Rocker Mechanism for Sleep Eyes

I have a shop on etsy.com (dollsetc.etsy.com) and joined the DAM (Dolls and Minatures Team). This talented group of Artists were discussing sleep eyes and how they work. To stop the destruction of any more heads (lol) so that they could find out how they work, I offered to explain and thru pictures show how you can make sleep eyes.

These eyes a primarily the ones you will see in Porcelain Antique Dolls, not the ones that are in Modern composition or plastic dolls. If you are interested in those type of eyes. Show your interest in the comments and I will try to put together something on that.

I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as enjoyed putting it together. If the format isn't exactly correct or there is too much space between paragraphs, I am still learning how to put a blog together so please forgive me.

I welcome any comments you might have.



Here is a list of supplies that you will need to make the rocker mechanism and set the sleep eyes. I recommend that you set up a box with all the materials you will need to make the rocker mechanism and set sleep eyes. This way you will always have the supplies handy. Most dollmakers and crafters have supplies put away everywhere.

• Needle nose pliers w/wire cutters
• Eye Wax or Sticky Tack
• Toothpicks
• Petroleum Jelly
• Parafin wax melted in a small container, cat food or tuna fish tin
• Seeley's French Bisque Body stain in a small container, cat food or tuna fish can
• Cork, from a wine bottle
• 3/4 oz lead fishing weight, purchase a package with different sizes, practice will teach you which size you will need
• Two part 5 minute Epoxy
• Hammer
• Dental Plaster
• German Round Glass eyes w/stems
• Fine point felt tip marker
• White tacky glue
• 18 guage wire
• Rubbing alchohol
• Double ended calipers
• Porcelain Doll Head to set eyes in
• Pen and paper for notes

Step 1

Set the eyes in place with the eye wax ( which I prefer) or Sticky Tack. Set the eyes so that the iris of the eye is centered in the eye opening with more white of the eye showing on the outside than on the inside of the eye opening. Then raise the iris slightly so that the doll is not staring.

Step 2

Lay the doll head face down. I usually make a nest of polyfill and put the head down in that. Then use the calipers to measure the distance between the holes in the eye stems. Put this measurement on a piece of paper by pressing the points of the calipers into the paper.

Step 3

Turn the doll head so that she is facing you and is still nested on the polyfil. Use the calipers again and measure the distance from the top of the nose (between the eyes) to the middle of the chin. Put this measurement on a a piece of paper by pressing the points of the calipers into the paper. Turn the head again with the face down.


Step 4

Slice a piece of cork about a 1/4" thick. Glue this to the bottom of the chin inside the head. This will act as a cushion and prevent the lead weight from hitting the porcelain when the eyes rock.

Step 5

Fold an 8" piece of 18 guage wire in half. Push the bent end through the hole in the fishing weight. Using your needle nose pliers bend the end of the wire up approximately 1/4". Then push the weight to the end of the wire. Using the hammer flatten the weight. I recommend doing this outside on the driveway, sidewalk or garage floor. The weight should be secure and unable to move.

Showing transfer of measurement from Step 2

Step 6


Using the pliers twist the wire end together that is pertruding above the weight. The measurement of the twisted wire and weight should match the measurement from Step 3. To make sure this measurement is accurate, lay the weight and twisted wire on the paper. One of the holes from the caliper should be at the very bottom of the weight. The other hole should be a the very top of the twisted wire.

Step 7

With the the weighted end of the rocker as the center between the markings , transfer the markings from Step 2, to the wire. Use the felt tip pen to mark the wire.


Step 8

Hold the wires with pliers on the inside of the marks and bend wires up at the the marks. Cut the wires 1/4" from bend.


Step 9

Place the rocker bar inside the head, with the ends of the wires resting inside the eye stems. The wieght should rest on top of the cork.

Step 10
Mix the 5 minute two-part epoxy and run a bead across the wire and around the stem. This will stablize the wire. Let glue dry. This will prevent the wire from moving while you continue.

Step 11

Mix some dental plaster and begin to build up the plaster across the rocker bar and over the top of the eye stems. The plaster should taper down at the sides and not extend down to the ball portion of the eye. Note: This is one of the most important steps in setting sleep eyes. If done incorrectly the eyes will not rock.

Step 12

When the plaster is dry (wait at least 1/2 hour) but I recommend that you just leave it alone till the next day. Gently remove the rocker bar. If the plaster is not completly dry the eyes will move.

Step 13

Pour some body stain in a small container. Hold the eye rocker mechanism by the weight and dip it in the stain. Allow the paint to just touch the top of the iris. Be sure to do this at eye level. Remove rocker bar from the paint and let it dry with the eyes facing up.

Remove any tiny air bubbles in the paint by blowing gently across the paint toward the back of the eyes. Let the eyes sit for at least an hour to dry. Even better if you don't touch them till the next day.



Step 14

Melt the paraffin wax (do not melt the wax over an open flame I use a double broiler) in a small container and dip the rocker mechanism in the wax. Dip it the same way as you did the body stain. Dip only once and be sure the wax is hot enough or the wax will not adhere.

If you followed all the steps and you now have a rocker mechanism, that fits in the doll head properly, is colored and waxed you are ready to set it. If it isn't exactly right, you need to take it apart carefully so you don't break the eye stems and start over.

Step 15

Rub some petroleum jelly on the sides of the eyes. Also put some petroleum jelly on the inside of the head near one eye. The petroleum jelly will not allow the plaster to stick. The eyes will not stick to the plaster where the jelly is and you will be able to remove one plaster piece inside the head.

Step 16

Replace the rocker bar back inside the head. Use Eye wax or sticky tack at the outside corners of the eye openings. This will hold the eyes in place and prevent any plaster from leaking out.

