Authentic doll patterns

[Amy Suha]

As I am relying on others to provide me with doll patterns, I would appreciate the reassurance of others who know more.

the "rolled ragged" doll pattern at the ragged soilder has been previously mentioned, I am assuming that it is well documented

Elizabeths cloth doll pattern (which I want) I am also assumimg is period correct

The cloth doll pattern that comes with the Simplicity "civil war growth dress" - the dress itself falls short, but what about the doll?

Would the dolls head be roundish, like a ball, and cut from mulitple fabric pieces - or kinda flat, made from 2 cicrles sewen together? or both?

Thanks - Miss Amy

[Elizabeth]

I can't see enough of the doll on the Simplicity site to really tell if it has period features or construction.  I'll see if I can find it at our local store, and examine the instructions/shapes.

Yes, the Mescher's dolls are quite appropriate for the period.

Our china doll is, too, and the cloth doll is an amalgamation of multiple period sources, so it's not a direct copy of any one doll, but is representative of a style of homemade cloth doll mid-century.

Head shaping has multiple options.  The Izannah Walker style dolls are shaped cloth that is varnished or glazed, and they have multiple seams to the head, to give a rounded appearance like mid-century wax or china dolls.

[Amy Suha]

When I made the doll for DD earlier this year, we agreed that the dolls clothing was minimal and questionable - with elastic in the skirt waist and a long bodice not attached to the waist.

I am curious about the doll construction itself.

Miss Amy

[Amy Suha]

I found this on About.com Year Round Family Fun. Actually I have found several variations of this concept, but this one makes sense.  I found one specifically referenced to the 1880's, but nothing before. Any ideas about the historical correctness of this concept for 1850-1860? (obviously this actually pattern is not histicially accurate)

RAG DOLL
Make an authentic rag doll like your grandma played with when she was little.


1 yard natural muslin
3" Styrofoam ball (or wadded-up newspaper or foil)
2 small buttons (for eyes)
Acrylic paint, pale pink
Yarn or craft hair
Small straw hat or bonnet
Scraps of cotton print, lace, and ribbon (for apron)
Buttons, bows, and dried flowers
Glue


Tear the muslin into 1" strips across the grain, from selvage to selvage. Pull off any hanging threads and smooth the strips flat. Cut 9 strips of muslin in half and set them aside.

To make the head, place a strip of muslin over the ball so that the strip is centered. Leave the ends hanging down to form the doll's body.
Cover the entire ball, criss-crossing the strips over the top, until you've used all but the short ones you set aside.

Tie the neck tightly with one of the short strips. Divide the body strips in half. Sandwich all but 3 of the short strips horizontally in between for arms. Tie the long body strips together under the arms with a short strip, making a waist. Tie one of the two remaining strips around each arm, about 1/2" from the end, to fashion the hands.

Glue on button eyes and daub on a little pink paint for blush on the cheeks. Glue the hair and bonnet or hat onto the head.

To make the apron, tear an 8" x 6" piece of cotton fabric. Gather along one of the long edges. Tear strips of fabric to make a sash and straps. Glue the straps across the shoulders and glue the apron to the waist.

Tie the sash around the waist and decorate with buttons, bows, and dried flowers.

Thanks - Miss Amy

[iphigenia]

Sounds pretty "oldey-timey" (i.e., only vaguely historical) to me! 

[Elizabeth]

I've not come across anything remotely like it, Amy.

[Amy Suha]

I am not surprised - But a bit hopeful when I found one referenced to belonging to someones great-great grandma in the 1880's.

I found a bunch of references to what one source called "pancake dolls" - like the simplicity pattern - both with the legs cut out as part of the pattern (like a gingerbread man shape) and with the arms and legs cut separately and then sewn on.

The references I found to a rolled doll were "ragged soldiers" and one made by rolling sheets of newspaper and then covering in cloth.

I found some variations of the hankie dolls, and the babies in a hammock, plus a hankie mouse and a hankie rabbit - almost all say something like "what your grandma played with". One of the books was printed in 1970 - so grandma may have been born in 1890? Got to be a better way to research and date such thing !

But then, this was just an afternoon of general surfing, not serious research.

Miss Amy - who is finding dolls additive and needs to spend her time making drawers!

[Elizabeth]

Generally, if it's saying "Like Grandma Did It" and it's any time in the 20th century, it's not going to have a historic correlation for our era.  There's just been far too much "historic-ish inspired-y Olden Tyme" stuff in the 20th century, and a LOT of things that came out of it are not historically based.  ("Primative Folk Art" any one?  Looks like historic six-year-olds slightly blind in one eye, and missing a few fingers did it all!)

Your best options are to start in the past, and work forward... doll history books, rather than modern crafty things.  Looking at originals from the big collections worldwide gives a sense of how dollies changed from, say, the Colonial era to the early Republic, and into the Victorian age.