that's a good inch of foam under the one foot. I'm very sad. She's down in my studio now waiting for me to figure out what to do with her. Any ideas?
Hmm... perhaps you could put a thin layer of apoxie sculpt over her ankles and then a thin layer of paperclay over her entire legs, ankle and feet?
Posted by: Linda Fleming at December 29, 2007 6:58 PMMaybe you could make her a leg brace and use it as part of the overall look to go along with the osteoporosis. You could even add an creative shoe lift of some sort.
Posted by: Daria at December 29, 2007 7:04 PMI am facing a similar situation with my Pam Grose doll. I haven't even mounted her yet and her legs are sagging. I am going to add more stuffing through the soles of her feet to see if that will give her flesh a little more support. If she were mine I would first see if I could add some stuffing through a hole that could later be covered, and then attempt some camoflage. Not shoes(it would be a crime to cover those wonderful feet) but maybe some kind of leg wrapping to coordinate with her costime?
Posted by: JudiA at December 29, 2007 7:07 PMWhy don't you make her some fabulous fairy orthopedic shoes..the kind that cover the ankles?
I can see them now! Support hose might work too...
What if you amputate her legs above her hem line.... maybe even at the thigh.. make her some new legs altogether...?? You could probably get them gessoed and painted about the same colour with some effort.
This time put in some fairly heavy gauge wire and stuff well all around it before going any further.
Or.... add some more gauzy fabric or something to her costume... let drape very low around her ankles to cover the imperfection.
Or.... let her sit... on a lily pad or something woodsy ?? Bury her feet in moss? After all she has been standing for years...she has osteo.. she could be a very tired little lady.
Or.... Lengthen the skirt portion of her outfit...... bend her legs or surgically alter them at the knee so you can get them to bend... and she can sit with them under her..mostly hidden by her costume.
From the title, I thought you'd broken YOUR ankle!
You need to see the fantastic purchase I made after Christmas. It's at my blog.
As for your lovely doll, I hope you get her ankles fixed!
Posted by: Cindi at December 29, 2007 11:24 PMIf she were mine I would just add some leg warmers crunching them at the ankles..:)
Posted by: Jacque at December 30, 2007 2:24 AMHow sad and have to say I can relate with the broken ankle, poor lady! You have gotten some good ideas and sorry I can't come up with anything different. Hope you figure it out.
Posted by: kerry at December 30, 2007 2:51 AMhow about putting a woodie bent cane in her hand,as if she was starting to take a step.
Posted by: edith at December 30, 2007 4:11 AMOh, Judi! I'm so sorry!
What I would do is bead her some fabulous ankle bracelets. Or free motion some lace covers for her ankles and lower legs. You could even wrap her legs with ribbons, then bead over them. This option might give her legs even more support.
Allison Marano does these techniques with her "Vernal Muse" dolls. Check out her studio at:
www.faewyckstudios.com
and then look for the Vernal Muse dolls/class.
I had the opportunity to take her Vernal Muse class at AFIC this year, and the leg decorations on the dolls were gorgous.
Just a suggestion.
Hope this helps.
Short of giving her some hightop shoes like fairies wear made of Apoxy sculpt, I don't know. I still have a doll with a broken back I need to fix. Let us know what you comeup with.
Posted by: Sandra Walker at December 30, 2007 8:42 AMShe can borrow my wheelchair. I'm not using it much these days (except to sleep in.)
Posted by: Kai at December 30, 2007 3:32 PMI know I can only post once....so this doll is wonderful even with the wrinkled ankle. I'm excited about the charms!!! the ones you've shown are wonderful. Congratulations on purchasing Doll Street...and yes it sounds like 2007 was great for you and I wish you more happiness in 2008.
Posted by: Auntie Linda at January 5, 2008 9:52 AMI would try drilling a hole in the wood and putting a heavy gauge wire up thru the leg that way . You could put a nylon stocking , drooped around her ankles ,with a hole in the foot . it would hide any creases in her ankle .
She is awesome !
Mary
Posted by: Mary at January 15, 2008 7:16 PMDesign her little old lady stockings that can be applied and in corporate the ankle wrinkles as part of her stockings....little old ladies are notorious for wrinkled stockings at the ankles or pushed down to the ankles.
It's a thought....she is a little old lady Fairy.
None of us are perfect...and she appears to be aging gracefully. How about making the foam piece into a rock with moss and a fern growing out of it?
Posted by: Melelani at May 3, 2008 2:58 PMHi, I used a 3/16 inch metal rod from Home Depot that my husband grinded to a long sharp tip. I put on my clean garden gloves and shoved it up the leg of one of my "already stuffed" dolls leg. I pushed it up and into her belly. It was a slow process but worked great. You might try and cover the legs with some thick womens support hose. The kind they use for swollen legs. Let them droop a bit. OH, I used a wooden base from Home Depot and drilled a hole in it for the legs metal rod.
Susie Woodworth
http://susiedesigns.blogspot.com
http://www.picturetrail.com/suethenurse
Make your own version of Judi's dolls.
Many patterns available!
