A Harlot Named Nancy - Work In Progress

Right after finishing Mr Darcy and Elizabeth the young Nancy shouted out loud and started nattering away about being dressed and brought to life.

She's been very specific about what she wants and what she'll wear. The only problem I've had has been keeping up with her demands and very sore fingers from all the stab wounds I've given myself as I sewed all her ruffles (I'm starting to hate Ruffles!!).

Nancy is a Victorian Harlot. A street walker, a lady of the night, or, more bluntly, a Prostitute.
She's a very pretty young lady, and has had quite a bit of success because of her good looks and easy smiling charm. She's been lucky enough to gain the attention of the better class of men and has become quite popular. And she thinks herself quite a cut above her street corner sisters.

Nancy doesn't realise that the attention she receives won't last, and those that she looks down her nose at look back with sympathy as they know the disappointments she'll face just as soon as her looks begin to fade.
For now she earns her living entertaining the wealthy clientele that frequent the smarter Gin Shops and Inns, occasionally accompanying a gentleman to one of the private clubs, and sometimes having easier nights earning a few pennies singing by the fireside of a tavern in her sweet lilting voice.

Even a Harlot needs underwear, so Nancy has the usual set of long crotchless drawers and a knee length loose shift that she wears with the neckline gathered wide on her shoulders.

She insisted that her corset was black, even though I offered her white, red and blue. And I fitted her Chemise sleeves tight even though it's not in the right style so that the loose gathered sleeves of her blouse will look as good as possible. She's showing off a lot of her fair complexion with her shoulders almost bare and a very low front.

Nancy has very little, and works hard to maintain as fashionable a way of dressing as she can. Her rich patrons are generous with their gifts, and her clever nimble fingers help her alter the second hand fine gowns discarded by affluent ladies.

She wears the usual type of plain white cotton under petticoat to help protect her legs from the heavy layers of her skirts. And a second petticoat of stiff cream cotton voile that I've made with three ruffles at the hem. All the ruffles are of different lengths, but all fitted to be floor length to make it appear like she has many more petticoats on than she really has. It's a clever technique that I came across in one of my books a while ago. And I've been waiting to try it out on a suitable doll. It really does help to give the skirts the proper shape without the weight of extra layers. It uses much less fabric than full skirts that I'm sure that poorer women would have used it to save money.

I made Nancy's last petticoat from a bright red cotton fabric with another ruffle at the hem to add bulk and support. Trimmed with a peachy coloured tapestry style ribbon. The layers look so pretty when she sits. Like a mass of frilly lace hidden away.

I want to make Nancy look as I've pictured her in my head, which means giving her a slightly gypsy look with lots of layers and mixed texture and patterns. So have decided to give her a skirt, blouse and bodice combination, with layers of shawls and lots of extra detail that she may have added thinking it made her look more fashionable.
I've already started her skirts in a very patterned dark blue and white fabric that has a silky feel. And am working on even more ruffles to decorate the hem to add as much detail as possible.

It might be a bit difficult to get Nancy to look how I want as it has to be the most overboard costume I've ever attempted before. I'm hoping that I manage to get her looking as I see her, and I hope you like her too :)

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett

It seems as though I've been dressing these dolls for ages. So much has been happening, and we've been so busy, that I just haven't had as much time as I would have liked to create and comfort myself with my dolls. I'm still trying to recover from a very low dip in my iron levels on top of everything else and my dolls are the one thing I know will always make me feel better and give me a sense of achievement.

Christmas is always a busy time in my house, and this year was no exception with our home full of family and friends and lots of visiting to do. It was a relief to spend a quite night in with Cris and quietly see the New Year in by ourselves.

Since then we've both been back to our day jobs, and have been busy buying stock and setting Cris up with his own Etsy shop - www.CuriousCris.etsy.com
He loves to treasure hunt at all our local thrift stores, car boot sales, house clearance shops and vintage and collectible fairs for small hidden Vintage, Retro and Re-Found objects and treasures. So we've set up Curious Cris so that we get to share what we find, and stop filling the house with stuff I love but have no room for :)

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett both capture the heart. As he changes from proud snobbish spoiled brat to the best romantic hero, and she learns to see past her first impression to see the man behind the attitude we all fall in love with the wonderful story brought to life by the wonderful Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice has to be my favourite book of all. I read it at least once a year, as well as watch the wonderful BBC adaptation (staring a very sexy Colin Firth) regularly – It’s even on my iPod!

