One day on Dolls More Dolls...

I saw this post from Evelyn...

I clicked the picture and fell in love!

Jules asked Evelyn if she'd put one into swap for her, but Evelyn said she was happy just to send her to someone who'd love her... It seems Jules regretted swinging the one she had as a child around by her legs until they fell off and I guess wanted to make amends by rescuing a poor unloved!

I liked the idea of a challenge too and after falling in love with the one on the left, asked if I could re-home one myself...Evelyn, kind soul that she is agreed and decided she'd keep the middle one as a project for herself too so yay they all had homes and now I just had to be patient and wait for a parcel to arrive to see which one I would get.

A few days later, my wait was over and yay! - Evelyn sent me the one I wanted!

Five days after Evelyn's "Poor Orphans" post, she was finished and ready to make her debut!

And here she is....as she was and just after she began her ordeal at the hands of sweet-little Herbie!

Just out of the packet and looking a bit unsure of her new surroundings! 

Pretty Face...Hopefully the marks are removable!

       It turned out they were easy to remove with nothing more than a bit of soap and water!

Weird Hairdo!

          I just had to take that down and wash it, it was so dusty and musty smelling :(

Aww...her legs poorly :( Never mind Herbie'll fix it up!

Her poor little leg had the stuffing held in with sticky tape :(  the fabric on her legs was so flimsy, that I really had to be careful not to rip it more while removing the tape...
Her dress and body was stained, her legs were dusty, as was her air and she had a musty smell from the aged stuffing too, poor thing... all in all I'd say she was a perfect candidate for a make-over!

And so to work:

After examining her I realised I wasn't gonna get away with a scrub and new hairdo,  but I like a challenge so I began to check her out fully and decide where I'm going with this restoration...seeing as she'd already lost a lot of sawdust (SAWDUST??) from her leg...I decided Jules' Idea of the restuff was just what she needs.... The plan was to salvage as much of the original as I could so it ended up being a case of see how it goes as we go along!!

Man...Just look at all that hair!!

 Her hair was stunning, it was such a shame I had to wash it and remove all those beautiful curls, but at least I found out how beautiful she looked with it flowing down around her body! There was no way around it however as her fringe was literally stuck up with dust and grime that it had to be cleaned...

Looks like a pretty little mermaid *grin*

She looked so pretty it was a shame I had to wash it, as I knew that most of the curl would drop out along with the water.

I removed her Original dress and placed it in vinegar for several hours to fix the dye in, before hand washing and drying it ready for her to put back on.

Oh The Inhumanity!!

:( I don't think she likes it here much :( and it's about to get worse...much worse!! 

The following three pictures show all the removal of the sawdust, wood shreds, wood chips, bark and paper that they used to stuff her with?!

I had to make sure I had ever last piece out before she could be re-stuffed with wadding , if I had left a single piece of stuffing inside the doll would eventually start to smell musty again... It too bloody ages too!

There's just so much and it smells funny too :( wonder what kind of tree that comes from ?

"Hey Wot You Doing to Me?"

 Poor thing looks so shocked...I almost have guilt!

"Now You Gone too Far!!"

But Sweetie You've gotta take it out before you can put nice new stuffing back in...

                                  oh dear I don't think she understands!!  

"Hey Let Go Of My Intestine"

*soothes* There, there little one it's for your own good!

*Herbie quickly removes hands in case she gets bitten* :(

"Oooo I'm loving my new body..thank you!"


"You're very welcome sweetie, it looks so much nicer than that tatty old one doesn't it? See Herbie just wants what's best for you so dry your eyes and stop thinking about how I took out your stuffing" *kiss* 

To cover the fabric on her torso, I chose a piece of vintage White towelette, covered in a tiny red rose pattern; that was made in the 1950s.

:( "My legs are different colours...hurry up with that needle will you?" 

When work began on Looby's legs... I noticed after sewing her leg up it becomes obvious, she would need some new fabric to the legs too....so I begin hunting for the perfect fabric (as close to the original red & white stripe as possible)...

I found some red striped Linen, that I thought would be a close enough match. When it arrived and I tried it against her leg fabric, the drastic colour difference between the original and replacement cloth was so apparent, As I chose Linen, it is a very strong replacement fabric as well, so no more leg rips for this little Looby!.

"You like my new bloomers?"

I found a pair of "bloomers" that I had taken off a Bisque Doll, before using it for Ooak, and tried them on Looby. They were a perfect fit!

"I have a new hairstyle too!"

After seeing how much hair she had and how lovely it looked down and crimped, I had to make leave it down :)

Most of the curl had gone due to my washing it, but I still think it looks better down...well that and the fact that I totally forgot how her original style was put together, I remember thinking it was a weird way to plait it, but that's all I can remember really. 

The Result for me, is one very pretty doll who still looks like her vintage original, but smells nicer and is softer too!!