As promised, here are some more pictures of all kinds of sweetness…and all kinds of dolls!
Susette is starting us off today!
Josefina is practicing to get ready to challenge the mogul course at the Olympics.
Bella is ready to skate.
Molly is more like me, ready for a Valentines Day party. I used the musical pattern because she had just started piano lessons.
Jeanne will recognize Ivy and Mollyās clothes. I DO, Susette, I DO!
Molly had a choice between two dresses that I made for Valentines Day.
I made Molly a new dress for Valentines Day. (Susette, I got my pictures out of order… so I’m not sure which dress she picked!)
Little Darling Riya.
Next up with some pictures is Laura… This is what she said in an email to me…
My Valentine vignette, if I’m not too late.
The postcards have been in my family since 1890 as that’s the date written on them. The rose bouquet one was a birthday card to my great maternal grandmother (my maternal grandfather’s mother) Olga from her brother Oswald. The other is also a birthday card sent to Olga.
The music box was a gift from my maternal grandfather for my 16th birthday (my grandmother had sadly already died by then).
The doll, who has always been named Lydia, has been in our family since the 1930’s. My grandmother had four sisters and one was named Lydia. She was very close to her. My mom never asked, but assumes my grandparents bought her at some point as she’s always been here. She is made by the German dollmaker Elfriede Hurse and is signed.
Here is Lydia’s signed foot.
Here’s a bit of information on the dollmaker. She was obviously determined to make dolls even though supplies were limited due to depression and war.
Lydia’s hair is made of sugar sack threads and she gathered deer hair from the tree bark in the spring when the deer rubbed against them to shed their winter coats for stuffing. Notice her hands and feet are sewn. I’m unsure what her face is made of, but it is painted. She is jointed at the neck, hips and shoulders. Her dress, socks, and shoes are all original to her.
Elfriede Herse dolls were manufactured in Malente (a little town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) from about 1930 till 1953 by Elfriede Herse, a sculptor and woodcutter.
The biggest challenge was the procurement of material, which Elfriede Herse mastered with great imagination: for the body, fabric remnants and as a filling deer hair were used. Herse made her silky shiny hair out of sugar sacks, which were painstakingly disintegrated into threads and then made into wigs. ā
Thank you for letting me share special things in my family, Jeanne.
Laura
You are SO welcome Laura. Thank YOU for sending your pictures! They are wonderful and I KNOW that is one very loved doll! :o)
Here are a few “Olympians” from Susette…
(Oh Susette, poor Ivy… Looks like she might have had an accident… no medal for her, I guess!)
Marilyn sent me a few pictures… how fun!
Here’s my new Corinne, renamed Madeline, Mai (My) for short. Sarah from AGPT rewigged her for me. I got the necklace on Etsy.
Here is the link to the Etsy shop for the necklace. Choose green, light green, or purple jade, the smallest size, and request an 8 1/2 inch long chain for this look.
The doll with brown hair is Omera, from The Mandelorian. She’s a Corinne with a Lea wig. I think she’s beautiful, but I wanted a Chinese doll.
(Marilyn, I totally agree with you about how pretty she is. In fact, your pictures show how pretty she is better than ANY I have seen. She is just the sweetest thing and I know you’ll have fun with her!)
…and all the way from Poland, Alina sent me this email along with pictures of what she’s been working on…
Hello Jeanne, I have an infection and I am not working, so I have time for dolls. I send some of my creations mostly made of yarn. There is no time for sewing, it takes too much time to unfold the workshop. Among the photos there is one with my granddaughter Zuzia playing with a doll. Greetings. Alina.
(Alina, I’m so sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well… but I have to say, even being sick, you SURE do know how to knit and crochet!!!) Thanks for sharing what you’ve been up to!
Thanks everyone!
I’ll see you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, what fun, more pictures!!
Susette, I’m sure your Josefina and Bella are all set to medal in their respective sports! I loved how you set Josefina up (cotton “snow” on your stairs?)–so clever, and it shows off her snowboarding skills! The other pictures are wonderful, too, but those two especially caught my eye.
What treasures you shared, Laura! Your Lydia is just as sweet as can be. From what I can tell, I’m guessing her face was some kind of formed “mask” (papier mache’?) which was placed over the stuffed head, and then painted. Your family has taken excellent care of her, as she is in beautiful condition. Isn’t it interesting, how people made do with things at hand to make their creations?!
