Doll Projects

My last post was early this year when I went looking for fabric for Annabelle's cloak.  I found all the supplies I needed in my mom's stash.  It was so much fun and it turned out so well.  I also remade a bonnet for her and some shoes.

Then I was kind of inspired, so I took out my Mary Frances Sewing Book and made the next projects in the book for her, a drawstring bag and an apron.  Again, I went through my mom's fabrics to find a fine dotted Swiss for the apron.

That was an easy project, so went on to the next project that has been sitting around here for several years.  A woman on one of my email lists had sent me the files for Annabelle's alphabet quilt.  I printed it off on my printer on some special fabric.  It's been waiting for me to make it up.  It was a fun project also and turned out nicely.  Annabelle is happy.

Now I am working on my Hitty doll.  The next dress she is wearing in the book is her Quaker outfit.  It is gray silk with a cotton fichu and bonnet.  Here it is in process.

I've also been working on projects for my little guys, but that is another post. 

~Jane

Tasha Tudor Event

I have loved all things Tasha Tudor since I was a young mother and discovered this older woman who liked to do all the things I liked to do.  I loved antique dolls, gardening, herbs, period costume, tea parties, watercolor painting, and corgis.  She did also.  I incorporated so many of her practises into our lives when I was raising my daughter.  We had bear tea parties on Christmas Eve for all her friends and doll's Christmas trees.  We had french fashion dolls that lived at our house and I even made french fashion dolls for some of my daughter's friends and taught them hand-sewing by sewing for the dolls.  We had 4th of July parades up and down my mother's street waving flags and singing patriotic songs before the fireworks were set off.  We had special birthday parties.  I made her dolls special wardrobes.  We had puppets and Sparrow Post and she bought things with buttons.  So much fun.

Since a child, I have loved antique dolls and have quite a collection of them.  I also have a collection of reproduction french fashions that I have made many authentic 1850 and 1870 dresses for and all their little accessories.  They have always been an integral part of my life until about the last 15 years.  I went back to work full-time and then became a grandma, and I just haven't had the time or, maybe more importantly, the energy to work on them.

When my mom passed away seven years ago, I brought home her remaining dolls and all the supplies she had purchased to make things for them and put them all away.  I had good intentions of making things for my dolls, but aside from a few things, little has happened.

Now I have been invited to join a Tasha Tudor club and I immediately knew I would bring my Annabelle doll, styled after the doll in "A is for Annabelle" by Tasha Tudor.  I took her out tonight and made a little repair to some lace on her dress and decided her bonnet was falling apart and, if we are going out in public she really needs some shoes and a cloak.  So I spent the evening going through my boxes and my mom's boxes and picked out some hat straw, lace, ribbon, fabric, and leather to make those items for her.  I was surprised at just how happy it made me to handle it all and what I had forgotten was in there.

So, I know now that I NEED to be sewing on some of these little projects.  My dolls are still needed.  The joy is still there.  Somehow I am going to find a way to incorporate them back into my life.

~Jane

Finally Finished on Friday #3

This week I finished dressing my Schoenhut.  She has been waiting for a dress for 25 years, sitting patiently in my doll cabinet.  I like how the dress turned out, even though it is very, very simple.  It is authentic for her, both in fabric and style.  The only thing I don't like is the way the neck of the underwaist shows.  So I think I'll take the underwaist off tonight and modify the neckline a little.  She needs stockings and shoes.  I'll have to check and see if I have a pattern for them, otherwise she'll have to wait until I can order some for her.  It feels good though to actually have made her a dress.  Now onto another project.  I have a swap gift to make so it won't be a FFOF project, but it needs to get done.

~Jane

Doll Sewing Update

Lest you think I've been dragging all these fabrics, laces, and aprons home and just letting them pile up, I thought I'd give an update on my little doll who has been waiting for clothes for 20 years.  Here she is sitting in her original knit lace-trimmed union suit.

I'm using The Mary Frances Sewing Book for instructions and patterns.  The patterns are perfect for my Schoenhut doll.

I used two crisp new linen handkerchiefs from my mom's stash to cut out her underwaist and petticoat. 

The skirt of the underwaist is feather-stitched with red.  Here she's lifting the top petticoat so you can see the feather-stitching.












The upper petticoat has a tuck, lace trim, and pearl buttons. 









I ripped out the hem and the rick-rack trim on a lavender gingham apron and cut a little dress out for her.  It'll have white linen bands at the neck and sleeve edges.  I hope it turns out the way I want!

~Jane

Saturday

Today I was able to just stay home and putter around the house for the most part.  It is so seldom that I get a day at home anymore, I hardly know what to do.  Upon writing those words, I realized I started the morning by going for bloodwork at the doctor and then a trip to Target, but once home I stayed home. 

