Gwyneth - A Traditional Welsh Lady

Gwyneth is the first doll I’ve made in a traditional welsh costume, which is odd as I’m a Welsh girl through and through, living and working in a beautiful part of Wales. I’ve named her Gwyneth after my mother, and I’m very attached to her. She came out just as I pictured her in my mind, and I know I’ll have to make more dolls in my countries traditional costume.

I gave her a traditional Betgwn style dress, the traditional Welsh dress, made in fabric that’s very similar to what my own costume was made from when I was little and getting dressed up for St David’s Day. She can be displayed sitting on a shelf or with her legs tucked under her, or standing with the aid of a doll stand as she has jointed arms and legs.

To anyone that remembers wearing a traditional outfit, or all those with Welsh ancestry, she’d make a lovely friend to bring back memories and heritage. There’s nothing so sweet as seeing all the little girls dressed up in their Welsh costumes and on their way to school or events on 1st March each year. I’m going to have to keep my eye open for an old tall Cwcwll Tal hat and shawl for myself 

My Gweneth wears a traditional Welsh costume. Over her drawers and shift she has two petticoats, the outer one embroidered at the hem with blackwork flowers. Her red pin-tucked petticoat or under-skirt shows between the openings of her red checked Betgwn, which is held open at the sides and back with tiny bronzy buttons to keep it out of the way as she walks and works in her garden.

Around her shoulders she has a clean white cotton wrap tucked into the bodice of her gown, as well as a shawl of pretty red paisley. Her sparkling clean white pin-tucked apron has lace insertion, and she wears her hat tied securely beneath her chin. Gwyneth is very proud of her sewing skills and has made her smart outfit to show off what she can do.

She weighs approx. 180g, and she is 38cm tall in her hat. And is available now at my Etsy shop - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com

Lady Madeline Spring - Unique Art Doll

The Lady Madeline Spring Art Doll

I made Lady Madeline after seeing the first fresh green gently pushing aside the rich dark earth to reach the sun. I’ve been saving this wonderful Liberty fabric until just the right idea came along, and as soon as Madeline came to mind I knew it had to be hers. After having such a miserable windy wet winter here in Wales the sights and sounds and colors of spring have brought so much freshness and happiness to me. With birds singing in the trees and my strawberries flowering in their pots along the patio I could only think of Madeline with her gentle smile and wistful looks.

I gave Madeline a traditional Betgwn style dress, the traditional Welsh dress, but made in a fabric that would never have been used by the Valley Ladies of old. I wanted to bring the shape a more modern feel while still being Celtic in origin. She’s a large doll, and has a lovely weight to hold. She’d like nothing better than a warm sunny spot in your home to bring smiles and joy to you and those you love, and she can be displayed sitting on a shelf or with her legs tucked under her, or standing with the aid of a doll stand as she has jointed arms and legs.

My Lady Madeline has cotton drawers, a shift and layers of petticoats, one embroidered with a Celtic knot design around the hem. Her green cotton lawn underskirt has row after row of pin-tucks, and her floral green gown is open at the front and folded back to show the white lining, attached with tiny buttons to hold it in place. Around her shoulders she has a silk wrap tucked into her gown, and in her hands and hair she has flowers fresh picked from the garden. Over her gown she wears her pretty white apron with more pin-tucks, lace insertion and a frill at the edge.

She weighs approx. 400g, and she is 53cm tall.

Madeline is now available at my Etsy Shop - www.NatashaMorgan.etsy.com

Madeline And Finishing Projects

A week of sewing Pin-tucks for Madeline and her petticoat is finally done and fitted.

I've also managed to add a pretty piece of silk mousseline around her shoulders before I fitted her gown sleeves and bodice.

I just love this Liberty Tana Lawn fabric I'm using for her Betgwn gown. The colours are strong and well matched, and the fabric is so fine and soft that I can finally see why Liberty fabrics are so expensive. I've always thought before that they weren't worth the money, but I was wrong. The weave of it is very fine and almost feels like silk. And I already have my eye on the next piece I want to buy for a future doll :)

As you can see here the rows of pin-tucks on her petticoat / under-skirt are grouped together so that the number decreases the further up the skirt they go. The Betgwn skirts will be split at the front and slightly at the back so that  a part of this under-skirt will show underneath. They do take a while to sew when you do things by hand. But the effect is just what I wanted for my Madeline.

