Pony Doll

July 20, 2023.

I made this weird pony doll last week. She's got a poseable wire skeleton, with hands, feet, and head sculpted with paperclay. The wire skeleton is wrapped with quilt batting and secured with soft, mildly-adhesive athletic tape, so she's plush, and no metal bits poke out. Her face is painted with acrylic and sealed with varnish. Her hair is made of scrap wig wefts haphazardly glued to the back of her head.

She wears pajamas sewn from old T-shirt scraps. I tried to give her a long torso and long arms, and proportionally shorter legs, thinking this would make her a bit more cuddly-looking. In the end, she has comically short legs, and her big eyes and lack of eyebrows might make her a bit strange looking. Still, she is cute.
For future projects, I think I would spring for polymer clay that has to be baked and isn't as flaky when sanded. I'd also like to root the hair in the head so it looks a bit cleaner. I would like to continue improving my sculpting skills. All in all, though, I think it's a good first attempt at making a doll.

Pony Doll Update

August 30, 2025

In July 2024, Pony Doll got new skin. I was dissastisfied with the low level of torso squishiness. The core of her body was made of clay, and the wire limbs were glued to her hard innards. Her clay hands also felt very fragile and uninteractive. So, she has mittens now. Her legs were extended slightly to be more proportional, and she is now more freely poseable.

The color match between her face and body isn't exact, but it's pretty close. Previously, her fabric skin was made of felt. It is now fuzzy fleece, which isn't as stiff as felt and feels much softer. She is more cuddly with an all-fleece body. She also feels less fragile after her anatomical upgrades. She's gotten a few new outfits fitted for her old body, but since her refurbishing, she has become a little more robust.