My daughter is beginning to think of potty training, so I finished up three waterproof trainers for my grandson.  They are three different versions/combinations of materials, so she can figure out which works best for them.  I checked out the waterproof ones at Target and they were horrible with a very noisy vinyl on the outside.  These have waterproof knit PUL on the outside and are so much nicer.  They sure are a pain to sew on my machine though.

The other thing I did today was lots of apron ironing.  These are ready to go to my daughter's for inclusion in her Etsy shop.  I still have a few to wash and a few more to iron. 

I finished the buttonholes in my Schoenhut doll's underwaist with attached petticoat while watching "The Social Network" tonight.  All it needs is a little featherstitching around the hem.  All-in-all a pretty productive Saturday.


~Jane 

The Mary Frances Sewing Book - Adventures Among the Thimble People

This is the kind of book that just enthralls me.  I am always so amazed to see the books that children of a bygone era read and used.  This is a simply wonderful book.  It's delightful to read, but also gives very detailed instructions for learning to hand sew.  The little sampler strips the author has you sew to practice the stitches are not unlike the strips my home economics teacher made us do way back in the seventh grade.  I'm not sure what age this was geared to, but I am assuming around age 10.  It was published for the first time in 1913, back in an age where little girls were little girls for a while and it was acceptable to play with their dolls much later than girls nowadays sometimes do.

I have to admit I got quite caught up in the process described in the story and immediately wanted to start sewing for a doll.  Now I have quite a few projects already going, including several doll projects, but had to figure out if I had a doll needing clothes that would fit the time period and the patterns.  A quick scan of my doll cabinet and some measuring with my tape measure brought me to this little Schoenhut.  She's been sitting in my doll cabinet for 20 years wearing just her union suit.  She is just the right size and from the right era to wear the clothes in the Mary Frances sewing book.  So now I have ANOTHER project!  :)  I'd like to make her the entire wardrobe in the book, following the directions they give.  I think it will be lots of fun.

~Jane - Who has also decided she needs a sewing bird like the one mentioned in the book.  :)

Preparing for Sale

It is just amazing to me how much time you can spend getting something ready to sell.  I am trying to liquidate some of my mother's fabric and linen stashes.  Mostly that equals fabric and aprons.  By the time I wash, mend, and iron...then get them photographed and sent to my daughter, so she can write a description and enter everything into Etsy, it has taken a fair amount of time.  Then when it sells she has to package and take it to the post office.  We are grateful to see things sell, but it does seem to take a lot of effort.  But, it is going to people who will enjoy it, it is not going to the landfill, it's helping my daughter catch up bills from her husband being out of work, and we are getting something for it instead of just donating it to a thrift store.  All good things.

I had posted on several doll sewing lists that I am on that we had fabric for sale.  Today someone posted that the fabric she had ordered a week ago still hadn't come!  Oh, my.  Now that is frustrating because someone else on that list may hesitate to buy something.  The woman didn't have the correct story either.  She says she ordered on the 2nd, but Paypal says she ordered on the 4th, which happened to be a holiday!  She got her order on the 9th, which I think is pretty quick.  The woman did post later in the day that the fabric did come, but still.  She could have emailed us directly rather than post it on the list.  The trials of selling on-line.  We had a pretty good response with the first batch of fabric.  I am trying to get another batch ready.  It's proving a little difficult since my camera is acting up and refusing to take pictures.  My birthday is coming up.  Maybe a new camera is in my future.

~Jane - who will tell you about the Mad Hatter Tea Party preparations on another day. 
 

Photographing Fabric

When I decided to sell some of my mother's stash online, I hadn't a clue as to how difficult and time-consuming it was going to be.  The worst of it?  Taking pictures of the fabric.  Oh my goodness, it is almost impossible!  :)

This is a nice, I believe silk or silk/rayon velvet.  I've purchased similar fabric in the past.  How do you get it to show up as velvet?   The next one is a pretty good picture of the rose taffeta.  The Black and White Plaid showed up okay.

Black Velvet

Rose Taffeta

Black and White Plaid or check depending on your viewpoint.

I took all the pictures and I can't even tell you which one this is supposed to be?  I'm not selling anything this color!  I think it may be the Pale Green Faille.  :)

Pink and White Stripe - Perfect for an Annabelle dress.  But is it silk or cotton?  I can't decide.  It's beautiful regardless.

Light Teal Silk...certainly not this bright!

Well, I went out and bought a new memory card so I can try again and take more pictures.  If you're interested in sewing for antique dolls, or vintage fabrics for crafts, check out my daughter's Etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlesproutbasics .  There is only a limited amount of these, sometimes only one piece, so if you want something get it quick.  I'll be adding lots more fabrics over the next couple weeks. 