Susette, I see some familiar outfits there! My Molly has the red snowsuit (at the top), and my AbbyRose had the yellow/black outfit on the bottom step. Of course, my Kirsten has her winter outfit, too! So far, though, none of my girls has broken an ankle!
Marilyn, your Corinne/Mai is just beautiful! I didn’t realize what a pretty face she had. Hm, do I need one more AG doll?!
Alina, I see you have been busy knitting and crocheting again! You are very talented; your work is lovely! it’s hard to choose a favorite outfit! My favorite picture, though, is the one of Zuzia! She’s such a sweet little girl!
Thanks for sharing pictures, everyone!
Meanwhile…there’s excitement at our house, as Gigi is getting a pink furry coat with silver accessories!! She is already asking if it’s here yet!! (And we are getting temps in the high 50s this weekend!!)
Congratulations on winning the pink furry coat, etc., for Gigi. I’m sure she will be most happy to pose for pictures once it arrives.
Thank you so much, Charlotte. You might be right. Lydia’s face is hard and has certainly held up unlike my mom’s composition dolls which didn’t stand the test of time.
Congrats to Gigi. She’ll be the talk of the doll room.
Hurrah for Charlotte and Gigi! Woo-hoo! šā¤ļø
Oh my goodness, so much to see and comment on today! Before I get any farther, I want to thank all of you for your wonderful comments yesterday on my dolls on their behalf! As much as I love dressing them up, they like it too! So thank each and every one of you, and Jeanne too, for showing them!
Susette, your dolls have such an array of wonderful outfits, and it is so fun to see how you arrange them! Love the “snow scenes”, and those stairs make the perfect backdrop! If anyone should win a gold medal, it is you!
I especially love that darling picture of Molly with Felicity’s table and chairs, and the pretty silver tea set! Molly is my favorite, in case you don’t know!
Little Darling Riya is adorable in her pretty white coat and hat set! Perfect for the weather we here, farther east than you, are having!!
Laura, what treasures you have from your family! Lydia is a lovely doll, and how interesting to hear how she was made, despite the hardships of the times. I was looking at her shoes, what are they made of? I can’t believe how carefully you have saved all the treasures you have, and
the wonderful condition they are in! Your daughter is going to have a treasure trove of things to keep and treasure some day!
Marilyn, Madeline is beautiful! I love her in the wig you picked out, and she has such pretty eyes, without looking too made up. That necklace is adorable and something my Ivy needs!
Alina, what absolutely beautiful work you do! I’m sorry to hear you are not well, but you certainly did a wonderful job in the outfits you made. Your granddaughter looks like she is playing nurse with her doll! So cute! Thank you so much for sending these photos!
What fun today, Jeanne, seeing all the wonderful pictures! It truly makes our day brighter!
Thank you so much, Linda! I wanted to comment to you about the “kitty cat shoes” I thought I saw yesterday. I guess Cecile’s shoes were just blurry enough that that’s what I thought. The bows did look like cat ears. I could probably see cats or dogs in anything slightly blurry. LOL
Lydia’s shoes I think are made of fabric that has been painted. The soles are either thin leather or possibly super thin wood. The top edges are stitched.The toe design has been woven in.They are quite fragile and have a few cracks where the painted has cracked.
Iām so far behind as I missed commenting yesterday. I second everything that was said about Lindaās wonderfully detailed collection! All the beautiful dolls and red dresses! The accessories are fabulous, the most intriguing being the lip balm cases. What an imagination! Lindaās Molly red table is responsible for finding one myself as our family had one like it when I was a child.
My favorite Joy dress is the one she made for Hannah. How about that heart on the back and the š¶ puppies! Never thought of a pink wig but it sure is cute on Theresaās Jennifer as is her real dog, Linus.
Marilynās Madeleine is so beautiful with the new wig. Great choice. The necklace is lovely and my Chinese dolls need them. Thanks for the tip. I like her name better too.
Laura, where to start with your wonderful heritage collection. Cards, music box and the doll has a wonderful history and lesson for us all. How amazing to have used deer hair and sugar sacks for materials! So glad you shared them with us.
Alina, your knitted and crocheted dresses are so pretty. What a wonderful collection for Zuzia. She looks so intent on helping her dolly get better. What a dear little girl.ā¤ļø! Thanks for sharing your talents with us.
Thanks, Jeanne, giving us a place to share our dolls with each other. Thanks for the kind compliments on the pictures. Itās fun to put together scenes and share them.
