My February copy of Antique Doll Collector magazine arrived in my mailbox today. When I ripped the protective plastic sleeve off I was greeted by the most wonderful sight… the Izannah Walker doll belonging to the Worthington, Ohio Historical Society is this month’s “cover girl”. I consider the beautiful photos of this doll to be the perfect Valentine from Antique Doll Collector to all of it’s readers ❤
I am currently working on three new Izannah reproductions. I’m not sure exactly when I’ll have them ready for sale (because I’m fairly positive that I’ve caught a cold). If you would like a sneak peek, just email or call me and I will send you photos of them in progress…
It feels like I’m always rushing from one deadline to another. I’ve spent the past few weeks working on several new dolls for a photo deadline. I finished this doll today, just in time to rush her photographs down to the post office before they closed, getting them post marked on the very last possible day!
Actually this doll is one I had been planning to have finished before Early American Life came to our house in December. For some reason people always have the mistaken idea that I have shelves full of dolls, spun cotton ornaments and all of the other things that I make to sell. They imagine that coming here is like going to a secret hidden shop full of treasures, set inside the perfect 18th century New England farmstead… This is so far from reality ! 🙂 I normally don’t have any dolls here at all, unless there are one or two on lay-away. In real life most of my dolls get packed up and shipped just as soon as I get the last stitches finished. Plus doll making is messy, so my studio rarely looks tidy and there is a trail of thread and fabric snippits leading from the studio, across the yard, to the house, and into the parlor, where I sit in the evenings to do hand sewing. So part of my grand plan, when Early American Life asked if they could come photograph our house at Christmas, was to create three or four new dolls and a whole tree full of ornaments. None of them actually got finished 🙂 . By the time the retreat was over and I kept up with orders, then cleaned and painted throughout the house like a mad woman, there was no time left! So I postponed making this doll until my latest deadline instead.
Now that she is finished, she will be keeping me company in my kitchen. I created her for myself, incorporating all of my favorite Izannah details. I even added a third ringlet in front of each ear, like the ones on the lovely antique Izannah that was just up for sale on eBay last week. I doubt that I will ever be able to afford the $22,000.00 opening bid on the eBay doll, but I decided that I can treat myself to one of my own dolls.
My c. 1860 antique Izannah Walker doll in red, on the left, and her newly made offspring c. 2013 dressed in dress made of rare “double violet” mid-19th century fabric, on the right.
Tomorrow is going to be another busy day in my studio, as I move on to more orders and deadlines, but for tonight I am relaxing and enjoying my new Izannah, with nothing more taxing to do than decide upon the perfect name for my newest friend…
A steadfast new friend to share in my kitchen adventures!
My copy of Antique Doll Collector’s November issue came today. If you don’t subscribe, you need to order a copy of this magazine right away! There is an article in it about Kelly Harpster’s collection. She owns 20 antique Izannah Walker dolls!!! She also has some amazing one of a kind home made cloth dolls and a lovely group of early Alabama Babies. Plus her house looks just fabulous. One of the photos shows some of her dolls in an unbelievably spectacular smoke grained cupboard… If you love Izannahs you will want to read this article and see all of the photos.
My Izannahs have a “new” red dress to share. The 19th century print fabric of the dress is still vibrant and beautiful, and is the main thing that drew me to the dress upon first sight. This dress has had some ill treatment in it’s life time, before finally ending up on eBay and making it’s way here to me. I can tell that it was originally made to fit a doll exactly the same size as my antique 18-19 inch tall Izannah Walker dolls. At some point, someone decided that they wanted to put it on a larger doll – and they were in a hurry to do so – because rather than altering the dress properly they just hacked away at it with a pair of scissors! The bottom of the sleeves were snipped, with a pair of pinking sheers, up through the ruffle, wrist band and gathering, to allow a larger hand and arm to fit through the sleeve. Then the original neckline and upper part of the dress was cut away to the bretelle ruffle, to accommodate a doll with a larger neck circumference.
