The Grace O'Malley Doll: Crafting a Medieval Heroine

As a custom doll maker, I get many requests, people like to explore what is possible. I am usually excited to take new custom challenges, and only occasionally have declined a challenge. Several because it was not physically possible for me to create that doll and once because the request was for a clown doll. Just not my thing.

I am especially excited when I get to create an historical figure or a female heroine or protagonist.

Grace O'Malley may have been intimidating in person, but to create the doll version of Grace was pure joy.

The request came from a girl in England who had first learned of Grace in the book Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. The book contains 100 short stories and illustrations of 100 extraordinary women and girls.

Grace O'Malley, the doll

Grace was born in Ireland in 1530. Her father Owen O'Malley was a sea captain from a family of sea captains, all male.  Grace traveled on long voyages with her father. She longed to also be a captain, but was told by her father girls cannot be sailors and that her long hair would get tangled in the rigging.

So she cut off her long hair and dressed in boy's clothing to prove to her family could handle the sea life. She spent many years learning the ways of the sea and grew to be an accomplished sailor and eventually having her own fleet of ships. Upon her father's death, she inherited the family shipping business.

Although this alone was unusual for a medieval woman, this is not how Grace made it into the book. Grace fought many battles to protect her family from pirates and her native Ireland from England. At 56, Grace was captured by Sir Richard Bingham, an English Naval Commander. She narrowly escaped a death sentence.

Six years later, she convinced Queen Elizabeth I to free her brother and son. She died at 72 of natural causes (considered quite the long life in 1600).

I styled my Grace after the Grace in the Rebel Girls book. I loved the book and the illustration. I loved creating her medieval gown, cloak, boots, scarf and underwear. 

I am now eager to try another heroine from history. Any ideas?

Zamora Moon, Sad News

Last Sunday, we lost an amazing little girl far too soon. 

Those of you who have followed my blog over the last two years, surely remember Zamora Moon. I wrote about Zamora's treatments here and the Zamora Moon bag created for her doll, named Forget, traveling with her to those treatments here.

In 2015, when Zamora was 7 she was diagnosed with pediatric brainstem glioma, also known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. DIPG is a rare and aggressive brain cancer that affects the central nervous system. She was given a few months to live. 

Her Mother Marisa refused to accept this and devoted herself to curing Zamora, She traveled the world with Zamora, to Germany, Bristol and London, England for treatments. There were steps forward, backwards and sideways. A fight against a brain disease is not just a battle against the disease (in this case DIPG) but a battle to regain the abilities both the disease and its treatments can steal. Zamora had to relearn to walk, talk and eat, more than once.

But despite Zamora's and Marisa's heroic efforts, the cancer was unrelenting and avaricious in its claim on a little girl. She will be missed by many and my thoughts and prayers are with her wonderful mother and little sister.

Doll Dressmaking Series: Capris

You've been asking for awhile and I'm happy to say, finally, I have patterns and a tutorial for capris. And if you can make capris, pants and shorts or an easy tweak.

Cut out two of the pattern piece. For the 18 inch dolls the pattern piece will need to go on the fold and you will still need two.

Next sew the front center seam. The front and the back center seams are the same so either side will work. 

Next, you will need to make a tunnel/casing for the elastic along the waist edge. fold 1/4 inch or less over and hem. Then fold down a little more than 1/2 inch. if you are using elastic wider than 1/2 inch, fold over a little more.

Creating a tunnel or casing for the elastic.

Cut a piece of elastic approximately as long as the top edge of the pants. You will need something to thread the elastic through the casing. Below are three tools I like. More about threading elastic, including more about these tools here in my puffy sleeves tutorial.

Tools for threading elastic.

Once secured on one end, the elastic will need to be pulled to be approximately the width of your dolls waist.

Threading elastic.

Thread and secure the elastic as described in the puffy sleeve tutorial.

Center back seam.

Sew the center back seam. This seam should add security to catching the elastic on each end.

Hemming the leg bottom edge

Hem the bottom edge of each leg. 

Leg inseam

Next sew the leg inseam. Start at the bottom of one leg, go straight up to the center seams, pivot around with your sewing machine needle down and sew down the other leg.

Your capris are done. However, I always add a tag to cover up the back seam with the elastic poking out.

The capris pattern will be available shortly through my newsletter. If you are not already signed up for my newsletter, you can right here.

Introducing ExtraSmall Baby Egg

I am excited to introduce the newest member of the Phoebe&Egg, ExtraSmall Baby Egg. She is 11 inches tall and easy to hold in the palm of your hand. 

And of course, she comes with an array of ExtraSmall sweet little baby clothes. Rompers, bloomers, onesies, diapers and overalls. And she comes wrapped in a blanket. 

