Agatha Izannah Walker Wedding Day Bride

Agatha's wedding dress is finished, and it's a miracle too. When I got started I had a full head of hair, but now, not so much. HaHa  I felt like pulling all my hair out making this outfit. The fabric is a soft vintage cotton Hob nail lace netting, so beautiful, but it had to have a backing on everything. I used a white thin cotton organdy and it actually was pretty easy to sew, but the netting will stretch and it is super fragile ( not weak or rotten weak, but just delicate, as it is a very fine netting. I really don't even see how they make fabric like this. As is the usual case, you start out with a set plan on how the dress will look, but, as with lots of things, your plan begins to take on a life of its own and you don't end up with exactly what you envisioned. Lots of different types of a bride veil appealed to me, but I also thought, this dress could double for something else, even a very fancy everyday dress to a collector, so I stuck with the bonnet. Wedding Veils now are made of nylon or polyester,  and unless you are a millionaire, or live in England where I think they still make cotton tulle lace or a similar lace, you will have to pay 40.00 a yard for the fine 100% cotton tulle lace netting. I debated about getting a yard of it, but, after these brides, when would I use the netting again, maybe never, and the Izannah dolls are probably better off with the bonnets because they tie onto the head, there is not any hair to pin a real veil onto. Brides during Izannah Walker's time period did wear lots of lace long veils though. There is alot of fun to be had making a dress with the decorations you want, twisting ribbons or cloth and stuffing the bows and sashes. Now that I have two brides finished, Merietta is waiting for her turn. She is young looking and will have more of a solid fabric dress and traditional type bonnet. I have been gone to Panama City for a few days and I was bad, as I bought lots of dolls, some fabric, chalk paint, books, two bears, and today, I went down to the flea market and bought a childs dresser set. It is about 30 inches tall to the top of the round mirror, and includes the bed and chest and stool. I just couldn't ( not get it ) even knowing there is no room to spare in the house, but I had to get it any way. I will post some of the things we did and some of the things I bought next. Thanks for visiting.

Merietta and Agatha Wedding day Izannah dolls

Merietta and Agatha are finished. they will have wedding dresses too. I have been searching for fabric to make two distinctive and different bride dresses for them, only to discover that nothing is available on line. the antique wedding dresses are to expensive and to fragile. The modern material is all made of polyester or nylon, or at the least a blend of cotton and something else  Happily, I have been buying along for the last 2 years bits and pieces of vintage lace type fabric, Mostly a type of dotted lace fabric. I found 2 bags with a white and a ivory Hobnail lace netting fabric that I had forgotten about.  PERFECT.  Looking at old pictures of the brides of long ago, the dresses vary quite a bit. I noticed mostly they used fresh flowers for the head veil and their hand held flowers.  Alot of the dresses for the brides were not with full skirts, but more simple straighter dresses which were decorated with lace and appear to have been home made. Another thing I noticed is that almost all the women and girls in the wedding photos also wore white, this is a little confusing , as you are not sure in some of the group photos who is the bride or if there are more than one bride there. In the first picture Agatha is on the left, but that changes in different pictures, She has a heavier fatter face. Merietta was a problem and I almost didn't finish her, but after going back many times, she bloomed out into a pretty girl. Almost everyone has a hard time getting a look they want for their dolls, but if you are patient and keep trying, usually you can get the doll to behave and become what you wanted. Our work on the house is continuing, and we are going down to Florida soon. I am looking forward to a new book I bought, going late in the afternoons to the beach, shopping, hopefully to find some good treasures in Panama City. It doesn't matter if I find anything or not, I just like to ramble and look. My mother is looking forward to staying with her sister there and on the way back we will stop in Pensacola, Fla to stay with my brother and do a few  favorite things there before coming back home. the intense heat is calming down and it is still hot, but not the killing heat we have had. It is my intention to also make each girl and regular day dress, as somebody, might want to change her out of her wedding outfit sometime. that might change. I have considered trying to send these wedding dolls to a magazine to see if they want to put them in, as these dolls all dressed up in wedding clothes is something a little different and not anything like what I have seen. We will see. Happy doll making to everyone.