Miette's Crochet Dress & Wig Adjustment

I finished Miette's crochet dress.  I knew I needed to figure out a front panel and a closure. 

I decided to use a contrasting thread:

Then I discovered that I had NO buttons that would work, I had enough white buttons, but they didn't look right, the brown buttons I had, I didn't have 8 of, so when we went to Walmart, I was hopeful, but they didn't have but a few selections and nothing that would even remotely work.  So I looked at the beads, but the wooden ones were too large.  Sigh.  I bought the silver heart beads until I can find a suitable set of buttons.

But a good thing was that Walmart had clear craft glue, so I went ahead and re-did Miette's wig.  I had reduced it from a human size wig, down to a size 8-9 then down to 7-8, then down to Miette's size all by darts and stitches.  I peeled it off (I always glue wigs on) and went into the truck stop restroom and washed it in hot water to remove the glue.

After I removed all the stitches, I selected a row of weft about 2 inches up from the bottom and careful cut between two wefts.  I then basted all around the edge to gather and then glued it to her pate, leaving an edge all around that would then be glued to her head.   Her hair is now much thinner, much easier to brush and it lays nicely in a more realistic way around her.  I put her cap on and a rubber band to hold the hair down while it dried.

I had also just washed my hair, funny, we have nearly the same colour!  Mine is still damp, but dried, it is so close!

We are now heading to Texas, deliver tomorrow and then head to the Yard.  We are not sure, but after a couple of days there, we may be sent to Colorado with a load.  Home time is around the 9th....so maybe, just maybe we will soon be there!

Musing, Miette's Blanket and Hawaii

Can't seem to get far on this blanket for Miette, but I do like it.  The pink should go well with her trunk.

Yesterday I wrote up a very long and detailed post about my feelings and ideas about my companions.  I got really deeply involved and through the writing, I felt a great deal of relief and purpose.  I saved it in my documents, as I am not ready to call it a done deal yet, but somehow, by writing it all out in black and white, I could see some clarity that I really needed to see.  I plan on pulling it up at night when all is dark and quiet and reading it, see if there is any other feelings I need to address and then I will post it here.  What was really cathartic about it, was that I started my asking myself what I really wanted out of having a companion doll and let the whole thing flow from there.  I itemized what works, what does work and so on.

Another thing I really want to do when I get back to the apartment is to sort every single doll item I have, decide what to keep, and assign it to a specific doll as their own item.  I want to create an inventory list, including their clothes so that I can decide on what clothing or item I may want to create or find for them in the future.  Since I can't see everything I have back at the apartment while on the truck, I often feel spaced-out as to what to make, what to look for.  I want these items to be a part of the doll, a part of their personality and suited to their personal style.  I feel I have been too hodge-podge about it for too long, ending up with stuff I have never even used.

I want to revive my companion doll website with each doll, their stats and their personal inventory.  It will be a place I can keep these detailed records and make it easy to find.

In other ideas, I am beginning to think about who will be the one to go to Hawaii with me.  I want to make them a bathing suit and some summer clothes.  My daughter is at the halfway point in her pregnancy, so it won't be long now! 

Recent Finds

A brown human hair wig for Evan.

Shoes for Miette, and a white pair but the photo was too blurry.  If they don't fit her, they will fit the children.

Wig and shoes were VERY inexpensive.  Found at eBay seller:

dashound7

Ice cream for the children.

Pink Poodles for Miette to train in the circus.  They are 4 inches tall, so if they are out of wack in scale, they can go to the children or Olwen.

Ice Cream and Poodles were VERY inexpensive, found at eBay seller:

Variety-Products-Store

Lace Hat for Miette

I made a lace hat for Miette.

I am slowly working on her blanket.  I ripped up the second one, I just didn't like it either.  The one I am making now, I like the best of the three, I am doing an alternating knit two, perle two and instead of ribbing, doing a double seed stitch.  It creates a  softer fabric than the other two I started.  Her wig is driving me crazy, as I really want to re-sew it to a better fit.  I made the wig from a human size human hair wig originally for Evie, so the tuck is huge in the back neck area and while it "looks" ok, I can feel it when I handle her and she can't wear a bonnet properly.  I would cut it down and re-sew it now, except I forgot to bring wig glue.  Sigh.  I also have a few more pieces of the wig at home, so that if I need to add a weft to balance what I remove, I can do it all in one get go.

