It is a bitterly cold snowy day here in Connecticut! Far too cold to try to keep my studio warm enough to work in. Instead I am seated in my parlor, hand stitching tiny red shoes. My parlor is a cozy place to be on a winters day, while a frigid wind teases at the two-century old window frames and blows tiny gusts of icy cold air into the room to remind me why I am glad to be indoors.
Making little shoes is a delicate, slow project, just right for this time of year. I am making two pairs of red shoes, each a bit different, for two very loved a cossetted dolls. They should be finished in time for the dolls to wear them for Valentine’s Day.
Jennie’s doll is so happy to have her wardrobe finished and packed for her westward trip to her new home.
I just finished making this doll and her wardrobe for Jennie. I haven’t quite adjusted to standard time yet. 🙂 I usually work until pretty late in the day, and don’t leave my studio until 6:15 or 6:30 each evening. All through the summer I’ve been able to take photographs at the end of the day, but no more. Now that we are well into autumn and daylight saving time is no more, the moon is well up before I dash between the studio and the kitchen door! I had to resort to taking these photos inside the studio with a flash this evening. Tomorrow I will take more in natural light. Needless to say, she looks so much prettier in person!
Jennie’s doll is modeling her summer dress.Here she is wearing her indigo morning dress.
All red! Dress, beads and shoes…
Jennie’s doll is very fond of her brown sunbonnet.
Today marks the 196th anniversary of Izannah Walker’s birth. She was born in Bristol, Rhode Island on the 25th day of September in 1817. You may read more details about Izannah’s life in this post. I wish I could invite you all over to my house for cake and silly party games, but since I can’t, I’m doing the next best thing and having a SALE to celebrate the occasion and to say thank you for being such wonderful customers, students and friends. It is such a great pleasure to know other people who love Izannah’s dolls as much as I do!
From 9/25/13 – 9/29/13 all of my reproduction Izannah Walker dolls, additional custom made dresses and accessories for your Izzy, Izannah Walker doll clothes patterns and Izannah Walker Doll Making Classes are 10% off. This sale applies only to items ordered from September 25th through September 29th, 2013, the discount is not available on prior orders. As always, all items may be placed on lay-away with terms to fit your budget and shipping is free to any United States address. I generally just have two sales per year, my Izannah Walker Birthday Sale and my Christmas Sale 🙂 So don’t let this one pass you by.
Three Finished Dolls Available
I have three very special dolls available for this years Birthday Sale. One of them is created from a brand new mold that I made from my friend Mary’s Izannah Walker doll, Anna. Thank you Mary!!! Anna is 17 inches tall, so she is a smaller size than my other dolls and has the look of a younger, chubbier child. All three of these dolls have very aged appearances, befitting young ladies that were made early in Izannah’s doll making career. They each come with two elaborate dresses, full of wonderful little details to delight the heart of any dress maker, a chemise, pantalettes, petticoat and necklace.
Isabeau #1 SOLD – Thank you so much for stopping by to look at her! Please contact me if you would like to order a custom made doll similar to this one.
SOLD Isabeau #1 comes with a necklace made from hand strung pale pink bone beads.SOLD Her dress, made from antique pink and black print fabric is adorned with rows and rows of black velvet ribbon.SOLD Isabeau #1 wearing her winter white antique wool dress. I made this dress from an antique unfinished, so never worn, wool baby’s petticoat.A surprise sentiment hides inside the waist band of her dress, which fastens with hand carved bone buttons.Details showing the antique trims used on the sleeves of Isabeau’s embroidered wool dress.three ringletsSOLD Isabeau #1 Wardrobe
Isabeau #2 – SOLD Thank you!
SOLD Isabeau #2 shows off her hand strung real coral beads.SOLD Isabeau #2 is wearing a dress that I made for her from a mid-1800’s brown “coral” pattern print fabric. The dress has full gathered sleeves, two growth tucks in the skirt and a deep 3 inch hem.SOLD Isabeau #2 in her black party frock. The dress fabric dates to the late 1800’s. Rows of antique black velvet ribbon encircle the sleeves, waist and hem of the dress.
