A winter outfit

 

I finished the skirt for Ethel-Maud I showed you previously and as I said, it is a little wider than I would have really liked.  So, as I was getting mightily frustrated trying to work out the best way to make a matching sweater.....

...I decided to just add a bodice to the dress instead LOL  It was simple enough to do and it actually now fits a little better than before.  

And here's the second headband I made.  It's a better fit than the lemon one and looks much better.

I also altered the base of the headband by cinching it in with a few stitches; it fits much more snugly now and the little "knot" sits beneath Ethel-Maud's hair very nicely.  She is very taken with these headbands ~ I can see that I will be crocheting a fair few more in colours to match all the outfits she's hoping I will make 😄  Still, as the headbands make her less self-conscious about her receding hair, I really don't mind.

By the by, it dawned on me the other day that since Norah Wellings stopped production in 1959, then Ethel-Maud is at least two years older than I am! 

Of course a strapless dress ~ even a woolly one ~ isn't the best outfit for winter so I decided to make a frilly capelet to cover Ethel-Maud's bare shoulders.  Again it was a very easy make, done in a similar way to the skirt.

I made a length of chain to fit comfortably over her head when joined into a ring, then did treble crochet stitches (US double crochet) into each chain.  On the second round I put three trebles into each of the previous stitches, and on the third round I crocheted two trebles into each stitch.  I then did two more rows simply crocheting one treble into each stitch.

I think there is a little too much fullness in this capelet, to be honest.  If I make another one (and I suspect Ethel-Maud would rather like a few, of varying lengths, to add to her wardrobe!), I will experiment with the two increasing rows a little. I think I shall either crochet two trebles into each stitch of both the rounds, or do two in the second round and two in every other stitch in the third.

Don't tell her I said so, but every time I look at Ethel-Maud in this capelet all I can think is that if she had a bowl of fruit on her head she would look very much like Carmen Miranda 😄

A little spending spree...

I've had this mini art museum sitting in the "saved for later" section of my Amazon basket for absolutely ages.  Since the building of Hazelton has rather ground to a ~ albeit, temporary ~ halt, I couldn't really justify buying it.  But I had Christmas money burning a hole in my purse so I threw caution to the wind and ordered it 😉

At the Seaside by William Merritt Chase; The Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai; The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning by Camille Pissarro

I never had any intentions of using it as it came in the box; 

Snap the Whip by Winslow Homer; Gardanne by Paul Cezanne; The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

instead, I'm going to frame the pictures and put them in my Peediekin's homes and/or an art gallery in Hazelton.

A Wheatfield with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh; Self Portrait with a Straw Hat by Vincent van Gogh; Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses by Paul Cezanne

I have to admit that not all the artwork is to my own personal taste...

The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil by Edouard Manet; The Gulf of Marseilles Seen from L'Estaque by Paul Cezanne; Study for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat 

...but I am pretty sure that there will be plenty of folk amongst the Peediekins that the paintings will appeal to! 

Madame Manet at Bellevue by Edouard Manet; Dancers Practicing at the Bar by Edgar Degas

Someone else is also rather interested...

A Bouquet of Flowers by Clara Peeters; Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze

...yes indeed, Miss Ethel-Maud ~ how did you guess 😄 She particularly likes the bouquet of flowers painting above.  She said that it would look really rather lovely in her bed-sitting room.....the same bed-sitting room that she only mentioned a few days ago and I have barely started to think about, let alone come up with a plan for making!  Ethel-Maud clearly isn't going to forget about having her very own little private space, though, so I guess I should start to make some plans and hunt for a suitable cardboard box to convert into the room of her dreams 😮

Winter undies...

 

These vintage knitted undies are indeed "dainty" compared to the set I crocheted for Ethel-Maud last year!

