Tag Archives: vintage doll

Doll Hat Boxes

Posted in Dolls, Pictures by

I threatened you with a tutorial on how to make these cute $2 craft boxes into hat boxes for your dolls, and here it is!

Naked boxes

To make these specific hat boxes (also called band boxes) you will need 1 larger sized piece of fancy wrapping paper – 18×24 is plenty. The reason for this is the outside measurement is greater than 12” which is the standard large size you will find at your local big box store. Original Victorian hat boxes came in many different shapes and sizes, but the ones we are most familiar with today are the round variety. I found reference to an enterprising young woman who created beautiful boxes covered with wallpaper so I tried to find papers that looked a bit like doll-sized wallpaper. Unfortunately I lost track of the website where I read this and can’t give you more detail.

If you are looking for a source of large format paper, you might be interested in the site Mulberry Paper and More. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but they have an amazing selection of papers that would be perfect for this use case. This tutorial is being shown with Japanese Chiyogami Yuzen paper. I’m visual so there will be a lot of pictures to illustrate this project.

Supplies

You will need:

Tape measure

Pencil

Scissors or exacto knife

15” ruler

Sewing ruler for small, precision measurements

Craft glue

Paper towels

Craft paper

Measure your box carefully. Allow for overlaps and edges! These boxes from Dollar Tree are 3 5/8” diameter on the lower box portion and 3 7/8” diameter on the lid. The circumference is equally important. Use your tape measure to find the circumference (outside and inside) plus a 1/2” overlap. I wound up cutting the following pieces:

(1) 12 1/2” X 3 5/8” rectangle (box outside sidewall)

(1) 11 3/4” X 2 1/2” rectangle (box inside sidewall)

(1) 13” X 1 1/4” rectangle (lid outside sidewall)

(1) 12 1/2” X 5/8” rectangle (lid inside sidewall)

(2) 3 5/8” diameter circles (box inside bottom and underside)

(1) 4 1/2” diameter circle (lid outside)

(1) 3 3/4” diameter circle (lid inside)

Each piece was labeled so I would know where they went.

Pieces

Once you have everything cut the assembly goes quite quickly.

1. Glue in the box inside bottom circle (for fun you could make this piece from a newspaper print which was done in the past)

Inside bottom

2. Glue in the box inside sidewall. Be careful to overlap and press out any excess glue. I forgot to take a picture of this step, sorry!

3. Glue the outside box sidewall. This piece should extend past the box edges on both top and bottom. These extended sections will be folded down.

Lower edge extension

4. Run a bead of glue where you will fold down the extended section on the bottom of the box. Then press down the paper into the glue, making overlapping wedges so the paper confirms neatly to the round shape of the box.

Lower edge gluing & folding

When it is folded down, press the paper flat firmly so the glue squishes into all the places it needs to be, and then use a paper towel to wipe off any that oozes out from under the paper.

Upper edge extension

On the upper edge, run your glue onto the paper extension. This piece is going to be folded to the inside of the box. You may want to prefold it before putting the glue. Once you have run the glue, fold the paper inside the box and press, making sure it conforms to the shape and working the glue into place with your fingers. Wipe away any that oozes out.

5. Turn the box upside down and glue on the circle to the underside. All the folded edges should be covered by this circle. Set the box piece aside to dry.

Bottom of the box

The lid will follow a similar method, except in a slightly different order.

6. Glue in the inner circle to the lid.

7. Glue in the inner lid sidewall.

Lid inside

8. Glue the outside lid circle. It may be helpful to trace the lid onto the plain side of this circle so you place the lid right in the center.

Lid centered in the circle

Next, place the glue onto the box side and fold down the paper around the circle of the lid, again working the glue evenly and wiping off any excess.

Lid edges

9. Glue the outside lid sidewall. To do this, put glue on only half of the paper – the other half will be folded inside the lid.

Lid sidewall

Place the paper edge just a smidge under the top edge of the lid.

Lid side placement

As you did with the box sidewall, carefully fold the paper edge to the inside. Press firmly and wipe away any glue that oozes out.

Set the pieces aside to dry thoroughly. The lid will be tight at first but as you use the box it will ease. Use the box for hats or any other storage.

Your finished fancy box!
Filled with doll treasures

Sunbonnet Sue

Posted in Dolls, Mom, Sewing by
She’s had a hard life

This little gal is a doll I am calling Sunbonnet Sue. I adopted her from (where else) eBay and I think she has had it rough. But I couldn’t resist her interesting features – most importantly her bonnet. The bonnet is part of the china head, and I have a lot to learn abut these fascinating dolls called Bonnet Heads.

