Been a long time

Much has happened since last year.  I recovered from double hip replacement but then my life turned upside down. My husband of nearly 49 years died suddenly.  I am devastated to say the least. So I turn once more to my dolls to fill in the time and keep me busy till the Lord calls me home.  I have had a heart valve replaced and soon to have cancer surgery.  When it rains it pours.  Time for me to tie up the loose ends and get my dolls in order. 

Back in the Saddle!

Between running, starting into tax season, helping with my dad, I just have NOT had time or felt like working on my dolls.  Well yesterday while killing time waiting till it was my doctor appointment, I stopped in a small antique mall. In one of the booths I found this little beauty.

So today I started to take him/her apart. I lean towards girl dolls. I guess raising 4 girls is why. So this will in all probability become a girl. 

one bag contains the body parts and the other bag has the stuffing. The stuffing is a combination of excelsior and fiber. Not sure I will use it or find something else. Have to do the smell test and how well it fluffs.

 the onesie will be soaked and repaired. Will probably make a pattern from it too.

 the legs and arms are attached INSIDE the body with wire wrapped tightly around the ring made into the the top of the leg. The body fabric is in good shape so I will try washing and soaking in OxiClean to brighten. Works great on old stuff like this.

The composition is in great shape but it needs repainting. Decided not to duplicate the old face but do my own.

 Before clear coating

all ready to assemble

Done, she needs shoes but that can wait. Same size as a Bitty Baby. I assume she was originally made in the early 1930s.

Playing dollies is fun.

I really miss it when I can't get to sew and work on my girls.  Trying to downsize the ones I have. So need a good venue in which to list them. Trying local first.

Found this Cyndee doll in a local thrift store. Has body stains I am not going to touch. I just cleaned as best I could and added the wig. She was bald.

 

After I got done dressing her. She turned out really cute but some people call my dolls creepy. I only think creepy when someone corrupts a doll with faux blood and gore. Not my bag. Dolls are for fun and love and sentiment. 

Found in a local Antique mall. The case would have cost more then I paid for all of it.

the wig is not original. She is an Alice in Wonderland doll. So will have to find the right wig and do a dress that fits the image of what she was. But her shoes are original.

Finally!

I can't believe this is my first post of 2018!  Where did the year go? Between this time last year and spring of this year I had two total hip replacements, now helping to care for my 93 yr old dad. Time slips by. But I am making slow inroads into my fun stuff...ie sewing room.  Got a couple of girls done and wanting to rehome them.

this little girl was part of an estate sale and came with two old compos. She has defintely seen better days.

 After stripping off all I could I had to resew the arms and then painted the whole body. I painted the face to suit ME and then clear coated, repainted the "shoes" and clear coated them then dressed her from the bottom up. She has a nice pretty dress that is now removable instead of sewn to the body.

 

 KATE GREENAWAY DOLL BY HORSMAN

1977

 

This is a picture I found on the net. Mine did not have the boots or the hat. Only the dress. What made it hard to find was the quality of the dress. Atrocious. Bad sewing and ill fitting. Might have looked good when new but did not stand the test of time as to how good it held up.  So I thought she should have a new outfit. Kate Greenaway was a clothing designer for children's clothing when children dressed decent. Frills and lace and really elegant styles for all classes of the populace. 

Coraline

This prescious little compo girl was sent to me by a lady named Marva.  I just love her. So when I can sit down and just give her all my time I will work to restoring some of her beauty. She is in excellent shape but has some bad crazing and atleast one place where the compo is in danger of flaking off...I hope to stop that and then dress her.

I did some searching and thought I had found that she was called "The Incubator Baby"

the original box was shaped like a hospital incubator with a plastic "window" to see in. This blanket is  made of wool and washed up beautifuly.She is 7.5" long if measuring by bent leg length. So tiny but so sweet. If anyone knows for sure her maker  can you please drop me a line?

Jenny

Jenny ( a name suggested in one of my dolls groups) came to me by way of Goodwill. I was on their online auction/sale site and saw her and several others like her.  Unfinished. She was someones start at a reproduction french type doll in porcelain. I could wish she was the real thing and made of wood with a composition but alas.  Anyway, she had a jute pate covering the open head, loosely strung so she could not stay upright even on a stand, no wig or clothes. 

I am not a hat person but I am learning. This was a chip straw one I had in my supplies and it adapted well to this. I like how it turned out.

Blue boy and Pinkie

Ever since my mom had someone paint her some reproduction paintings of the classic Blue Boy and Pinkie portraits, I have been in love with them. They went through smoke damage and still hang in her living room even though she left this earth 7 years ago.  Dad has never taken them down. Through the years my girls have found me the paintings and though they are not the same size or same frames, I love them just as they are.

Later the ceramic figures were found, one at a time but I think it was the same person did them both. Well I repainted them to suit me. 

 BEFORE

 and

 AFTER