A Few Dolls

I worked on a few dolls in between summer activities and String Camp.........time always seems more limited in summer!

 

This is "Ettie Craig"  - a doll in classic Izannah Walker style made as a special order.

And this is "May" a dear little jointed cloth girl (17" tall) dressed in a knitted woollen outfit. She has a hand-knotted lincoln wool wig and custom-made leather shoes. She is currently listed in my Etsy store. www.susiemcmahon.etsy.com  
I'm really looking forward to making more dolls in coming months, in between home renovations, which you can read about on my other blog www.fourteenstepstothebluedoor.blogspot.com

Little Garments

Before I sent off my Izannah Walker 200th birthday celebration doll to her new owner, I decided to give her a "second skin" body covering, similar to what the originals had. 
I think I've worked out why Izannah Walker gave her dolls this second skin - it was to cover up where she'd accidentally splashed paint on the doll's fabric body. Maybe. Or not.

Anyway, that meant I had to undress the doll in order to fit the second skin. That presented an opportunity to take a photo of all the garments the doll is wearing: drawers, petticoat, dress, jacket and bonnet. I'm not counting the boots, because they are sculpted directly onto her feet and are not removable...........she is destined to forever sleeping in her boots!

When I make a doll like this, the genesis of which is in the "play-doll" form, I make the clothes like miniature versions of full-sized garments, with proper fastenings and closures, so they are easy to remove. 

Here she is before her second skin was added, with all her garments laid out.

Harriet Completed

The second Izannah Walker-inspired doll I made last month, whom I named "Harriet" is now completed. Her underwear is trimmed with crochet lace, which I worked onto the garment directly, she has long drawers with a drawstring at the waist and a red woollen cape finishes her off. She was such fun to make. Both these "Izannahs" have found new homes. :-)

I really enjoyed making these two dolls and I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

Harriet

When I recently made a doll in celebration of the 200th birthday of Izannah Walker, I became entranced with this style of doll all over again! It's been quite a few years since I've made any dolls like this, so it was lovely to become immersed in the process again. I jumped right in and immediately started a second doll in the same style: Harriet.
Izannah walker dolls typically have a "second skin" that fits over the actual body - I decided to give that technique a try with this doll. It took a few tries, but I eventually got the shaping right (I needed to make some tucks to accommodate her rather full derriere!)

So here is my dear sweet Harriet - she has a blue print cotton dress, silk shoes and a knitted cotton apron. Still to come, a cape with a hood and some pretty underthings. 

 

Izannah Walker's 200th Birthday!

September 25th marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Izannah Walker, that iconic American cloth doll-maker. Yes, she was a maker of unbreakable dolls, but she was so much more - a successful business woman in the man's world of the mid C19th. Apart from the patent on her dolls, she was responsible for a number of other inventions, but it is for her dolls that she is mostly remembered. There is just something so appealing in their calm, serene countenances, so simply but perfectly rendered in oil paint. They are reminiscent of the naive portraits of the time, beautifully realized in three dimensions, and each one a little unique.

These dolls have stood the test of time - quite a few of them are still around, displaying their quiet beauty. Even those that have had a hard life exude that special aura unique to these dolls.

I belong to a Facebook group that celebrates these and other mainly cloth dolls from the past and it was suggested by one of the members that we celebrate the event of Izannah Walker's 200th birthday by creating something related - a doll, a painting........whatever. My initial thought was to do a painting - a still life in naive style with a doll included. But when I really thought about it, I really REALLY wanted to make an Izannah-like doll. As usual, I left it until the last minute, leaving myself only eleven days to get it done. Occasionally, I get seized by a project and can work long hours uninterrupted until it is done, which is what happened in this case. I got it done, from sculpting to the final stitches in the clothing with four days to spare. And all this stitching is done by hand!

So here she is, my 200th birthday celebration Izannah:

Not quite finished, but.........

Here is the little doll I was working on last week while I was looking after my son's children. In between cricket, circus practice, homework supervision, art activities, cooking, washing etc. I managed to steal a bit of time to do some of my own work. I'm still working on the clothing (don't look too closely - you'll see unhemmed edges), but she's finished enough to show her face here. I enjoyed crocheting the little lacy cap and I'm planning to give her a white apron with a similar crocheted bib front.

And here's a piece from my sketchbook - unfinished - that I've been working on. If you want to know what it is all about, click on the image in the Flickr Photostream to the right and it will take you right there - all will be explained!

What I'm Working On.......

Here are a couple of dolls I am currently working on - among other things. They are both made using my "Izannah" style head mould. The disembodied, unpainted one has a moulded on hairstyle made from glue-impregnated thread and the other has the more typical painted hair. The fabric is a lovely Civil War reproduction cotton I found on my recent trip to the USA - just perfect for a dress!

The sad, but strangely uplifting tale of Lucia

Lucia was a treasured cloth doll handed down through generations of the Appleby family. In 1924 she became the beloved possession of nine-year-old Poppy Appleby, who kept her in a metal trunk with her best treasures.

In December, 1925, the Appleby home was destroyed by fire that started when a coal fell out of the parlour fire and quickly spread. Poppy and her Aunt Matilda were the only survivors..........apart from Poppy's trunk of treasures which miraculously came through the fire reasonably unscathed.

Poppy and her Aunt Matilda (who was a wonderful seamstress) set up a new home in a small cottage not far from their old home and traumatic scars notwithstanding, managed to live a long and happy life together. Poppy always had Lucia, smoke-damaged as she was, to remind her of her family and the terrible night she lost them. Under Aunt Matilda's instruction, ten-year-old Poppy made new clothes for her doll to replace the ones ruined by smoke and her face and limbs were gently cleaned to remove as much of the discolouration as possible. Nothing could be done, however to remove the stains from Lucia's cloth body.

(Of course, this story is pure fabrication, but I had to think of some explanation for the stains on this doll's body! I was attempting to add just a little staining using walnut ink, but it just came out of the spray bottle way too fast. Ya gotta laugh!)

Work In Progress

Here are some progress pictures of a doll I am working on. This doll is the subject of an instuction book I am working on that covers making an Izannah Walker style doll from sculpting and painting the head to making replica 1850's clothes. The book will be available as a hard copy or a downloadable pdf and it should be finished in a week or two.

New Dolls

As Christmas gets scarily close and so much yet to do before then, here are a couple of dolls I have recently finished. They are both Izannah Walker inspired dolls (Charlotte is the larger of the two and Arabella is the little one) and I will be offering them for sale in my Etsy store as soon as I get their underwear finished! The little mouse is "Naughty Mortie Sneaks A Peep" - a little piece I made for an ornament swap on ADO. I'm still working hard getting commission work done.......... Oh yes, I've also just taken up the violin. Had two lessons. Loving it!

New "Izannah" Doll

Here is my most recently-completed doll made in the style of an Izannah Walker doll - "Esther". I had an interstate visitor last weekend who liked this doll and bought it on the spot - I had to rush to finish dressing her before the buyer left Tasmania.

Thanks to all who have responded with a comment on my 100th post - I will be drawing the winner this weekend, so there is still time to enter if you want to. Just go to the previous post and leave a comment - you'll go into the draw.