I added a tiny cuff to the sleeves of Madeline's gown to try and tie the colours together and make them look like all part of one outfit. As well as adding a tiny border at the top of her bodice.

I'm hoping tomorrow to get more done to her outfit once I've done some more work to get some of my poor unfinished dolls ready for the world.
I still need to finish off my poor Storyteller and add the final detail to her outfit and make her her beloved books so that she's ready to go out and tell her tales to any that want to listen to them. And I've also got my little Welsh lady Gwyneth to sort out as well. After months of waiting for her fabric I've had confirmation that it should be here very soon, and I'm really looking forward to getting her all dressed up with her hat and shawl in place.

One of the dolls I have finished is my Siouxsie Banshee, ready to go on her travels to Caron.

I really enjoyed making this outfit and will be planning another kimono once I can gather together the fabrics that I'll need and decide which of the lovely ladies I've read about I'll be making.

I wasn't too sure how the bright red would work with such a strong blue for her eyes, but I thing it adds a strength to her: a fierce determination to succeed and do what was in her heart.

My Katrina, influenced by the Step-Mother character of Sleepy Hollow, and made by custom request for Ashley is also all done as far as I can work on her. And now we are only waiting on the delivery of her crochet wire headpiece to match the full sized one Ashley has made for his fashion collection and made by my lovely friend Linda to see her all finished and ready to travel to Ashley.

I'm in love with Katrina and she's not left her place on display in my living room since she's been dressed, and I'm planning to keep her there for as long as I can :) Or at least until the mask arrives and she finally has to leave me.

It was a complicated dress to make, but I managed to find the most perfect ivory silk taffeta and black net lace that I layered together to make the layers of her gown. There are thousands of tint silver and black seed beads sewn in veins over her skirts and bodice, and over a thousand tiny crystals attached to give her sparkle and make her look glamorous.

I hope your all having a lovely weekend out there. And I hope I'll have lots more to show you this time next week :)
xxx

How To: Sew Pin Tucks For Madeline

Sewing pin-tucks by hand is time consuming, and Boring!
But I just love how they look when their done.
My technique can be used either with hand sewing or machine. And I hope someone out there will find it helpful.

As I'm still waiting on my fabric for Gwyneth (5 days to go until I can complain :S) I started in on the next lady that has been waiting in my imagination. While working on Gwyn I thought how nice it would be to make the same sort of costume, with an underskirt and Betgwn style gown, all in the Spring colours that surround me here in Wales right now. This William Morris print fabric is something I've had tucked away for a while waiting until I decided what to do with it. And with it's fresh greens, blues and golden yellow shades looking so much like the Lily of The Valley I have in my garden it was just perfect for my Madeline.

I've had to really ramp up the light and contrast of these photos so that you can see everything as clearly as possible, so please excuse the quality of them. For Madeline's underskirt I decided to use this lovely fresh light green which will show through the front split of her Betgwn, which I'm planning to line in white. I wanted to add some interest and texture without the fussiness of embroidery or lace, so Pin-tucks it is :)

Step 1 - Measure out and draw lines on the wrong side of your fabric (shown on left of this photo, the front is on the right). You want to draw a line for the bottom of the tuck and another for the top so that when the lines are joined the measurement is halved. A measurement of 1cm will give you a 5mm tuck. The next line should then be no more that 5mm away so that the tucks with stack up properly and not lay with all of your sewing lines showing.
My measurements here are 6mm tuck lines which will give me 3mm tucks with a 3mm gap between. I always sew just below my line fractionally so my tucks are always a little wider and the overlay hides my stitches.

