I love learning about all the historical info that comes from searching in doll books.
If you want to learn and grow in doll making , it is important to have these books
I am a dollmaker / doll artist, As I continue to make my dolls , I feel I'm beginning to under stand a bit more of the Why's.. How Comes,.They way yesteryear doll makers did things!
.. A lot of dollmakers influence my work through online groups and BOOKS... It seems my dolls are always changing, Which is a good thing
The above picture is a rare doll called "Presbyterian Dolls"
According to Linda Edward:
(Cloth Dolls From Ancient to Modern A Collectors by Linda Edward)
According to Linda Edward: Description:
The First Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus, Ohio, started making rag dolls in 1885 as a fund raiser. These Dolls measure about 17 inches and have hand painted faces. Their bodies are made of unbleched muslin which is stuffed with cotton and they are jointed at the hips and shoulders. The mitten shaped hands have fingers indicated by stitching. Their feet are stub shaped. The dolsl and their original clothing, consisting of an ankle length dress and prarie bonnet, are all hand sewn.
HOW THESE BEAUTIFUL RAG DOLLS JOURNEY BEGAN By: Sherrie Nordgren
The Bucyrus, Ohio, Presbyterian Church needed funds for a major project back in the 1880s - or maybe earlier, I can't be positive about the date, - Every one decided to make rag dolls for sale. These church dolls are very similar to the Moravian dolls in structure and technique,
They came to be know as "Presbyterian Dolls," oh they have such sweet faces, and clothing!They were very popular, and the Ladies Church Society of the First Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus, Ohio sold a lot of them.
But the church stopped making them for a very long time. But then, in the 1960's, the church needed funds again and they decided to bring back this wonderful rag doll, Today it is highly sought after by collectors, These dolls are part of the church's history. to read
even more indepth about them go to
I hope you enjoyed this little in put!
Sherrie
2 comments:
I wanted to learn more about the presbyterian doll and followed the link to firstpresbucyrus.org but there is nothing about the doll there. Is there another place?
Hello S
I had posted another goodie about the presbyterian doll
http://sympletymes.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
I wanted to let you all know about the Vintage Cloth doll making a yahoo group is having a really awesome challenge actually two
options challenge..I have decided to do the Presbyterian cloth doll challenge..It is really a fabulous pattern created by Lucinda C.
Durbin (Cinders)
I hope you all will think about joining too..This is a incredible group of doll makers,,Warm friendly always right there to help in any
way..This group has been around 10 years I know of..I feel like their all family..
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VintageClothdollmaking/
here is the info on both challenges......
Our current group challenge has TWO options!
First Option: To recreate a historic Presbyterian cloth doll using a pattern created by Lucinda Durbin. (Lucinda used her original
Presbyterian cloth doll in creating the pattern!!)
According to Linda Edward, on page 28 of her book Cloth Dolls From ancient to Modern - "The First Presbyterian Church of
Bucyrus, Ohio, started making rag dolls in 1885 as a fund raiser. These dolls measure about 17 inches (43 cm) and have hand
painted faces. Their bodies are made of unbleached muslin which is stuffed with cotton and they are jointed at the hips and
shoulders. The mitten shaped hands have fingers indicated by stitching. Their feet are stub shaped. The dolls and their original
clothing, consisting of an ankle length dress and prairie bonnet, are all hand sewn.
In 1956 the church again made these dolls using the original patterns, however, the differences in the finishing and fabrics make
them readily discernible from the older version. The hands of these latter dolls do not have the fingers stitched and the oil paint
used for the face and hands is very heavily applied. The fabric used for the clothing is also easily identified as being from the
1950's."
You will find the pattern and pictures of Cinders' doll in our files:
You may also want to refer to her photo album for some progress pictures of her own Prysbella coming to life!
Second Option: To create a molded face doll-could be a Kaethe Kruse,Helen Pringle, Izannah walker , or Lenci type.
If you choose this option, be SURE your outer layer of the molded head is cloth, to qualify.
Linda Edwards gives quite an extensive presentation in her book about Lenci dolls, starting on page 86.
Her Izannah Walker discussion starts on page 21.
The Kathe Kruse presentation starts on page 34.
DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION: APRIL 5, 2009!!!
Be sure to post progress pictures of your dolls while you're working on them. Share your tips/thoughts on construction techniques
you've used. We all need to learn from each other along the way!
Have your pictures placed in the challenge folders by midnight April 5, 2009 to qualify
I'm excited to see what you all come up with for this challenge! MaryColgan
Post a Comment