SOLD Isabeau #2 wardrobe
Anna #2 – NOW SOLD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING. Even though this one is sold you may order a custom made Anna style doll, and if you love these dresses I have enough fabric to make another set just like them.
SOLD Anna#2 wears a tiny golden thimble on a chain around her neck.SOLD Anna #2 is shown here wearing her dress made from a very early c. 1830-1840 cotton gauze paisley print. The green, red, brown and ivory fabric is perfect for late fall and the upcoming Christmas season. The sleeves and skirt of the dress have graduated growth tucks.SOLD Anna’s black dress is made from another very early cotton print fabric. The neckline of the dress is trimmed with antique ivory cotton ribbon, plus a row of antique silk velvet ribbon. Her chemise is trimmed in tiny waved braid (aka rick rack in modern terms).
SOLD Anna #2 WardrobeIsabeau #2 & SOLD Anna #2 show off a little Black Magic for All Hallows Eve. Black dresses are one of my favorites year around because they are a neutral accent in any room and the dark color will draw your eye to the doll and make her painted features “pop” and glow.
Are you wondering where Anna #1 is? In the very near future she is going to be living with Mary, her older sister Anna and all of her Walker cousins in Vermont. Members of my Izannah Walker Doll Making Class may read about my adventures in making Anna #1 in a continuing series of posts on the class member site.
To see photos of the original Miss Anna, follow these links:
I am a much better doll maker than I am a photographer. All of the girls look so much nicer in person. If you would like to see more photos of any of the dolls before placing an order, just ask. To purchase any of these dolls please visit my website ASweetRemembrance.com or alternately you may email paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709.
Time worn, well loved dolls are the ones that kindle the fiercest love in my heart, but I know that some of you dearly love newer, more pristine dolls. Don’t despair, I would be happy to make you the Izannah Walker doll that inhabits your dreams and has captured a place in your heart. Call or email me to place a custom order, 860-355-5709 ( 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time) or paula@asweetremembrance.com. I do have a bit of a waiting list for custom work, so the sooner you order the better.
Email (paula@asweetremembrance.com) or call me (860-355-5709) about prices and available fabrics for custom made doll clothing and accessories. Simple dresses made from antique fabric start at $200 apiece. More elaborate dresses with a greater number of tucks, fuller skirts, rows of ribbon or lace trim, embroidery or more costly antique fabrics run from $250 -$275 and may go upwards. Handmade leather shoes are $75. Any custom order is 10% off during the sale. Scroll up to see the new style of dress that I made for Anna #2. The fully lined dress has a slim cut bodice and sleeves, with a cartridge pleated skirt and velvet ribbon trim. The cost of an identical dress is $295, if the dress must be fully lined, or $275 for one with a lined bodice.
I don’t have a pattern available yet for smaller size clothing to fit Anna.
To read more about my Izannah Walker Doll Making Class by Mail follow this link to my website, where you may also order the class. The class comes with unlimited support, plus a class member only discussion site that features extra bonus material and patterns, including five different flat faced heads that work with the rest of your Izannah class patterns so that you can create a variety of different cloth dolls as friends for your Izzys! Sophie and Mae, two of my dolls that I made using the flat faced patterns will be featured in the Spring 2014 issue of Prims magazine.
Time For A Party
After trying on all their new clothes and posing for their photo shoot, the girls and I spent some time in the kitchen baking Izannah a birthday cake. We all agreed that it was the perfect treat to celebrate the birthday of our very favorite doll maker!
The recipe for the cake came from The Best of Shaker Cooking by Amy Bess Miller and Persis Fuller. I chose this recipe because it is one that would have been in use during Izannah’s lifetime and is filled with apples, the perfect seasonal fruit for an autumn birthday. I picked apples to use from our oldest apple tree. It is a very firm, late season cooking apple that I have never been able to positively identify. We grow our apples organically, so they are not picture perfect, but I’m sure apples just like these would have been a familiar site to Izannah.
