I
know I am behind, but was looking for a good idea for a covered
wagon, that would also be kid friendly to make with my grandson who is
6. Check
out this site.. I am going to round up everything, and improvise where
needed..
We will make one today.. That is if everything goes as planned..Now to
get
busy..Will check in with my chapter 2 input in a little while..
Link below to covered
wagon.. Has anyone else made one?
http://www.looledo.com/index.php/milk-carton-covered-wagon.html
Tina,
I don't think your behind. We have only begun the 2nd chapter
and I for one have not started my covered wagon.
The
wagon is
really cool.It looked easy, but I know if I tried to make one it would
be
lop-sided
or
something. Hope someone makes one and sends pictures.I am going
to read
the
second and third chapters again today, I know I have forgot
something.
The
second chapter is short and it is about the first night out.
They really are more like camping out than going pioneering this first
night.
One paragraph in particular mentions that the cook Eliza is making
dinner in
the palace car just like home. They all had a great time around the
bonfire!
The family is still trying to get grandma to stay behind, but again she
refuses
to budge from the pioneering group.
The third chapter is where the trip really begins. They experienced the
rain
and driving through the muddy roads. Dolly was with Patty all the time
while
the other dolls were packed away. The twosome visited the Donner girls
to play
"dolls". The chapter ends with a skeeter attack where Patty tells
Dolly that she is lucky her face is wood so she can't be bit. ha ha
I am enjoying rereading this story with you all!Happy pioneering!
I
know--if only they knew it wasn't going to be all that
easy! I can't imagine when it got rainy and nasty, trying to
still forge
ahead in the mud and mosquitoes!
I
just have a
quick minute.. I have been gathering things to work on my covered
wagon, and
also wanted to get on and see about the chatter about the chapters just
read.
I
enjoyed
reading the first 3 chapters, and with playing catchup, I just want to
say, so
far, as mentioned, it doesn't seem so awlful bad.. But with knowing
about this
story beyond this book.. I am hoping it doesn't get too bad from
Dolly's eyes. I
was amazed also, with that the wagons were in a circle and then men
slept in
the middle of the wagons.. Hum.. Wonder if they would be facing out
under the
wagons or not? Saftey says someone needed to be on the outter parts..
Okay,
gotta get up and get busy.. I will try to get back in after while..
Since
the trip began in April the weather and the spring day may
have been like today....
I had fun creating some items for the activities our mods came up with!
If you
would like to see my Patty Reed doll - "Dolly" with her shawl on and
with her pillows or with her sunbonnet on click here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hittygirls/photos/album/1775130138/pic/list
Tammie,
She is
adorable.. Love everything. I am in a rush still, but will definitely
have to
go back and drool over the photos again.Thanks for sharing her and her
things.
The
wagons are not long out of Springfield when they halt They set
up camp and several people from the city visit them. The whole scene is
like a
big church picnic. It really doesn't appear that they really understand
how
hard this trip will be. Of course we the readers have the benefit of
hind
sight.
Pauline--you
hit the nail on the head! It IS like a giant
Church picnic! sharing and playing, kids running around--!
I
felt for poor Patty when They were attacked by those Mosketters.
When
I read about the clothespin Dollie challenge I just couldn't
wait. I've finished my first one - her picture is in the Patty Reed
folder. I
cheated and kept her legs all one piece because a little doll stands
better
that way. Her arms are jointed "properly" at the elbows, but I've
used elastic on the shoulders and hips and as "pegs" on the elbows
because it's more forgiving at that scale than little pegs would be. I
also
cheated a bit by extending her torso so her hips would be in the right
place.
Those clothespins are a little short in the crotch!She has not gotten
any
clothing yet, poor thing. Fortunately, modesty is no part of her
constitution. Cheers!
Oh
my, TC - she's wonderful, though I would expect
nothing less from you. She looks very happy, and I really love
her little
boots. So I guess I should just stop what I was doing on a
clothespin
here (LOL). I'll NEVER live up to that. Wow. It's
great to
have people like you so that I have role models, even if I can
never live
up to your abilities. At least it's something to strive
for. Thanks
for sharing her.
