Opus Elenae

Elen's Work: historical explorations

Dolly.

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Elen

I finally made a dress for Bebe’s (as yet unnamed) doll. I had a scrap of linen that had a border embroidery pattern and it suited this perfectly. I hand stitched the hems and did a buttonhole stitched key-hole neckline. I didn’t want to mess around with a facing that small.

I ended up taking the dress in a bit at the waist (she was swimming in it), and I made a braided belt to go with it. I also added more strands or yarn at the hairline, and stitched down the hair along the scalp a little bit, so it lays better for the braids. She’s totally adorable now.

Cloth Dolly

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Elen

One of my favorite things to do is to make sure that the Bebe has enough toys for our SCA events. And by that, I mean toys that can pass as period. They don’t actually have to be what kids in the 1380s would have played with, but I try to stay away from plastic as much as I can. And since my little girlie girl is going through an all-baby-all-the-time phase, I thought I’d make her a cloth dolly.

The body is made of a peach linen napkin I found at Goodwill (6 of them for $2.50: score!); the pattern was made by a friend. I machines sewed all the seams (and wasn’t that fiddly?) but sewed the stuffing holes by hand. I stuffed her with poly-fill, because I wanted the doll to be easily washable. I know how hard my kid is on her toys.

Now she just needs clothes.