So forlorn

But first a tiny bit about Sue. She is about 11″ tall from tip to toe. Her china pieces are not glossy, leading me to think this is the type of material called bisque. She has been painted and assembled quite poorly. Everything about her is a little sad, honestly.

Weird discoloration

There is this strange discoloration on the fabric used to make her, which feels to me like skirt lining of all things. It’s slippery. I suppose whoever made her used whatever scraps they had laying around the sewing room. You can also see that her head was attached rather inexpertly. The center seam of her body is pulled off center toward her shoulder. Even worse, her body shape is really off. Her left leg is somewhat toward the center of her body and her right leg is offset to be under her outside of her shoulder. Poor Sue. You can also see that her feet and hands were attached badly and the dear girl is pigeon toed.

I’m ready to get dressed now, please

She came to me naked (as they almost always do) and I just feel for this girl. She is another perfectly imperfect doll, who has a ton of character, and who I will give a good home & decent clothing. :-)

My modesty has been preserved!

She perfectly fits the chemise I had made for Nell ages ago and it is a better fit here, plus the drawstring neckline works well with her large head. As I was working with Sue, one of her arms came off! The arms and legs were attached with wire, which I had not seen before – but that isn’t saying much, I am really new to doll acquisition. I was able to reattach her arm and also secured her other arm as a precaution.

Pretty and simple

But now she is ready to relax and rest, well clothed! I love this fabric – it’s a bit brighter in person than in the photo. I have learned these bonnet-head dolls were styled to the 1830s, and the fabrics at that time were bright and cheery, which is why I chose this. The great thing about a tiny doll like this is you can make a complete dress from a fat quarter and have fabric left over for something else. In the dress, you can’t really see the problems with Sue’s construction, although it looks a bit like she has her hip cocked out to the side. Maybe she’s throwing a 180 year attitude.

I asked in a doll collectors group about bonnet-head dolls and learned that the originals were created around 1900. There are a tremendous variety of bonnet-head styles, but Sue seems to be styled off this particular type:

Bonnet-head doll

As you can see, however, she was not painted with such care. During the 1980s, there were numerous kits (and they are still available on occasion on eBay) mass produced for consumers to create. My suspicion is that Sue was born during that era. It is unfortunate that her painting was not done with great detail, but I think I will enjoy her all the same. She is now safely nestled in my cabinet with some other dolls in my growing collection.

Here is an article about bonnet head dolls – much better written by people much more knowledgeable than me.

Hats Off to Bonnet-Heads via RubyLane.com

Dottie

Posted in Activities, Dolls, Misc, Sewing by

This doll named Dottie was made for my sister as a Christmas gift. It’s my third making of the Little Cloth Girl pattern from Elizabeth Stewart Clark. Needless to say, I love this pattern.

You will notice an immediate difference in Dottie’s appearance from Emalie and Mernie, and that is her face & hair are embroidered. I’m not the best at embroidery (that’s my sister’s specialty), so I had to be very careful. I actually remade her face since I didn’t like the first attempt. All the embroidery is silk and I think it came out nicely. I also stitched in her fingers – not an easy task, plus she has jointed elbows and knees.

She again has the undergarments appropriate for a girl in the mid 1860s. I decided on this go-round that I would make a full wardrobe since she was a gift.

My daughter picked out this red fabric – which I just love. The dress is a darted bodice with sleeve caps.

The second dress is made from fabric my sister has picked out to make herself a dress – probably a wrapper. I thought it would be fun to surprise her, so I just asked for a 1/4 yard of any fabric. Now, once she makes up her dress, she will have a friend in a matching dress. How sweet! This dress is a gathered front yoked bodice. I really like how it turned out.

I made a quilted petticoat from flannel. While you can’t really see it, it has the same diamond pattern quilted in as Mernie’s.

The next piece I made was the basque coat. I used a sueded fabric to make it seem like wool or a heavier fabric. The trim is brown velvet and I love the nonfunctional buttons.

My favorite piece is the blue lightweight coat. Like I said earlier, I’m not much for embroidery, but I wanted this to look like it has braid, which was a common embellishment. The little button just finishes it off.

And just because I’m a glutton, I made a little handbag, a bonnet, a quilt that features all the fabrics used in the clothing, and a pillow. Oh, and inside that handbag are mini books I made. As an aside, I made another of these little bonnets for a Holiday Gift Exchange in the Historical Costuming For Dolls Facebook group. I’m not the only one obsessed with them!

I hope that you have enjoyed this tour of Dottie and her wardrobe. In the next post, I will showcase a costume made from a vintage fashion magazine.