I’ve wanted to make Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett for quite a while, but have always been put off by all of the tiny tailoring I knew they would involve. I finally plucked up enough courage to make them both and am so pleased with how they came out. Elizabeth in her soft empire line simple gown, and the tightly laced My Darcy in his chin high collar and tight waistcoat and trousers, a tall top hat making his imposing height even more distinguished.

I made Darcy wearing a long white fine cotton shirt that has baggy sleeves and deep cuffs and a separate collar over long drawers. He has long tight fitted trousers with a high waist and flat front, a gold satin waistcoat, high collar, long white cravat tied high under his chin, and a sage green double breasted tailcoat that’s pleated in the back. I made his top hat from layers of thick cotton fabric formed around an oval base so that is keeps is correct shape, which has a black satin ribbon band.

In comparison to Mr Darcy's straight laced tight buttoned looks Miss Elizabeth seems floaty and soft in her gown of layered white and cream cotton voile with a peach bodice and sleeves with a pin tucked hem. Underneath she has a long shift that has a gathered wide neckline and short tight sleeves, with a set of short stays to support her figure. Her dark red short jacket has sleeves that come down over her hands as they would have been styled during the Regency period, with lace at her neck to protect her dignity. I trimmed Elizabeth’s cream stripped bonnet with satin ribbon, lace and a satin flower.

After spending so long getting their clothes just how I wanted them I was so happy that they actually looked quite pretty, and stopped looking like aliens, when I finally put their hair on.

It makes such a difference to how they look, all those soft feather fronds drifting in the breeze. I normally like to add their hair first before the clothing, but on the last couple of dolls I've made I've left it off until the very end so it wouldn't get in the way when I was adding the sleeves and back of the bodice. Think I prefer this way for the dramatic effect, but they do look really odd and I'm not sure I can carry on worrying about if they will turn out ok or not until the very end.
Before I start my next doll I'm going to have to decide which method works best. But my brain doesn't seem to work yet this year.

I have managed to learn a lot about the tiny tailoring I'm always so scared of while making these dolls. A lot of it to do with making sure I have enough fabric to do things over if I need to and not knotting off all my threads until I'm totally sure things are right, but I've picked up a few new sewing trick's too.

Fitting Elizabeth's and Darcy's coat sleeves took some working out as they are very fitted right up to the shoulder. It's never so tricky with softer fabric, but the thick cotton I used wouldn't behave at all. On Darcy's I held them in place with pins which was a bit awkward in such a fiddly spot. And I found a better way when I sewed Elizabeth's first coat by tacking the very top of the sleeve to her shoulder before sewing on the body, then folding that back and taking out the tacking stitches.

You may have noticed I said Elizabeth's first coat, which was a long pelisse with a pretty pleated back and rounded corners at the front. I was really pleased with it until it was all done and I took a good look at my handiwork.
I looked like a raincoat, and not a nice one!
In fact, it looked like the kind of raincoat a very unfashionable granny might insist wearing everywhere, even in the heat of summer. It was terrible!

I made her a short jacket instead with the deep collar and double breasted front and I think she looks much younger and fresher now. I couldn't even bring myself to show you all the horrid Granny Mac as it was just too bad.

Even though I've only just finished these two my mind has already wandered off to my next doll. I want to make a large sized doll again as I've not made one in a while and have the perfect doll waiting for me all curled up naked in a box. In my mind I keep coming back to a Victorian Street Walker, all decked out in bright colours and tatty round the edges. In some rich woman's cast off gown that's been badly altered to fit and overly trimmed with extra lace and ribbon to try and attract custom. Her whole outfit made up of slightly mix matched layers as she trys to do her best with what she has available and can afford. Her legs flashing and too much of her bust on show. I've not got so far as the details yet, but I know she just has to have thick red hair.

A New Year and Darcy & Elizabeth Finally Have Clothes!

Happy New Year to one and all :)
I hope that 2012 brings you all nothing but happiness and comfort.

It's the first day of the new year, and I've spent it quietly at home with my lovely husband, relaxing and steadily getting a few bits and pieces done to properly launch the January sale at my shop - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com
There are a lot of my little ladies there that now have 25% off. And a few that have been reduced even further, up to 60% off, as I'm trying to make room for all the new dolls I'm planning on making this year.