It's not easy to find suitable patterns to fit Ethel-Maud; at about 9.5" (approximately 24cm) tall, she is very much bigger than my dolls' house people but conversely is rather smaller than fashion dolls.  She is also a totally different shape to the latter, being much broader and flat-chested ~ very rectangular, really.  She also has extremely "chunky" arms, legs and feet in comparison to the likes of Barbie or Sindy.  I have crochet, knitting and sewing books for both dolls' house people and fashion dolls, most of which at first glance are proving not to be particularly helpful for making a wardrobe of clothes for Ethel-Maud!  My poor brain is going to have to do a helluva lot of computing to rehash the patterns I've got to make them fit her 😵 

But needs must, and poor little Ethel-Maud definitely needed something to protect her modesty (and keep her warm), so this is what I came up with ~ Adrian thought it was some sort of bikini!  I basically just crocheted some rectangles of half-trebles (US half doubles), using a 3mm hook and some Adriafil Azzurra (a 3/4ply yarn) from my stash.  I then sewed them up to make the bandeau bra top and knickers; I also added a simple picot edge to the knicker legs to make them prettier.

To be honest, whilst they serve a purpose for the time being, they are not ideal as they are somewhat bulky.  Both the bra and the knickers could also have done with being a tad less wide ~ although the latter would have been better had they had a little extra length to the body section!  With Ethel-Maud being made from a velvet fabric, the knickers in particular don't slide up her body very smoothly either.  As I say, they are fine for now but I will have to rethink how I make clothes for her at some point.

Whilst I made the undies last year (just about the only things I did make!), I made the headband last week.  I mentioned in a previous post that Ethel-Maud is rather conscious of her receding hairline, so I had made a flowery headdress which has since been lost ~ hence the simple headband to replace it.  Again, I made this a little too big but have now made her a new one ~ I'll share photos in my next post about her 😊

I have also crocheted a skirt, which I've finished since I took the above photo.  I again used a 3mm hook and yarn from my stash: Zauberball Crazy in Grune Woche.  The variegation of this sock yarn worked out really well and has made a very nice pattern for the skirt, although the finished article, like the undies, could have done with being a fraction less wide ~ I'll share photos when I've figured out how to make a matching sweater 😉  

As a starting off point for the skirt I used a pattern from Miniature Crochet Projects in 1/12th Scale by Roz Walters, which is worked from the top down.  Instead of using double crochet I've worked in half-trebles (US single and half double respectively) for the waistband, changing to trebles (US double) for the body of the skirt.  The pattern called for the first row after the waistband to be increased by working three stitches in each stitch; I thought this would be too bulky so just worked two stitches instead.  I then simply worked additional rows with no further increasing until it was the length Ethel-Maud wanted (in this case seven) and finished with the final row in half-trebles to make a nice hem.   

I've never really done any kind of dressmaking (when I was at school, it took me a whole school year to make a very simple skirt!) but at some point, I think I shall have to overcome my fear of attempting to sew some garments for her 😳  One of the fashion doll sewing books I have, Top Outfits for Teenage Dolls by Nesta Hollis (published way back in 1972), says this in the introduction:

"This is a book written for all ages, from eight to ninety-eight.  We have endeavoured to make the instructions simple enough for the under-tens....."

This gives me hope that even I could tackle the patterns, albeit I shall have to adjust them to take into account Ethel-Maud's very different body shape.  Having looked through the book, none of the designs appear to be complicated and the instructions have been written with the hand-sewer in mind rather than a machine ~ another plus point for me as although I do have a sewing-machine, I've never really got to grips with the thing!  Two of my cousins are very good seamstresses and I'm sure one or t'other would've been happy to give me some sewing lessons.....unfortunately, they both live in Devon so couldn't really be much further away from where I live up here in the Northern Isles 😃

Not only do I have a yarn stash, I also have a fabric stash too (nope, I've no idea why I get tempted by fabric when I'm not a sewer!) so I'm determined to have a go at sewing some clothes for Ethel-Maud ~ as they say, watch this space 😉   

Ethel-Maud: the early days, part two

 Before we start, I'd like to apologise in advance for the blurry photos!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to have a good old rootle around to find any old photos of Ethel-Maud from back-in-the-day.  For some reason they are all rather on the small side, so enlarging them has somewhat lost their crispness 😕

The first task called for some rather radical surgery on Ethel-Maud's arms.  Unfortunately I couldn't find a "before" photo; the closest I eventually came across was this one during the rather nerve-wracking process!  

