1860s Cloth Doll

Amelia needed a decent doll for re-enactment use. I am always reluctant to allow any toddler (especially mine) to play with original historical antique items. After some discussion we decided that it would be best to provide her with a cloth doll. Thankfully, we were able to purchase and download Great Auntie Maude’s Cloth Lady Doll (https://www.thesewingacademy.com/shop/). This is a fantastic pattern and was fairly simple to hand sew. The complete doll and outfit only took a few weeks to construct during my leisure time. It was also nice that we completed the doll together as a family.

 Nic painted Minnie May's face, while I started on the arms. Once she was dry I was able to complete hand sewing her body. She was made with cotton and stuffed with natural cleaned wool from a Steiner children's shop.

 I loved that the pattern included a full wardrobe of garments, including all her underwear. It is nice not having to purchase multiple items. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. 

 The completed drawers. I was worried at first that they are closed with hooks, but once on the doll they have never come undone.

 For her dress Amelia chose some scraps from her tan dress. As Minnie May is meant to be a doll version of Miss Amelia May we decided to make her dress at a child's length. Later Nic did paint the back of her head as well.

 

 Amelia was super excited and enjoyed every new item as I finished sewing.

 I love the very small hooks and thread eyes. Very easy to use and surprisingly stable.

 

  

 Miss Amelia May and Minnie May at an event.

She also has a coat now. We still need to make her a bonnet and a copy of Amelia's yellow dress. For her stockings we used finger bandages that we cut in half and stitched closed. We were able to purchase leather boots from the Doll Hospital.

 

Amelia's Yellow/Wiggle/Alice 1860s Dress

Having completed my daughter's tan dress using the Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Sewing Academy Girl's dress pattern (https://www.thesewingacademy.com/shop/) I felt confident in undertaking a bigger project.

My husband has always been a big fan of Alice in Wonderland. My daughter loves Emma Wiggle (http://www.thewiggles.com.au/). I love original garment inspiration. So after a few months of discussion and planning we found a way to mix all three into an amazing dress.

 Stock Art Image of Alice from Google

Original Dress from the MET Online Collection

(https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/80030738?img=2)



 

I started with yellow cotton as the original inspiration is described. I was surprised as I expected it to have been made of wool. The braiding was hand sewn using a black cotton soutache braid.

 I started with the sleeve design as it was a simple loop. The ends of the braid were pushed into the seams and hidden inside the dress as can be seen with the sewing of the waist braid. Once the waist was decorated I then finished the construction of the waist by closing and hand stitching the inside waist closed. This means that non of the black thread can be seen inside the dress.

 It took me a few days to finish the waist as I was only working on this a few hours at night.

The completed top half of the dress.

 Once the rest of the garment was complete I began work on the skirt. This design was a lot more complicated. I created a design on tracing paper then transferred it to the skirt with invisible/washable ink.

 To help keep the braid smooth I used an embroidery frame while hand sewing. I began and finished the braid at the centre back seam, with the braid ends hidden inside the garment.

I chose to place the braid higher up as I wanted a deep hem on this dress as I am 6ft tall and expect my daughter to grow fast (which she is). I wanted this dress to have a long life.

**Edit - When my daughter turned 3 years of age she requested her first crinoline and that required me to drop the hem significantly, so I was very happy with this decision. She loves this dress and it has had an amazing amount of use.

 
Dropping the hem significantly.

 

 Playing indoor croquette while on holiday.

Enjoying the day with her apron on, a rare occasion.

  Homestead station vacation

(yes I know my collar/chemisette is missing.... All this toddler sewing has left my wardrobe looking sad and in need of repairs)

 

 

 



Tan Toddler's 1860s Dress

Nic was able to get some of Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Sewing Academy Patterns shipped to Australia through a pen pal of his in America. I am super grateful to Betty for helping us out with the patterns.  I highly recommend these patterns for children. They are easy to follow, customisable, multiple sizes and period correct for the 1860s

I made all the undergarments according to the pattern. Amelia was too small for the smallest size, but that is just a bonus for me. I moved the buttons inwards to allow overlap on her stays and stitched the straps further down to make them shorter.