The very first dolls of 2012 are my Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. After waiting so long to get started on them, and after a bit of a delay while I found fabric for her gown, both finally look somewhat respectable and have some clothes on. Although there's still a way to go on them yet.

Mr Darcy now has his fitted straight black trousers that have a flat flap front and a high waist, giving him a very trim narrow waist. And I finally found the perfect fabric for Miss Elizabeth's gown, of all places in a home furnishing store.

It doesn't show up to well in these photos as Wales hasn't seen proper sunlight in a few weeks now. But Miss Elizabeth's dress has long narrow sleeves and a bodice of peach voile fabric that has a textured finish with some thicker shiny threads. She has a second petticoat and gown skirts on cream cotton voile. And I've added some detail by adding pin tucks to her hem. Around her waist in a darker peach satin ribbon.

I spent some time with test pieces of fabric trying to find the perfect patten to use for the pin tucked section of Elizabeth's skirts. And had a little trouble with the scale at first. Women during the Regency where fantastically talented when it came to making their simple gowns. Although they look very basic, every detail of their dresses was carefully created to make sure the finished product fitted perfectly and conformed to the latest fashions. All of the detailing was done carefully by hand in a great range of fabrics. And as Elizabeth was a young women when she first met Mr Darcy I decided to keep with tradition and use pale soft colours, and delicate opaque muslin-like voile.

Sewing pintucks is both a very simple technique to decorate fabric, and complicated to do at times. You can get a special foot for a sewing machine that sews perfect straight tucks every time, but I sew even clothes for myself by hand, so getting things straight can prove a bit difficult, especially if your using a very pale thin fabric that you don't want to wash afterwards as it means you can't draw lines on the fabric and have to measure everything repeatedly and rely on pin placement to mark where your going. To sew a pin tuck you fold the fabric and measure down from the folded edge how deep you want your tuck to be, then sew across the width of the fabric. To make the next, you measure from your first sewn line the distance you want between tucks plus the depth of your tuck, then fold at that measurement and sew across the width of fabric again at the depth that you want. Repeating until you have as many as you want.

I experimented with alternating depths of pin tuck, and different distances apart. As well as copying the beautiful complicated pattern as seen worn by Fanny Brawne in the film Bright Star (a great period film if you get the chance to see it).
In the end everything I tried just seemed too over the top for Elizabeth. I never think of her as a showy character, and even though you get the impression she likes fashion I always think her tastes are more simple and elegant.

My husband bought me the 2007 ITV version of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey for Christmas, and just as I was giving up on what to do for my Elizabeth I thought to watch it for some inspiration. Right at the beginning the young Catherine is wearing a beautiful simple white muslin dress with a deep pin tuck hem of 5 or 6 rows. Each tuck the same distance apart and quite deep. It was perfect. Exactly what I wanted for my Miss Bennett. Simple and elegant, and just the right kind of detail. What I'd been trying to do was much too elaborate, and now I knew exactly what I needed to do to finish Elizabeth's gown.

These too will soon have hair to make them stop looking quite so alien. And I still have Darcy's sage / olive green tail coat and tall top hat to make. As well as a long pelisse coat and bonnet for Elizabeth. Tiny tailoring is always scary, but I hope I can make what I have in my head come from my hands.

Best Wishes for the new year ahead of us.
xxx

Elizabeth & Darcy, And The Sale Starts Today

It's been so long since I posted I can hardly think what to start with. December has been a ridiculously busy month, all leading up to the last few days of festivities with my wonderful family and fabulous friends. And it seems like an age since I last picked up a needle and thread and got down to the serious business of making dolls :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas of your own, and are looking forward to a fantastic Start to the New Year ahead of us. I can't say I'll be sorry for this year to end. There have been too many sadness's and hardships for my friends, family, and myself this year to make me sorry to see it pass away. And I hope that the new year can go some way to make right what can be made right, and to soften the pains that exist.

New Year is always such a strange melancholy time. With the passing of another year I always feel that I should try and take stock of my life and make plans for the future. I'm not one for new years resolutions, but having a goal to work towards always helps me to keep myself going in the directions that I want, and not those that I fall into. Like so many of us I get caught up in the petty details of life and can forget to focus on what's important to me and my loved ones. It's an important time of year, this passing, and one that I intend to make full use of to plan out the next twelve months ahead of me.

