I thought you might all like to see what I’m working on this week. I’m just finishing up a wonderful custom order Izannah. I only have a few more details to complete and then she will be ready to travel to her new home.
Yesterday she graciously agreed to pose for my April ad in Antique Doll Collector magazine. So she’s been a very busy young lady. Today she has her final dress fitting and is acquiring laces for her boots. Tomorrow she will be packing for her trip. I hope all of the attention doesn’t go to her head!
I made this doll to order as a special commission from her owner. I would be happy to do the same for you. Please call me at 860-355-5709 or email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com to discuss custom made dolls.
Doll Town is a new website opening Sunday night February 27th at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The idea behind the site is for a large group of doll artists to come together in one place and offer their dolls for sale to collectors. The woman behind the site is Jane DesRosier.
Please come join me and a host of wonderful, creative doll makers for the grand opening tomorrow. I have two dolls available for sale on the site. I hope to see you there!
I’m sure that you can all call to mind an image of a classic Izannah Walker doll, wearing a charming print dress with a neckline that gently hugs her shoulders. Layered under her dress will be a chemise, petticoats and pantalettes.
When you are dressing your Izannah Walker doll it is important for her undergarments to have the proper fit. If your doll will be wearing a low cut dress then her chemise must be cut to match.
It has been speculated that Izannah Walker was making dolls as early as the mid 1840’s. Low shoulder baring gowns were fashionable for young children beginning in the late 18th century through the mid 1860’s. After the Civil War necklines on children’s dresses and chemises rose. The doll shown on the left, in the photo above, wears her original chemise that shows all of her shoulders, right up to the top of her arms. The hem line of this chemise falls below her knees. The doll on the right also wears her original chemise, but it’s neckline and hemline are both higher, with the bottom of the garment ending just below her hips (click here for another view). Both chemises are made of cotton sheeting.
The fit of the doll’s chemises are very true to life and match the fit of corresponding real chemises of the period.
c. 1860 calf length, machine stitched, cotton sheeting chemise with Turkey red embroidered eyelet and a single inital.
A chemise is the garment that was worn closest to the body. Stays/corsets were worn over the top of the chemise, followed by petticoats. Pantalettes, once they were introduced in the early 19th century, were worn under the chemise to cover the legs. If a chemise fits properly, even though the neckline is off the shoulder, it will easily stay in place without falling off.
Machine stitched cotton sheeting chemise with fantastic hand embroidered yoke and sleeve trim.Close up view of embroidered detail.Machine stitched linen chemise with tatted lace trim and red embroidered initals and number. Chemises, men's shirts and sheets were often embroidered with initals and numbered, to make sure that they were rotated evenly.Sleeve and gusset detail.Machine stitched cotton sheeting chemise with hand embroidered yoke and crochet lace.
If you would like a closer look at any of the small photos, you can enlarge them by clicking on the image.
Black Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll in Cheddar Print Dress
This doll is dressed in a gown made from a reproduction cotton print fabric. It is a scaled down copy of a child’s dress in my collection. Her chemise is made of antique linen and trimmed in antique eyelet. Her pantalettes were made from a worn out vintage sheet, antique lace and antique button. She is wearing an antique petticoat that I cleaned and restored. I fashioned an apron out of scraps of an antique “cheddar” print fabric. I also made her a necklace of coral colored beads.
$925.00 with free shipping to US addresses.
Black Reproduction Izannah Walker Doll in Pink Dress
This doll is wearing a reproduction of one of the original dresses worn by my antique Izannah Walker dolls. It is made from a wonderful antique pink and white homespun check fabric. Under her dress she is wearing a chemise, pantalettes and an antique petticoat.
I made her sunbonnet of antique double pink calico. The bonnet is a doll sized version of an antique bonnet in my collection. The brim is stiffened with individually cut strips of cardboard.
This year is the 25th anniversary of my business, A Sweet Remembrance, which I began in June, 1986. To mark the occasion I am planning a year filled with fun, whimsical, interesting, informative and sometimes down right silly events, drawings, contests and classes!
This is the antique fabric and lace that I am giving away in the drawing. Can't you just picture it made up into the perfect summer dress for an Izannah Walker doll? All she would need to celebrate the 4th of July would be a tiny vintage flag!
The first drawing for all of my Reproduction Izannah Walker Doll Making students will be for a dress length of antique fabric and enough antique lace to trim a full set of underclothes for your doll. All of the details are posted on the class member site.
If you would like to take the class and have a chance at winning the fabric and lace, there is still plenty of time. The drawing will close on Memorial Day.
During the holidays I had a chance to go rummage around some vintage clothing stores with my youngest son and his girlfriend. We unearthed several treasures, including this antique doll dress made of a ombre printed pink cotton. The dress is not quite right for any of my Izannahs, but it will be perfect on one of my antique German bisque dolls.
The first thing I did once I got the dress home was to wash it using Orvis and sodium perborate. If you would like to read more about how to do this, check out my previous post on the subject.
This is what the dress looked like when I bought it.A good washing made a huge difference to it's appearance and will help prolong the life of the fabric.A close-up look at the dress fabric.
Here are photos of the doll that I just finished. She is already spoken for, but if you are smitten with her, you may order a doll just like her. The fabrics that I used for her clothing are all antique, so they are one of a kind, with the exception of the striped linen in her petticoat, which I do have more of. I also have some similar double pink fabric, both antique and new, which would both make up wonderfully into dresses like this one.
If you would like to order a doll, please email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com or call 860-355-5709.
My cat an I have differing opinions about what is helpful and what isn’t. Apparently he decided that today was “Help Your Person Sew Day”.
This cat is not as much of a doll lover as some of my cats have been. When I first started collecting dolls, I was soon forced to keep all of my antique bisque dolls safely locked behind glass doors. It turned out the Patience, the cat I had at that time, had a fetish for mohair wigs!
Later when I started making large child size cloth dolls, Quince, another of my cats, would curl up and sleep in the laps of any of the dolls seated in a chair. The only drawback to this cozy arrangement was that she chewed on their fingers before she went to sleep.
Ratbert isn’t at all sure that he even likes dolls. After all, doll making uses up a lot of time that could be better spent lavishing attention on a cat! As far as he is concerned the only good thing about doll making is all of the antique fabric. Now that is something a cat can really love!
Today I added the finishing touches to these two dolls.
I made a sunbonnet of antique double pink calico for the doll in the pink dress (the pink and white check is also an antique fabric). The bonnet is a doll sized version of an antique bonnet in my collection. The brim is stiffened with individually cut strips of cardboard.
For her sister I fashioned an apron out of scraps of an antique “cheddar” print fabric. I also made her a necklace of coral colored beads. Both girls have chemises, pantalets, antique petticoats, and wigs made from lambskin just like Izannah’s black dolls had. They are each holding handmade Valentine’s. Please call for additional details or to order. 860-355-5709 Paula@asweetremembrance.com.
I have three finished dolls available at the moment. If you would like to know more about them, or to see additional photographs, please call me at 860-355-5709 or email Paula@asweetremembrance.com.
Izannah Walker Journal 