Help Me Pick A Colour

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As some of you know I accidentally killed my favourite doll from childhood, called Holly Hobbie.

I've decided I'm going to try to rebuild her, and in true autistic style I've spent about 10 hours obsessively searching the perfect yarn colour for her hair. The yarn I pick needs to match the little bit of hair that she still has, because I won't be able to remove her current hair without ripping the face a bit more.

It's hard to pick a colour because all the shops are closed and I need to purchase online with computer lighting.

The top doll in the picture is from the internet, showing the hair I need to make.

The bottom picture is (very unfortunately) my poor Holly right now.

Please let me know which colour of yarn seems to be the best match overall: Top right, or bottom left / right.

Short of pulling my eyes out with a dull implement, I can't decide.

One of those colours is used by doll restoration experts but I'm not sure if I agree with their choice - so I'll ask yours.




Thanks!

The one to the left is a bit “redder” than the other yarn.

I think top right seems to match, IMO.

Which one do you like best? I think she'd trust your opinion on a tint.

The Holly restoration artist uses the yarn on the bottom right.

I thought it was perfect because the ball of yarn looks a lot my doll's current hair when I hold them together.

But ... in this video the restored Holly doll looks way too blonde and pale in my opinion.



It's frustrating because I lost my good glasses and broke my backup pair, so I can't see worth beans.

Even though we talk a lot about colors in the model building forums I am hesitant to make a call here because of the not universally identical way different computer screens render colors.

And that's after the not universally identical way different digital cameras render colors.

How did you accidentally kill your doll? Was it from too much love?

You should see my teddy bear I've had since my very first Christmas. He's hardly got any fur, has one eye, his nose and mouth is all torn and unravelled, and he has several tears where the stitching had come apart. But despite all that, he's full of character and is always there for me. He just needs some TLC.

Update: I bought the three colours of yarn - two at curbside pickup and one Amazon. They're all wrong and the one from the video (bottom right photo) is worst of all. The best is actually the bottom left. It's just a smidge too dark - like maybe half a shade? I can't return them yet because of lockdown but in the meantime I bought five more on Amazon and I'll see if any are a smidge lighter than the bottom left colour. They can all be returned for free so it's no biggy.

I killed her because I'm an idiot, Joe. She stayed at my mother's for 45 years so she wouldn't get hurt and then I brought her home and killed her within 24 hours. I read online that you can wash rag dolls inside a pillowslip in the washing machine on a delicate cycle, with the pillowslip tied shut. I did that. But then I started to panic, and couldn't stop the cycle because I have a front loader. So she was in there for like 20 minutes. When I took her out she looked like this:



I was so upset I literally almost threw up. (I literally mean literally). It turns out I was too stupid to realise that the internet instructions were for newer dolls and not ones made 50 years ago which were very fragile and cheaply made in the first place. Their hair was only ever glued on, so the wash dissolved her glue and I guess the weight of her hair coming off pulled off her entire face. I never even found her hair. It literally (there's that word again ...) disintegrated. The hardest thing will be figuring out how to reattach her face to the back of her head which is still in the bonnet. I know it's kind of funny to put it in those terms but I really don't know if I'm going to try stitching it, which might rip the fabric even more, or maybe fabric paste, or a glue gun?

If anyone has expertise in sewing or craft work, please hit me up with suggestions because I'm terrified of actually making this problem worse when I try to rebuild her face.




I did buy new poly-fill stuffing, by the way.

Your teddy sounds adorable Joe.

Oh no . I can feel your sadness to the point where it hurts! You must have been devastated! That is why I'm scared to put my bear in the washing-machine even in a pillowcase. So I hand wash him, which is also difficult because of his stuffing being all clumped together he takes days to dry properly.

You're not an idiot though. It was just one of those common mistakes people make. But I know how you feel. I'm sorry I don't have much knowledge about textiles and stuff like that, so I can't help you there. All I can do is be here for you.

Thanks Joe. I do know better. I don't know why I made such a bonehead decision, except that I washed these tiny dolls in the sink right beforehand, and they came out just fine.



Duh. They have plastic faces instead of cloth, and they were hand-washed.

I actually tried Holly in the sink for a moment but she had a mark on her face that wouldn't come off, so I felt overconfident and decided to try the washer. I was deluded and careless and impulsive. I really should have known better but it was likely my ADHD taking over and I didn't think it through.

Your teddy is a very lucky boy. My brother has one similarly well-loved at my mother's house. I would have known not to put him in the wash. I still can't believe I was so dumb with Holly. She's my pride and joy.

Here are my little knees when I was six. My grandmother made this Holly Hobbie-style pioneer dress that I wore to school all the time complete with my bonnet - because yes I'm just that nerdy.

I'd choose the left one. I don't know the original but it just composes best with the doll, IMO.

The left one that says Bernat is almost identical even though it's hard to tell in the picture. It's the right hue but a tiny bit too dark. It might end up being "the one", but I'm waiting on five from Amazon just to make sure.

Top right looks the closest to me. The remaining hair on your doll looks like it's faded a lot compared to the example doll photo, though. Not sure whether you'd prefer a darker, as-new shade or bottom right, which is paler and looks older?

Good luck on your repair job. I recently broke the ankle of one of my Transformers- it doesn't have even one twentieth of the sentimental value of your Holly Hobbie, but I was still pretty upset.

I've now purchased a total of 3 from the craft store (curbside), and nine from Amazon. The best is still the bottom left from my original picture, but it's a bit dark. The top right is too pale.

I'm waiting on this one which I'm hoping will be perfect.



That picture of my doll's severed hair does seem faded / wrong / peachy, but it was the lighting on my camera.
In real life it's quite close to the colour in the braided hair from eBay (shown here).

I think I'm secretly obsessing over colour selections so I can delay the actual repair job. It really scares me!

I'm very sorry about your transformer! Is there some way you can repair it?