Happy,
she's so simple! Just make a button nose and sand the rest
down. I almost didn't make lips because the mouths are generally just
painted
onto those peg woodens... but I'm such a bad painter that I had to
resort to
the knife. She's not really supposed to have ears, either. On the
original the
hair covers the ears.I found the hardest thing was doing the hands that
way. I
really like them, though. They're simple but sturdy and quite graceful
compared
to the little spades my former clothespin dolls had to suffer.Thanks
for being
so complimentary but the BEST fun is seeing everyone's interpretation.
I can't
wait to see what everyone else will do.
Well
she is the cutest little thing, and obviously delighted to
kick up her pretty blue heels. Is that all one clothespeg?
Looking at a
face like hers would certainly be very encouraging during hard times.
The
body and legs are from one clothespin. I had to use a small
dowel for the arms. There's just not enough wood on a single clothes
peg to
make the entire doll. Even the legs are a bit skinny, in my opinion.
TC,
your clothespin dollie is a beauty! Thanks for sharing
her photo. That type of jointing at the elbows in that size is
definitely
a challenge
TC,
your doll is just darling! I must see if I can find the
clothespins I have put away for the time when I have time to do
something with
them. Perhaps this is the very thing I can try. But it's discouraging
to see
what you've come up with....no way can I get anything that cute! I can
only
try, though.
There
is so little carving in this head that it's all about
proportion and paint. I'm sure you can do something wonderful. I'm
going to try
another with covered ears and a simpler face. I'm attempting to get
closer to
the spirit of Patty's doll. Forgery is not my specialty.
It's
my understanding that Patty's doll had
blue shoes. I didn't see any formal
documentation of that but all the "copies" I've seen have had blue
shoes. I'd be very interested in hearing
any evidence of color either way.
I
have found my clothespin, a feat in itself. And no way can I see
a doll in this! Did you fill in with wood putty to "extend" the torso
so the clothespin cut is not up to her armpits???
I
have a rather less than perfect photo of her shoes that I will
post in the Patty Reed album. They are indeed blue.
Part
of the trick is picking one that has the most "body"
you can find. Having said that, however, the body can be "extended"
by gluing on another piece of wood, if necessary. I allowed JJ to mix
my blue,
therefore they are a bit more turquoise than blue but, considering the
other
liberties we took, they are still in keeping with the SPIRIT of the
thing! I pegged a bit of dowel into the
bottom of her
torso... then I flattened the sides, then drilled it for the leg string.
I'm
now hard at work on a second one. The first has too much face
and too little hair to be a very good "likeness" of Patty Reed's
doll. I'm part way through the face on the second one, but the mouth is
giving
me fits. Patty's doll has no visible mouth and yet, it doesn't seem to
be
missing. I wonder how they did that!
TC,
do you use a gouge to make the 'slot' for those pegged arms? I
believe that is what I had been told by a certain carver from Arkansas.
The
slot was so tiny that I couldn't get any of MY gouges in there.
Certain carvers from Arkansas can do miracles with gouges. I, however,
used a
drill (to form the bottom of the slot), a saw (to cut down to the
bottom of the
slot), a detail knife (to cut the slot sides down until they were
parallel and
the right distance apart, and sandpaper to get rid of any "slot
fuzz".
You
aren't kidding about the tiny features!
I've just finished a minimal mouth (although there's no discernible
mouth in
the photograph of the actual doll, mine just looked funny without one).
Now I'm
wondering about the eyebrows.
Patty's doll doesn't seem to have eyebrows. I'm wondering if I should
leave
them off, as well. I guess it's time to research dolls of the period. What a fun project this is!
Hi
Gale,
I simply LOVE your new/old gal. She is precious. Her face has the
sweetest
expression (love that button nose) and she's a perfect "Dolly"! Her
dress is lovely and her bonnet is also. Great job!!
Thanks for the pretty view - your talent amazes me.
I was
looking at the photos of Patty's doll. Is it just me or does
it appear that her left arm is painted into a fixed position?
I
think I can see where you are looking, TC, but I'm thinking it is
just "splattered" paint. although quite heavily around that joint.
There are paint splatters in the "bicep" area on both upper
arms also. As old as she is, those joints most likely don't work
very
well anyway!
I
really want my dolls to be "playable". I understand
that it's not a universal requirement... but it's something I think
important.
Did
those of you who have worked on/completed a clothespin doll
find the pins very hard to carve? I was just wondering because when I
was
teaching, I asked my DH to cut some clothespins for me. The kids were
making
deer from them. DH complained that they were really hard to cut. I
suppose that
it would depend on the type of wood.