This time of year is so cold and miserable in Wales. The roads will freeze and the snows come. Everything will be pretty and white at some time or another. But the days will be short, and the nights extra long even though the shortest day has already passed. Being a Summer baby I'm not keen on this time of year as I hate to be cold. The only good thing about January, after all, is the Sales!
So, with my plans for next year already involving making sure I improve each and every doll that I make, and my wish to make many many more of the characters bubbling away in my head come into reality, I've made one decision early. To have a big 25% OFF SALE and make room for all these new lovelies in my shop, and on my shelves.

From now until the end of January I've reduced over two thirds of my dolls by 25%. Including some of my very favourite dolls - I'm very proud of the stunningly dramatic Mary Shelley, with her hand corded petticoats and tons of layers with her tiny waist. And the pretty Elizabeth Armistead with her lace applique gown and pretty bonnet. Some dolls that I've reduced are some of the first that I ever made, and they'd already been reduced once. I decided to reduce them further to make them even better value for money, and so that you can now find one of my dolls to suit any budget. You can see all of them here at my shop. I hope to find many of them new and loving homes - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com

I can finally show you the secret Christmas gift doll project that I've been hiding away so that my cousin (and one of my best friends) wouldn't happen to see it around somewhere.
He's been nagging me for years to make the creepy twins from his favourite film - The Shining. So, this year, I finally got around to making them for him.

If someone had asked me to describe what these two creepy girls where wearing before I actually checked I would have been convinced that they wore pinafores. And I wasn't the only one to be surprised that in fact they actually have quite plain blue dresses with white lace trim and a white sash. I couldn't quite get one of the details around the hem right, so decided to leave them plain. And I finished them off with white bead hair-clips, black shoes with white bows, and long white cotton socks. And I'm happy to be able to say that he loved them.

I've also finally, after a long long wait, started on my Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy dolls.
These two have waited ever so patiently in a box among my tools and fabric, waiting for the day when I would actually let them out and give them some clothes so they wouldn't have to suffer their embarrassing predicament.

I've been putting off working on these two as I'm a little scared of the tiny tailoring and details needed to make them look just as I want them. But after managing to get Joel's tiny tail coat together for my friends wedding cake toppers I'm feeling a bit braver, so thought I'd give it a go now before I loose my nerve again.

Miss Elizabeth Bennett is looking a bit odd in this photo, I know. She really is much prettier than this alien snapshot suggests, and I can't wait to be able to give her some hair.

As I usually do I started with the underwear she'd need to keep her decent under her flimsy gown. And she wears a long shift with short tight sleeves under short stays.Her floor length petticoat has a high waist just under her bust which has two straps over her shoulders to make sure it stays in place.

I've already had the first of my troubles with these dolls as the pretty cotton fabric with teal flowers on that I bought for her just would not work out. It was too bright, even under a voile overlay, and the scale of the flowers was just too big. She unfortunately looked much too much like her sister Mary, so I had to take the whole of her bodice and sleeves off again and have to wait to dress her any further until I find a fabric that will work for her.

Luckily, Mr Darcy hasn't given me too much trouble yet, apart from an issue I've had with the front of his trousers since these photos were taken, which I've now happily resolved.

He wears long drawers that are gathered below the knee, like women's underwear of the same time they are split into two separate legs attached to a waistband.
His long fine cotton shirt has wide baggy sleeves and a split at neck, front and back so it can be tucked more neatly into his trousers. He has a separate tall stiff collar that comes right up to his chin, tied with a long cravat or tie that's been wound around his neck quite a few times before being tied neatly in the front in a smart knot.

I'm quite proud of the way his waistcoat has come out, keeping contained the big baggy shirt beneath and giving him his proper stiff backed, narrow waist look.

I found a scrap of the lovely champagne gold silk that my Godmother gave to me to make it. Left over from my cousin's wedding accessories, it was the perfect colour to go with the sage or olive green I've bought for his coat. It has the textured matt side of the fabric in front, and I've used the shiny polished side for the back. I gave it tiny pearl bead buttons, a high neck over his white collar with deep lapels in the front, and the straight square waist that will show beneath the front of his coat.

