A New Wispy and a New BLUE

The first weekend in December I ticked two of my favorite collecting boxes at the Gaithersburg doll show. And I saw and talked with several doll friends that I haven’t seen in a while. It was a good day. First, I found this charming French papier-mâché doll with the short, wispy hairdo that I find so appealing. She’s my first papier-mâché doll and I have to admit that I don’t … Continue reading

Orphan Rescue

My dear husband (DH) has more experience with doll shows than he’d like to admit. He helped my with my booth at countless shows back when I was selling my reproduction dolls. And he’s attended a few more since then. He has a theory that there are particular dolls that always travel back and forth to doll shows and never find their way to a collector’s home. They are just … Continue reading

Tiny and Wispy

I love tiny dolls. I love dolls with wispy, painted hair. This one has it all.  She stands 3 1/4″ (8.5 cm) tall. I don’t know where or when she was made. The dealer said that she was definitely antique… She is beautiful. She has blue, painted eyes with red lines highlighting her eyelid crease and single stroke brows. Her pale pink lips are accented with a red center line. … Continue reading

Rules, Guidelines, and Parameters, Oh My!

Not being a fan of rules, I sure seem to have a lot of them when it comes to costuming my dolls. And I have a lot fewer of them than many more stringent historical costumers. The antique doll costume police may not agree with my rules, but I’m okay with that. When I decided to write my list of do’s and don’t’s, it made me rather sad to have so … Continue reading

Beginning Hand Sewing for Dolls Part 4

Now it’s time to gather the top edge of the slip, attach a waistband, sew lace to the bottom edge (optional) and add a drawstring. To gather the top edge, I thread my needle with a length of thread that is longer than twice the circumference of my slip. I will be sewing two lines of gathering threads all the way around the top edge. Begin sewing just beyond the … Continue reading

Sewing by Hand or by Machine, which is faster?

This may surprise you but, for me, sewing by hand is faster.  Since the kids grew up and moved out, I’ve had a lovely sewing room with a sophisticated sewing machine.  But, I rarely take the time to isolate myself and just sew at my machine for any length of time.  Hand sewing can be done just about anywhere and any time, sitting in the living room in the evenings … Continue reading