Dinner at 8

Miette brings a touch of class on the truck.  I must say, she travels well.

More Miette Wardrobe Enhancements

My mood has improved somewhat.  More Miette wardrobe enhancements:

 I think this was a Boneka chemise.  I added butterflies and put pink bows around their necks.  Miette clapped with joy.  She thinks there can never be enough lace and bows.

I had a homemade vintage hat that was a bit too big, so I added lace and gathered the top to make more of a bonnet style hat for Miette.

And the last of the sewing yesterday, I had a wide piece of lace that I made a petticoat for her,  floding over the top edge and threading with a white ribbon to tie in the back.  This was a vintage piece of lace for back in the day that women made slips to wear under dresses.  I believe it is from the 50's or 60's. 

I am still wondering and thinking on my companion situation.  It fluctuates, there are times I am within seconds of a decision to reduce the herd, and other times I feel I shouldn't.  There are times when I feel that the 10 inch ones are the only viable companions for both the truck and the future, but then I think that I have too many 10 inchers!  Sigh.  "Round and 'Round I go, where I'll stop, not even I know.

More thinking needed.

Busy Hands

Yesterday was one of those days that nothing I could do to improve my mood would work.  I was really down and near tears all day.  Everything got to me, the snow (and I normally love snow) the rain, the mud we had to trudge through and just about everything nearly sent me over the edge.  This too, will pass, I kept telling myself.

I busied myself with hand-sewing.  I grabbed Miette's bag of clothes (she has her original dress and two awful dresses, her red knit coat that I hate and a few odd pieces I pulled out of a bag of mixed vintage dolly clothes I bought on eBay awhile back.  I took the dress I had made a long time ago, one that I disliked because it lacked something.  Miette insisted that it needed trims.  Lots of trims.  In fact she kept insisting on adding more and more until I think it looked silly, but it kept my hands busy.  Next I made a hat which turned out nicely and then a fixed up a pair of old drawers for her.  I liked those too.  Now she has something to wear while I fix up her other undies with something frilly.

I also tore up her blanket, which was almost done as I hated the thickness.  I started another one, but don't like that one either.  Grumpiness seems to pervade everything.  It also made me grit my teeth and want just one doll all over again.

The circus thing felt really good and I could imagine all the fun and the possibilities.  I felt it was the best idea I have had when it came to finding a cohesiveness to my companion family.  But then, as I thought about how we will end this american journey, how we will be taking a train to NY and then a ship, what we might carry by hand, what we might ship it seems that eventually I have to take my whole companion doll situation very seriously.  I cannot possibly risk the shipping and I most certainly cannot carry them all AND luggage.  Right back to square ONE.

I know better than to make decisions when my mood is low, but I have to admit the thing I can't seem to resolve is back on the table.  Before I delve into the costuming, I want to think on it some more.

100 Strokes, Please.

I love brushing Miette's hair.  She likes it too.

Yesterday was very stressful.  Husband was having a bad day with the produce loads and even lost his temper a couple of times, which he rarely does, he is so even tempered.  I lose my cool much quicker than he does.  So when he blows his stack, I cannot help but feel protective and I tend to withdraw.  So my day went completely introverted.  I spent it thinking about my companions.

I wrote their names down and played around with free association.  Charlotte and Lizzy were tagged as biddies.  The Old Biddies.  Aloe Vera and Olivia the Pig became tagged as The Pixies.  I smiled at that one.  Olivia a Pixie?  Pixie Pig!  lol.  Of course, the children are always the children.  Frank and Lucy seemed to drift into Frank's Place, as I could see Frank having a lounge and Lucy being a goofy waitress there.  I let my imagination drift into Frank's Place and loved the 1960's atmosphere.  Yes, that seemed to be a wonderful place, dark, quiet, good music in the background, Frank polishing the glassware and shaking up martini's....and Lucy dropping a tray full of drinks in the background.  Miette was a bit harder, I kept coming up with The French Girl, but that didn't bring any clues.  Ever since I changed her wig, I see her as Alice in Wonderland.  I am drifting in that direction with her.  French is all so wonderful, but she seems to have more to her than just a nationality. 

