Dreaming...

Our snow is gone, and hark this! What a beautiful Autumn has befallen us. The days seem to pass so quickly to me, hardly any time for dreams, but I must make time~ for who else shall? Dollys have been very very lively, and all excited....why is it that there is such a feeling of merriment when the crisp breezy air comes? Tascha has finished her repose here at the Inn for now, and has gone away back home, we all miss her Dearly. Emma dressed to say her goodbyes, and while she was waiting for me to say my own fare-thee-wells to Tascha, here she had gathered Grete in her arms and was softy, gently swaying back and forth, muttering little girl's secrets that a goode dollye would never, ever tell............

Emma is wearing a beautiful late 1830's dress of super thin tissue silk in a multi color blue stripe. The height of the huge full gigot sleeves was 1835-6, after this, they began to deflate, in the form of the fullness being tamed down in the form of pleats~ 1837 the pleats at the top of the arm, and gradually made their way down, 1838 sleeves banded down to the elbow, until just an awkward poof remained at the fore-arm, and by 1839-40, sleeves were tight as a second skin with the armscye seam waaaaay up under the armpit, usually making for a horizontal stress fold as seen in pictures of the era~ anyways, looking at unaltered sleeves are a good way of dating. This dress has matching lined pelerine as well.


Silhouette wise, the 1830s are my favorite era, just imagine a whole schoolroom full of sweet little cherubs...and some not so sweet I'm sure, bobbing about and playing in dresses such as this, but in a more washable cotton vis silk.

This dress was in my mind when I designed Tascha's dress, but since Tascha is older, and not a child, I gave her a wider and fuller pleated band on the front of her gown, more grown up. Here you can see the pleating on the sleeves to hold the fullness in, and the superb use of the stripe to lend effect of movement Doesn't Emma look like she could have walked into a store, and picked out a new dollye to take home? She is holding a c1820 patchwork reticule in silks, and wearing a period net cap

I could see a smile stretch on Tascha's face, a feeling of being one and whole again. At one time, a little girl beheld her for the first time, just like this

I hand stitched her dress(Tascha) from mid 19th c very thin calico. I did NOT wash it, as the age marks do nothing but add character and realism~ she loves her new dress. The arm, shoulder and side seams are piped, as well as the front plastron that holds the pleats down.

There are 2 piped bands round each sleeve, and I faced about the bottom 5" of her skirting with heavy polished cotton, as it just didn't hang right without the added weight. She wears her new dress over polished cotton petticoat, corset, chemise and pantaloon, all hand stitched from antique fabrics.

I will be posting her dressing into her corset in the next few days. Dollys like this were used for play, but also to teach the little ones proper dress, and what work was required in getting in and out of everything. Imagine if all they had to do was learn how to tie their shoes....instead of lace up a corset for their sister!
Dancing and Dreaming with dollye...........how I would love to spend all of my days

Bliss is............

Loving children......

Loving dollys and all things olde and beautiful..........

And having a little "Pip" to share it all with

Dress & Dollye for Grete....

I think a goode dollye deserves another, don't you? Grete & Lille have been giving each other the eye, and Lille mysteriously is always in Grete's Lap.....I think she talks Pip into taking her over from the sideboard, so she can play... she is a little reproduction I did of a painted eye Grodnertal doll~ I love how her hair came out

Finished Grete's dress too! She likes it so much, she has asked me for another allready! She will have to wait a little while tho, as so many others don't even have their first dress yet. I patterned this one from a c1839 gown~ the van dyke points on the bodice should have been piped, but they were so small, I couldn't do it to my satisfaction, so left them plain.

Did you watch my video on piping a seam??? I really sound corny in the end, saying "now go pipe some seams"....geeze! I MEANT to say, that the next time you are sewing, I hope you will consider to pipe the seams~ it really is so very simple, and adds so much~ just imagine how plain Grete's dress would be, above, without the extra touch the piping adds to it.

How to add piping to a seam....

After allmost 2 weeks of the flu, I am feeling much better today! I have been working on a c1839 reproduction dress for Grete, and thought you may enjoy seeing how to pipe a seam~ if you dont allready know how to do it. It is really so very simple, and adds greatly to the look of one's stitching. Instead of posting so many pictures, I thought I would just make a little video of how to do it.

