Ageing new Fabrics

I may have some protests when my neighbors ride past the house and see all the long lines of fabric hanging on the fences with clothespins on them, but I don't have years to wait until the fabrics are naturally faded, so I had to take matters into my own hands.HaHa Have you ever really thought about what people do to get things to look old. They bleach them, coat them in lemon juice and put them in the sun, bake them in the oven,  take a hammer and chains and beat things up, poor all sort of concoctions on items, sand repeatedly, or use a sand blaster,  and MY SPECIALTY, which leaves the dolls tembling when they see this is ( bringing out the dental tools ). It's funny now, but my husband used to walk in the room and see me sanding away on a poor doll until it's cloth would split, or cutting  off ears or noses with abandon, like throwing away a banana peel, he just grimaced  and walked away, I believe he was really concerned  about me, or he couldn't bear to watch what I was doing to and probably ruining more good dolls.

 I am hanging out lots of pieces of fabric in the weather for about a month, through wind, sun and rain. Hopefully this will give me some fading and probably a few small holes. I realize this is still not as good as antique fabric, but the sun, rain, and wind and space on the fences is free, not so antique fabrics. When I do get a special piece of some old cloth, I am afraid to use it, for fear, I'll never get another piece of anything like it. So, if you are brave, and can justify your actions to your neighbors, I think it is worth a try to get the look of clothes you want. I don't know if the people long ago had these problems. did they try to make antique dolls too, and had to scrape up fabric to do what they wanted. Who knows, but Izannah Walker was a person who I think would not have been above doing something like this to get the results she wanted.

Making Primitive Bears

Here are two of the three primitive bears I have made so far. These girls are for my two Niece's Easter baskets. These are pretty easy to make. I made a sitting bear, but these two have legs and arms that are movable. I started with a pattern I bought, I think from Sweet meadows Farm, but found it was not strong enough for children to play with, so I modified it to be stronger, more flexible and child friendly. I inserted antique glass eyes I got on ebay, they are so pretty and add a lot to the bears. I have some faux fur to try to make some, but decided the osnaburg bears would be better to try out first. I like their old friendly primitive look and hope my little nieces will too. Hoping for everyone a happy Easter and always happy doll making.

New Rag Dolls in their new dresses

 These are the last two in a group of 8 rag dolls I have been working on for about 2 months, they are all finished now and ready to go to the store. There is a store in Kewanee, Miss. I think it is called the Simmons-Wright Store. It is on the historical register being over 100 years old. The original store was wood, but burned down and was rebuilt back in brick. It is being run now by the heirs of the Simmons and Wright families. It's a neat place. They have the real old cotton baskets and cotton with seeds in it from way long ago. Old tools and antiques, plus they serve food now. The balcony has shelves of shoes that were stocked there in the 20's and thirty's, still in the boxes, ofcourse, they are dry rotted now. In it's heyday, it was a bustling place, as right behind the store is the old Cotton Gin which is not open, but houses the old machines. If you have never seen a cotton Gin, it's facinating how these machines could take the seeds out of the cotton. It supplied folks in the closer surrounding areas of Mississippi and Alabama, and the railroad tracks are just across the street. We have several Gins down here. The one in Jackson, Miss. can still operate, but it is a museum now. Another big Cotton Gin, which I have painted several times, and thankfully have taken pictures of, has been taken down now. I went over to this store lots of times, but on my last visit, while  trying to buy up the last of the old, old, fabrics, which have been up in the balcony for years and years, the lady ask me what I was going to do with the material, I told her make dolls, both Izannah reproductions and Rag dolls too. She ask me to bring some over to the store to sell, and I said I would.

This store is located on  Hwy 11,  and  is the highway that the famous Highway 11 fleamarket is on every  year in May. It travels through several states. I always go atleast 20 or 30 miles of it, so much fun. I really don't know if there will be any interest in these dolls, but the lady in the store will enjoy them. You never know if what you make will be something other people will want, but i made things i liked, so hopefully others will to.

Aletha Mae is ready to paint

I am working on Aletha Mae and quite a few others at the present time. One of the dolls is Gloriana, a large primitive Izannah based on a antique. Pretty soon she will be shown in the same state,  with gesso ,before the actual painting begins. I also made a picture of two rag dolls I like alot. One is a pinkeep, named Mrs. Pratt,  who sits in a can and a regular rag doll who can sit up by herself. None of the dolls have any clothes right now. I like the bright colored dresses, but might have to start using more of the old calico's and old homespun, if I can afford to buy any, which I do like, but sometimes, they will just have to get a vintage fabric dress, these are pretty too. Yes, yes, that is me in the picture holding the doll. Fortunately, for you all, only a little of me showed up. I didn't realize i would be included. Terrible picture. HaHa. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Another visit with ( Miss Martha )

Miss Martha has been with me for a long time. Her tag says only 6 months, but she has been with me far longer than that.  To me Miss Martha has the same sweetness that Izannah's dolls have. I know that Izannah Walker loved to make the dolls. I also know she made them to make money, but I don't believe she could have made them look the way they do, with the sweet presence they have,  if her love for them didn't show through. I won't have her much longer as a lovely sweet lady wants her, and I am glad for this.