I have the first three for sale in my Etsy shop today. You can find them here. 

Tomorrow—a few of the little baby clothes.

Historic Collection 2: Phoebe goes to 1860

Thanks to the beautiful illustrations in Little House on the Prairie and the popular book and movie Little Women, many of us are already familiar with girls' clothing of the late 19th century.  

The clothing is beautiful and how the clothing styles are interwoven with this period of history is interesting. Changing ideas about childhood, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the sewing machine were all influences.

Children’s clothing in the mid- and late-19th century often mirrored adult clothing. For girls, especially in the middle and upper classes, this meant undergarments like crinolines (like tu-tus) corsets, and hoops or extra full skirts to train them for hoops.

However, during the 19th century, the idea of “childhood” was changing. Instead of being seen and treated as miniature adults, children were beginning to be seen as *children* with their own developmental needs, and their clothing was becoming less restrictive. While still much less comfortable than today’s clothing, small changes were made throughout the 19th century to make clothes for both girls and boys easier to play and be active.  

ExtraSmall Phoebe wears a prairie dress made from Little House on the Prairie fabric.

Fabrics used during the second half of the 19th century were all natural - mainly cotton and wool, silk, leather and other animal hides. This was also the time that denim gained popularity in the United States, as it was a highly durable fabric for pioneers and workers to wear. 

Changes in clothing manufacturing that impacted clothing styles

Industrial Revolution

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, manufacture of many products, notably textiles, moved from the home (cottage industry) to factories. The first cotton mill in the United States was build in New England near the end of the 18th century, with techniques brought over from England. After that, cotton could be weaved into cloth very quickly and very cheaply. This allowed average people to afford more and access to quality textiles became easier. 

Civil War

Similar to the 1940s, scarcity inspired creative uses of materials. During the Civil War, cotton production virtually halted in the South. This had repercussions throughout the United States. Southern farmers no longer had income from one of their top crops, and Northern factories did not have the supply of raw material to weave into cloth. During this period, people had to be creative and thrifty when it came to clothing. Families would reuse household items to make new clothing: cotton mattress stuffing was homespun into a fabric, unraveled wool blankets into socks, and leather hats into shoes. Women would turn their gowns inside out and wear them as new, the protected inside fabric looking fresh. 

Invention of Sewing Machine

A few notable inventions in the middle of the 19th century made it much easier to make clothing at home. In 1846, Elias Howe invented the first sewing machine, powered by hand crank. In the 1850s, Isaac Singer improved the design by adding a foot treadle to power the machine. 

In 1859, Madame Demorest started selling the first paper dress patterns in New England, and in 1863 Ebenezer Butterick did the same in England, including to Queen Victoria. Before paper patterns, people often used old, disassembled clothes as patterns for new garments. 

Victorian clothing for both Regular Phoebe and ExtraSmall Phoebe will start appearing in my Etsy shop over the course of this week, starting March 26.

Next post: A bit about style and class in the 1860s. Also coming soon, a pants pattern. Yes, really.

The Pink Hat Tutorial

Although I'd like this to be a tutorial that could teach people how to knit, it is not. Learning to knit for the first time requires a grandmother, sister, mom, dad or in-person class. But if you already know some basics, like how to knit and how to purl, this is for you.

Read through the directions entirely first. If you are a beginner, I am hoping after you make this hat you will have added a few knitting skills.

Also, I can't take credit for the design of this hat. I have merely miniaturized the popular design by Kat Coyle on Ravelry. You can read a bit about her design here.

What you'll need:

• A small skein of worsted weight yarn, I used Malabrigo Worsted in Cactus flower, but there are many great worsted yarns, such as Cascade 220

• Knitting needles, I used size 5, but more on that later.
• A yarn darning needle, such as a chibi darning needle

A Bit about Gauge

Before following a knitting pattern it is important to make sure you are knitting at the correct gauge. Gauge is how many stitches you are knitting per inch. Changing your needle size will change the gauge. If you are knitting a sweater you would knit a sample swatch before and see if you are knitting the correct number of stitches per inch. But this little hat is the size of a swatch, so I think you can figure it out as you go along. Without a gauge check you can be knitting in the same size needles and yarn as me but your hat could come out larger or smaller, depending on whether you knit tighter or looser than me. My gauge was 5 stitches to an inch when knitting stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row).

If you are knitting for ExtraSmall Phoebe your hat will be approximately 4.5 inches wide per side and 5.25 inches before folded in half and sewn. Regular sized Phoebe's hat is 6.5 inches wide and 8 inches before being folded.

