Putting It All Together...........and other things

 I finally got this big girl put together - this is the biggest doll I've made in a long time, but of course, she had to be sized to fit those beautiful antique boots. She's around 23.5 inches tall (60 cms) The permanent wig will probably add a little to her final height.

I've dressed her temporarily in a vintage baby dress I had and plunked the wigging material on her head for this photoshoot while I think about her clothing. 

The next job will be hand-knotting the wig and styling it appropriately. I'm using this blonde lincoln wool, because it is the only thing I can find that's long enough to make a wig for this big girl. It's not as lustrous as mohair, but it should make a lovely wig. As you can see, the antique baby boots fit her perfectly! I also need to add more painted detail to her hands and feet. Very happy with progress.

I've had a couple of other projects on the go that I've recently completed. Firstly, in late 2022, I bought a vintage "Sasha" doll that I spotted on a stall at a fair. She dates from about 1974, which is about when I noticed these lovely dolls and really wanted one. At the time, with a young family, money was pretty tight and I couldn't really justify the expense of one of these dolls. 

They were quite pricey. Only had to wait fifty years to get one!

I got this one naked and with a bit of an amateur haircut (which was salvageable) for a reasonable price. She's sat around naked for quite a while, but a few weeks ago, I got the urge to give her some clothes. Which I did - tried to make them appropriate to her era - smocked gingham dress, knitted cardi and hat in kid mohair, knitted socks and red leather buckled shoes. I've named her "Lucienne".

Then I thought Lucienne needed a playmate, so I designed a doll based loosely on the proportions of the original "Sasha" dolls. I didn't want to make a replica, but I made a more simply sculpted head than I usually do, with a neck joint. This doll is also jointed at the shoulders and hips. The wig is hand-knotted suri alpaca hair. I dressed her in a similar way to my Sasha doll, with a smocked dress, angora knitted hat and cardigan and knitted socks with leather sandals. She was fun to make!