Thanks to Grace Thomas, my mini me got the perfect head of hair. Now it was her turn to get a new ‘do and a new identity to match.
I tried #53’s original blonde wig and the brunette parting wig I’d originally planned to use for Arista on formerly-Grace, but in the end, I decided to stick with my original vision for her – red to go with those lovely blue eyes! (I’m a sucker for red hair and blue eyes – ask my redheaded, blue-eyed husband 😉 ).
I used an auburn parting wig from BAVAS International’s eBay store. The wig is a lot thicker than most American Girl wigs, but the wig cap is also a lot more snug. To glue her wig in place, I painted tacky glue around the entirety of her head, flipped the wig inside out, then placed it at the center of her head and quickly flipped, tugged and smoothed the wig into position while my husband held the doll’s body tight. I think the tightness of the wig cap made it much more difficult than getting Arista’s wig on.
I really love the flexibility of parting wigs. There’s a small “skin” top that allows you to part the wig left, right or center without exposing the wig cap. This particular wig feels like a good length, too. Any longer and I think the thickness of the wig would put stress on her head.
This morning was the moment of truth. I tested around the edges to see if the wig was staying in place… and it worked! No loose spots! Now she just needed a name.
I decided that she should be an older cousin to Saige Copeland, Girl of the Year 2013 (to which my husband said, “You can’t just add characters to the Girl of the Year lore!” Oh yes I can!). At first, my husband and I could only think of joke names – “If her cousin is ‘Saige,” call her ‘Rosemary’!” – but many baby naming sites later, I found one that I really liked for her – “Sienna”. Not only does it work well with her hair color, it’s a color family that comes up often in art (e. g. “raw sienna,” “burnt sienna”), which makes it fitting for such an artistic family. I don’t know if I want to make her a painter, too, though. Maybe her favorite form of art will be photography or sketching (or both!).
Now I need to bring her with me the next time I’m at my mom’s house, so Sienna Copeland and Saige Copeland can take some family photos together!
And I think I’m good on making customs for awhile. They’re kind of stressful! But it does feel really rewarding to see the finished doll. 🙂