Recently purchased on eBay, this dress from the last quarter of the 19th century, is a perfect fit for my original antique Izannah Walker doll.
Even though this dress is far from perfect the girls and I love it. The color is a wonderful Turkey red that I am very partial too and the trim is ingeniously embroidered cotton tape, which is a very thrifty way to add a charming accent to the dress.
I can happily say that when you are a doll collector and doll maker, buying a new dress for one of your dolls is every bit as exciting now as it was during childhood. I am equally as thrilled with this dress as my 11 year old niece was, with her carefully chosen purchases, during a recent trip to The American Girl’s Place in New York. The love of dolls runs in our family!
My niece, Keira, at The American Girl’s place on 5th Avenue.
I’m adding this dress to my pile of dresses from which I will (hopefully) be drafting and selling patterns. The pile is getting rather sizable, so don’t hold your breath 🙂 The good news is that it’s much faster for me to make a pattern that is only for my own use, so if you love this dress I can certainly make you one when you order a custom made doll or just an extra dress for one of my Izannahs that you already own.
Several months ago when I was working on Anne Marie’s doll, I developed a method of transferring the paint surface from the shoulders of my original antique Izannah Walker dolls to the cloth shoulders of the reproduction dolls that I make. I was really striving to make Anne Marie’s doll blend in with the other dolls in her collection, since she only owns antique dolls and my doll would be her first reproduction.
I’m very pleased with the results that I managed to achieve. I basically wound up doing the equivalent of theatrical make-up, using artist mediums (making me really happy that I’d taken that theatre make-up class in college) 🙂
In these photos you can see one of my antique Izannah Walker dolls on the left, c.1860, and my newly made reproduction doll, c. 2012, on the right. I love old, original paint surfaces! You can probably tell that, right???
I am currently working on three dolls, all of which have more refined, less distressed surfaces. I would say that they will be finished soon, but with one of my sons getting married in 25 days my work schedule is in serious disarray! Especially since I am working feverishly on Paula C.’s custom order doll too…
If you would like me to send you an email to let you know when I have finished dolls available for sale, just ask. I would be happy to add you to my “new dolls” list if you email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com. You can also email me with any questions you may have about my dolls, or if you’d like to discuss having me make a doll to your custom specifications. I love taking a break to “talk” about dolls!
The Doll Collectors of America have a wonderful Izannah Walker slide show of their 2010 75th Annual Meeting online. It is most glorious thing I’ve seen lately! If you need to add a few moments of happiness to your day, go take a look 🙂 Click here or on the link above.
Several people have asked me about additional Izannah dress styles lately. This slide show has some lovely dresses in it, which makes it a fantastic resource too. If you have any questions about the possibility of ordering a dress similar in style to any dress you may have seen on an Izannah Walker doll, just ask. I can make almost any dress that I can find the materials for 🙂
I’ve always been rather fond of rick rack. It reminds me of my childhood. The dress I wore to my first day of kindergarten was trimmed with white rick rack and I remember seeing it on countless aprons and kitchen curtains during my youth.
In truth, rick rack or waved braid, as it was first known, has been in existence far longer than I have. 🙂 I haven’t been able to track down an exact date yet, but it was certainly available when this papier-mache milliner’s model was made in the 1830’s.
The waved braid on the dress above is an exact color match to the dress fabric. Both the braid and fabric are cotton and I am speculating that they were dyed to match. The dress is original to the doll. Three rows of waved braid circle the skirt and the bodice is adorned with a lavish combination of braid and knotting.
Waved braid and knotting trim the bodice of this 1830's doll's dress. (click on image to enlarge) Collection of the author.
By 1882, when the following paragraph from The Dictionary of Needlework was published, waved braid was certainly common place and was being used to trim children’s clothing. It’s not a far leap from children’s garments to doll clothes, which explains why waved braid is often seen on doll clothing from this era.
