Several years ago I made friends with a group of ladies in a chat room about miniatures. Two of them were making houses from the story of Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. I offered to make the dolls for them. All three of us had different ideas about what Heidi should look like! Sherry wanted a chunkier doll, Paula the thinner girl. I wanted them to be brunettes, they wanted the Shirley Temple look. Nevertheless, I ordered the doll kits and dressed them, and below are the results.

Paula's Doll

Sherry's Doll

To make the curls on this doll, I soaked blonde viscose and wrapped it tightly around a long doll needle. I was supposed to then put it in an oven that had been preheated and then TURNED OFF. However, we were in the middle of a heat wave that summer, so I casually put it on the front porch and went out to the movies. When I came back, the curls were bone dry and wonderful to work with!