I
think the pins are usually birch--not the easiest to carve, and
of course, the small size doesn't help!
Many
clothespins are made from ash. It is hard to carve.
But you don't have to remove much wood on a doll that small.
I
know iff I was Patty and had your dolly in my pocket I would be
able to ride to California. She has such a comforting face.
Makes
you feel good just looking at her.
I've
carved a couple of clothes pins that were antiques, and they
were definitely hard as rocks. The pins that are made to be used
for
dolls are much easier to carve. I think old wood can just get
hard
sometimes.
The
ones I got from Michaels are about as hard to carve as
basswood... In other words, not hard.
Well,
all this carving clothespins made me curious to see what it
was like to work on one. I have my mom's old clothespin bag with her
clothespins. Most were clips, but I found a round one. On it was a
picture of a
face that I had drawn as a kid to surprise my mom. I couldn't believe
it! So,
I'm trying to carve a little one, but am keeping the drawn face. I've
got one
arm to finish plus some shoes. I'm not sure how I'll get the holes
drilled. My
husband usually does that for me. He broke his middle toe at the base
of it
this afternoon and is hobbling around in crutches. So, it may be a
while until
you see her again. Here are my pictures (I'll post them in the album,
too).
know
what both Judy brown and Jeff scott make a great Dollie.
Try the Sutter Fort museum in Texas. It might be pictured
on their
web site. I think ????the doll pictured in the book I have( 1981
with the
yellow cover) is actually the one carved by Sherman Smith as he made
some of
them that were sold at the Museum I guess . they have blue green
shoes.
I have another copy of the book here and that has photo of real
doll but
doll is pretty destressed. Wonder if it is the early ones that
has the
heavy gesso paint.
Your
clothespin doll is adorable, and I think it's precious that
you had drawn the face. Hobby Lobby sells a little hand drill that cost
less
than $5 when I got mine. It's great for drilling little stuff.
I
have an antique doll who is a bit over six inches tall and looks
like she might be related to Dolly.Her shoes are blue as well... maybe
it was a
fashion to have blue pumps in those days.
TC,
She is very
pretty.. And even resembles Dolly.. I am thinking blue shoes must of
been the
thing way back.. LOL.. Wonder if that is where the song came from Blue
Suede
Shoes...lol..
Thanks
for
sharing her with us..
She
does look a lot like Dolly. Is her hair in the same Jenny Lind
style? Thanks for sharing her with us.
I
don’t know about that as all my antique
ones have black shoes. so I would think blue would be
special.
I am
not sure
why all ????his Dolly dolls have that pretty aqua shoe. but they do
have the
bun also so they are easy to spot in a tray of Smiths.
A
dental mound is the way the teeth make the lips push out below
the nose. When people lose their teeth they also lose their dental
mound.
"Milliners'
Models" type dolls of the period had leather
bodies with wooden lower arms and legs (very similar to this wooden)
and they
often had red or blue shoes, as well as black.
Today
my clothespin kit arrived! I am not a carver and I have been
wanting to try some ideas I saw from a Doreen Sinnett booklet from 1980
which
shows how to add clay accents to make various clothespin dolls. This
was so
much fun, I added clay shoes, arms (on pipe cleaners) and added clay to
Dolly's
face and for her hair and bun. On the face I added a nose and shaped
her eye
sockets a bit. The fabric JOC included in my kit was a yellow floral
(LUV it)
so I made a dress using the pattern in the booklet adding a collar. The
dainty
lace included was so sweet! On the mini dollie I painted her (adding
clay arms
attached to pipe cleaner pieces) and dressed her in a Barb Dean
original, which
fit perfect. :)
Peek if you like and I hope to cause other non-carvers to make some
Dollys!
with bonnet on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hittygirls/photos/album/1775130138/pic/2033618863/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
without bonnet
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hittygirls/photos/album/1775130138/pic/583304591/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Kind regards and Happy dolling! Thanks again Julie and mods for the
darling
kit!
The
booklet is called Classic Clothespin Dolls. The instructions
are very simple and she explains how to make dolls of all sizes,
provides the
patterns for the clothes and hats and also how to do the faces and
different
hair styles.
Elaine,
Thanks for this info.. I am sooo new at the historical
information of dolls.. I enjoy learning all I can.. I just assumed they
were
just dolls growing up, even though I loved mine... I never really
understood
until just a few years ago just how much there is to know about Dolls..