Kitty Pryde "Shadowcat" Doll

The last two weeks have been a bit better for me healthwise, so I decided try making something - specifically a Kitty Pryde "Shadowcat" doll for a friend's birthday/Christmas gift.

Unfortunately, I was so focused on making it that I didn't take many in progress pictures! She started off looking something like this doll. (I rescue Barbies in good condition from thrift stores for projects like this).

 I painted her eyes, and also her lips because they were a weird light pink color.

Curling Barbie hair is SO FUN. If it isn't already straight, you dip it into some boiling water for a few seconds, comb it out and let it dry. Then you roll it up in little straw pieces, secure them with bobby pins, and dip the head in more boiling water. Let sit overnight to dry.

After taking Kitty's hair out of the curlers, it wanted to kind of spring up around her head. So I pinned it down with bobby pins and carefully set just the top of her head in hot water, just enough to set that bit down smoothly.

I didn't use any patterns for her costume. I took stretchy black fabric and basted it into the shape I wanted, took it off, sewed the seams with my machine, then pulled it back on and stitched the final seams closed with hand stitches (all covered by the top details).

 

 For the yellow contrast pieces, I stitched them onto the black while the bodysuit was on Kitty (there is no way to take her costume off). I folded the edges under and whipped stitched them down with some of the tiniest stitches I've made in my life.

For the gloves and boots, I used the same method as the black bodysuit. The only difference is that I hemmed the raw edges first!

I used a little bit of black pleather for the belt and painted on the "X" symbol.

For Lockheed, I asked my husband if he had any miniatures in his HUMONGOUS collection that would work. We found a little winged guy with potential, made a few alterations, and then Nathan painted him up.

 We spent three days perfecting all the details, and the look on my friend's face when she opened it made it all worth it!