Bad Hair Day?

A Trip to Ye Ole Wigmaker.....

  I have been so busy I havent had time to share many dollys with you lately. Now that this pair of Queen Anne dollys are at their new home, I can share them with you.  I thought you may like to see some in progress pictures of how I style my wigs...Ye Ole Wigmaker.....aka...Ye Old Me!  ha

Patience is a sweet girl~ her owner ordered an over the top Queen with all the frills, so she got a custom made, period correct saque back gown, with literally yards and yards of trim. I stitched trim for days. There is nearly 2 yards of silk in this gown...on an 18" doll!  For her wig, I chose one of my Icelandic sheep skin pelts~ in this picture she is just trying on a bit for color and length of hair.....

  There are many shades of white, even on a single pelt the color hue can change from one area to the next. After cutting the skin to stitch the skull cap, the hair is washed, again, dried and combed out. It looks like shes got a lot of hair...but for a pompadour, one needs alot of hair...and then some extra

  With a certain style in mind, the hair is sectioned into parts~ the length in the back is braided and will be tied up tall on the crown~ this was a popular way to dress long hair in the 1750s.

 The crown has been tidy'd and braid stitched in place~ to the sides you can see two sets of long curls being set

 Once dry, the curls are drawn up and set on each side...starting to look nice now! I like to either stitch or pin the curls in place.

 I am including this picture just cause I really liked doing the tags this way~ this is how I always make tags of doll pairs~ I draw up the back and then cut it in half, so each dolly has a half.

 My customer stipulated that she wanted her Queen to be a 'Stitching Ladye'..... so....if you stitch you simply must have a working slate frame!

I can say, this is the smallest working slate frame I have ever seen(or made)!

 Her beau, Msr Isaac, is such a thoughtful fellow~ he has gifted Patience a new slate frame for her birthday~ I love his profile here....

 Here they are posing for their picture....but he is looking at me like,  'Please....just take the picture already'.....

 Her frame is dressed and ready to stitch with a hint of silk....ready for her owner to stitch a little something on!