Dress for an Antique German Bisque Doll

A friend from my doll club recently asked me if I could dress her antique doll.  She is a sweet, dolly-face, German doll, simply marked "Made in Germany" and then the number 12.  She stands approximately 19" tall. 

 

This is what her dress originally looked like:

A sweet, toddler girl's dress made from a sheer cotton voile and trimmed with cotton lace.  The collar is not separate but rather the lace is sewed onto the fabric in a way to make it look like there is collar.  Clever!

 

I won't lie...I had a hard time cutting into this little dress.  It was so PERFECT!  No stains or holes...it didn't look like it had ever been worn.  Perhaps it had been sewn for a special occasion, or maybe it was only worn for Sundays?  I guess we'll never know.  However, it did make up into the sweetest little doll dress!

 

Once I drafted the bodice and sleeve patterns, it was fairly easy to put together.  I didn't have to hem or gather the skirt, since that had already been done.  The bodice is lined with a sheer, white voile, and the gathered sleeves were strategically cut from the dress so that I wouldn't have to hem them.

 

Close-up of the sleeve detail:

 

I decided to close the back with tiny snaps under decorative buttons.  The buttons are also antique...taken from an old slip.

 

 

I'm very happy with how this all turned out.  I'm always a little nervous when making that first snip into an old garment--making a wrong cut cannot be corrected!  Which is why I first always make a mock bodice from some old fabric, just to make sure everything fits well before cutting into the good stuff.

Not visible in the photos (because I totally forgot to take pictures!) is the adorable, full slip I made for this little lady from a pair of antique, lace-trimmed ladies bloomers.  I still need to make the doll a pair of bloomers as well, but I wanted to get her back to her owner with her new dress since she'd already been in my possession for a couple of months.  I will make sure to show a picture of those once I get them completed.

 

And the best part about this project?  I get to keep the leftover fabric from the dress to make something for one of MY dollies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gertrude Rollinson Cloth Doll

I love a great variety of dolls--new, old, bisque, composition, vinyl--but antique, cloth dolls just make my heart sing!  So when I saw this little sweetie at the last doll show, just lying on a table in nothing but his (her?) birthday suit, I couldn't resist taking a closer look:

At first glance, I thought it was a Martha Chase doll, so I didn't study it too closely.  I already have a Chase.

The kind seller noticed me looking and casually mentioned that it was a "Rollinson".  I had heard of Rollinson dolls before, but never seen one in person.  Since it looked so much like a Chase, I asked him how he could tell the difference?

Apparently, Rollinson dolls have a center seam running up the back of the head, while Chase dolls have a circular one running up and around the crown.  Rollinson dolls were also stamped with the name on their torso, but as is the case of my doll, it has probably been worn off.  When I saw the price tag of only $50, I couldn't resist.  I have seen these dolls go for hundreds of dollars in the past!

It is said that Gertrude Rollinson first started making flat-faced cloth dolls in the early 1900's to give away to crippled children at Christmas.  Unhappy with the affect, though, Mrs. Rollinson experimented with sculpting techniques and came up with a doll very similar to Martha Chase dolls.  You have to wonder, did Mrs. Rollinson have a Chase doll as a child and this is what influenced her dollmaking?  Martha Chase started making dolls in the late 1800's, and Mrs. Rollinson created her molded face doll in 1916.  Her dolls became very popular in a short amount of time, and she was unable to keep up with the demand.  Realizing she needed help, she commercialized her dolls and The Utley Co. of Holyoke, MA began to produce them.

Here is my Rollinson, holding my Chase.

It is believed that Rollinson dolls were produced for a very short period of time, possibly only two years.  Maybe this is the reason you rarely see one.

You may have noticed that this doll only has one arm!  Somewhere along the way, he(she--I haven't decided yet!) became an amputee.  But just look at the individual fingers on the remaining arm! I'm so impressed.  My hope is to replicate an identical arm for the other side, but I'm a little daunted by creating those individual fingers.  We'll see.

These two look so sweet together, don't you think?

