Derri – My Mystery Doll

Some time back Steve at Mystic Molds was doing a bit of housekeeping and decided to sell off the last of some discontinued molds.  The first molds were a set of three sisters, and I was a bit too slow so they were sold out before I decided I could afford them.  I asked Steve to be sure and tell me when he wanted to sell any more, and eventually he let me know that he had a set of molds for a 31” doll by the name of Derri.  He was unable to locate a picture to go with the molds, but someone who was familiar with the set from days gone by assured me that Derri is a very pretty doll, and since the price was right, I went ahead and ordered one of the very last sets.

I had expected to receive a body pattern along with the molds, but that seemed to be missing as well. However, Steve assured me that he would try to dig up both the picture and the body pattern, so I wasn’t too concerned at first. Time passed and neither one turned up, so I posted a query on a couple of doll boards asking for help from other doll makers, but again no one could help me.

Finally I decided to just go ahead and make her anyway and see how she turned out. I hadn’t used any of Ultra Chic’s Parisian Chocolate, and since I was eager to see if it matched some old French Chocolate that I had used some years ago, I decided to pour her in that color. As I was cleaning her, I decided that she looked like she needed earrings, and unfortunately I must have stress the ear while I was making the hole because a fine crack developed there during the firing. Nuts! The color was exactly like the French Chocolate that I had loved so much, though, so that part was encouraging. Then life happened and I got busy with grandkids and one thing and another, so I didn’t get back to her for awhile.

At last I found time to get back to work on Derri. I tried a few different reds on the cracked piece until I finally stirred a few colors together and arrived at one I likes and got busy. Everything seemed pretty straight forward until I got to the eyebrows. Somehow the person I was seeing in my mind’s eye didn’t quite go with the sculpted shape of the brows, so I did what all doll makers do and adjusted them to suit myself. Her eyes are in and her hair is in place but not yet styled and I was thinking about making the body pattern when I got an email from Steve saying he had located copies of the picture and body pattern at last, and requesting my mailing address so he could send them. Yahoo!

I replied immediately with my address and waited on pins and needles to get the picture and see what she was really supposed to look like! I couldn’t help wondering if my interpretation was anywhere close to what her sculptor had in mind. And I thought you might like to see how it all turned out as well, so here is a picture of my version of Derri, and a copy of the picture received from Mystic Molds showing her made up as both Black and Caucasian. I like the pale blond version, and will probably do her that way sometime, but I’m rather pleased with my version right now. The last of the visiting grandkids go home tomorrow and then I plan to get busy and dress her!