I knew today would be a body-making day because yesterday was not. Even before going to the studio I cut out and sewed a body. Rejecting my factory methods I decided to do one whole body and doll before starting the next one. Good thing I did. After threading in all the draw-strings, using up my last 30 mm joints (I knew I had a whole package of new ones from China) I found out the leg caps were too small. Nobody in this week's line-up or even in next week's babies had legs that small. Undaunted I went back to the machine to cut out bodies with bigger leg caps. I even checked that the caps would accommodate everyone's legs. There were no more 30 mm joints in the package so I gleefully broke open the new ones. I lined up the holes, checked that I putting the right caps  in the right places and then! I could not get the nut-like part on the bolt-like piece. I tried every thing I could think of to allow the nutty nuts to fit. I cut them, I cut the bolts. Nothing worked and my hands got more and more tender.

Well if none of the new bodies could be used or finished I remembered that when I photographed this guy in the gang the other day his body did not feel right. 

He was among the earliest dolls I assembled back in February, This was obviously before my obsession with fitting bodies and heads. In order to hold up his head in all this fluff I had put a wooden stick up his back. He was very soft and plushy - unlike my latest crop of babies.

While taking the body off the head I noticed the name of the artist who made his face - Nancy Holthus. I looked her up on the I'net to find out she had a factory in Pennsylvania where she made her dolls. She was also in rehabilitation as a counselor so it seems right that her doll heads should be on therapy dolls. Nancy died in 2009 so her website has been invaded and taken over by the Chinese doll makers. All the photos on the site were of the new Chinese vinyl kits as all over eBay and none of Nancy's. Another thing to be unhappy about.

When I got this body off I then had 4 babies needing bodies. I tried to reshape this white one on the machine so I could pass it along to Trey. In the morning I had been able to fix his eye better with duct tape of all things, but it did stick well enough to hold his wandering eye in place while I stuffed his head. I still do not like this boy. The eyelid on the left side droops a bit so that he looks like he is thinking of how to rob the 7-11 as soon as it gets dark and I let him go out. I put the body on him but got so involved with his criminal looks that I forgot to photograph the body. I let him sit on the decision until another day. I don't think he will go any where naked.

With knowing new joints will not arrive before next week I began to wonder if the Universe was giving me the message that I should not be making dolls. What else could I do that gives me so much pleasure? Maybe the message was, "don't make doll bodies today - do something else."

Back on the photograph set up I tried to get Crystal's weird surprised  look to seem welcoming, more inviting. I am too jangled now to decide if this works or not.

Then I tried Samantha. The new sleepers came so I let her pick out one she liked and this was it. That put her in a good mood. When she saw the kittens on it she had  to have a kitten to play with but all I could find was this lion in the beanie baby stash.

She was happy playing with it and did not want to pose any more as an invitation to be adopted. Just then the clouds parted so the sun came through with its dark shadows. I refuse to fight with the sun so walked away!

Regarding the dolly joints, I remembered an old way we doll-makers used to make arms and legs movable - sew a button on both sides of the  two pieces of fabric. Will do try that if I can find enough buttons!