Casting On

For ExtraSmall Phoebe's hat cast on 26 stitches. For Regular Phoebe cast on 42. I sue a long tail cast on because it is very stretchy. Very Pink does wonderful YouTube knitting tutorials and her Long Tail Cast on is no exception. It makes it so easy, you will always use it. And since it is such a sturdy stretchy cast on, why not?

I have left a tail of about 5-7 inches after casting on (see photo below). I will use this to sew up this side of the hat.

Next is the ribbing.:

For ExtraSmall Phoebe:

Knit3, Purl 2, knit 2 until the last three stitches, purl 3. For six rows.

For Regular Phoebe:

Knit3, Purl 2, knit 2 until the last three stitches, purl 3. For ten rows.

This differs a little bit from basic ribbing (k2,p2) because I've allowed included an extra stitch on each side for the seam.

Ribbing

Now you switch to stockinette stitch. Stockinette stitch is knit one row and purl one row. It creates the smooth surface that is the top half of the hat. 

Start with a knit row. Second row will be purl.

For ExtraSmall Phoebe knit stockinette stitch for 3.75 inches (excluding the ribbibng).

For Regular Phoebe knit 4.5 inches of stockinette.

Body of the hat

Now for the second bit of ribbing. It is important to start this on what would be a knit row. If you do this your tail after casting off will be on the opposite side of the first one and you can use it for sewing up the other side.

For ExtraSmall Phoebe:

Purl3, knit 2, purl 2 until the last three stitches, knit 3. For six rows.

For Regular Phoebe:

Purl3, knit 2, purl 2 until the last three stitches, knit 3. For ten rows.

Time to bind off. Again, if you are uncertain about binding off, again, I will refer you to my favorite knitting teacher Very Pink.

I bind off in pattern, which means I continue the ribbing pattern as I am binding off.

Seaming

Each hat gets folded in half (wrong sides together) and the side seams are sewn up by mattress stitch. Although there a better ways to learn mattress stitch than from me (Very Pink again), I will offer one trick I use for keeping a seam straight and even.

I use a bit of smooth cotton yarn out of a contrasting color. You want cotton because this will be a used s a guide, but you will want to pull the cotton yarn put afterwards and smooth cotton pulls out easier, because it doesn't have the grit or scales that wool does.

When you are seaming in mattress stitch you are essentially weaving through the "bar" stitch, which is between two stitches, on each side of the two pieces you are seaming together. It sometimes gets tricky to stay between the same two stitches as you move up the seam. 

I thread a piece of white cotton yarn through these bars ahead of time, so I can see the gulley I am following up better. See photos below.

Folded hat ready for seaming, remember wrong sides together

Remember when seaming with mattress stitch, it is wrong sides together.The just use the tails already hanging off your hat to seam up each side. 

Your doll has a hat. In later posts, i'll show you how this pattern can be switched up a bit. It is a fun pattern to tweak.

The Diary of a Doll

When Eva received Anne Frank, she was wearing her only set of clothes, a 1940s style jumper, a blouse with a Peter Pan collar, and a cardigan made from very classic British wool. I had a feeling Anne would be changing out of this soon.

While Eva waited for Anne, she started sewing for her. She used the tutorials and the patterns from my Doll Dressmaking Series and really went to work.  The clothes are lovely, clever and Eva's skills by the end are quite impressive. below you will find some of Eva's tips (which I LOVE).

Anne getting dressed.

Anne, looking so beautiful

Anne looking very classic.

Eva's sewing tips:

*Read all the pattern instructions before starting

*Put the iron on lower than you think is needed ( I've burned quite a few dresses myself)

*I would start with the peasant dress or the reversible dress from the doll dressmaking series

*It's a good idea to have the doll before you get started, so that if you need to take something up or down you know how much to do so.

*Keep trying, my first dresses had lots of problems, don't let it get to you.

So elegant. 

More classic.

Anne's wardrobe

Thank you Eva, this is so inspiring! The original story of Eva and Anne can be found here.

The Diary of Two Girls: Anne Frank, The Girl and The Doll

A few years ago, I received an email from Eva Bloom, a ten-year-old girl, telling me she loved my dolls and was hoping to get one for Christmas. I was melted by the email and wanted very much for her to get one for Xmas too.  However, when I scanned the purchases of the three months leading up to the holiday, I was fairly certain her parents were not on there.

Three years later, I received an email from the now 13-year-old Eva, asking if I could make a custom doll, an Anne Frank doll, and how much would it cost. Eva wanted to start saving. 

Eva did not need to save. I wanted nothing more than to make an Anne Frank doll. My oldest daughter had also been obsessed with Anne Frank's story and other similar stories. She had devoured so many young adult books on the Holocaust, that we went to the Holocaust Museum bookstore in Washington DC to find more books. 