I still have a lot to do before both are finished. I decided early on that I wanted to dress them in outfits as they would have worn when visiting or taking a walk rather than in evening wear. So I've got a few layers of clothing to go before they can be considered properly dressed. Miss Elizabeth still needs her gown, as well as maybe another petticoat, a pelisse (coat) and bonnet. And Mr Darcy needs his morning coat and a tall top hat now his narrow straight trousers are finished. I've not decided on the finishing accessories yet, but I'm looking forward to figuring out what they'll be :)

A Special Offer to Say Thank You

I'm offering Scarlet, my own little doll that's kept me company on my work table since I first began making art dolls, FREE to anyone that purchases one of my largest dolls or makes a purchase of $200 or more before Sunday 4th December.

I found out today that my last shipping date to the USA, Canada, or Australia is Monday 5th December according to the UK Postal Service. I'm really disappointed that in this day and age Britain can't do any better than this. And it makes this my last chance to offer all of my wonderful customers the chance to get my own little Scarlet free of charge and get her to them before Christmas day arrives.

I've met many wonderful, kind and friendly people through sales I've made through my Etsy store - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com
And have learnt just how kind, supportive, and truly amazing people that you don't know can be. So this is my small way of saying Thank You.
I just wish I was in a position right now to offer you more. Which is why I've decided to give up Scarlet; my patient companion that has always listened to me babel away when I'm trying to decide which direction to go in when I'm stuck or when I'm trying to refine what I'm doing.

Scarlet is a small (approx 20cm) doll that has jointed shoulders, knees, and hips. She's dressed in scraps of fabric and lace, and wears a mix-match of tiny jewellery pieces. But she's very special to me for so many reasons.

As I've said, Scarlet is my own doll. I made her for myself, and she's never been listed for sale anywhere before.
She's the very first jointed doll I made. The first that I sculpted in paperclay, and the first doll that I managed to perfect applying marabou feather hair on. She's not one of the first of her kind - She is the very first!

I agonised over how to attach her legs and arms before finally being brave enough to drill the holes in her limbs, hips and torso. Only after practising on little scraps of dowelling did I finally manage to do it. Still, there was quite a bit of trial and error before I was happy, and I unfortunately wasted quite a bit of the strong vintage thread from the wooden spool given to me by my Grandmother. And I still string my dolls in a very similar way.

Before I made Scarlet I'd made a few really awful fabric dolls that quickly got discarded, and a few fixed position clay sculpted dolls. But I dreamed of being able to make a doll that could be positioned, that could sit down and be animated, and that came somewhere towards the stunning old dolls that until then I'd only ever seen in museums (which is why I make my dolls in the way that I do).

I'd also used feathers on some of these earlier dolls as they remind me of a tattered little clown with feather hair I owned as a child that I loved dearly. But Scarlet was the first doll that I managed to get the very full, wild, and in this case mixed colour hair, just as I wanted it - even down to the tiny sparkling gems cut from a piece of a broken old bracelet that I used as a hair clip for her.

Scarlet wears a tiny black bodice under a high waisted tartan tutu with a wide lace petticoat, and has white and turquoise stripped knee high socks. She has perfectly stripped black, dark cerise and white hair. And has lots of bracelets, a sterling silver coker necklace, a diamonte hair clip, and a tiny faceted glass bead hanging from her waist.

She's imperfect, small, and has overly pointed feet. But she's my own, my friend, and my first.
Scarlet has helped me come such a long way in making my dolls, and I'll miss her greatly ( I don't mind at all if i get to keep her). But I can't think of a better way to say Thank You.
I wish I could offer more.
Natasha

Tiny Fairytale Hanging Art Dolls

Before I start this post I just wanted to give anyone out there that's interested the coupon code currently available for my shop for 10% off any of my dolls until 24th Dec. please use code GIVETHANKS at checkout if you'd like one of my dolls for yourself or to give as a gift.

I couldn't resist making four of my very smallest dolls as hanging decorations for the Christmas tree this year. And as I wanted them to be suitable to hang from a shelf or against a wall or object after the holidays, and after making my Little Red Riding Hood, what could be better than more Fairytale dolls. So instead of choosing the most popular or well know characters I went with my favourites. As well as having a ribbon to hang them from anywhere you can think of, all these tiny 20cm dolls can sit on any ledge or on top of books and other objects among your treasures. The first can also stand unaided if you puff up her skirts and petticoats.

