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.
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…
We returned last night from the most successful buying trip we’ve had at Brimfield, MA ( a town wide flea market/antique show comprised of 21 independent venue/field owners) in years. In two days we were able to shop all of the fields, plus a great multi-dealer shop, go
I found some wonderful fabrics and trims that I will be turning into clothing for my Izannahs in the upcoming months. During the warmer months of the year I spend several hours each week searching through estate sales, tag sales, flea markets and antique shops for the fabrics that I use to make my dolls, augmented by a few longer buying trips, in the hopes that I can stock pile enough antique textiles to last me through the winter.
This year the weather was much better on Friday and Saturday than the day we went last May.
Even if I hadn’t bought a single item, the trip would have been worthwhile because of all the interesting things I got to see and the inspiration that they provided!
Some of our best purchases were the three full hides of glove leather (that I will be turning into many, many doll shoes) and three antique canning jars – all for $10 total. Then there were our great $1 buys, a grain painted side chair from the first quarter of the 19th century for me, a vintage Pepsi bottle for my husband, and three T-shirts for my son. My best fabric deal was undoubtedly when I scored a full bolt of very fine antique cotton sheeting, which is destined to become chemises, pantalettes and petticoats. Since I was furniture shopping for myself, it was only fair that I did the same for my dolls. I bought some very nice doll size chairs and dressers, that I will be listing for sale in the future… and of course I did find just a few purple things for my house, seven transferware plates and a cache pot for the kitchen and an early lindsey-woolsey coverlet for our bedroom 🙂
Today at my house we are celebrating Easter. Tomorrow the festivities will continue as we party in honor of my middle son’s birthday! I’d like to share a bit of our celebrations with you by offering you 10% off on every single item I sell at Paula Walton’s A Sweet Remembrance!!!
This includes all classes, all dolls – even new custom orders -, all bears, all reproduction clothing, all antiques – carousel horses & cooking items -, literally everything! There is free shipping within the United States on all purchases, except carousel horses & you may place any item on lay-away, with terms to fit your budget 🙂
The coupon code for the sale is ” peeps”. Enter the code when you check out today or tomorrow using the secure shopping cart at A Sweet Remembrance and 10% will automatically be subtracted from your total. Email or call me to buy the antique cooking item shown at Paula Walton’s 18th Century Home Journal, to order a custom made Izannah Walker reproduction doll, or to set up lay-away payments. Paula@asweetremembrance.com 860-355-5709. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the sale or any of my work.
Wishing you a Happy Easter and an amusing April Fools Day!
Two lovely young ladies, currently available for sale. Miss “A” NOW SOLD – Thank you for looking, dressed in antique “double pink” fabrics, with two curls in front of each ear and seven more along the nape of her neck and her dearest friend Miss “B”, wearing a madder brown dress and straw colored crocheted bonnet. Both girls may be purchased directly from my main website Paula Walton’s A Sweet Remembrance. Click here to read all about Miss “A” and click here for Miss “B’s” particulars.
SOLD Miss “A” and her two bunny friends.SOLD Miss “A’s” hand made red leather shoes are trimmed in hand dyed silk ribbons that have been carefully matched to faded antique originals.SOLD She has one charming “make-do” sleeve, that almost, but not quite matches the rest of her dress fabric. Her dress has a “false hem” made from a third antique “double pink” fabric.SOLD Note the details of her white cotton and crochet work bonnet and her hand strung pink bone beads.SOLD Curls!SOLD “May I have this dance?” Sometimes a girl just feels like waltzing…SOLD Miss “B” adores her new straw colored antique crochet work bonnet with it’s silk ribbons and rosettes!SOLD Note the details of her bonnet, real coral beads and lace trimmed chemise.SOLD Miss “B” (on the right) pays a visit to her great grandmother a doll made by Izannah Walker herself! (on the left)SOLD A Side view of her bonnet.SOLD Back view of Miss “B’s” bonnet.
A Note About the Easter Bonnets
SOLD The girls love showing off their new Easter bonnets.
Do you remember turning acorn caps into doll dishes and using handkerchiefs for dolly diapers and shawls when you were a child? My mother used to help me fashion doll clothes out of objects we found around the house. I’m sure that this is a long standing mother and daughter tradition since I occasionally come across antique doll clothing that children have made from little bits of this and that.