Eva explained her fascination with Anne, "I found interest in Anne Frank while I was reading her book.  With a diary like hers, I could really see what it was like during the Holocaust for a girl in hiding.  It stuck with me because I felt she was similar to me, when reading her book I felt transported into her everyday life.  I read the book one year ago and the play two months ago.  I also read two unabridged versions and watched the movie.  I would strongly recommend her diary."

Diary of a young girl and a custom doll

Anne's clothes fit perfectly within the 1940s clothing set I was designing last November. Read more about the collection here and here.  

And what could be more sentimental than designing an Anne Frank doll? She was a beautiful girl with an amazing spirit.

Anne Frank, the doll

As I was designing and making Anne, nearly two thousands miles away in a small town in North Dakota, Eva, was working on her sewing skills and Anne Frank's wardrobe. Eva used the patterns and tutorials from my website to create Anne's wardrobe.

"I learned how to stitch when I was three years old, but I think I was seven before I started sewing things together. My mom, grandmas from both sides of the family, and our good friend Sara Malles were the ones who taught me.

"However, Lisa Is the one who got me to sew more than ever before.  Her patterns really got me going.  I have been sewing for Anne Frank about 4 months now.  I have so many dresses I'm not sure what to do with them all!" In my next post I will have some of Eva's tips for sewing doll clothes and lots of pictures of her amazing clothes.

Anne Frank arrived in time for Christmas. And Eva's father captured the moment(s) beautifully.

Next post, Anne's beautiful clothes and doll clothes sewing tips from Eva.

The gift and the card

Doll Dressmaking Series: Snaps and Velcro

I have heard from lots of you about your adventures in doll dressmaking. I am so amazed at the dresses people have made, thank you for sharing.

One question I am frequently asked is what type of fastening do I recommend for the backs of the dresses. My answer is multi-faceted. Both closures have pros and cons.

For Regular Phoebe and ExtraSmall Phoebe I use snaps. I love the aesthetics of snaps, but also velcro will grab and damage yarn and Phoebe has yarn hair. 

For My First Phoebe, which is a linen doll, with linen hair, I use velcro. Velcro won't damage linen hair and it is easier for little hands to manipulate. I also don't like to use little things like buttons or snaps on a doll designed for a toddler.

Snaps take more time to sew on. Here's how I do it. 

The snap has two parts, so first make sure the smaller side, the male side has the prong facing up. It usually is the top of the snap. The other side, which is larger, is the female side and has the hole facing up. The smaller prong should always be the exposed side and so should the larger hole. This way they can snap together. If you have it the other way around, they won't snap.

I use perle cotton thread size 8 to sew my snaps on. I find that it is neater, stronger and looks a bit prettier. It might be easier too. Tie a knot and do not double the thread.

I then do two or three loops through each of the four holes of the snap. Knot your thread on the last loop.

At first snaps take patience, but after you've done a few they should take a lot less time.

Velcro does not take patience. It is quick. I usually cut strips of velcro in half, so that the velcro strips are only 1/2 inch wide. Velcro has a lot of stick so you do not necessarily need wide swaths of velcro.

Velcro is best if you sew it on by making a rectangle, sewing around all four of the edges of velcro. This gives a sturdy attachment that can withstand lots of pulling.

A number of people have asked how do you handle velcro or snaps on the reversible dress. Just attach as you normally would and flip the dress inside out. You'll see your snaps and velcro still work even when it is flipped.

Hope this has helped!

Sarah and Phoebe

Above is a gang of Phoebe and Ging dolls taking the train into Boston with my husband. They were on their way to the Shriners (Burns) Hospital for Children. Shriners is the world’s preeminent hospitals in the treatment of children with severe burn injuries.

The dolls went to Shriners about three weeks ago. Since then the dolls have met some amazing children. One of them is Sarah.

Here is Phoebe with Sarah Bosch. The Bosch family adopted Sarah knowing that she would need extensive treatment for her burns when she arrived in the United States. They started the process of piecing together Sarah's medical plan soon after their referral and before traveling to China to bring her home. Their research led them to The Shriners Hospital for Children at Mass General.  

Sarah and Phoebe

Sarah flying with her Dad

Since arriving in the United States, Sarah has had several lengthy visits to the Boston Shriners Hospital (her family is from Washington DC) and has endured multiple surgeries and complex recoveries. But Sarah is doing well. She has an amazing family, medical care and an amazing attitude as you can see from her photos.

Phoebe feels very privileged to have found Sarah and is hoping they will both soon be home. You can read more about Sarah's journey here.

You can follow Sarah's journey on FB here.

Looks like Phoebe has good medical care too!