Making an early Chemise.....

Its really not as difficult as you might think. Now this will work for both dollye, and human, as the construction is of the period. I will not include any measurements for a couple of reasons...first, I never use or take measurements, and second, prefer to stitch for the doll or human by fitting to their own form.........

So as you can see by my shaky sketch, the chemise is cut from a rectangle of cloth, folded in half over the shoulders. Textiles were so valuable in the 18th century, it was common practice to make up clothing from simple rectangles, so as not to waste any fabric. A chemise made up how I will show you here, will work for 18th c thru 1830s

Getting back to my hasty sketch....the body will be cut from the folded rectangle, in this case, for dolly I am using an olde ratty pillowcase...to add fullness at the hem, and more fit to the upper bodice, a long triangle is cut from the upper edges~ this in turn gets flipped over, and sewn to the sides making a gore...have I lost you yet??? You'll see next picture.....you will also need 2 rectangles of cloth for the sleeves, and 2 squares for the gussets under the sleeves.

So how to fit? Well I lay my fabric, folded, on the dolly while she is laying down, and add about an inch or little more to each side......for the sleeves~ the rectangle should be long enough to easily fit around the girth of the arm, and the width will end up being how far down on the arm the sleeve will go. For true reproduction, this should end just above the elbow, with NO cuff. (yes, I made Grete's a bit different)

So here are my pieces~ I cut them from cheap Christmas wrap...REALLY cheap if you buy it after Christmas! The body is folded in half, and then you can see from left to right, the sleeve rectangle(also folded in half), square for the underarm gusset(folded in half triangularly), and the long triangular side gusset

Cutting. For period reproduction, you would cut the side gusset like I explained above, and stitch it separate, but my fabric was wide enough to save a step and alot of stitching, and cut in a single piece(remember it is folded in half over the shoulders)

have cut the body now~ note that I cut away for the neckline at the top. Don't cut away too much here~ you can make this as high or low fitting as it pleases you. I have my 2 sleeves and sleeve gussets cut as well

First step~ stitching the side seams from the hem, up to the under arm gusset....to figure out WHERE this will be, just lay out your pieces as they would be sewn up~ starting at the top of the shoulder, the sleeve, then gusset under that, folded triangularly.

WRONG SIDES TOGETHER. A flat feld seam is stitched from the RIGHT side of the fabric!!!!

Now you can stitch this as you prefer, but for a period impression, it should be done by hand, all seams flat feld. If you are not familiar with this, get ready to learn it! It is very easy, so much early clothing uses this seam technique~ its very strong, and there are NO raw edges when you are finished. So first stitch your seam with a running back stitch( excuse my grubby fingers~ they are actually clean~ too much stain and painting ground into them!)

Once you have your entire side seam done~ up to the point where the underarm gusset will start, go back and trim off one side of the seam allowance~ see here I have trimmed half of it away

Next, you will fold this under, as you stitch, keeping an even distance from your first row of stitching...and stitch another running back stitch thru all thickness.


Some prefer to iron the raw edge under, but I find this a great waste of time, and it never will come out even~ I just do it as I go, tucking the seam allowance under my thumb with my needle a little at a time
Here is what it looks like finished~ just try and rip out one of these seams~ they are very durable. So now you can do the other side same way.

After the side seams are finished, I turn, iron and hem the bottom. . hmm hem length~ this should come below the knees~ the earlier you go in history, the longer the chemise is~ 18th century it is ankle length, as time comes on, it gets shorter to eventually being knee length

The next thing I did was finish the neck edge. I just bound it over with a scrap of fabric I cut the chemise from. You could add a mull ruffle for 18thc, or a fine lace for later...I prefer it plain....looks wonderful with simple initials embroidered in red beneath it

So you now have your sides up to the arms finished, neck edge done, and chemise is hemmed. Last we will stitch the sleeves. Very simple. On point, place your underarm gusset square, and stitch one side to the front body piece, the other to the back body piece~ this is done INSIDE OUT. The above pic is turned back right side out, with both sides stitched on

Next, pin your sleeve rectangles on~ you will need to ease them in with gathers or pleats, which ever you prefer~ and depending on how full you want your sleeves to be....bring them all the way down just touching the gusset. Here above is shown them already stitched to the body.