Thirty-five styles of Rollinson dolls were produced by the Utley Co.  A 1916 ad states that they were lifelike, flexible, washable, and non-breakable.  Mrs. Rollinson stated that it took twenty coats of paint to finish her dolls, sun-drying between each coat.  Whew!  The dolls are stuffed with kapok.  I've always wondered what this was, so I looked up the definition:  "a fine, fibrous cottonlike substance that grows around the seeds of the ceiba tree, used as stuffing for cushions, soft toys, etc."  Now you know!   Some dolls were wigged, while others, like mine, came with painted hair.   They came as either boys or girls, and were dressed accordingly.

At this same doll show, I also found a sweet, tattered, old baby dress made from cotton dimity and edged with lace.  I am thinking of cutting it down to fit this doll.  That's if I decide to call it a "her".

Most of the dress is in okay condition, but there are pieces shredded and missing from the sleeves.  It will be bit of a challenge to restore them.

Here you can see the very similar ears on the two dolls.

Close-up of the Chase...you can see why Rollinson dolls are easily mistaken for Chase dolls.  Both dolls have shoulder plates, painted limbs, and are identically jointed.

I love my new (old!) cloth baby.  To think that this might have been handmade by Gertrude herself just thrills me to no end.  Is that weird?  I think that this is part of the appeal for me with cloth dolls--the fact that each one is handmade.  Who played with this sweetie and held it close?  What has he/she seen in the past 100 years of it's existence?  Of course, we'll never know for sure.  But I can love this little sweetie while it's in my possession, and maybe even make things a little better for him or her with a new arm and some clothes!

A New Dress for an Old China Head

 

Recently, a friend from my doll club asked if I could make a dress for her antique, china head doll.  This is what she wanted me to use:

 

It appeared to be a vintage baby/toddler dress.  The material was a soft, loosely woven, homespun-type fabric in a delicious shade of peach that beautifully set off the doll's coloring.  I can see why my friend wanted it.  However, once I started on the project, I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into.  Notice how the dress is sleeveless?  Cute for a baby, but not so appropriate for a late, 1800's style dress.

 

I placed the dress over the doll, just to get an idea of what I might need to do in order to make it fit.  I knew for sure that it would need sleeves, but how was I going to make those when I didn't have much fabric to work with?  I wanted to leave the bodice as it was, and gather the bottom of it to a waistband, which was a popular dress style for these dolls.  I started by cutting the skirt from the bodice.  Then, I removed the lace from the armhole openings and cut in armhole curves from the bodice.  I discovered that there was quite a deep hem at the bottom of the skirt, so I decided to let it out. (It ended up being 4-5 inches in width)  This still wasn't wide enough from which to cut sleeves, but I could use this extra fabric for the waistband and trim on the sleeves.  Luckily, I ended up finding some cream colored, vintage fabric in my stash that worked perfectly for the sleeves.

 

After several hours of picking out seams and carefully planning how I was going to make this work, here is what I came up with!  I was pretty proud of myself when it was all said and done.

 

I realize this photo isn't completely in focus, but it's the only one I took of the detail on the sleeves.  Since I didn't want it to look like the sleeves were an afterthought, I added a strip of the dress fabric and the lace I removed from the armholes.  I think this helps tie the sleeves to the dress.

 

A closer view of the bodice.  Isn't this doll just gorgeous?  I forgot to measure her, but I think she was around 28" long.  Not sure of her maker, but probably Kestner or ABG.

 

Back view--the buttons and buttonholes were already there, so all I had to do was add a snap at the waist.

 

I took this little beauty to my friend today when we met for doll club.  She was thrilled with how it had turned out.  I was sad to see her go, but someday, I hope to own a beautiful china like this, also!

 

 

 

 



Mother's Day, Gardening, and a New Bye Lo Baby!