I do not have many photos of her undergarments, but I do have this shocker at the end of a full day event on a very hot day over 35C after her dress had to be removed due to something that she accidentally poured on herself.

** Edit - now at 3 years of age I have put the straps and buttons back to the pattern location and she has had 2 years of wear out of the same undergarments. Hopefully she will still fit them in another year. I have also used the patterns to make her new drawers and chemises. I still love how easy this pattern is to sew.

Moving the buttons, shows where the buttons were when she was a toddler. The move gave her 2 inches of growth room.

 

 

The dress pattern has many options to customise it. I used the draw string neck toddler dress for 2 year olds. I was given some amazing vintage fabric that I thought looked perfect and added multiple 1 inch growth tucks. The dress also has a piece of vintage lace under the bottom pin tuck.

 

 

 at the Goldfields in the Barossa

 

 

 

 Ayers House Museum

 Afternoon tea at Kingston House

Anlaby Homestead 

 

In this photo you can see that we have now had to let out all the pin tucks. She is also wearing a super cute child's bonnet I made before I was pregnant.

 3 years old and now wearing her first crinoline attached to her stays under the same dress. The dress no longer has any pin tucks.

 

 

 

Miss Amelia May with Minnie May her matching rag doll.

Bonnet Patterning (Regency 2 Piece)

Making a bonnet pattern can seem daunting, but it's actually fairly simple. There are many ways it can be done. For this guide I used sticky tape, scissors and A3 cartridge paper.

My daughter needed a Regency bonnet. I found this simple design on google. I will link to the original source when I have a little more time.

I started by making a tube the same measurement as my daughter's head. Then twisted it to make it slightly conical and sticky tapes it into place.

Next I cut into the paper to create an opening the size of the back of my daughter's neck. Paper can also be added to make it rounder and remove the "V" from twisting the paper. To make the shape stable enough to start forming the brim I made the crown pattern. There are two types of crowns.

1. Flat with a sharp edge

2. Circular and rounded.

This bonnet has the second type. They are both formed similarly. Trace around the inside of the back of the cone shape onto another piece of paper. For the flat you cut out the shape traced and sticky tape it on as is. 

For this one though I added an inch evenly around and them slightly pleated the paper.

This can then be attached to the cone on the inside or outside. I chose the inside as I still needed to shape the back of the bonnet.

Depending on the type of bonnet the depth at the crown can be deeper or shallower.

As my daughter is only 10 months old she will not sit still, so I used a foam head to shape for the most part. Then double checked alterations on her head. This was my beginning basic form.

For this bonnet I needed to reshape it around the crown, so I cut the paper in thin slivers until I was happy with the shape.

I also slowly shaped the brim/front until the paper matched the image. I only work on one side. This means if I make a mistake I can start again on the other side with starting from scratch.

As I managed to get my pattern correct on the first side I removed the crown and flattened it. I could then cut the other side to match. If you had a problem with one side you can cut the pattern in half and then cut your fabric on a fold.

The completed pattern

I will add further construction notes in future posts as I complete this bonnet.

Goldfields and Amazing Photo Shoot

This year there was an amazing turn out for the Barossa Goldfields Open Day. It was also the first event in which we displayed the newly renovated/restored canon. As the artillery crew was unavailable it was only a static display. The infantry did put on two very good displays to entertain the visitors.

Amelia with her Granny

with Mandi looking beautiful

It was even more special as Darren had a fantastic photo shoot idea. He took photos of Amelia and myself and then superimposed us over the original figures in the painting 'On the Wallaby Track' by Fredrick McCubbin. 

Posing against a tree

the Original Painting

the beginning of Darren's work

the completed image

framed above the fireplace, Nic had it printed and framed as a Christmas gift.