I knew I had to make the Princess and the Pea because I've always loved the story of the lost Princess that comes across the castle where the King is trying to find the perfect bride for his son. I love the rich detail and imagery of her being tested by being asked to sleep on a huge towering pile of mattresses and blankets under which they have hidden a tiny pea. Even as a child I always got annoyed that she had to be tested at all. Why should she have to spend a night being frightened of falling off this huge pile of bedding when the Prince faced no challenges at all!
But I still always loved it :)

My Princess is dressed with layers of petticoats in crisp cotton lawn, with a deep ruffle around the hem of her topmost fancy one; which is why when they are puffed out a bit she can stand unaided. She has a white chemise under a cream stripped bodice. Her high waisted silk dress is a rich paisley of sage green, blue, gold and white with long pointed medieval sleeves. In her arms she carries a silk cushion trimmed with lace and red satin ribbon to hold the tiny offending green felt pea.

The story of The Little Match Girl is one I never let my Mother read to me when I was little. How was a story about a poor abused child out on a freezing night and so afraid to go home again that she ended up sitting in the dirt and dark having taunting visions and dieing alone in the cold suitable for a child? But now I'm older my opinion of this sad tale is so very different, and I can see the small joy and happiness at the end of the story. It is really a happy tale at the end, all be it in a very strange way.  
This young girls devastating life and hardships ended in the joyful reunion with her much loved grandmother. After her seeing beautiful images in the tiny flames of her matches she saw the one thing that made her happiest of all things. When they found her they thought she had used the spent matches in her lap to warm herself. When we know she had used them to hang onto her last vision long enough to be able to pass over and go to be reunited with her family.

My little Match Girl wears a simple cotton shift and bloomers under a plain dark burgundy blouse and grey tweed like check skirt. She has a thin ragged brown paisley shawl and a dirty white apron with her bundles of matches in the pocket.
I left her with her shoes on, before she lost the thin too big hand-me-down slippers in the snow. And cut the matches themselves from real ones, painting the ends and tieing them together with vintage thread.

This little doll even smells Christmas-y as part of what I used to stain her apron was powdered cinnamon from my baking cupboard. And for a change I tied up her hair. But if you prefer it down and wild like my other dolls the thread holding it can be snipped, and the feathers blown around to make them full again.

My next little doll was The Steadfast Tin Soldier. A story full of romance and adventure that ends very sadly when the petulant little boy discards the little soldier in the stove, and then the wind catches hold of the love of his life and blows the Dancer into the flames with him - leaving only a heart shaped lump of melted tin and the spangle from her dress.

His little life is a sad one again. After starting out with only one leg after being the last to be made from the tin ladle and there not being enough left. Then falling from the window and not being found, being sent through the drains in a paper boat and having to fight off rats, and being stranded in the dirty gutter among the rubbish. He is rescued by a kitchen maid and taken back to the very place he had started from, with his love still there waiting for him, standing on one tiny foot with the other stretched behind her in the doorway of the play castle.

I've no idea why so many children's stories are so sad. I know the old ones always have some moral or lesson for the young, and this one is trying to teach it's young listeners not to be like the nasty ungrateful young boy that owned these little toys. But there really is a lot of cruelty, death and frightening events in them. Even with all that I'm not the only one that still loves and treasures them I know.

My Steadfast Tin Soldier has dark blue trousers with one leg folded up neatly and tacked in place to account for his missing leg. His uniform is made in the style of a period Victorian soldiers uniform, with a red jacket trimmed with white epaulets and straps for his equipment bags, with a white high collared shirt underneath. He has gold coloured bead buttons, and I gave him a tiny heart shaped blue enamel charm on his breast as a medal. I made his hat from black felt with a strap under his chin and decorated it with more gold beads.

This little man didn't stay with me long once he was finished, and is currently on his way to the lovely Nancy in Canada. I really hope that she likes him when he gets there, and that he looks just as I pictured him on her tree this year.

The last of my little hanging fairytale dolls was the Steadfast Tin Soldiers very own Dancer as I didn't like to make one and not the other.

Over her lace trimmed bloomers and shift she wears a pretty dress that has a blue pattern with sprays of pink and purple flowers, with a tight bodice and puffy sleeves. She has a wide pink satin sash trimmed with white ribbon and her glittery spangle attached in the middle.
She has really full gathered skirts and petticoat to make her look like a ballerina. And they stand out around her in a soft folds. Near one hand she has a small metal heart attached to her skirts so she can't loose it. I imagined it as a gift to her from the Steadfast Tin Soldier before he left on his adventures.

