Doll1

This doll has been in my family forever, in pieces, in a box, in a succession of attics. I finally got motivated to do something. Through the library, I found out about a doll club, and discovered Zadie Carter, and her Doll Hospital.

E-Mail

Zadie

Zadie washed her hair, repaired her finger, cleaned her up just a little, and restrung her body. Her hair had been very dark - so filthy that we'd thought all these years that she had brown hair!

Mom had never seen her mother's doll all put together. She does know that Grandma named her 'Dorothy', and that she got her from her father in the early 1900's.

Dorothy shows off her maker's marks. On the back of her bisque head, the stamps read Germany Einrich Handwerck Simon & Halbig. She has a composition torso, with wooden ball joints and wooden or composition limbs. Her "tattoo" on her left hip reads Heinrich Handwerck Germany.

This picture shows her shoulders. She has 6 separate ball joints, which makes her an 18 piece doll.

The bloomers are too short, I'll lengthen them with some insertion lace and ribbon.

Dorothy meets Toby

I'm trying to learn how to sew a dress like she might have worn in 1905. I sew a lot but haven't had much need for doing pintucks or putting in this kind of lace. It's also difficult to find patterns for a 30 inch doll, so I've been guessing at the measurements. Now that I have her put together, it should go a lot easier.

I wasn't sure, for example, how big the sleeves needed to be to allow her spread fingers to fit down them. The chemise was too wide, the neck too low, and it was too long, so I'll put another two pintucks in on either side, take the ruffle off the bottom and pinch up the shoulders on either side. The waist was too small on the dress, so I've taken it apart completely (you see her wearing it in Zadie's lap, but it really didn't fit.) The pieces are at the right! The top shows the bodice and sleeve, with some fabric that will be on the neck, the bottom picture shows a detail of the lace on the skirt.

I'm practicing on muslin but will use a better fabric when I make her 'real' dress. I've also been working on my tatting, so I'll put handmade lace trim on too.

HOME | CONTENTS | ADVENTURE 1 | JOKE 1 | CONSTRUCTION 1