But while everyone was moving into a thought pattern, Evie and Evan completely eluded me.  I thought about a period in time for them, but each era that I imagined them in didn't feel right.  I imagined them as parents of the children....but no, that wasn't it either.  A king and Queen?  A Duke and Duchess?  Actors?  Who were Evie and Evan?  I gave up on my tagging and imagining, went and spent hours looking through the history of clothing.  Nothing.

I went to bed for the night and laid there not really thinking, but drifting in and out of all kinds of gossamer thoughts.  Then something took form.  Something that seemed to have a life of it's own, once it came into view.  There was a way to connect each one of my companions!  Even in all their varying sizes and types, there was always one place that united the odd ones.....THE CIRCUS!!!!!!!!!  The tall and the small, the young and the old....are all a part of an old fashioned circus.  I will drift into this world for awhile.....I wonder if this is what Evie meant by a family?  I feel happy today.  Just maybe, I have a circus family in the making!

Miette's Dress and Hair

I desparately hoped that I would dream of Evie again last night, but it did not happen.  Here I am confessing out to the internet world that I am trying to commune with my doll.  Sigh.  Practically over the edge, I suppose.

I had started a project a while back, creating a history of my dolls and their familiar relationships.  I stopped because at the time I felt it was getting too involved and intense.  I wonder if I should go back to it?  Maybe I was going into the wrong direction with it.  I will toy with it again and see where it takes me.

I adore little Miette.  She has been an anchor for me lately.  Funny that I start a blanket for her because I worried about her being cold, and now we sit in the Arizona desert at 104 degrees!  Oh well.  Chances are we will hit another snowstorm before summer is here.

I mentioned Miette's dress, which is not finished.

The dress is too snug as is, and my plan is to add a front panel in a contrasting colour or make closure straps with buttons so that an underdress would show through.  I am still thinking on it.

The backL

I have had this human hair wig a long time, it has been worn by Evie and Olwen, each time, I stitched tucks to make it smaller, but it is now creating a thick lump in the back of excess wig.  When I am back on home time, I will be cutting it to size to fit Miette perfectly.  In the meantime, I am applying jojoba oil and brushing it daily to condition it.  The colour really suits her and I like the feel of it.  Funny how I hated it on Olwen.

A Strange but Wonderful Dream

I had a dream last night that I was laying in a field and crying.  Evie came through the grass and put her hand on my hand and told me to stop.  Her voice was just a whisper, just a hint, but it was very clear.  I looked at her in the dream and saw that her articulated joints were gone, that her glass eyes were real eyes.  I felt startled, but I was sure it was the tears in my eyes that were blurring the lines.  Evie continued to talk and said that she wanted me to stop worrying.  She said that I felt disconnected because I kept the family separated in my mind.  She said a lot more, but I don't remember the words, but we seemed to be having a picnic in the grass while chatting away, and I was really enjoying her company, feeling like long lost friends who realized that no time had passed at all since the last meeting.  The dream was strong, I could feel the warmth of the sun, the smell of the grass and the very very real presence of Evie.  I hated waking up and realizing it was a dream.  Evie was so present, so close, so real.

I have been wrapped in the memory of the dream all morning.  What did she mean by keeping everyone separated?  She, herself was always rejecting the new arrivals, always wanting everyone to go away.  Now she speaks of a family.  Have my dolls bonded while I have been away?  Are they now a family?  Being an only child, I have a hard time understanding this family thing.  My daughter is expanding her family, even though she is an only child.  Why is this so hard for me?  Too many people in one place make me feel overwhelmed.  Social anxiety I guess.  Too many dolls do the same thing.  So why would Evie think I could accept the idea of a family of companions?

Sigh.  I don't know.  In the meantime, I am trying to keep busy with my hands.  I am knitting Miette a pink cotton blanket.  The pattern is K2, P2, K2 together, YO, repeat.  It's a bit more lacey than it appears in the photo.  I felt bad when I laid her down to sleep and realized that a child's blanket with zoo animals on it was just not her thing.  She looked painfully annoyed, but her good manners kept her tongue in check. 