I'm not sure what it is that I'll be making next. I have one project to finish as a Christmas gift, and then I'd really like to work on something a little larger again. Maybe I'll get to work on my Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett.

My Little Red and Childhood Memories

I don't mind admitting that I got really stuck for what to make when I wanted to pick up my needles and tools to start my next doll. I'd really enjoyed finishing off Jane, but didn't want to start in on the project I've had put away for a while now as it meant another Regency dress, and I really felt like doing something different. So I had a tough time trying to change my track and move past finishing off my Elizabeth and Darcy until I have the right fabrics and am in the right mood. For now they are back in their box waiting until I find that perfect piece of cotton lawn for her dress and suiting for Darcy's morning coat.

As always my husband has been wonderful and truly supportive, nursing me through a few tough months that I'm finally coming through. And the one thing that keeps me sane when I feel unwell is making something, so I've been making a point of making my dolls my main priority after my health so that I can see that I am actually getting something achieved each day.
Everything was leading me to do something different and new. Something of pure fantasy and imagination, letting me do what I wanted to do in a way that happened spontaneously rather than the way I usually plan everything out. So I looked in the one place that always provides tons of inspiration and looked through my book shelves.


Me being me I still couldn't decide.
I love fantasy and fairytale, but don't really ever turn to it when looking into what dolls I'd like to make. For some reason I turn to real women when I decide to make a new doll, and love to share the little known lives of the women from the past to give them a voice, even though it's only a tiny one for a little while. So when I spotted the three ancient fairytale books standing on the bedside table in my guest bedroom I knew straight away who my next doll would be - Who could be better than Little Red Riding Hood!

I was already feeling a little nostalgic for my childhood years. My mother has just been back to visit for three days from her home in Spain. And it's the first time I'd seen her face to face in the longest time. Picking up the very books that she read to me from as a small child, full of my own tiny dirty fingerprints and the odd scribble where I've tried to colour in a few of the black and white pictures brought back a lot of happy memories. I've had these books since I was very small. Proper big colourfully illustrated hardbacks, still in quite good condition for their age. And the best of all, in the best condition, was my favorite fairytale book - A Gift Book of Enchanting Fairy Tales. Full of stunning romantic fantasy illustrations in rich colours with lots of details.

I can still clearly remember the day when I was four years old when I first met my little sister and was made to sit far far back in my dad's chair so that I could hold the big wriggly red headed bundle on my lap for a few minutes while my mother perched on the arm making sure I had her safe. And getting woken up by this same little sister when she was about 6 at 5am on Christmas morning because she couldn't sleep anymore, she was just too excited to see if Santa had been and if he'd left her any toys. I had to try my best to keep her quite so as not to wake our perants, and we both sneakily took one small wrapped gift from the stockings my mother always left at the end of our beds. Both of us under my quilt whispering and eating chocolate coins.

This little sister of mine has just turned 30, and part of me feels that I really should feel more grown up by now. She asked us to get her a tattoo for her birthday gift, and I think that after Christmas I'll go and get another one myself to mark the occasion. It feels important somehow.

As soon as I'd made the decision I had a bright shining idea burning in my mind of just how I wanted my Little Red to look. I knew she had to have a pure white dress with a red sash, and a red satin cloak. I knew that I wanted her to be a young lady rather than a little girl, so started by making her a pair of lace trimmed bloomers, a corset and lots of white cotton lawn petticoats so that she'd have a really full calf length skirt. And an chemisette or blouse under her bodice in tight gathers with a lace collar.

I gave my Little Red layered sleeves with puffy tops and a tight bodice made of layers of lace pieces and a pure white crepe. Her skirt is the same white crepe with pieced lace applique around the hem with flowers spreading up towards the waist. I gave her her red sash with a  bow in the back, and made her hooded cloak from rich red satin with a cross-body tie to keep it in place. The very last thing I had to do was add her soft brown feather hair and make sure that there were no loose threads.

I love the way my Little Red turned out. It was such a joy to do something so different I'm planning to make four tiny dolls as hanging decorations of some of my other favorite fairytale characters that can be hung on a Christmas tree, against a wall or from a shelf. There will soon be The little Match Girl, the Princess and the Pea, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and his Dancer all finished and ready :)