Please post your before and afters on this thread. Big or small, whole rehab or just a refreshing....and tell us how you did it!
I will start. Here is Ideal 14" Sonja Henie doll before and after. The crochet ensemble is "Bare Back Rider" by Mary Hoyer.....
Here is Before:
< I haven't been posting for awhile, but since I'm snowed in, here is one of my before/afters. She is a Kley and Hahn Walkure, about 25" tall. She actually was wearing her original dress and shoes, and had her original short scraggly wig. I curled her hair, and fixed up her dress. I also added the antique bonnet and coat, which I modified from a vintage baby coat. > 
Oh, she looks fabulous! I adore her hair and bonnet and her dress and coat are perfect for her. Plus after her makeover she looks quite smug and happy....that's the part I love the best. Great makeover!....terri who's next?
Hello,
OK, I'll play and share my former street urchins. Most of these have been posted here at one time or another, so bear with me if you've already seen them.
I purchase old dolls all the time to revamp them - One of my favorite hobbies. I also take before and after photos and catalogue them, so I have a ton of photos to share. Here are some of my "transformations" - Most of these were purchased right here on eBay (excluding Cissy, who I found roasting in the window of an antique furniture store).
1957 20" Madame Alexander Cissy - She was extremely dirty and just needed a bath. I've since been able to lighten her darkened fingertips with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide treatments. I also made everything you see her wearing, including the fur and shoes.
1953 18" R&B Nancy Lee and American Character Sweet Sue (walker):
1957 18" Valentine Ballerina - Some days, I feel just like that!
1993 FayZah Spanos 14" Megan porcelain baby - Cleaned her up and made her a new blanket; added accessories.
Baby doll lot 14 - 24" / 1960s & 1970s: Just cleaned them up.
1962 26" Sayco (Schoen & Yondorf Co.) boudoir doll - That's the same hair, just washed! Even I was shocked.
1940s mechanical tin toys - Dirty outfits.
1966 15" Effanbee Chipper with original wedding dress.
1966 14" & 20" Madame Alexander babies. Now, even my dolls have dolls!
Vintage 1950s untagged supermarket dolls: I was so happy to have been able to salvage their original red dresses.
1950s 5" Galetti (Milano) celluloid dolls - Restrung, cleaned & dressed. Everything is hand stitched.
1962 Effanbee 16" Gumbrop - Just needed a bath. The seller thought I dyed her hair!
Vintage 12" celluloid Czech hunter doll. Just washed everything and made him a hat.
1950s 18" from Spain: Remade arms, fixed torn lips, filled moth holes, made earrings, made lamb fur wig to replace balding one, cleaned & repaired holes in dress.
Well, that's just a few. I hope you've enjoyed viewing them as much as I've enjoyed working on them.
Oh, my goodness! Amazing makeovers! I am blown away by them all, but the boudrair (sp) doll is unbelievable!....great job and what a new lease on life for these dolls!....terri
Hi, Terri -
I've enjoyed this hobby now for just under 2 years. I cleaned my first doll because I refuse to put anything dirty in my doll cabinet...and the rest is history. I started with small celluloids, graduated to medium sized cloth, and got sucked into hard plastic dolls of all sizes - Those smiling little faces got me! It's very rewarding/therapeutic for me to take a filthy doll from the bottom of a heap and "bring her back to life." I think there's a spiritual metaphor in there somewhere.
I am especially fond of German dolls (pre-1940s) like Elaine's - I absolutely consider their hand painted faces works of art. Celluloids, German bisques (Grafenthal), and small cloth bodied dolls are also favorites. I've learned so much through trial and (thank God, not too much) error. I've learned to take apart filthy, smelly "junk" cloth dolls (like the one from Spain in the photo, Klumpe, Magis, Nistis, Maria Helena, Baitz, Fiore, German papier mache head dolls, etc.) and remove their odors/make them as close to new as possible using as much of the original material as possible. If anything, I now know how to make one of these dolls from scratch!
Like you, I really enjoy looking at and appreciate all the work that goes into a doll makeover. I can't wait to see others post theirs.
By the way, my mother tried to teach me to crochet but I learned embroidery instead. I wish I had learned to crochet. If I had your talent, I'd absolutely purchase a set of MA Dionne Quintuplet 6-8" doll clones (the originals are $1,000), make them little matching romper/bonnet outfits in different pastel colors...blue, pink, lavendar, green, yellow, and place them all in a basket. How adorable would that be! Your profile picture tells me you can do it...
Stay well.
Wow....................Amazing transformations!
Here are a few of mine. This girls hair was grey...
