Old Fashioned Dolls - Mabel and Clara

Thaddeus Monroe has been listed on ebay - such a cute boy he is.

Mabel and Clara are finished! They are proper primitive old fashioned young ladies.

I hope you like them.

I made them into pet dolls - like the pet china dolls that were popular in the late 1800's they have their name written across the front of them.

Both dolls are made of muslin, with painted head and shoulders, lower arms and lower legs. I tea stained all their clothing and splashed tea on their bodies as well to give them a aged look.

Mabel is stuffed with sawdust, because of the weight I have given her a boxed seat to help her sit up better.

Mabel has brown eyes. She is wearing a dress made of unbleached cotton that has been sanded, patched and stained to give it an aged look. I used antique pearl and shell buttons are Mabel's outfit and olive green cotton lace around her neckline.

Clara is stuffed with fiber fill. She has blue eyes. She is wearing a dress made of cotton gauze, that has been sanded, patched and stained. Clara also has a camisole on under her dress.

I really like the cotton gauze for primitive doll clothes. It looks very worn with just a light sanding and it takes the coffee or tea stain wonderfully.

Both girls are wearing bloomers made of unbleached cotton that have been aged with tea.

I think my favorite is Mabel, the sawdust gives her a real old-fashioned feel.

I like the finished doll when they are stuffed with sawdust, the more you handle them the more compact the sawdust becomes and the floppier the doll will become.

These 2 charming old fashioned girls will be for sale in the Doll*Shoppe at the Olde Primitive Sisters Marketplace.

Mabel will be $40.00 + shipping Clara will be $38.00 + shipping

I will be posting them for sale when I get back from the coming holiday no later than Wednesday 5/28/08.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday!

Meet Thaddeus Monroe

Thaddeus Monroe is for the most part dressed, the only thing he is missing right now are his shoe strings.

I have been calling him "my lad Thad."

Thaddeus Monroe will be listed on ebay next Thursday, May 22, 2008.

This doll style that I make was inspired by many great doll artist's of the past including Izannah Walker. His face and boots are needle sculpted. I painted his eyes blue and his hair in shades of brown.

He is jointed with slightly rusted tin buttons at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

Thaddeus has been painted in layers, and sanded between each layer and stained to give him a primitive antique look of an old toy.
He is wearing a button up the front undershirt made of muslin, under drawers, also made of muslin that button at the waist.

His shirt is made of a off-white/tan cotton gauze fabric.

His tunic suit is made of a dusty blue homespun. I dyed all the clothing with coffee to give it an aged look. As a result the dusty blue color has darkened and has some streaks of coffee stain that makes it look as though it has been around a long while. The pants are short pants with a button fly and buttons on the side of the knee. The jacket is modeled after the Norfolk jacket style that became popular in the 1800's, it has buttons up the front and matching belt that buttons in the front.

I am working on some new larger sawdust filled dolls. I'll be giving you an update on them soon. I think they will be going to my site at the Olde Primitive Sisters Marketplace when they are finished. Be sure to visit me there, and take a look around while you are there, we are a group of primitive artist's uniting together to bring you the best of our prim world.

Thanks for stopping by, come back soon!

Finally - and Update

I'm sorry I went AWOL on you. I'm here now and working away, trying to get everything done! Someday I may have to admit I am not superwoman, but I'm not ready to do that just yet - LOL.

I did go ahead and open my space at the Old Primitive Sisters Marketplace. So far I only have a Victorian Style Rabbit Pull Toy there. He's pretty cool. I will add my Big Eyed Raggedy Ann doll set there tonight, as soon as I am done here!

I am in the process of making 2 more Izannah Walker inspired dolls. One boy and one girl. They are both ready to assemble now. I will do that tonight and start on the clothing tomorrow. Hopefully I will have enough blue homespun that I can use it for both dolls. I have painted their eyes blue to match the material.

I have so many idea's going through my head for my next projects. I keep stopping what I'm doing and writing myself notes so that I will not forget all the things I would like to make.