Apple Cake
from Shirley Shaker Village
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 apples, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup currants or raisins
powdered sugar
ground cinnamon
Cream butter and gradually add 1/2 of the sugar, beating well. Beat egg with remaining sugar, add to first mixture. Sift in flour, salt and baking powder alternately with the m ilk. Flavor with vanilla. Add apples and currants or raisins. Beat well to mix and turn into a well-buttered 9 inch cake tin, square or round.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 30 minutes. Makes 1 cake.
My antique Izannah Walker doll holding an antique child’s lace-up boot.
I often buy antique items to use as research materials. I find that having an original item to study is so much better than having to rely on photographs, paintings and sketches. Last weekend I found a single black lace-up child’s boot in a style that will immediately be recognizable to anyone who is familiar with Izannah Walker’s dolls. Izannah painted very accurate representations of common children’s footwear that was worn in her time. The black lace-up boot shown here dates from the 1840-1850’s, although I am sure that this style of shoe was passed down to younger children and continued to be worn into the 1860’s.
Here you can see the painted version on the doll and the real life child’s boot side by side. The ankles on this Izannah Walker doll have given way over time, with the painted fabric splitting near the ankle seam, where the leg is weaker. I have conserved the legs by affixing thin bands of leather to the ankles, using rubber cement. This holds the legs and feet together, but is a repair that can be removed without causing damage to the original antique surfaces beneath.A close-up of the painted boots on an original Izannah Walker doll. Compare them with the child’s boot in the following photo.c. 1840-1850’s child’s black lace-up leather boot.A side view of Izannah’s painted boots. Notice how the top of the boots are higher at the front of the leg and lower in the back.Compare this side view to Izannah’s painted version. Notice how closely they match.Note the characteristic shaped sole on the bottom of the boot.Here you can see the sole of the boots that are echoed in Izannah’s painted cloth version.This photo shows the bottom of the boot sole. You can tell that these boots were worn by a child that had not yet learned to walk.Another style of boots that Izannah Walker painted on her dolls were scallop top, side button boots like these, shown in a c.1870-1880’s portrait that I own.
Izannah’s dolls kept up with current fashions, and when scallop top, side button boots became part of children’s attire, she painted this later style of footwear on some of her dolls. When considering the age of an Izannah Walker doll, you can take the style of their painted boots into account. I would not consider this to be a fool proof method of dating the dolls, because young children’s styles often lag behind those of older children and adults, Izannah’s dolls have a tendency to retain the look of the 1840’s – 1850’s no matter when they were made, and then there is the issue of the rarer bare footed dolls… However when looked upon as a supporting bit of evidence along with the rest of the doll’s history and clues to be found in her construction and clothing, painted boot styles can be quite helpful.
Another type of painted boots that can be found on Izannah Walker dolls are the tall black leather boots with red tops that she used on her rare boy dolls. I don’t own an example of those boots to show you, but if you follow this link to the Wisconsin Historical Society Children’s Shoe Collection you will be able to see the boy’s boots, as well as additional dated examples of lace-up and scallop boots.
Sharing a bit of red, white and blue for Flag Day…
I bought this doll last week when I visited Rainie Crawford. Rainie purchased the doll from the original owner’s family in New Briton , CT. The doll has lovely child like proportions, a spectacular wool challis print dress and very sweet little red leather shoes. She has promised to share all of her dressmaking secretes with my Izannahs!These glorious Prussian blue leather baby shoes were another purchase from Rainie. They are very simply the BEST shoes I have ever seen in my life! I am particularly drawn to them because of their resemblance to the shoes I make for my Izannahs. I plan to study their construction for insights on how to improve my 19th century shoe making skills.Surprise! Rosy red leather soles!!! I can just picture these shoes on tiny wiggly, waving baby feet…
Artist Rainie Crawford shares an adorable antique bear from her collection.Paintings by noted artist Rainie Crawford.You may remember seeing Rainie’s dolls and bears in these and many more magazines.Rainie will be selling these dolls, as well as many more of her prototype cloth dolls and bears in the upcoming months. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing one for your collection.More of Rainie Crawford’s original prototype cloth dolls and bears, soon to be offered for sale.
