#holz masse doll

[small-stitchery]

Maude - The Summer Promenade Bustle Dress & Hat!

Just realised I never posted pictures of Maude’s finished gown - I promise she hasn’t been standing around in her underwear all winter, poor thing!

I made her this dress back in July 2020, which explains the light, crisp feel to this particular dress. The powder blue polka dot print just matched perfectly with her eyes! I couldn’t help but think of Victorian seaside promenade dresses for Maude so she could walk along an old-fashioned pier with a parasol in tow...

This extant gown from the 1870s looks a little similar, although it’s a sheer striped fabric rather than my polka dot craft cotton.  fat quarters are great for smaller dolls!

This was the first gown from the Gildebrief pattern set I  got from the magazine.  I’d already built my confidence up with the underwear, so I was happy enough making the skirt. The overskirt I drafted myself. And I’d worked out how to make tiny little handstitched buttonholes on the pantalettes and skirt, so I was confident enough to add working buttons on the front! 

I had a LOT of fun finding the trimmings for Maude. The white glass buttons are vintage and made of Czech glass - and tiny enough to have maybe come from a pair of early 1900s button boots! I’d already found some lovely vintage lace for making Maude’s underthings, so i had some on hand to trim her sleeves and make her little lace mittens.

(full disclosure - those are just simple tubes of lace, but they look great when fitted on her little wax hands!)

The blue ribbon is vintage rayon bias binding, It has the fluttery look/feel of silk in miniature for dolls though, so it’s great for trimming and dress ribbons.

Weirdly enough, I’m proudest of the accessories more than the dress, because I wasn’t sure how well they’d work.

The pearl necklace was just some pearl beads threaded onto embroidery floss, with some tiny blue ribbon sewn on for ties.  

The hat was basically me McGyvering my way through doll hatmaking! For the base, I used one of those sinamay little domes craft shops stock for people who make fascinators. You know, these:

They’re super cheap - about £2 here - and they’re a GREAT base for doll hats. They’d even work just on their own for a Felicity 18th century hat! (not tried that yet, but...give me time)

I trimmed it down to size, and covered the base with some dotted swiss cotton and bias binding, before trimming it with some dress fabric scraps and what was left of the blue rayon. It ties just under her Gibson Girl hairstyle. I was so pleased with it! Hats are approx 10 times trickier than sewing for me, because of how stiff the materials are. 

Maude definitely enjoys her seaside finery, but she’s been getting a little impatient at not having new clothes since July. I’d better hurry up and make her a winter gown and cloak some time...

#maude #holz masse doll #antique doll #antique wax doll #dollblr #doll sewing #sewing for dolls #doll gown #antique doll pattern #1870s doll #1870s fashion #19th century fashion #victorian doll #small-stitchery projects

[small-stitchery]

Maude: Undergarments and a Warm Petticoat...

Because Maude might be a little late Victorian doll , but she apparently doesn’t mind modelling her underwear on the internet for strangers. She even looks quite coy in that upper middle picture...

I’d made pantalettes for dolls before, so they weren’t difficult - even easier than normal due to the fact that Maude’s are 1880s, and therefore open split drawers! (ie, no crotch seam) 

They fasten with a discreet little button at the back (tiny handsewn buttonholes are no joke, let me tell you!) In fact, the whole project was a great learning curve for handsewn miniature buttonholes!

The chemise does up via two hidden shell buttons on the shoulders, which gives a really nice silhouette. Add a little blue ribbon through the insert lace trim, and the whole think looks beautifully period-accurate. 

I also made a winter ‘underpetticoat’ out of brushed cotton, with a pre pleated cotton trim at the hem. The original pattern calls for cotton flannel, but as I didn’t have any of that on hand, I made do - and I think it works even better! I’d have been worried flannel might have been too bulky.

The final petticoat had a fuller skirt, and I really went to town for Maude’s ‘fine’ petticoat by using embroidered cotton lawn . I’d used this as a ruffle on an 18th century nightgown I made here over on my main blog, so it was super nice to get to use the remnants for some miniature finery too! ( it helps me not feel too wasteful with my scraps if the dolls get something too)

 Maude now has a complete set of undergarments. All she needs now is an actual gown...

#antique wax doll #holz masse doll #1875 #victorian wax doll #doll dressmaking #victorian fashion #1880s fashion #gildebrief magazine #doll patterns #my sewing #my dolls #my doll dressmaking #victorian petticoats #foundation garments #small stitchery patroness #squeaker doll #cuno otto dressel doll

[small-stitchery]

Roll Call! Introducing Maude, an 1875 Holz-Masse Wax Doll

This is the second antique I could actually afford at a reasonable price! Weirdly enough, she’s a US buy. The UK doll market on Ebay doesn’t have antique wax dolls that are my budget - but the USA has a fantastic range of dolls compared to England, with very reasonable shipping (considering A: antique doll, and B: WAX antique doll) 

Not going to lie though, I was really nervous something horrible might happen to her in transit! But no, she arrived safe and sound, and was perfectly lovely - her glass paperweight eyes are a wonderful blue-grey shade, and I think her fair-haired wig may be real human hair! I’ve named her Maude, because something about her struck me as being a ‘Maude’. Maybe it’s how calm and inquisitive she looks. 

Maude is a Cuno & Otto Dressel doll, produced under the Holz-Masse stamp, which you can see on her damaged left leg below! She arrived with a label stating she is from around 1892, which she certainly looks from her wonderful Gibson girl hairstyle! But her dress style looks a little earlier, like an 1880s wrapper, or house-dress, so her actual age is something of a mystery.

The first thing I did for Maude was get her some much-needed TLC and repair. As you can see, when she arrived she had a sagging, damaged right leg that was leaking cork-meal, and the left leg wasn’t much better. I decided this was something for the professionals, so rather than trying anything amateur that might further damage her further, I sent her down to London to be carefully repaired by an expert in wax doll repair. who did a wonderful job - she reinforced the damaged original material with a strong backing muslin they use in museums for delicate fabrics, making Maude much more durable.

The repair process was almost like an archaeological dig - we found lots of fascinating things out about Maude during the process. The restorer discovered a very early squeaker inside Maude’s torso which puts her at an earlier date than 1892 and closer to 1875, which she even managed to get working again before returning her to me! I couldn’t be happier with her wonderful repairs.

She is small but manageable to sew for at 14 inches. and she is also the perfect size for Victorian fashion doll fashions to fit, which is such a bonus for me - Maude can now be the proud owner of some bustle gowns. I can’t wait to get started making for her!

#victorian wax doll #small stitchery patroness #holz masse doll #1875 #antique wax doll #squeaker doll #cuno otto dressel doll #my dolls #doll dressmaking #my sewing #antique doll #dollblr