Step 2 - The larger gaps between lines you can see will be gaps between groups of tucks to make a decreasing pattern as they go up the skirt. Once all your lines are drawn on the back carefully transfer the bottom tuck line to the front of the fabric so that you have a line to sew along once your tuck is folded. You can do this by holding your fabric up on a window, by measurement, or with pins as I do. Pushing them through the fabric on the line and then turning over the fabric and using a ruler to join the pins in a line.

Step 3 - With the wrong side of the fabric towards you push a pin in from the back on the bottom line of your tuck and then back in at the top line, trying to keep the pins at 90degrees to the line so the fold will crease neatly.

Step 4 - When you turn your fabric over the pin head will be on or very close to your line drawn on the right side of the fabric. It doesn't have to be exact so long as you have something you can follow to sew along. So it can be a little away from your pin so long as you keep all your stitches that distance away from your line. All the lines will be hidden between the tucks if your not using a fabric that you can easily wash. I recommend using silk, silk cotton, cotton lawn, or similar lighter fabric for pin-tucks as it'll crease much neater once you press everything later.

Step 5 - Fold your tuck by pinching the fabric so that the pin holes line up with each other and the pin is straight through the fabric. You can turn the pin to secure the fabric more securely without taking it out.

Step 6 - Sew along your line drawn on the right side of the fabric with the already worked fabric nearest to you and that left to be sewn away from you. When all the tucks are sewn lay the fabric face down on an ironing board and with the iron set to the right temperature for the fabric gently hold the fabric slightly taught so that all your sewing lines lay evenly and press. Then turn and press from the right side of the fabric too.

You can back the pin-tucks to give them more stability or to give a neater finish to something like an apron where you will see both sides. Keep your stitches as small as possible and as straight as you can as any wobbles with make the tuck uneven.

Madeline's petticoats

Siouxsie Banshee - A Custom Art Doll

It's not someone I would have chosen to make myself, but I've really enjoyed making Siouxsie Banshee for Caron. It was a really nice change from my usual styles to make a more modern outfit, and especially to make a punk version of a kimono.

I've always loved traditional Japanese dress and customs so as soon as I was asked to make Siouxsie I pulled out all my Japanese history/biography and memoirs and hit the Internet looking for the info I needed on how to construct Siouxsie's kimono.

I started this lady with some sassy black lace underwear (yes, I know you can't see any of it, but a girl has to have her knickers. Right?).
Next I started on her shirt, which has long sleeves, cuffed at the wrist, and a wide turtleneck high under her chin.
The pictures that Caron had chosen for the outfit for me to make didn't show Siouxsie below her waist, so we between us we decided that a pair of harem trousers would be the best option as Caron wanted a full length kimono. I painted on her shoes as little ankle boots and fitted the cuffs of the trousers just above them to make then nice and loose.

Next came her kimono.
I'm very lucky that a friend of my Husbands is married to a very nice Japanese lady called Yuriko, who kindly agreed to help me with the text on the fabric. I searched everywhere for a fabric with printed Japanese text to use but nothing was suitable. So Yuri agreed to write on a piece of white cotton lawn for me.

I asked her to just go ahead and write whatever she felt like, and was truly surprised at what she'd chosen to write when I read the note she sent back with the fabric. Yuri had copied part of the first chapter of The Tales of Gengi onto the fabric. This book written by Murasaki during the Heian period between about 1000 and 1012 is a wonderful piece of writing that I was given as a gift many years ago. It was so lovely to find that Yuri had used one of my favourite books without me knowing :)


Over Yuri's writing I added the red spots by applique, and then smaller finer text that I copied from the newspaper sheets Yuriko kindly included with the fabric. I'm yet to hear back from Caron as to what she thinks as I think I need to add more text to get the fabric looking as it did in the pictures. So for now Siouxsie is sitting on my table watching the world go by in the garden :)
xxx

Gwyneth my Welsh Lady in Progress

Gwyneth is coming together slowly...
And at the moment I'm working on finishing her paisley shawls, as it needs a wool trim edge, and her pretty white apron with yet more pin-tucks and a lace insertion.