Lastly, you will stitch the underarm seam~ first to the remaining side of the gusset, and then to each other

For a period reproduction, just hem the sleeve and let it hang loose. I am planning a tight fitting late 1830 dress for Grete, so I made her sleeves not very full, with 2 rows of drawstrings to make a bit of a cuff that I can draw in close if needed. You should really have fun stitching this up~



As for the back, Grete's head is small enough I did not need to make a back opening~ for a person tho, or dolly with large head, just add a slit down the CB a few inches long~ enough to easily put it on, and bind this same way as the neck edge, with a single button closure at the top, or you could even add a drawstring to the neck edge and close it that way

If you find this post on how to make a chemise informative and use it to make one of your own, I would love to see the fruit of your efforts. As well, if you have any questions, just email me and I will be delighted to help you. Please feel free to make a donation to the Museum~ any amount of your choosing and generosity helps so much and is greatly appreciated...just click on the 'donation' tab on the sidebar.

An 1820 - 30 era doll corset

I must apologize to all my Museum readers, as it does seem I have been rather preoccupied as of late, with dollys! Above tho, I think you will understand, and see the current outcome of the toil my fingers have endured these past few days! I have finished Grete's stays, or corset, and am really, very proud of them!

I made these entirely by hand, antique linen lining, antique c1860 polished cotton for the outer fabric....I embroidered them with a simple primitive flower motif, accented ever so slightly with little wee teensy 2mm antique m.o.p. sequins. The front and back is corded, with hand stitched eyelets at the back & shoulder strap closings. There is a busk pocket center front, with a real wooden busk within

Grete is very excited to have a decorated set of stays.....so many of her friends corsets would have been made like this, but stitched in matching threads. I once saw an original human sized corset, c1820, with this contrasting blue stitching, and always loved it so much....I just HAD to make Grete's with blue stitching.

I designed this corset after several I have seen in person....kind of a heinz-57 of all the different things I liked about each one......one thing I would like to note, if any of you should decide to make your own, is that when I first fit these pieces on Grete as lining and separate outer fabric, they both overlapped at center back....here you can see a good example of how things 'shrink' as you stitch them up, and especially when you cord something.

So many of you have emailed me and posted here that you would be interested in seeing how I made Grete's chemise~ so I will be putting that on the blog when I get a chance, perhaps tomorrow! I also have a wonderful post planned on 18th century writing~ so hope you'll check back!

Happiness Is......... a Pillowcase?????

A pillowcase you say? YES! Doesn't Grete look so happy!? She is a c 1838, probably Voit, antique German mache doll. I am seriously having the most fun sewing for her! I want her clothing to be period correct, but for dolly of this size, period fabrics just are not available in the quantity needed for her size, so I 'improvise'. I have spent the past few days hand stitching her un~mentionables....pictured here she is standing in the gallery in her newly made chemise. There is no better way to replicate the look and feel of olde clothing, especially whites, than using the real thing......I did, but not in yardage or from picking apart an actual piece of antique clothing....which, may I add, is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE to do, and forbidden in my set of rules...I wont get into my thoughts on that right now....anyways~ there IS an abundance of early bed things~ linens, cottons, woolens, any era you want, you can easily find, and in all conditions...even down to ratty tatty........which is where this pillowcase comes in~ yup~ I used an early pillowcase. With proper hand stitching, it looks and feels fabulous. This case had several holes on one side, and the end where it was most likely trimmed with something, had been torn off....I see no fault what so ever in recycling olde worn out bits and bobs

I did take pictures, if anyone is interested in seeing how to make a c1840 chemise, just let me know and if there is enough interest, I can post it on the blog. A wonderful thing about early sewing construction, is there isn't alot to it~ most things can be made from rectangles of cloth, as textiles were very precious in teh early days, and never a bit was wasted.

