When I first started thinking about how I wanted to make cloth dolls I began looking back to the Boudoir dolls of the 1920’s and 30’s. Part of their attraction was how they reminded me of the Bradley dolls that I had as a child. Much as I loved them, because they came stuck to a stand, you really couldn’t play with them. It felt like we had unfinished business that I might be able to exorcise through my Claras. Just like the Bradley dolls, Boudoir dolls were made for decoration and not for play although I suspect quite a lot of playing did go on!
For anyone not familiar with them, they first appeared in the early 1920’s in France where there was at the time an influx of Russian emigres following the revolution. One of the cultural imports that they brought with them was their skills at doll-making and the craze for what became known as boudoir dolls soon took off. The dolls had cloth bodies and long limbs and because it was the Jazz age and a time of great interest in cinema the dolls were dressed up like actresses, flappers, dancers or partygoers. Some were slightly sinister and subversive, but all were glamorous, stylish and sexy. It’s out of keeping with today’s world but interestingly many of them were smoking cigarettes!
The craze spread across the Atlantic and many dolls were made and enjoyed in the US. Unfortunately, the stock market crash put an end to many of these new companies making the dolls and whilst interest in them continued into the 1930’s it was the end of the craze.
I returned to this original source of inspiration for the next little batch of Claras. I knew I wanted to do something special but was struggling to decide what. I came across a picture of a doll in a beautiful bicorne hat and thought it would really work. I can imagine girls with hats like this in the musical halls of Paris, living it up or going to fancy dress parties. I’d like to think of the Claras all living and playing in that world!
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Here are two of the oldest Vintage dolls I have. The one on the right with the hat is a Pepper doll from 1964 and was the little sister of Tammy (the US version of Sindy), she’s the same age as me and so is extra special. This one was an e-bay find and when she arrived, I was delighted to discover little teeth marks on the feet – battle scars from an over enthusiastic little owner perhaps?
The doll on the left is a Tiny Betsy McCall. I discovered these when I was researching paper dolls. The McCall magazine introduced a paper cut out on a back cover in 1951. These proved so popular that they went on to bring out collectables. My one comes from 1957. They are still being made, but I love the vintage ones, with all the character they have, the history of all who have played with and hopefully cherished her.
The next bunch are the Liccas, which are Japanese dolls made by Takara. What I like about these is that you can collect a family or even a community of dolls as the different generations of Liccas have come with mothers, fathers, grand-parents, siblings, pets and eventually teachers and others that they may interact with on a daily basis. The doll on the left, a 2nd Generation, Jenny, came in a tennis outfit. The doll on the right is a Licca Castle. I have a particularly soft spot for Wataru, a first generation doll. Here you can see him dressed stylishly in a Woolly Rockers jumper and MforMonkey trousers.
If you collect dolls, I think its quite common that you end up wanting to create your own characters. Fortunately there are some very easy ways you can do this. Azone and Obitsu make a variety of separate bodies, heads and parts for you to put together yourself and customize. but you can also let your imagination go a little crazy at times. I created the Deer boy when my step daughter brought me a fridge magnet that she thought might look good on the walls of the Moshi Studio by I didn’t think the rest of the gang were really into stuffed animals, so he’s been given a new lease of life with a Licca body and makes an excellent friend for Wataru.
There will be more of the Moshlings in future posts when I'll introduce the Blythe girls and also some of the smaller and fluffier Moshlings that we have around the place.
]]>It is of course named after the 1960’s English model Jean Shrimpton, David Baileys muse, who is credited with many things including being the first ‘super-model’, she was known as the ‘It Girl’ because of her prominence in Swinging London.
She went to New York in 1962 for British Vogue with her then boyfriend, the up and coming but rebellious photographer David Bailey. The pictures they took on that shoot, are fantastic, fresh, young and modern in a way that was totally new at the time. I love the fact that her teddy bear appears in practically every shot.
Incidentally, I found out that Jean Shrimpton had moved to Penzance in the 70’s which is just a short drive from the Moshi - Shed. I brought it up with my friends at my Friday afternoon sewing group and it turns out that one of them actually met her, and apparently another ex-model friend of hers who also lives nearly used to ride into Penzance on her horse to pick up groceries! She’s still seen around the town so I may bump into her myself one day, do you think she would like me to present her with a little dress?
