Using a greenware (unfired, soft porcelain which has been molded) figurine, decorate as your imagination dictates with lace (preferably cotton) dipped in porcelain slip (wet liquid porcelain). You can form some roses or other flowers & leaves from porcelain clay you have made from the porcelain slip. After you form the flowers and leaves, place them in a plastic container. I use a sandwich box with damp paper towel in the bottom of the box to keep the roses moist. You can get porcelain slip in many colors for making the flowers or dipping the lace. When you have placed the lace on your greenware doll, decorate with ribbon, crochet, net, greenware flowers or most anything cotton & pretty dipped in slip. When you have the doll completed to your satisfaction, and it had dried overnight, carefully place the doll in the kiln and let it reach the temperature for porcelain. It will be around 2000 degrees. To help me place my dolls in the kilns without damage, I usually place them on a small kiln shelf, to decorate them, which has been painted with silica so the dolls won't melt & stick to the shelf in the firing. You can place a piece of wax paper on the shelf under the doll and slip it out before the shelf goes into the kiln. This will keep extra drips of porcelain from baking on your shelf. I then just lift the shelf into the kiln without touching the doll. After the doll has fired, you must let the kiln cool to room temperature before removing the doll. Otherwise, it may crack. When you remove the doll, it will be VERY fragile. It is porcelain and the cotton has burned away. The lace is in the shape of the lace you used to decorate it. You still have to do one more step before you paint the face and other flesh parts. You now have to spray a coat of glaze on the doll, keeping the flesh parts of the doll free of the glaze. I usually cover the face & arms with a wet paper towel, but still have to clean off some glaze before it's fired. After it is fired and cools this time, you are ready to paint the face and arms & hands. The firing of the china painted features is at a much lower temperature. Different colors fire at different tempts depending on what the color is. They run from about 1100 to 1500 degrees.

This has been a very brief description of lace draping but will be enough to get you started. There are instruction books out there and some of them are very helpful.

A lace draped doll is an heirloom to be cherished for generations. It is fragile and must be handled with care. It is best to lift it by the head. I clean mine by placing them one at a time, on a towel in the kitchen sink, spray with any good kitchen cleaner, (I use mean green) and run water over them. Let them set on the counter top and drip dry.....Enjoy.....Betty Pickens Phillips