“There are also waved cotton braids, used for trimming children’s dresses, which are sold by the gross, cut into lengths. The numbers are 11, 17, 21, 29, and 33. There are also waved worsted braids for children’s use, which are sold in knots of 4 or 5 yards each, and sold by the gross pieces. The numbers are 13, 17, and 21.”
Waved braid trimming the neck and sleeve edges of the original chemise that belongs to one of my antique Izannah Walker dolls.
In the 1880’s it was also popular to do crochet work using waved braid. Some fantastic laces can be created in this manner. I don’t crochet, but if you do and would like to read more about how to make this type of lace, follow this link.
This is the lower edge of a doll's petticoat, from my collection, that is trimmed with tucks and an extravagant use of waved braid.Having the patience and perseverance to hand stitch the points of waved braid together, with a single thread, is rewarded by the spectacular effect you can achieve for very little money.A close-up of white lace created by combining crochet with waved braid.The use of colored braid with crochet gives an entirely different effect to this antique lace.This waved braid lace is destined to grace the petticoat of one of my Izannah Walker dolls. It will look just perfect peeping out from below Turkey red skirts!
No matter what name you call it by, waved braid, snake braid, corrugated braid, rick rack ( alternately ricrac, ric-rack or ric rac) is a very authentic choice for trimming historically accurate, mid-1800’s reproduction doll clothing.
Izannah Walker was born 194 years ago today on September 25, 1817. Happy Birthday Izannah! To commemorate the occasion I’ve created a special Izannah Birthday Doll with an outstanding eleven-piece wardrobe. I’m also having a birthday sale, from today 9/25/11 through next Sunday 10/2/11, all reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, Izannah Walker Doll Making Classes, Izannah Walker Doll Clothes Patterns and Spun Cotton Ornament Classes are 10% off. This sale includes custom order dolls and as always you are welcome to place items on lay-away. If you have any questions, want to place an order, or would just like to chat about Izannah and her dolls and mine, I can be reached at 860-355-5709 or paula@asweetremembrance.com.
Izannah Birthday Doll
SOLD - Birthday doll and her wardrobe.
Even though I was rushing to beat the rain and falling darkness, I had the best time yesterday taking photos of this doll. It was great fun to “play dress up” with her. Her extensive wardrobe includes three dresses, two chemises, two pairs of pantalettes, two petticoats, an apron and a real coral bead necklace. If you’d like to add more pieces to her wardrobe I can make her hand made leather shoes, a cotton sunbonnet and a straw bonnet.
SOLD - This dress has wonderful sleeves, notice the rows of gathers at the top of the sleeve by the shoulder line.SOLD - This view shows the yards of 1/8th inch velvet ribbon encircling the sleeves, skirt and waistband.SOLD - The fabric for this dress is a very old 24 inch wide pumpkin orange on white print with small brown leaves and red berry dots.SOLD - Here she is wearing her brown and red dress, which is made from another fantastic early fabric.SOLD - She comes with a real coral necklace, which matches the Turkey red embroidery on her linen apron.SOLD - This view shows her tiny stitched toes peeping out from beneath her pantalettes. The pantalettes have Turkey red embroidery to match her apron and crocheted lace in a triangle pattern that echos the zig-zag stripes in her dress fabric. Look at the coordinating fabric lining the "false hem" of her dress.SOLD - She's all dressed for a party in this sheer cotton dress embellished with row upon row of lace insertion.SOLD - Two long ringlets curl in front of each of her ears. Thank you for looking!
To read more about, or purchase this doll please visit my website A Sweet Remembrance. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have or provide additional photos, just ask 🙂 860-355-5709 paula@asweetremembrance.com.
Make a Wish
Birthday pound cake decorated with fresh borage flowers.
This year the girls and I baked a pound cake for Izannah’s birthday using a c.1754 receipt that I found in The Williamsburg Art of Cookery. This receipt is old enough to have been a well loved family favorite by the time Izannah was born. Here’s the recipe so that you can bake one too.
