Dollhouse doll update

These EFA dollhouse dolls were for the Yahoo vintage cloth doll making group, and the lady was rushed a bit to meet the deadline. I wasn't quite happy with her yet.

So I went back to add a few details and now she has a blouse and petticoat...

and a new hairstyle - my favourite style of braids worn up. Which incidentally was my favourite hairstyle when I was nine. Possibly the style I will return to in my old age?

She didn't exist two days ago and now I love her. I know, I know, I need to finish her house now. Believe me that is a long term project!

EFA dollhouse dolls

As promised, here are some Edith Flack Ackley dollhouse dolls that I just finished yesterday. The man has a brown knitted sweater with plaid trousers. The lady has a pink floral skirt and a top made from a bit of trim with a ribbon belt. They both have painted shoes, the cloth shoes just looked too bulky at this tiny size.

In case you didn't know, Edith Flack Ackley published a lovely book called Dolls to Make for Fun and Profit in the 1930s and her sweet designs have been popular ever since. In the book she has patterns for dollhouse dolls which I adapted so that they are a bit smaller. So the man is 6" tall (still a bit on the tall side) and the lady is 5 1/2" tall. I also made up my own clothes so they would be more up-to-date for my sort of up-to-date dollhouse.

Generally they are made exactly the same way as all her dolls, including the sewn joints, but it's just a bit more fiddly. The two tools that made sewing these little dolls possible: fray block to keep tiny seam allowances from coming apart and hemostat scissors for turning tiny legs and arms right side out.