Anyhoo I got them both re-attached the right way round, much to EM's relief 😉 ~ previously one of them (after all this time I can't remember which one it was now) had the thumb pointing backwards.  They had both been sewn back on at some point before she came to live with me.  Even if I do say so myself, they look a whole lot better now that I've had a go at them even though I admit it's not a perfect job by any means!  

To be honest, I was a tad perplexed as to how the arms should be re-attached, as I wasn't sure whether or not they had been correctly sewn back on previously.  It was also quite a difficult job in that the fabric at the top of EM's arms had become a little delicate over the years.  In the end I decided to turn in a tiny fraction more than had been done before just to give myself a little more fabric to sew through.  I guess arms on dolls, especially those made of fabric, do tend to get rather a lot of wear and tear ~ I don't think she minds that they are now a teensy wee bit shorter than they were!  

this photo shows Ethel-Maud's arms before her surgery

With Ethel-Maud being made from velvet, it wasn't as easy to wash her as it would have been had she been vinyl or plastic ~ and I certainly couldn't have given her a dip in the washing machine!  But she finally had a session in the dolly spa 😊

I think she definitely looked a little lighter in colour afterwards, and her eyes seemed brighter too, but the changes don't really show up well in the photos.  I certainly removed at least some of the 50-odd years of surface dirt, judging by the dirty patches on the wash cloth.  I was pretty nervous about cleaning her head because it is made from something very firm beneath the fabric ~ perhaps some sort of moulded card or papier mache.  I took great care not to saturate any part of Ethel-Maud during the cleaning process and thankfully all went without mishap.  I also chose a day that was nice and warm, so she was able to dry naturally and quite quickly.   

I had mixed results with the pen marks on her leg; the red came off nicely but the black is still visible, albeit much less so than before.

As you can see, I didn't have much success in removing the smudged marks from around Ethel-Maud's mouth.  I don't know if someone tried to colour in her mouth for some reason or if the original colour somehow got smudged.  The whites of her eyes look brighter now, although it's a shame that the brown of her right eye had worn away before she came to live with me.

Still, at least she and I know that she had a good cleaning session in the dolly spa, and that made us both happy.

EM seems to be somewhat conscious of her receding hairline, so I made her a pretty headdress a la Frida Kahlo 😊  Unfortunately said headdress has been lost so I will have to make her a new one at some point.

  

I also made her a simple new outfit to replace the hankie-held-together-with-a-brooch ensemble 😉  The dress is simply a very small piece of crocheted ripple; a set of four "peaks" was enough to create the simple sheath.  I crocheted a short length of chains to thread through the front and back peaks, which created a halter-neck effect.  I made the matching shawl using a 7mm hook and treble (US double) crochet, with a simple chain edging. 

Her shoes were another make-it-up-as-I-went along effort.  They aren't the prettiest of footwear but at least they are rather nicer than her old black boots/feet!  I also made a simple little bag for all her bits and bobs using the same yarn and matching ribbon.

All-in-all, I was very pleased with how surprisingly well Ethel-Maud's spa session turned out.  Now I just need to expand her very limited wardrobe.....and perhaps make/find something to keep all those future new clothes in!

Ethel-Maud: our early days together...

Ethel-Maud, with her friends Misty and Bridget, in the craft room

When I happened upon Ethel-Maud all those years ago I simply thought that she was a very sweet-but-sad-looking anonymous little cloth doll, but when she dropped through my letterbox she had a label on her foot from a maker called Norah Wellings.  I confess that I'd never heard of this lady before, so turned to the internet to see what I could find out.  During my trawling I came across a blog called Norah Wellings Journal  by Gillian Trotter, who has apparently also written a book about Miss Wellings.  I decided to email Gill to ask if she could tell me anything Ethel-Maud and this was her response:

"She looks like one of Norah Wellings Islander Dolls. You do not say what size she is but looks to be the smaller size of 8 to 12 inches? Norah Wellings was very well known for her wonderful Islander dolls and they were made wearing a mixture of different national clothing but most commonly grass skirts. However as yours has black shoes she would not have had a grass skirt as that particular model had bare feet. They came in sizes 8 to 36 inches , earliest having glass eyes, later painted eyes. Looking at the label on Ethel-Maud she would have been made from 1940 to 1950's (Norah Wellings stopped production in 1959). The same models were used for many years."