~Jane

Sorting Out

My mom passed away a year ago and we are still sorting through the things in her house.  Up until now, I have hated going over there by myself, so I always wait until I can get my daughter to go with, even if just for morale support.  But this week, because of her husband starting his new job and her work schedule, it was going to be impossible for her to go with me.  Now in the past, I'd just skip going this week.  But there is just too much to be done to do that.  I came home from work, ate dinner, and took the plunge to go over and look through things I'd looked through at the very beginning...when sorting was pretty overwhelming.  I figured I'd just be there for a couple hours before it got dark.  I found some treasures!

Last summer we had a couple garage sales and we sold lots of record albums.  I didn't think about the fact until recently that there was a record that the Red Cross made of me and my mom talking to my dad, who was stationed overseas.  It was for Christmas 1957.  We made the record and sent it to him, but they didn't have a record player over there and he couldn't listen to it until he came home.  Anyways when I remembered that record, I was afraid it had been sold or donated to the Goodwill with the leftover albums from last summer.  Imagine my surprise to find a stack of these:  Victor Talking Machine Orthophonic Recordings....with my own little record in the middle of the stack.  Also, I found several records that my mother and her uncle and my mother and her sister made.  What a wonderful find.  Now if I can find a record player!

Then there quite a few pairs of leather gloves.  I think my mom purchased them to make doll shoes.  If there are pairs, I might try to sell them on Etsy.

Look at this poor doll in her box of simple garments.  She was so homely I had to bring her home.  She needs some love.  :)

The next thing I found that was interesting was a bunch of letters my dad wrote to my mom while he was stationed in Korea in the late 1940's, although one is written to her before they got married.  They got engaged after dating for six weeks and she went home to Minnesota to plan the wedding.  Her family was convinced he wouldn't show up.  Some interesting reading, with promises of eternal love and faithfulness, although mostly he seemed to want hair oil and shampoo.  :)

There are quite a few little bisque dolls.  I would like to dress a few and make shadowboxes for my nieces to remember Grandma by.

All-in-all, it wasn't too bad.  Next time it won't be quite as hard if I have to go there by myself.

~Jane

Life Cycles

With 50 years of living behind me, I find it interesting how your interests change over the years.  When I was a child, books and dolls were my primary interests.  My mother taught me to knit scarves and I had a spool knitter which I used to make yards and yards of cord.  Gradually I started sewing little dresses for my dolls.  I learned to cross-stitch and embroider.

When I was 10, my mother showed me how to use her little Singer featherweight sewing machine.  The garments I made for my dolls became more refined.  I learned to crochet doilies using fine hooks and thread.  I learned to needlepoint.  I began making miniature items, and making my own dolls.  I started studying old dolls and trying to recreate their garments.

Entering my teens, I started sewing my own clothes.  I acquired reproductions of old china head dolls and dressed them.  I developed an interest in Japan and created a Japanese doll house and dolls using ideas from the Rumer Godden book, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  By this time my needlework skills were pretty advanced, and I could sew just about anything I wanted.  My interest in old dolls was increasing.

For graduation, I received a large bisque-headed German doll.  This was my first introduction to actually owning a genuine antique.  She needed a lot of tender loving care, but sparked the collector in me.  Over the next few years, I acquired a small collection of antique dolls and studied the appropriate clothing for them.  I learned how to make my own porcelain dolls using purchased molds, bought a kiln, and made a small business of making and dressing small dolls. 

In my 20s, I became a mom and sewed most of my own and my daughter's clothes, with a little bit of knitting sweaters, hats, and mittens for her on the side.  I designed and sewed costumes for our local ballet company and studied the construction of tutus.  My focus on dolls shifted from all kinds of antique dolls to French fashion dolls, specifically from about the 1850s to 1890s, and small all-bisque dolls.  I purchased a couple of reproduction French fashions and started a lifetime project of creating wardrobes for them.  I discovered Tasha Tudor and A is for Annabelle.  I purchased a doll I could use for my Annabelle and added her wardrobe to the lifetime project list.  These interests continued unabated through the next decade.  Somewhere along the way I added in quilting.

Entering my 40s, I added decorative painting to my crafting interests and, for a while, the painting overshadowed the sewing and everything else.  Then, coinciding with a return to working full-time, came an all-encompassing passion in knitting socks.  I became reinterested in my dolls, and started sewing new garments for the French fashions and Annabelle. 

Now in my mid-50s, I have a multitude of wonderful hobbies to choose from at any given time.  I sew, knit, paint, quilt, cross-stitch and am dressing my dolls.  I've researched  and sewed the modern diapers for my little grandson.  I'm not sure I'll ever go back to making porcelain dolls.  The molds sit in a box under my bed and the kiln is in the garage.  I'm not sure I'll ever crochet the fine thread doilies again.  But I love knitting sweaters and socks and mittens, dressing my dolls, doing the odd painting project, counted cross-stitch, and both hand and machine sewing.  I'd like to work on my drawing if I get time or keep a nature journal.  The best part of all my hobbies is that I've managed to pass on the doing of them to my daughter and I am continually amazed at how her creative life is developing.  It is all just so much fun.

~Jane