When cloth doll manufacturing went off shore and making a doll from cloth with stuffing became very popular in the 1960's with the onset of
Xavier Roberts' Cabbage Patch Kids doll manufacturers began to create the soft sculpture doll in many forms less expensive than the Grandmas, Mommies and doll makers could create the same item by hand. Cloth doll artists began to experiment with other media to combine with cloth to construct dolls. The invention Fimo and Sculpy modeling material that could be baked in a home oven allowed for doll artists to make the heads, hands and feet of a sturdier material than bisque, porcelain, or china and dolls now could be sculpted to have many looks and still maintain the soft body.
Manufactured dolls had cloth bodies with vinyl heads, arms and legs, but independent doll makers were not working with this medium since the rotational vinyl process was too complicated for the home doll shop. However, vinyl heads, arms, and legs were available for creating a similar doll by sewing the cloth body. Doll dressing and costuming has long been a form of fabric art from back when fancy lady doll bodies were made from leather and muslin. These antique soft bodied dolls were often elaborately dressed in the costume of the era and were not usually played with since they had breakable heads, hands, and feet.
Previously, most play cloth dolls were babies or children. With the introduction of other construction materials, many other ideas appeared.
There has been a great deal of interest and creativity in such items and fairies, gnomes, trolls, wizards, and witches. These dolls could still have the typical sewn cloth body but may have a clay or painted head or limbs. The mystical and imaginary world leaves open all sorts of direction for the cloth doll to go. Most of these dolls have an environment or "setting" and they are displayed as a form of art or figurine.
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