I am stitching Grete's stays now, an amalgamation of 1820-30 period corsets that I like different elements from...all rolled into one fun bit to stitch! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Note to self..............

Just as us humanoid folks, dollys do in fact have 2 different sized feet........

I don't know why, but I always start dressing dolly from the feet up.....normally its socks first, then the shoes, but I made Grete's shoes first before her socks....I am still pondering on what kind she will get.


Anyways, I have this little dolly shoe here, its an early antique one, the style worn in the 1830-50 era in both children and dollys! I drafted a pattern from it and then tweaked the upper vamp a little for Grete's thick foot. I am fairly happy with how they turned out, other than my middle finger that I sew with is nearly raw from stitching thru leather.

I made them from 2 kinds antique kid leather, they are lined with a period appropriate print on
the upper, with cloth footbeds.....BUT, as you can see, dolly 's right foot(left in the top picture), is a bit more high on the top of the foot than her other one, and gosh darn it, she has swollen ankles poor thing!
I can remember my Great Grandma Randall, in her 80s when I was little, boy she
would get horrible swollen ankles! I always took off & on her shoes for her, and I was amazed at how big a persons ankles could get! Its only fitting a dollye over twice that age, would have swollen ankles too!


So she may get another pair of shoes, a bit more roomy than this pair, a little later~ but these will do for now. It actually was the 'fashion' to have small feet in the early to mid 19th
century....women were always squeezing their feet into wee teensy shoes. Being leather, I think these will stretch out a bit over time to be just fine. I'm certainly glad I don't have to make shoes for my children!

Currently.......

I have been working on Grete a little, slowly, and some other dollys. I have also been practicing my penmanship.....my H is a little too thick, but I don't think my large letters look tooo bad~ I really prefer something hand inked, instead of printed out from a computer.....kind of like receiving a handwritten letter in the post, instead of an email. Its just different, more satisfying to both the giver and receiver~ don't you think?


This is Grete's before picture. While so beautiful, I can see her inner beauty wanting to come out....she is not the kinde of spirit that wants to wear a pancake of makeup. Her eyes had been painted over, and her hair painted a solid black.....kind of sloppy actually~ the black paint was down over her pretty face in many areas...... also there was globby filler and olde varnish built up around her eyes....very uncomfortable, so I let Grete recline on my work table, and gave her a bit of a facial....

After we uncovered her real glass eyes, (see last post), I removed recent touch up paint around her hairline......boy was the black paint underneath messy! I wanted to scrape the black off to her original hairline, and for the most part, that worked very well. We soon found ourselves chatting away, and Grete felt quite refreshed and tingly with her olde layers of paint coming off. "Very Itchy" was her remark.......

Up close, you could see the overpaint on her forehead, was not the same color as the rest of her face, so I gently scraped it away...then another layer, and another.....too many layers to count! I had originally planned on totally repainting her. As I see it, I can do no harm since she was already repainted.......but, with each layer coming off, her character shone brighter and brighter...she looks sooo happy~ don't you think?

I like that she looks olde and worn, cause~ hello!! SHE IS ! She didn't look right having solid black painted hair with a worn face, so I took some automotive grade 440 sandpaper and sanded her hair~ the areas that were flat and obviously worn away, got sanded back off again. We smoothed out her upper eyelids, and I painted over her iris with dark brown paint...just temporary until we do her final enamel contacts. I also gave her back a bit of eyebrow, since the ones up in the top 'before' picture were totally shaved off. I think I took about 7 or 8 different color brows off before we got down to a coat of base paint.....and I could still see more brows under this, but didn't want to take them down any further. After painting on her new brows, she took a little nap, and when she woke up, we shaved a bit of them off to match the rest of her. Besides her eyes, I am totally happy with Grete, and she seems to glow with delight too~ having all that heavy makeup taken off!

I am planning her wardrobe now, stockings, shoes....corset, chemise.....all late 1830 early 1840. She is perfect size to rest in my antique baby cradle(of which I had all 4 of my own real babies in)~ I have her body wrapped in plastic for her trip to the spa... I think she is well deserving of a good pampering!

until next time, grab a dolly and GO PLAY!!!!!!!!!