How to make Glass Eyed Dolls

Taken from Makiko's Tutorial

Tools:

Instructions:

1. Cut the scalp all around with the xacto knife right below the hair line. Be careful not to cut the hair itself.

2. With the marking pen, mark where the eyes will go. Draw the actual shape you'll be cutting out. Check to see if the eyes are even before you start cutting.

3. With the needle, poke a dotted line along the pen line that you just drew. This will preforate the vinyl so it's easier to cut the vinyl.

4. Very carefully, cut the eye hole out with the X-acto knife.

5. This is the hardest part. Take your time and cut slowly, carefully and a little at a time. Once you got the hole cut, tilt the X-acto knife and cut the vinyl from the inside of the head at an angle. You're doing this because the eyeball has got to lay flat against the vinyl or else the eye will look hollow and sunken in. Don't cut more out of the eye hole. You just want to shave the inside vinyl until it cups the eyeball when you push it against the head.

6. Skip this step if you don't want eyelashes. Cut the eyelashes so they fit the eye hole, length wise. Pull the eyelashes out from the inside of the eye. Leave half of the eyelashes in the inside of the eye. You'll need it to glue the eyelashes in place. You can, at this time, glue the eyelashes down a little bit using a tacky glue (not hot glue, not superglue) Since you'll be fiddling with the eyeball in the next step, it's helpful if the eyelashes don't move.

7. Put the head on the intended body. Using a fabric pin as a directional rod with the eyeball at the end of it, push the eyeball into the socket, underneath the eyelashes, and glue it down with hot glue. Do this one eye at a time. You might find that the neck knob is getting in the way. If you don't have the neck knob there, the eye might have occupied the space and then you wouldn't have been able to get the head on the body (doh!) So it's good that the neck knob is there. Hold the eye in place with the fabric pin as the glue is drying. The eye will constantly want to slide inward because of the neck knob, leaving the doll cross eyed. Make sure you keep the eye straight. Once the eye is dry, do the other eye. When both of them are in place and dried, secure both eyes with a heavy dosage of hot glue.

8. Once the hot glue inside has dried, glue the scalp back on with Super Glue. Only drizzle a little bit of glue or else it will come out on the forehead and such, glueing hair to the face or leaving super glue residue.

9. Once the scalp has dried, paint the eyebrows, lips and line the eyes if you'd like.

10. Style the hair. Since the scalp has been cut on the forehead, you might see a visible line. Cover it with bangs or a stylish hair do.

You're done! Enjoy your glass eyed creation!