Thank you so much, Susette! It was my pleasure and so glad you enjoyed them.
Thanks so much Jeanne for sharing the photos today. So many fun things going on with the dollies.
How exciting to see Susette’s Olympic competition. All of them on the black diamond Stairstep Run and still standing is amazing. Well, except for Ivy who must have taken the fast way down. I was actually able to watch some of the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Valley. Now with a much more appropriate name. Memories. Great Valentine dresses and the table settings are lovely. Can’t forget to mention sweet Bella in her white skating outfit. I’m sure she won a medal as well. That detailed white knit on Riya is fabulous. Thanks for sharing Susette.
Loved seeing Laura’s vintage Valentines and Lydia too. Very interesting about her German maker.
Love the looks of Marilyn’s Mai and Omera. The necklace is sweet too. Do they have Asian outfits too?
Alina’s knits are perfect for her girls. What wonderful work. Get well soon. So nice to see her sweet grand as well. š
And on to the weekend. Have fun everyone.
Thank you so much, Joy!
I love the pictures of Mai, whom I have never seen — she’s on her way here now. Sarah, who rewigged her, is on AGPT and Dollhouse as bingandnelsonfan, and Omera is hers. If you are on either blog, you will know about her doll photography. One of her dolls, whom she calls Bunty, is deeply in love with wool and has a yearly Wool Week celebration, which Sarah photographs. Sarah, her twin Elizabeth, and their mother own 40 AGs and the largest set of props I know of. They are planning on opening an Etsy store, where you’ll be able to buy sheet music, magazines, and other AG-sized accessories to go with Jeanne’s outfits.
Mai is based loosely on a Japanese-American friend from grades 2-12. She and her brother were some of the most typically American kids I knew. Their parents were in many ways very Japanese and were first or second generation American, so the children knew and respected their heritage, which the parents generously shared with us, the friends of their children.
Mai’s family will be like that, very American with a strong appreciation of their Chinese roots. Joy asked if Mai had Chinese outfits. Mai has Ivy’s red dress and Chinese shoes and a really beautiful emerald green cheongsam. She has Nellie’s orchid pajamas and the Silver Belle Christmas dress, but she also has distressed jeans, moto pants, plaid skirts, tee shirts, and a ski sweater. I have other AG Chinese-influenced outfits but have decided to let their doll owners keep them. The cheongsam belonged to Jess, who was quite happy to exchange it for a kimono.
Today’s collection of dolls was outstanding. I am reading The Monuments Men, so I have a clue about the challenges Lydia’s maker must have faced, since her career spanned the war and post-war years. I’m glad that some of her work lives on. And no doll is cuter than Zazia — do you think she’ll have a career as a doll-maker?
Yes, Sarah and her sis and mom definitely have more props than i’ve ever seen in doll size.
That sounds like a very interesting book, Marilyn. While looking it up I see it is also a movie. I actually didn’t know Lydia was signed or who the doll maker was until about 15 years ago. I knew she was German because she looked like my Kathe Kruse dolls. I took her shoes off for some reason one day and saw the signature and did some internet research.
The Monuments Men is very interesting — the movie makes a nice introduction, though it’s not terribly accurate. It does show duplicates of some of the stolen art. The MM were responsible for finding art stolen from conquered countries and returning it to its home museums and private owners. One of the men said that one of the most amazing things was that they were also saving German cultural objects with the intention of restoring them to the German people after the war — Hitler wanted art and German infrastructure destroyed so that no one could have it — the Allies saved what they could — winners did not take all.
A separate volume covers Italy.
Where do I begin today? Everything is so wonderful and I’m going to have to return to the pictures again and again because I know I missed a lot of details the first time around.
Susette has the perfect situation for winter sports – a set of stairs. Getting some kind of elevation has been the most challenging part of my winter sports photo shoot. I was wondering if Ivy was as fortunate as Kerri Strug and won her event before totally collapsing in pain. I hope Josefina and Bella did well in their events. Bella looks adorable in her skating costume. Molly is one of my favorites and I totally love her musical patterned dress. I see the girls are all ready to bake up some Valentine treats. And I see the puppy is helping out too. That would be fun to watch. Molly’s two Valentine dresses are beautiful. I’m sure choosing which to wear was difficult. LD Riya in her absolutely beautiful coat and hat blew me away. What a piece of fine workmanship.