Gill has got photos of some lovely dolls on her blog; they made poor little Ethel~Maud look very shabby and down-at-heel 😟 She was in a somewhat battered condition when I got her, with pen marks, dirty and worn patches and re-attached arms (one of which had been sewn on back-to-front!). She also has a very receding hairline and a rather disfigured face; her eyes are wearing away, her nose is non-existent and her poor mouth has been very badly coloured in. My Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction lead me to suspect she was a plaything as opposed to a collector's doll 😉

The photos on Gill's blog also show dolls dressed in lovely outfits but Ethel~Maud arrived absolutely stark naked.....

.....for quite some time she floated around in a rather fetching hankie-held-together-with-a-brooch ensemble!  (By the way, sorry the photo above is a tad blurry.  I had to have a hunt around to find some old pictures of Ethel-Maud, all of which are somewhat on the small side, so they have lost their crispness somewhat with being enlarged!)

Despite her sorry appearance ~ or perhaps because of it ~ I really do love sweet little Ethel-Maud and as you will see in my next post about her, I have tried to smarten her up as best as I can 😊 

2022: a year with Ethel~Maud

Ah, my beloved Ethel-Maud ~ one of my favourite dolly companions 💖  She is named after both my Grandmothers and was one of the first dolls I bought for myself as an adult.  I came across her whilst I was whiling away some time on Ebay ~ oh, it must be getting on for perhaps 12 years ago now, possibly even longer than that!  I know that she wouldn't have appealed to most folk ~ especially my more dolly-phobic friends 😉 ~ but I thought she had such a sweet little face, and looked so sad to find herself up for sale, that I decided to put in a bid for her.  Actually, if I'm honest, after all this time I can't really remember if I did bid for her or if she was a "buy it now" sale.  Either way I know she wouldn't have cost much at all.

When she first came to live with me, Ethel-Maud initially spent her days with all the other dolls in my collection, in the house, so she had lots of company with the baby dolls, fashion dolls and plushies.  It seemed to me, though, that she was a little shy and didn't feel that she really fitted in with any of them.  So she started to spend more time with me and seemed much happier.  I confess that she quickly became my sweet little mascot 😍

Before we moved I knew that I would have to drastically downsize my doll collection, as there just wouldn't be enough space to display them here at St Abbs.  Those that now live in my craft room are all that I allowed myself to keep (apart from a handful that lounge around in the bedrooms) and for some time little Ethel-Maud was out there with them, too.  Now, though, she is back in the house with me and we both couldn't be happier.....oh dear, you don't think that makes me seem a little weird do you 😲

Well, weird or not, I've been thinking that it would be rather lovely for you all to get to know my sweet Ethel-Maud a little better so I'm hoping to include lots more posts about her over the coming year.  To stretch my limited creative capabilities, I have plans to expand her somewhat meagre wardrobe and have already made a start on that.  It would also be nice to take her out-and-about (adhering to whatever Covid restrictions are in place, of course 😉) for some photo-opportunities ~ even being out in the garden would make a welcome change for Ethel-Maud, I'm sure!

Let's hope that 2021 turns out to be a very much better year than 2020 ~ and despite the fact that we don't intend to do anything terribly exciting or adventurous, Ethel-Maud and I are both rather looking forward to sharing this little project with you 😊

I originally published this post about my lovely Ethel-Maud on 1st January last year.  Well, we all know that 2021 turned out to be a pretty duff 'ole year so far as I was concerned and I did nothing with poor little EM at all!  She simply spent the year lounging about on my craft table by my armchair, patiently waiting for me to actually do something with her ~ alas, to no avail 😩

This year, though, I am determined to make a proper effort both with expanding her wardrobe and taking her out-and-about for some photo shoots.  So if you should come across a late middle-aged woman (yes, I am still considered middle-aged at 60.5 years old, apparently 😄) who appears to be playing with/talking to a cloth doll.....that'll most likely be moi!   Don't worry, no need to call the authorities ~ I'm perfectly sane and perfectly harmless, too.....but probably best not to let my kids know you've seen me out with Ethel-Maud, let's just keep it between ourselves, eh 😉