I had a whirlwind week last week. So much so that I’m still not caught up and only getting around to posting this now 🙂 Last Monday I had the chance to visit with Rainie Crawford, she is a wonderful artist and doll maker, who designed an entire line of cloth doll and teddy bear patterns. You may remember seeing her ads for mail order patterns in many women’s magazines over the years. My friend Joy and I spent an entire day with Rainie. She gave us a tour of all of her collections and we had a lovely time talking about doll and bear making, among many other topics. The day just flew past. I took lots of photos of Rainie’s collections and dolls which I will be sharing in a later post. Rainie is going to be selling her prototype dolls. They are all of the models used in her magazine ads. She has not worked out all of the details just yet, but if you would be interested in adding an original Rainie Crawford prototype cloth doll to your collection, you may contact me at paula@asweetremembrance.com and I will gladly put you in touch with Rainie.
Some of my favorite purchases from the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY. I bought 4 yards of grey polka dot Moda fabric and a whole bag full of vintage grey rick rack, piping and bias tape. I’ve really been attracted to grey lately when sewing clothes for myself.
On Friday, a group of friends and I braved the rain to go to the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY. We had a fun, but very wet, day and came back home with a head full of ideas and bag full of treasures. I have been wanting to go to a Country Living Fair for several years, but hadn’t been willing to drive to Ohio to attend.
A view of the Harwinton antique show last weekend. Notice the puddles 🙂The fair grounds in Harwinton, CT. Home of the twice a yearly Antique and Design Weekend.
The rain finally cleared enough on Saturday for me to go to an antique show in Harwinton, CT, which is held at the local fair grounds. That meant I was traipsing around poultry and livestock buildings two days in a row 🙂 I’ve been going to the Harwinton show, which was previously held at the polo grounds in Farmington,CT, for twenty years. Unfortunately the show is much smaller than it was in it’s heyday. The show has been plagued with bad weather for quite a few years, which may have kept some dealers away. Even though there was less to see, I did enjoy looking at the offerings presented by some great long time antique dealers, and managed to unearth a few wonderful bits of doll clothing and accessories.
Sunday at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market.Wear comfy shoes if you go to the Elephant’s Trunk because there are acres of things to see every Sunday.
On Sunday morning it was back to the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market for my weekly antique fabric hunt. I shop all summer long, searching for enough antique fabrics to tide me over through the lean shopping months of winter. At times I feel like a busy squirrel, frantically burying seeds in every possible nook and cranny. Needless to say, my studio is now piled high with stacks of tattered quilts, bits of lace, well worn linens and the surviving remnants of once beautiful antique garments. All of them waiting for me to gently take them apart, wash and air them, then fold them safely away and store them on the shelves in my studio, where they will wait until I bring them back to life as part of my dollmaking.
I promise to share photos of some of my best finds in upcoming posts. Until then I wish you all luck with your own summer treasure hunts!
I hit the lace mother load last Sunday at the flea market!Little bits of this and that, all waiting for me to clean, repair and remake…Well worn antique wool shawls, destined to become doll clothing for a special doll.I was thrilled to find part of a very early tied quilt. This practically pristine 18th century chintz is going into my Queen Anne doll making supply stash.Another very early antique chintz fabric.Two tattered and worn antique quilts that are stacked up in my studio waiting for me to take them apart and turn them into little Izannah dresses…
With winter weather and the promise of snow in the air, I’ve been dreaming of tiny woolen and flannel petticoats. Today I stoked the wood stove in my studio and aired an armful of antique baby woolens and flannels in front of the fire.
Tomorrow , when the snow is swirling past my windows and piling in soft mounds outside my door, I’ll cut, stitch and gather to my heart’s content, making miniature winter wardrobes…
Izannah Walker Journal 