I finished her nightgown, which I cut out while on home-time and handstitched here on the truck.  I haven't made a complete garment by handstitching in so long.  I think antique style clothes look just fine being hand stitched, while modern clothing needs the clean look of machine stitches.  I really enjoyed sewing by hand and think I will do much more of it here on the truck.  I made a drop sleeve, but since I don;t have an iron, it is puffing up too high because of the stiffness of the lace.  I will wash it when I get home and iron it so that it flows in the direction of the wrist.  One of my bjd shirts used ribbon to gather and close a sleeve at the wrist and I really liked that techinique and will use it more on my dolls, especially since I would like to avoid using elastic on Miette's clothes.  I did use snaps to close the back, because I did not have the right kind of buttons, I will eventually make button holes by hand and add small shell buttons.

Miette is being a wonderful and patient companion as I try to work through my feelings right now.  I am so glad she called my name at that antique shop that day.  All my Victorian yearns rest on her pretty little self.

The New Little Old Girl

A lot has happened since my last entry...I am just now calming down!

On the last day of home-time, I had an urge to go to the Antique Market, partly because I just wanted to "get away" and walk, partly because I had such an urge to look at any antique doll that I could find.  There aren't many in this area, there are a handful in a shop on Academy and a few overpriced ones at the Antique Market.  There is a stall there that I really like, it is all vintage dolls for very reasonable prices.  She had a Chatty Cathy there the last time I went, I wanted to see her again too.

This is my favourite vendor:

 

The Chatty Cathy she had:

 

This one she wanted $65 for:

 

It is an effanbee vinyl head and hand chinahead repro.  She is goofy looking, but I thought she might do well on the truck.  But that is too much for what she is.  I am not interested in collecting, I am interested in play value.

 

  

With her red head resting against the box, I was intrigued, but for some reason did not pull her out to look at her.  She looked to be about 18 inches tall. 

As I mentioned, most of the dolls are all overpriced, not good condition and not really antiques.  It's rare to see something truly old and truly beautiful.  I have fluctuated consistently back and forth about whether or not I want an old doll.  I don't want one that is so delicate and fragile that I would fear playing with her.  I don't want one that is too big, yet all of the cabinet dolls I see are so expensive, even with cheap badly made bodies that they had back then.  These dolls were not expensive in their day! 

I looked high and low and found nothing that really pulled me.  I looked once again at the Chatty Cathy, but she looked so blank.  Mine was dark haired, this one is light, so it didn't click.  As I made my 3rd go around (in case I missed anything, I stopped in a stall that I didn;t think had dolls, in fact, I am not sure why I did, it was the kind that had frilly stuff, not the usual type of stuff that attracts my attention.

 

I found this doll there, she had a broken neck and was only $20:

 

 And she had 3 of these commerically made porcelain dolls for $37 each:

But way back in that tall dark cabinet is where I found little Miette:

  

She looked different from the rest, more refined and with a gentle look.  She didn't have those blank staring eyes.  Her eyes were smaller than the other porcelain dolls she had, the others had cloth bodies.  When I asked to see her, the moment I held her I knew she had a compo jointed body and was thrilled!  She curled up in my hand which is always a weakness of mine.  I was instantly smitten with her.  Then I saw the price tag and gulped.  $175.  Nope, I couldn't have her.  Not after the $200 I spent on Zoeline and Pandora.  Not after getting Olwen for my birthday.   I put her back and went to the other Antique shop, didn't see anything under $300 and then to Tuesday Morning and looked at the Gotz doll I have wanted for a long time, but even she didn't pull me anymore.  I was hooked on Miette.

When I got back to my parents house I told my mother that I wanted her, that I was going to try and sell two other dolls to make up the price, I figured if I could make up any of the cost, my husband might consider the expense.  He over heard me when he came up for dinner, and asked me about it.  During dinner he said..GO GET HER!  I rushed out the door as soon as dinner was over with and had only 1 hour to get into town and grab her before they closed.  I made it by 15 minutes!  This time I brought my camera and rushed to get the pictures I have with this entry.

I held her all the way home.  I liked how she felt in my hand.  I liked how heavy she was.  I liked her sweet looks, her charm.  I saw that the embroidery on her dress was the monogram M....she said her name was Miette.  Sigh.  Lovely name.  Sounds like mini-me.  And what was the first comment my husband made?  She looks like you.  lol

This entry is long enough, I will try and get all the rest entered tomorrow.