A Sister Visit...

 

More Thanksgiving Leftovers...

I Was able to snag my Sister for a Quick visit just before Thanksgiving, Dear Readers, which I try to do every time she comes North to see her Grandchildren. They live an hour and a half from my home, so it is doable to go get her, bring her to my house for an overnight and take her back the next day. I never know when she will be coming until the last minute... plans change,  so I jump at the opportunity to spend time with her whenever possible! We did a little shopping on the way to my house, buying gifts for the grandchildren. We wrap them together... it makes it so much more fun! On the following morning we have a little time to play with the dollies.... but not until after breakfast. I indulged in a "Bonne Maman's" Advent Calendar this year... a tiny jar of jelly or jam  for each day....! We opened the first one even though it was early... we had "White Nectarine Linden Flower Jelly" on English muffins for breakfast! Oh my! With tea, of course! And then it was time to bring out the little dolls we had started costuming back in the Spring on her last visit...

Here you can see the one I was working on...

These are some of Sandra Morris' little porcelain dolls. 

She has retired and is no longer making them (*sob*!)

but I still have a few that have not been costumed.

Here they both are...  

We had gotten as far as constructing the jackets

 but not the Sleeves. The dreaded sleeves...

They are tiny and have to be hemmed..... 

stitched and turned inside-out.

And then you have to hope that you can get them on.... 

and that they are the right length!

I am sorry to say I didn't take any pictures of the process.

But... Ta-da! 

Here is my dolly with her sleeves on!

For encouragement and Atmosphere,

 we brought Chere Elise in to play for us while we worked.

She was ever so happy to oblige.

And my sister's sleeves are attached!

 

Then we needed to design the lace collars.... 

we are using whatever materials I have in my stash for this project,

as these little dollies were not kits with all the pieces provided!

It took quite a hunt through all my lace boxes

 to find some that had a small enough, 

delicate enough pattern to be usable.

 

 

We settled on one we could just use the edge of...

 cutting off the upper part of the lace. 

Here is "Aria" with her collar added.

And here she is with her hair too!

I managed to scavenge leftover "curls" from previous doll kits...

 we gave them simple all over curls hairstyles.

 

And here is my sister's with collar and curls.... 

she is named "Savannah".

 

 Here they are together!

Aren't they adorable?

Alas, we had run out of time, Dear Readers,

 so we were unable to complete them this visit.

They will wait in the Dollmaker's Studio

 until such a time as we can make their bonnets.

For you can be sure that Every Victorian doll must have a bonnet! 

There was snow in the forecast so I didn't want to be driving late.... 

And rest assured I made it home again before the snow started.

(We did get several very slushy inches....)

So that was my Sister visit, Dear Readers... 

except for the leftovers....

Unfortunately, it was I who really caught covid.

 Probably the Grandchildren had it but just thought it was a "cold".

They are young and no long do the testing.

And I will recover......

Musical Automaton.....

 

 Almost Done....

I have Finally managed to make progress, Dear Readers, on the Musical Automaton Kit that I had to put aside when I hurt my arm a few weeks ago. I had managed to assemble the box and the tiny piano, but the battery pack and speaker which needed to be carefully fitted and firmly attached to the inside of the box required a minimal amount of arm strength. At last I have succeeded in gluing the speaker into the box in the right spot along with the battery pack and made the switch button fit too!

I know, it doesn't look like it should be so difficult....

but the wires are stiff and the button for the switch

 had to reach the hole that was prepared for it....

And it all had to allow the battery box to fit behind it.

The back wall of the box pulls off 

(held with tension by fitting tightly)

so you can access all the works and change the batteries.

It is a neat design and I can tell you, I smile with delight

 when I push the button and a piano tune plays on the speaker!

So all that was left to do was dress the little doll!

Yes, another one of Sandra Morris's little dolls!

By now you know the drill....

 

 She has a "routine" to follow....

And she's really great at standing by herself!

And with her shoes on too!

But these shoes need an extra feature....

The shoes will have tiny magnets to help her stand at the piano.

These tiny things were fidgety to attach!

And then we had to glue the leather soles on too.

Success!

 

And the lace petticoat....

Then things started to get tricky!

I had to sew a pleated silk band to the lace petticoat....

Then a lace ruffle on top of that...

And another pleated layer, this time a pink one...

and believe me, it was not easy to stitch all these

 onto a ruffled lace petticoat!

And that was just the skirt!

And in case you didn't know, Dear Readers,

 this little doll is a Performer... 

and she has to dress for the role! 

She gets sparkly jewelry!

I had to assemble the necklace...

 thread the tiny beads, glue on the crystal....

and I left the earrings for later.

(I didn't want to run the risk of 

knocking them off while fitting the jacket!)

Next came the bodice... just glued in place,

 with some lace trim at the top.

And then it was time to sew the jacket...

 

Here you can see the seams are all stitched and pressed open!

(Yes this did take a long time...)

And here you can see the right side with the trim glued on the edges.

By now it is late again (this is the third day of working on this little one!)

And the next day... 

testing the fit of the jacket...

 and gluing it to the bodice.

And starting the sleeves!

 

 Many careful steps go into the sleeves!

Here you see one is turned right side out,

 and one is just stitched and hemmed

 before turning it right side out.

Here the sleeves have the lace trim added.

There wasn't enough trim left for this, 

so I had to improvise.

I found some lace in my stash

 with a very fine picot edge

 and used that instead.

And here the sleeves are finished and attached!

And the next day... (yes this is now day five!)

The enormous bow gets added to the front of her skirt.

It nearly hides all the pink pleats...

 but just barely shows a flirty edge...

(Those Victorian costumes were elaborate!)

And then I glued the earrings to her ears prior to making the wig.

All the materials for the wig are also part of the kit.

Curls for the brow and then the main head covering are glued on.

Long ringlet curls adorn the back...

As you can see above, 

I have not used up all the ringlet material...

I might add more curls....

But there is also a very fancy bonnet

 to go with this ensemble...

(See the picture on the instruction book in the background!) 

Which I have not yet assembled!

But I hope you will understand, Dear Readers,

 that I am having a enormous amount of fun

 with this little automaton!

(If you can call her that!)

Here she is on the magnetic stand on the box...

 

 (Her name is "Chere Elise")....

 

 

I have placed the box in the Castle Great Hall....

And every time I walk by,

 I have to reach in and push the little button... 

and the piano music pours out into the Great Hall!

And I sit entranced to hear

 such wondrous music filling the Castle!

It is truly quite Enchanting!

 

But the Musical Automaton

 is still not quite Done!