Old is New

I have been digitally photographing some images of older dolls - long gone to new owners. Here are some of the results: not brilliant photos in terms of clarity, but at least it is a record.

And An Apple!

"Izzy" finished!

In between helping my grand-daughter with a school project, I managed to finish dressing my 'Izannah Walker Homage' doll. I was going to use some old tatted lace that I know I have here somewhere, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth wasting a day trying to find it in the midden-pile that is my studio! But I am quite happy with the little bit of dark red embroidery - I think it is quite in keeping with the fairly plain way that most of these dolls seem to have been dressed originally. Underneath, she has long drawers and a petticoat trimmed with hand-made cotton bobbin lace. (No! I didn't make that).

'Izzy' Close-up

Waiting for Clothes

Here is my naked 'Izzy' doll patiently waiting for her new clothes. Painting a doll in a more primitive style was a bit of a challenge - I had to resist the urge to put more detail, shading etc into it!

Izannah Homage Doll - Work so far........

After making a tiny (4") replica Izannah Walker doll, I couldn't wait to have a go at making a full size one. Here are some pictures of the work thus far. Next job will be to paint the doll and then make the clothes. There are a few things 'wrong' with this doll - the feet are too big and bulky (the original Izannah dolls have dainty little feet with painted boots) but she's stuck with them - I'll alter the pattern when I make the next one. Also, the proportions are not quite right - on the originals, the head appears to be relatively large, but I can live with this.

The pencilled-in features are only temporary - just to help with the placement.

Tiny "Izannah Walker" Doll

Here is a picture of the doll I have made for 'Flora' - I based it on pictures of Izannah Walker dolls, which were cloth dolls made in the USA from the mid C19th.