I was sitting in my studio, thinking about Easter bonnets, when my eye happened to light on a pile of crocheted doilies… Suddenly I could just see them turning into beautiful, lacy Easter sunbonnets! I loved the idea of recreating one of my childhood traditions and I hope that you are as captivated by the bonnets and the story behind them as I am.
Would You Like to Get to Know Miss “A” & “B” Better?
If you have any questions about Misses “A” or “B”, or would like to see additional photographs, I would be more than happy to accommodate you. Email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call me at 860-355-5709. Lay-away is available on terms to meet your budget.
SOLD Possibly Bess, Bountiful, Bettany, or ??? My latest doll reminds me of the charming Izannah Walker doll at the South County Museum in Narragansett, Rhode Island. There is something about the shape of her head and her expression that calls to mind the Rhode Island doll of a century and a half ago…
NOW SOLD – THANK YOU FOR LOOKING For the past few days I’ve been sewing on clothing for this doll, that I’m affectionately calling “B”. I’ve been working on this doll for months, and for almost the entire time I’ve been thinking that she reminds me of a particular Izannah that I had seen somewhere… Yesterday I finally remembered exactly which one of Izannah’s dolls that “B” resembles. To me, she looks like the Izannah Walker doll at the South County Museum in Narragansett, Rhode Island. View the doll owned by the South County Museum here at the Izannah Walker Chronicles.
One of the magical aspects of pressed cloth heads is the way that heads made from the same mold are each unique. I am constantly filled with wonder when my dolls follow the same path that Izannah’s did. It is such a reaffirmation of the way I work to see that 170 years later I can take stockinette, cotton, and paste and turn it into faithful reproductions of Izannah’s dolls. *
SOLD Back of split pantalettes, showing contrasting white cotton waistband and piecing.SOLD Close-up of darning on linen pantalettes.SOLD Close-up of detail on pantalettes, chemise, petticoat and painted boots.
Because the doll has a very time worn appearance and aged paint surfaces, I wanted to use special fabrics that would reflect and enhance the feel of this doll and help tell her story. I used antique natural colored linen for her pantalettes, chemise and petticoat. I added vintage white cotton waistbands to the pantaletts and petticoat because I wanted the color contrast that is often seen in antique wool/cotton baby petticoats. Her pantalettes have been carefully pieced and darned. It took much longer to make them this way, but it helps to preserve the illusion of a much loved family doll that has been well taken care of and preserved to be passed down through succeeding generations.
“B’s” dress is made from an amazing piece of madder brown fabric c.1850 that has never been washed. The color of the dye is so vibrant, with a crisp print and the original sizing intact. The dress has straight short sleeves and is trimmed with narrow velvet bands around the sleeves and skirt. It closes with an antique glass “china” button at the waist and a thin 1/8-th inch cotton tape drawstring at the neck. The dress skirt has been carefully darned and mended in two places and the inside of the waist band has a bit of contrasting fabric pieced in as a “make-do” detail. This is the ideal dress for a collector who loves early primitive cloth dolls and is a serious student of 19th century textiles. I’m strongly suggesting that this dress should not be washed to preserve the pristine documentary condition of the fabric dye and print.
Carefully mended skirt.
Inside of waistband showing “make-do” pieced lining.
We still have some snow on the ground here in Connecticut from Friday’s storm, so today I’m going to make “B” a pair of detachable long sleeves to help keep her warm on chilly spring days.
SOLD Sweet “B” needs her long sleeves to ward off the chill in the air today. She thinks they make her look very “Little Women”ish!SOLD “B’s” cuffs button on the inside of her wrists in the mid-19th century manner .
SOLD Sweet “B” may be purchased on my website A Sweet Remembrance. Please feel free to email or call me if you are interested in purchasing “B” and have any questions about her or would like to see additional photographs. Paula@asweetremembrance.com, 860-355-5709. Lay away is available in terms to fit your budget. All payments, including lay away, may be made through Paypal, or by personal check or money order. You may pay using your credit card through Paypal, even if you do not have a Paypal account. Free Priority Mail shipping, with full insurance and signature confirmation, to any location within the United States. 6.35% sales tax is charged on dolls shipped to a Connecticut address. Exact postage charged on dolls shipped to other countries.
It’s here! The first day of a brand new year. With a pristine calendar, ready to be filled with a bounty of creative possibilities. I love this time of year, when I’m rested and recharged from spending time with family and friends over the holidays and it feels like I have a bit more time to dream, plan, and work on new projects.
Izannah Walker Journal 