Memories of Dolls Past - Part 11

Hi to Everyone,

This is the second part of the post about some of the dolls I have made and wanted to share with you.

These two girls, Marie and Babette are part of a trio from a pattern I picked up in a craft magazine years ago. I only have images of two of the dolls, the third doll was a brunette which I gave to my younger sister.

When I saw these dolls, I just knew I had to make them for the simple reason that there are three sisters in the famiIy I grew up with, one a brunette the other a blonde and me, I’m the redhead. I thought they would be a nice reminder of our sisterly bond and in future years they could become family heirlooms. My brunette sister already has hers that’s why I don’t have a photo of hers. My blonde sister isn’t really into dolls so hers stays with me, for now!

This is Baby Beau, a doll I designed for a baby, back when there were a lot of babies being born in our family. Her body and arms are made from one piece. It was after making a few of these dolls that I decided I didn’t like handstitching the facial features, it seemed a tedious job and I didn’t like the look. Most of my dolls today have painted faces.

I have made heaps of other dolls but unfortunately I didn’t hang on to them long enough to take photos. So, here is a photo of my first and only teddy bear that I’ve made. His name is Blaxland, after the Australian explorer, because it was a pioneering effort that I got him finished and that’s where I was living in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, when I made him. I got the pattern from a craft magazine.

While I adore teddies, making them is another story. Having to cope with cutting up all that fur fabric and the excess fur getting literally everywhere, even in my mouth, isn’t such a pleasant thing. I really would love to create my own teddy designs one day but I think I will have to find another choice of fabric.

Well that’s it for my stroll down dolly memory lane. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did reliving it. Stay tuned for the next adventure.

Take care!

Marieanne xxx

Memories of Dolls Past - Part 1

I thought I’d share with you some of the first dolls I made many years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of photos especially of those I was most proud of but you will see from the photos how far I’ve progressed since those days - well, I hope you do!

This isn’t one I made but it is my very first doll, her name is Elizabeth and she’s almost as old as I am - no I’m not telling! Like me she’s had a few repairs over the years, for a start she has a new wig, her old hair was made of fine reddish cotton, shaped into a style and glued to her head. Unfortunately, the doll hospital didn’t have anything that resembled the original hair so this is the best they could do. It has changed her look quite dramatically but I still love her.

She has also had a new arm and foot attached, both are slightly bigger than the original limbs but that was the closest they could come up with. They were both broken when I was a little girl. It was the day I was being discharged from hospital and my mother had bought her a new outfit which is the one she’s wearing not. I was nursing her on my hip and walked between two narrow poles, her limbs stuck out too far and as a result one arm and part of one foot were broken off.

Elizabeth then spent many years packed away in a cupboard until I was old enough to get her repaired. I guess my mother was tired of sending my dolls to the doll hospital to get their hair put back on. (I fancied myself as a hairdresser when I was very young).

Her original outfit was a blue tutu which I used to try on, it fit except I couldn’t get the buttons to the tunic to do up. It’s hard to believe I was ever small enough to fit into something so small. (When my youngest sister was born we used to dress her up in her bride doll’s dress which was as tall as she was at two years old).

This is my one and only raggedy doll, Raggedy Ann (this was my interpretation of Raggedy Ann at the time). I was going through a bit of a down time and so she was made to look a bit how I felt.

Stay tuned for the second part of this post coming next!


Take care!

Marieanne xxx