Step 17

Mix dental plaster. When the plaster pulls up into peaks when you touch it with a spoon, you are ready for the next step. If the plaster is too thin it will not work. So just wait till it is the right consistency.

Step 18

Drop the plaster down each side of the head just above the eye. The plaster will run down and form a "C" around the eye. The plaster should be just over half the way up the eye on both sides.

Step 19

When the plaster starts to lose its shininess, remove the eye wax or sticky tack from the front of the eyes. Take a piece of wire and bend one end into a hook. Reach inside the head and hook this unto the weight and gently rock the eye mechanism back and forth. Note: If you can reach the weight with your fingers and can rock it back and forth, don't use the wire. Then let the plaster dry a few more minutes.

Step 20

Remove the hardened plaster from the side of the head where you put the petroleum jelly by just pushing it gently with a toothpick or your fingers.

Step 21

You must clean the petroleum jelly from the inside of the head with alcohol. Then place tacky glue on the underside of the hardened plaster and replace it back inside the head. Hold the plaster with fingers and allow the eyes to sleep.Move the plaster away from the eye opening until the eyes rock easily. What you are doing is giving the eyes enough space to allow ease of movement.

Put the head aside face down on the polyfil and allow the glue and plaster to dry completely. As the plaster dries it continues to shrink and the eyes will move move easily.

I hope that this little tutorial will help you understand how sleep eyes work inside a porcelain doll head. Any comments you might have will be greatly appreciated. Any questions I will try to answer in my next blog.

Supplies You Need to China Paint a Doll!

When I started this blog, I thought that I would go through the steps of making a porcelain doll. It is obvious that you first need to pour a mold, clean the greenware then high fire it in a kiln. But I am not going to do the obvious I am going to start with china painting the fired bisque.

In order to china paint, you need a comfortable and well lit place to do this. It seems so obvious, but it needs to be said. If you do any kind of craft, that is the first thing you need to consider. Sometimes that is not possible, so we do the best that we can.

I have a studio in my home where I teach dollmaking and where I make dolls for myself and for sale. The most important items that I need to china paint porcelain dolls, is an opti-visor and an ott light on the table. You have to be able to see what you are painting.

Here you can see me mixing china paints. I use Seeley Doll Company china paints and mixing media. I mix my paints on ceramic tiles that are glazed. I find that using white tiles is best. I use worksheets for the Antique dolls. These worksheets give you a picture of the Antique doll and the china paint colors. For the Modern Dolls, I decide what colors I want to use.

The china paints that I use do not have any lead in them and the medium that I use to mix them is water soluble. So clean up is easy on you and the enviroment.

The last important item that you need are brushes. The painting of your doll is only going to be as good as your paint and your brushes.

Too Tired!!

Last night I finally decided to setup a blog. I was all alone in the house and thought that my concentration would be better. I went to this site and did everything in "3 Easy Steps". I wanted to post some pictures of my dolls, because what good is it if I talk about them, but noone can see them. I read on one of the pages that you could set up a slide show. Boy, I thought, isn't that a great idea. When went to do that, I found out I need to have photos in a Flickr account. Oh! I did read a little about Flickr but have had no time to check it out. I did have pictures in my computer so why not go for it!!

The rest is history, I downloaded 2 pictures, after I wrote "Why I'm Here", because that is the reason to blog. Let everyone know why? Looked at the preview and then posted it. Not what I expected, oh my!, too much empty space and the pictures were scattered.

Good news today is, I did get a comment which was positive, I opened a Flickr account, I uploaded pictures to it, gave them names and descriptions. But I will check into the slide show later. For now I will post another picture of a doll with this, so if someone is really out there reading this, they could at least look at one of my dolls.

Why Porcelain Dolls?

I never had a doll when I was little girl, nor did I play with them, I guess you would consider me a tomboy. The only thing I ever asked for at Christmas seemed to be generic items never a doll. I could never remember having a doll or playing with one. When I asked my mother if I ever had a doll, because I couldn't remember she no I never had one, nor did I ask for one. So when we were sorting through some family photographs, I came across a picture of me and my brother. We were standing in front of a Christmas tree and I was holding a doll. Here was proof that I did have doll (at one time in my childhood) but neither I nor my mother could remember. Taking that picture I showed it to my mother and said "Here there is proof that I did have a doll!". No, she said, we borrowed it for the picture. We laughed about that and were secretly happy that we at least remembered correctly, that I never did have a doll.

So the question still remains, "Why porcelain dolls?".

I went with my husband to a lot of Toy Shows (he collects trucks) and while he looked at trucks, I looked at everything else. What I was drawn to as we trudged in the heat and rain, was dolls. Go figure!! Having only a limited amount of cash, I started to buy dolls that I found appealing but in my price range. I did this for a number of years, buying a doll now and then.

Then I came across a magazine, that was published for the Porcelain Dollmaker. Up till then, I did not know that you could actually make a doll. I don't mean buy doll parts and put it together, but actually but a mold of a doll, pour that mold with porcelain slip, fire that greenware in a kiln, china paint it, assemble and dress it. What a rush!!!!

I knew you could make ceramics, I made quite a few flower pots, but porcelain!! WOW!!!

It didn't take me long to find someone that actually was making dolls and the rest is history.

What I love most about Porcelain Dollmaking is the versatility. I have done all kinds of crafts, ceramics, glass, sewing, knitting, crocheting you name a craft I've done it. But I didn't stay long in doing the crafts. I enjoyed it a lot while I was doing it, but got borted easily. That did not happen when I started making dolls. I was happy that I did all those crafts. Everything I did before Dollmaking fitted perfectly with making dolls.

So all I can say is, love it, love it, love it!!! I want to share my dolls with you.