Doll Week - Blythe

If you think American Girl fans have taken over in terms of doll customizations, you should check out some Blythe blogs. Blythe is a Japanese doll, and its fans create some of the most intense and detailed customizations I've ever seen. They carve the mouth and nose, re-root hair, paint the eyemechs and eyelids, sand the face, change eyechips ... you name it, they do it! 

Photo from www.blythe-doll-fashions.com

Even without customization, Blythe dolls are just really cute, and they're fun to replicate in paper doll form. As with all other dolls with oversized heads, it can be tricky to get the proportion just right. To do that, take a ruler and measure the ratio between head size and body length on a picture of a Blythe doll, then convert to the scale you use (I use a 6:1, meaning that for every six inches a doll is tall I will draw one inch, thus an 18 inch AG doll for me is 3 inches tall). Make sure the eyes are in the lower half of the head, and really make them oval shaped. Since Blythes have skinny bodies, make sure that you tape-laminate yours well, or else the limbs might rip. 

And after you make the doll, there's an army of incredibly talented artists that make fantastic Blythe clothes for just about any taste on Etsy and other online stores, aside from the clothing already made by the company. It can be hard to identify exactly what you want among all the options you have, but if you're persistent you'll eventually find exactly what you like. Or, you can make up outfits yourself!

Difficulty rating from 1(extremely basic) to 5(extremely difficult) - 3

Have fun, and send your doll pictures in for photo shoot Sunday!