]]>By the time I was twelve, I had been doing needle work in school and my sewing skills had progressed sufficiently to make Emily. My mother had made me a Waldorf doll out of stockinette and I realised that I wanted to make my own. I worked out a pattern and made her out of calico and I think I remember that she’s stuffed with cotton wool. The clothes are made of any scraps that I could get hold of. The little green shorts are from an old T-shirt and she has underwear made of my old school dress.
Once made, I installed her as best friend to “Edward the Bear” and the two of them have been part of the troupe that have been with me ever since. There have been no stints in parent’s lofts, I’ve taken them from home to home in their trunk. She’s survived over the years without the need for repairs although I’ve lost her coat somewhere along the way.
For anyone who fancies having a go at making their own cloth doll, I have put together some kits. Each one has the material for the doll and a dress printed out on fabric ready to be cut out, along with enough kapok for stuffing. There’s a choice of skin tones and printed or woollen hair. It all comes with an instruction booklet to show you what to do, and would make a good project for enthusiastic beginners learning to make dolls. These are now available in the shop.
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One of the advantages of a job which involves a lot time at my sewing machine is that you can watch a good box set on your laptop and still call it work. When Netflix brought out the ‘Anne with an E’ series based on the book I watched it straight away and I know a lot of other dolly friends did too. It was visually stunning with truly lovely costumes. I felt so inspired that I made the sets for Blythe and Ruruko.
At the time, it was only meant as a one off but when I recently did an Instagram post asking followers to pick some old favourites, I had lots of messages about Anne of Green Gables. So, I’ve revisited those designs, and two special sets are underway. One for Anne and one for her bosom buddy Diane Barry. I hope you will like them.
Illustrations by Anna C. Leplar
]]>My mother was right about the suitability for play because she had several tiny pins, but it was before the days of health and safety and besides I was really, really careful. I took her everywhere and, along with the other dolls I had at the time, she played all sorts of roles from keeping house, going on various adventures to even marrying my brothers Action Man (it’s OK, in that game they really loved each other). Naturally, I tried to redress her but because of the pins and glue I couldn’t get the old clothes off. What you see in the photo are the clothes she came with all those years ago.
At the time, rather than living on the base, my parents rented a house in the town of Limassol. Our Landlady and her family lived in a tiny house at the back of our garden. The two properties shared a yard and we all became very close. She sort of adopted the young British family so far from homeand her daughter Andreana became my very best friend. I named my glamorous new doll after our landlady. I don’t know what Galatea senior thought about having a doll named after her, but I hope she took it as the compliment it surely was.
Some toys are confined to parent’s lofts but Galatea has stayed with me ever since - from Cyprus to Germany, all around the UK and now settled in Cornwall. I have a couple of trunks of my special possessions that I’ve acquired over the years. She goes in there. Every now and then I can go in and relive the memories. She’s the doll have had the longest and is very, very special.
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I don’t think there’s a better place to be in summertime than Cornwall. We have golden beaches and we’re surrounded to both the north and south by the Atlantic Ocean which turns a range of colours from turquoise to blue depending on the height of the sun. In the evenings the sunsets are an intense orange colour.
There are plenty of artists in the area meaning there’s always inspiring people to meet. Ever since the railway line from London was built in the 1880’s artists have been coming because the combination of sun and sea creates a bright light which adds colour to painting. Before that, it’s a little darker - we had a history of pirates and smugglers (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07pn8mz) .
Whilst I sit at my sewing machine in the studio, I look out over a bay with a lighthouse that’s been written about by Virginia Woolf and painted by Alfred Wallis. It’s a lovely place to work but by the end of the day you just want to get to the sea, so I often take the Moshlings down to the beach for a photoshoot.
I can’t say the sun shines all the time. Quite often we get stuck in a sea mist for days when the rest of Europe is having a heatwave but right now the sun’s out and summer is properly here, so I’ve decided to make a special set of summery clothes to keep everyone stylish but cool. I hope you enjoy them!
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