Again I find myself waiting on a fabric delivery so that I can sew her a Betgwn - a cross between a gown and a coat, it has a tailored bodice, elbow length sleeves and long tail-like split skirts that will show her red pin-ticked petticoat underneath.
Not a lot of this red petticoat will finally show, and mainly around the front hem and the back split of the tails. The fabric I'm waiting on for her Betgwn is a darker brick red with a black check, and reminds me of the skirt I had for my own Welsh costume when I was a child.

For the moment Gwyneth is sat on my workbox in her petticoats and shift sleeves with just her small paisley shawl around her shoulders to keep her warm. So it's a good job we've had fine bright weather to enjoy this past few days.

You can see that I've gathered in her sleeves above her elbows so that it will be easier for me to fit the narrower sleeves of her Betgwn later.
As a fine young lady of means Gwyneth can afford the soft fine cotton needed to make such an extravagant shift. Where others must be content with added over-sleeves for their traditional dress she can have the extra layer to keep her warm (and the expensive wool layers clean). But she's a good modest girl and doesn't have much else that could be considered too dressy. And she's proud to wear her paisley and wool alongside the other women and girls.

In her lap here you can see the start of her best apron, handed down to her from her Nanna and worked by women of her family into a fine piece of best dress wear. Not something she'd wear while working around the house and fields, of course.

Other things I've been working on while I wait for things to fall through my letterbox is my Storyteller, a little ghost for my friend Linda, my Siouxsie Banshee and a custom peg Oz Scarecrow.

My storyteller is on hold until the pieces arrive for me to make her a headdress, and I want to make her some books to hold all her tales.

I think my little ghost needs some sort of ragged tattered wrap made of silk gauze over her lace dress. And I'm waiting for the return of the kimono fabric for Siouxsie.

Thank goodness I have things to keep me busy and don't need anything I don't already have for the Scarecrow.
It'll be just my luck for everything I need to arrive the same day, and then I'll be as busy as the bees. Just the way I like it :)
xxxxxx

Things Happen, And Gwyneth Is Coming

Things Happen!
Or rather in this case S**T Happens!!!

There I was, comfortably working on giving my Storyteller doll her hair in a lovely soft navy feather. As usual I took a look at my feather box and thought "I have plenty of feathers here", so on I go...

Halfway through her head of hair I reach for another packet of the same colour and Bam!
No navy left!
My poor doll has had to spend all weekend with her half bald pat shining and making her look rather daft. Poor thing is hiding herself away in my dresser, but today I received my package of new supplies from the wonderful Ribbon Moon site. They have lots of bits and always deliver quickly so I can highly recommend them :)

Another big boo boo was thinking I had black feathers here for my Siouxsie Banshee doll, so this poor lady has been waiting on me too. I'm just so glad that tonight both will get their fluffy locks.

The fabric for Siouxsie's kimono is with a lovely Japanese lady who agreed to add the text to it. And once it's back I should be able to get Siouxsie dressed fully quite quickly. Here she is sitting in her harem pants and turtleneck looking a bit bland, and very bald.

I have to have something to work on, and after thinking over all my unfinished projects I of course went and started something new instead. I've wanted to make a lady in proper Georgian / Victorian Welsh costume for ages, but as with a lot of things I put it off.

When I spotted this dolls pretty blue eyes I could just see her dressed in a smart Betgwn (half jacket half gown) and tall black hat. And am planning on making her a long red clock too.

I found all the fabrics I need so have ordered them all. That never happens and I'm always searching, so I think Gwyneth really wants to be dressed :)

So far I've made Gwyneth a pair of long cotton drawers (I've decided she was well off and could afford such things), a knee length shift gathered around a low neckline, baggy cuffed sleeves for her shift with a kerchief over her shoulders, and a cream cotton embroidered petticoat.

She was looking a bit too plain so I added a narrow border of simple blackwork to the hem of her cream petticoat. And I think it looks quite pretty :)
I'm going to give her next petticoat in a bright red with a pin-tucked hem. It's the kind of petticoat that is meant to be seen below her apron and between the split skirts of her betgwn.
Hopefully next week I'll have lots more finished things to show you, and I'm hoping to list my storyteller too :)
Take care
xxx