This is me, at about 3 months of age, with my mother.  Can you tell I'm a child of the 60's?  The bouffant hairdo, pedal pusher pants and smock top totally give it away.  I just love the baby carriage.  Can you believe my father threw it away many years ago?  He is not sentimental when it comes to "stuff", and probably figured that it was just taking up space.  'Sigh'.  I have, however, forgiven him.  He is my father, after all!  This picture is especially precious to me, since my mother passed away almost four years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long since I last saw her smile, heard her voice, and felt her touch.  If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother around, give her a hug and tell her you love her.  One day, sooner than you expect, she won't be there anymore.  And then there will be so many things you wish you would have said.  Trust me.

 

For the past week, we have been having some "too good to be true" weather for our neck of the woods.  Temperatures in the 80's and plenty of sun...enough to make one think that summer has arrived!  Sophie loves helping me in the garden--here she is, working the dirt in one of my garden boxes.

 

This is my compost area.  The bin on the left is finished compost, ready to be used.  The one in the middle has compost partially finished, and the black bin on the right is for our fresh food scraps.  I like that it has a lid so that it keeps out any wild critters that may be attracted to it.

 

I never in a million years thought I'd be taking a picture of dirt, much less posting it on my blog, but I'm just so proud of my finished compost pile!  Isn't it beautiful?  I suppose you'd have to be a gardener to appreciate it, but it just makes me so happy to think that all those food scraps, grass clippings, and leaves turned into this awesome, nutrient rich soil.  My plants are going to love it.

 

I currently have seven raised beds.  One is filled with perennial herbs and a birdbath, but the others are open for whatever I feel like planting this year.  Today I planted one of the boxes with five heirloom tomatoes, nine melon plants, a row of yellow carrots, and marigolds to deter bugs.  Our beautiful weather turned to rain today, so I didn't get to spend as much time outside as I would have liked.  I hope to add some radishes and onions into this bed tomorrow, if it doesn't rain too hard.

 

Here is my version of a mini greenhouse.  I've wanted a full size greenhouse for a long time now, but it just never seems to be in the budget.  However, a few weeks ago, I finally bought a cheap one made of narrow metal pipes and a plastic cover.  I was so excited, but alas, it only lasted about two weeks before it started to fall apart.  So back to the store it went.  I have since improvised, and discovered a system that works fairly well.  The above picture shows a clear, plastic storage box, filled with seeds planted in 5 oz. plastic cups.  I keep the lid on until the seeds sprout, and then I set the box out on the patio with the lid off during the day.  At night, the lid goes back on to trap the warmth and keep the little seedlings warm.  Once the seedlings are big enough, they are transplanted into the garden.  Because they have been spending their time out on the patio, they are already acclimated to the weather and don't need to be "hardened off".

 

Here's a close up of the box.  I picked it up at Walmart for around $5.

 

The seed starting mix and the little plastic cups are also from Walmart.  I believe I paid $1.98 for 100 cups, and the seed mix was $6.

 

Here's a sampling of some of the things I planted today.  The box holds 53 of these 5 oz. cups.  If you decide to try this, make sure and poke holes into the bottom of the cups for drainage before filling them.  I used an awl.  The nice thing about this method is that you can use a Sharpie to write directly on the cup, and then they can be reused next year, if you like.

 

Have you read this book?  It's a great help when it comes to squeezing in as many vegetables into a small of a space as possible.  It's also great for telling you which plants like to be planted with others, and how to make a great garden soil.  I refer to this book a lot.

 

 

Here's my Happy Birthday/Happy Mother's Day gift to myself...an antique Bye Lo Baby!  Ever since I got my tiny, 8" one, I've been dreaming of also owning a large one.  This one measures 18" in length, with a head circumference of 15"--life size!  I'm going to dig through my vintage, baby, clothing stash tomorrow and see if I can find her a sweater/bonnet set.  I think she'll be fun to dress.

 

My husband cooked me a wonderful meal for Mother's Day (salmon on the barbeque, my favorite!), and snapped this great picture of me with six of my offspring.  My oldest son was sick and couldn't make it, and my second son is currently stationed in Colorado with the Army.  He and his wife will be transferred to our area by the end of the year, so next Mother's Day I look forward to having all my children around me again.  I can hardly wait!  Hope you had a great Mother's Day, also.  Now, get outside and plant something!