Laura your Valentine vignette is the best. The cards and the music box are very special being handed down within the family for so many years. And Lydia is totally precious. The history behind her is amazing and it’s so wonderful she has done so well over the years. Definitely a tribute to your caring family. I love reading the section in “Dolls” magazine where people send in pictures and what info they know about their dolls to find out their history and worth. You are so fortunate to already know about yours.
Marilyn, your Mai is really lovely. Her necklace is perfect. Thanks so much for sharing the link to purchase one. I love her sweater and leggings. Omera is lovely also.
Alina, I hope you are feeling better soon. Usually when I don’t feel well all I do is lie around but you have made the most of your time under the weather. I love your knitting and crocheted outfits. I just bought two knitted sweaters and a dress for my LD Greer Adele the other day. The woman that makes them lives in Russia. I crochet but I don’t knit. There are so many beautiful, knitted items on Etsy but they usually come with some prices I can’t afford. How blessed you are to be able to create beautiful things with yarn yourself. I could never pick a favorite. The picture of your granddaughter is so precious. I love to see little girls playing with dolls. I see you have a couple Paola Reina dolls. I have two and love them.
My winter photo shoot is finally coming along. I’m going to try something today and if it works, I’ll share it. I haven’t a clue one way or the other. Time will tell.
Thank you so much, Barbara! Dolls magazine is really neat. Our library used to get it and I always paged through it whenever I was at JoAnn’s.
Looking forward to your winter photo shoot.
Wow, we certainly have dolls covered between today and yesterday.
Susette, all your dolls are wonderful and I especially like Molly musical note dress and the darling outfit Riya is wearing. How fun that your dolls have joined in the Olympic spirit
Marilyn, your Madeline (Mai) is very pretty and sweet. A new wig really makes such a difference from the stock photos. Perfect necklace for her as well. I’m sure you are enjoying her.
Alina, I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well and pray you are better soon. Your creations are just outstanding! I love the crocheted daisy apron. Just adorable as well as the green top on Kayla. Zuzia is precious. Too cute that Kayla is getting a check-up for a clean bill of health. Looks like you have someone to share the dolly love.
I failed to mention in my original comments that Lydia has Elfriede Herse embossed on the back of her neck as well.
Well, ladies, I know this is supposed to be a doll clothes sewing blog, and while I truly enjoy watching Jeanneās processes for her creations and reading everyoneās suggestions and comments, my favorite days are when Jeanne and all of you graciously share your dolls, your creations, your displays. They just make my heart sing and I canāt thank you all enough. Reading about Lydia and her origins was an extra special treat. I canāt find favoritesā¦each picture is wonderful, and we all could gladly give little Zazia a hug.
Hope Alina and Ivy recover soon.
Jeanne, you asked about our housing situation when we go back East for āFinishing Schoolā. My hubby understands we need to get into a unit that has at least two bedrooms and an officeā¦the largest bedroom will be The Doll Room, bless his heart.
Thanks so much, all of you and have a super weekend.
Thank you so much, Sally! Your East for “Finishing School” comment really made me laugh. You hubby is definitely a keeper to realize you need more room for your dolls than for the two of you to sleep.
Oh my goodness what an array of beautiful dolls!
Suzette that photo of Josefina is so realistic I thought she was in motion! Loved it.šThen the whole stairway of beautiful dollsā¦my goodness how long did it take to dress them all and set them up?! Each and every one look perfect. So fun to see. I really loved the white Irish sweater.
Laura Iām so impressed with the treasures you have from your family. I hope my family will keep some of our families antique itemsā¦although no one seems to think much of anything vintage lately. Lydia is such a special doll and the story of her hair alone is fascinating.
Marilyn those sweet dolls from Mandelorian have a lovely facial expression. Are they a 18ā doll? Are they something new?
Get well soon Alina..Iām yarn challenged so I do appreciate all the pretty things you can create! Most of all the picture of Zuzia is just precious. What a sweet little girl.š„°
Thanks Jeanne for sharing all the pictures for usā¦you are the best!šš»
Happy Valentines Day Everyoneā¤ļøšā¤ļøš„°
I think I wasn’t clear. Both Mai and Omera are re-wigged Corinne dolls from American Girl. Corinne is this year’s Girl of the Year.
On
https://islandshiregazette.weebly.com/
Sarah shows how Corinne’s wardrobe works as part of a mix and match set. If you scroll down, you’ll see an article about Corinne’s eyes and then Corinne in an assortment of wigs. Looking at the wigs, I realized that I’d love a Corinne with all black hair. Sarah kindly re-wigged her for me.