Pound Cake
Beat one Cup of Butter to a Cream, slowly beat in one and one third Cups of Sugar. Add one Teaspoonful of Mace and beat in five whole Eggs, adding them one at a time. Sift in two Cups of Flour, turn at once into a greased and floured Pan or Mould and bake slowly for one Hour.*
*I baked my cakes in a 300 degree oven, 30 minutes for the doll size cakes and two hours for the larger version.
Carmel, California was one of the stops on our west coast vacation. Naturally I couldn’t go to Carmel without a shopping trip at the Carmel Doll Shop. I had a wonderful time browsing through the shop.
Michael and David were fantastic, even though they were away at a doll show, they arranged for one of their employees to come let me into the store. Thank you Samantha, you made my shopping a treat.
My find of the day was a great button front brown print day dress/morning coat that is just the right size for my 18 inch Izannahs. Every girl deserves a change of clothes :). Take a peek at my first antique Izannah modeling her “new” birthday dress.
Ironically the show Michael and David were doing was in Bellevue, Washington. We had been in Bellevue the day before and knew about the Doll Show, but I decided not to try to squeeze it in before we flew out to San Francisco. If I had known they were there I would have managed a brief stop on the way to the airport 🙂
We rounded out our day in Carmel by having tea at the Tuck Box teashop and buying licorice at the Cottage of Sweets (they have more than 50 varieties).
Since this dress looks so perfect on my Izannah, I’m planning on making a pattern from it, which will hopefully be ready for sale sometime next year.
Last month, while in Kirkland, WA for a family wedding, I had the chance to visit the Rosalie Whyel Museum in neighboring Bellevue. Sadly the museum will be closing in a few months on March 1st, 2012.
If you can get to the museum before it closes, do so! The collection is wonderful. The highlights for me are the two Izannah Walker dolls, a lovely pre-patent doll dressed in red wool challis, with a trunkful of belongings and a tiny 13 inch patented doll with the molded shoulder-plate. The wooden dolls are also amazing, especially one 24 inch George II era English wooden from 1750-1760 with a large original wardrobe of superbly sewn garments.
The day following our museum tour we headed over to Rosie’s Too , which is a second, off site, collectible doll shop owned by the museum. I found a cute, tiny black bisque baby doll and an antique chemise just the right size for one of my Izannahs.
If you can’t visit in person, the museum sells a book entitled The Heart of the Tree, which chronicles their 2002 exhibit of the same name. It’s a lovely book and I didn’t mind paying the $49.95 cover price, but I do wish that it included the fantastic 24 inch 1750-1760 doll that I mentioned above. I had to make do with buying several postcards of her and her wardrobe. They also sell a small paperback souvenir book about the museum called Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art Opening Our Doors to You for $11 or $12, which has a nice photo of their pre-patent Izannah. I did not buy their larger book “THE ROSE UNFOLDS” RARITIES OF THE ROSALIE WHYEL MUSEUM OF DOLL ARTVolume One. It wasn’t so much the $79.95 price tag as it was the size and weight of the book. I just couldn’t face dragging it around Washington, then on to California and finally back to Connecticut 🙂 I may have to break down and purchase it a some point, because it does have large lovely photographs of both of their Izannah Walker dolls.
You can also find photos of both the Rosalie Whyle Izannahs in the article “Izannah Walker – Godmother to Cloth Doll Makers” by Susan Hedrick, Soft Dolls & Animals, Summer 1998 and a photo of just their pre-patent Izannah in “Early American Stockinette Dolls: Part 1- Izannah Walker and Martha Chase Dolls” by Judy Beswick, The Cloth Doll, Fall 1998.
If you would like to read more about the museum there is a nice article on page 14 of the July 2011 issue of Antique Doll Collector.
Izannah Walker Journal 