Do you ever have a lot of time to look at and consider the garments you have made for your treasured doll and begin to have second thoughts? I am in that mode right now.

Recently I have been in some required down-time so I’ve been off my sewing project for a couple weeks. As I’ve looked at the photos of Julia’s empire hoop and petticoat, I am just not thrilled with either one of them. I didn’t like the empire hoop when I made it for Caroline, although it went with all the other garments I made for her and somehow that compensated for the shortcomings.

Each time I look at Julia in her empire hoop, it just looks…..meh. Now, certainly, I am adapting this pattern which was designed for French Fashion Dolls with composite bodies, and not one with a cloth body. I had thought the height of Julia would allow for the empire hoop to hang nicely after being slightly sized up for her waist.

I was wrong.

I just do not love it.

And I think partly because the French Fashion Doll look is that of a young lady, not a girl doll, but not quite a lady doll, and certainly not one getting married. Having worn reproduction clothing from the era, I know how the many layers of fabric feel and drape on the body. I also know what wearing a wedding dress made me feel and I don’t think Julia is “feeling” like a queen yet. Even just wearing the undergarments to my wedding dress made me feel elevated and elegant.

The elliptical hoop which is needed for the 1872 dress silhouette looks like it’s going to be easy, but it might be a trick.

This is an extant elliptical hoop, image courtesy of LACMA. All those horizontal lines are wires/bones, and the various vertical tapes keep them in the desired shape. Now, since I am making this for a doll, I do not need to add 25 or so horizontal bones. I might do 10.

I found a lovely site called Tea In A Teacup that goes into a detailed recreation of this style of hoop and I believe I can adapt that to the 20″ doll I am working with here. Once I get that completed, I’ll be able to make a new petticoat.

This petticoat is lovely, no question, but it doesn’t feel “wedding” to me. It’s ok because it will go into the clothes closet I have been accumulating for dolls through my various projects and remakes. I suspect I will again make a ruffled petticoat, but the next one will have a slightly different shape. This one just feels small. I will adapt my learnings from this petticoat and utilize them for the next one, which will be more like the cut of the skirt of the wedding dress. I’d always heard that to make a petticoat, just use the skirt pattern in a lightweight cotton.

So there you have it, my second thoughts on this and plans to make it better. Once I have those two items completed, I can decide whether to make a corset cover or not. I kinda don’t want to, but at the same time, I’m nervous to start on the dress. :-) And that of course will have mock ups galore, I’m sure!