Work in Progress

I took a picture of the Izannah dolls I am working on at the present time. Cynthia, the lady who sells some of the dolls for me says that the small 11 1/2" dolls are good to sell. they are not as expensive and are really cute too. So I am making a bunch of these for her, both black and white. I decided to make a few more of the big Izannah dolls, as well as some 32" boy Izannah's. this will call for a new sculpt and a new mold. The boys need a more masculine ( yet cute ) look. Included in this group are two dolls I am making for two of my good friends. The dolls are named Aletha Mae and a temporary name for the larger one is Gloriana. I guess my way of doing things seems unfocused and as though I am skipping around alot, but there is a method to my madness. HaHa.  Sometimes the dolls take a long time to complete, there are different reasons for this. Sometimes me and the doll can't agree on certain things such as antiqueing or hair style or color, and we have to do over alot to get both of us satisfied. I have strayed  away from working strictly on the Izannah dolls, but as it turns out, what I have learned from making the Rag dolls, I can apply to the Izannah's as well as to any other dolls I might make in the future. We are moving along on these little people and sooner than you might think they will take shape and be finished. So much to do, but so much to look forward to. I will soon get to my favorite part, the painting, where faces bloom out and my little person becomes unique and set apart from anybody else.

Here we are in our clothes

It seems like it's been a really long time, but all dolls take awhile to be made. The heads are pressed cloth. The bodies are muslin stuffed with cotton.   Head, lower arms and  lower legs are painted in oil. Black dolls have dyed lambskin wigs. I learned to make the gathered top dresses, these are my first ones. All dolls have pantyloons, chemises, slips, aprons,  and bonnets. The original Izannah's I went by to make these all had barefeet, so these dolls do too. I think shoes can be found to fit them already made,  as they have big feet, or some can be made. I have not gotten into the shoemaking yet. I will have to say it was a little iffy on getting the pictures, as there was to much sun or to much shade, but I think you can see well enough how the dolls look. I forgot to put in a few smaller ones to show size difference, but the big dolls dwarf all the others, even the 23" dolls. All the dresses are cotton, and the underware is a mix of new and old. All are stained to give appearance of age, but the old pieces do have some natural mends. Two of the bonnets are made of Osnaburg, which makes an excellent strong bonnet. The bonnets on the white dolls are heavy old cotton and are a little big for them, but I used a standard pattern, and of course the black dolls have the extra hair. For me there are no favorites, as each doll has features that I love. I wish for everyone a Wonderful Christmas and an exciting new doll making year.

4 Big Izannah's

Well,  the day is finally here that I finished these dolls. I made a few pictures of the finished , but not dressed yet ( huge ) Izannah dolls I made. these dolls are between 31" and 32" Tall. The clothes have been made and are being finished, the little hand sewed things you have to do to them. 4 complete sets of dresses, pantyloons, chemises, slips and bonnets, Oh My. I started these back in august, so it's been a long process. These pictures were made with a flash camera, but I think they are pretty good. You can get a clear look at them. I had to dye the black girls hair ( lambskin )  three times to get the brown color, but they have the finest tiny curls. I really don't have to much to say about them, except It's been a long and hard job, but I am proud of how they turned out. In another week their pictures will be posted in all their clothes. Finally,  I learned to make the gathered top dress, so that will be something new. I have seen alot of really fine dolls people are making, and I sure wish I could get some of them, maybe in the future that will be possible. To everyone I wish a Happy Holiday Season and as always, Happy Doll Making.

Doll without clothes

Here is a new doll that is not wearing any clothes. I have antiqued her second skin of cotton sateen. She has also been painted and stained to give the appearance of age,  Not really, really old, but with some wear. this girl is 22" Tall and is made in the style of Izannah Walker with the head being made in the pressed cloth method in a mold. Layers of silk, cotton and paste are pressed into the mold and dried. the two halves, front and back are then stitched or glued together, stuffed with cotton, and mounted on a body of premium muslin ( Drill ), which is very heavy and durable. There is a wood dowel that runs from the inside top of head down into the botton of the torso to insure the doll does not nod or droop. the ears are of made of cotton and are stuffed, stitched and attached onto doll's head. Arms and legs are made of fine medium muslin, stuffed with cotton and painted in oil. the hands are individually stitched and the thumbs are made using muslin, stuffed and then sewed onto the hands. the feet are barefoot. the toes are hand stitched.

Bare Feet - New Dolls and Comparing sizes

I have some new dolls to look at, and  as usual we had bad light for these, but did the best we could. The big 20" doll in light pink, very old material is named Augusta. I have had her for several months, but finally finished her and gave her a permanent name. The little 11 1/2" black doll is named Primrose. She is really sweet, but I can't seem to get a good enough picture to show her in the best light.  I have now finally finished 7 IW type dolls and 4 rag dolls.  Still working on the giant IW's and I thought you would enjoy a comparison of sizes of the normal about 18 or 19" inch doll with the over 30" big dolls. The big big dolls are a little slow in coming into being, but, like everyone else,  I stay busy and there are other jobs to do around the place. We are still building on a carport. It grew from 20 feet by 20 feet to 20 feet by 32 feet. There is alot of grass to cut before cold weather, I am holding off as long as I can to ( not have to do it but one more time )  well, back to more interesting things. I said in my last post I would show how to make a nice pair of bare feet. Most of you doll makers, no doubt, know how to do this, but I drew up a little instruction page. It's crude, but if you read it several times, I think it's understandable. If you want to do this and don't understand my scriblings, let me know and I'll try to do a better job explaining. I made a picture of a pair of feet I made doing what I describe on the paper.  All of this ( about the feet ) is because I was having a very hard time getting nice rounded feet with good toes. If you are going to make barefeet, they should be plump and good. Some of mine were less than satisfactory to me.  I hope this helps others, who might have the same problems as I do.