How to Make Foreign Dolls and Their Costumes: Complete Projects and Patterns

The history of the doll is a long and varied one, beginning with religious idols and voodoo dolls. There is immense variation in the use of the doll, as well, ranging from containers for secret messages to holders of sewing supplies. In design and type, again, a wide area is covered, with the simple rag doll at one end of the scale, and the painstakingly detailed character doll at the other.

In our society, dolls are primarily important in two realms -- that of the daylong companion and plaything of the child, and that of the fascinating adult hobby of doll collecting. Either as plaything or as hobby, perhaps the most appealing and interesting of all are the costume dolls of our foreign friends.

Originally published in 1950, this classic book contains complete projects and full size patterns for cloth dolls of the world, and is designed as a guide to a finished product which will serve equally well as a child's beloved plaything or as a collector's prized exhibit.

The costumes are authentic, colorful, and completely qualified for the collector's shelf. Each garment is removable, which makes the doll more interesting, and permits the laundering which is so desirable in a very young "mother's" family.

Any child or adult with a basic knowledge of sewing can follow the patterns and directions. Complicated tucks and trimmings have been eliminated wherever possible, but authenticity and charm have never been sacrificed.

The basic patterns may be used to make costumes for children or adults, merely by substituting proper measurements, and then following the instructions.

All the materials used for the dolls in this book came from the author's scrap bag or a remnant counter. Save small pieces of material; there are none too small to be put to use. (An apron pocket is only one inch square!)

The habit of checking remnant counters whenever you go into a store is soon developed, and reaps rewards. Watch the trimming department too, where you can pick up the embroidered binding used to trim solid colored material, and the laces needed to trim blouses and underclothes. Handkerchiefs, which can be found in innumerable attractive designs, make excellent scarves and shawls for your dolls.

Keep a "doll box" in your sewing room, so that the materials necessary for dressing a doll will be at hand when the mood strikes you. Whether you make dolls for gifts or for a collection, you will get a great deal of pleasure from the task, and will find it very difficult to part with the finished products.

Contents Covered:

• Introduction
• Instructions for Making the Basic Doll
• Hair Styles
• Basic Garments
• Gina from Italy
• Toy from China
• Dolores from Spain
• Halinka from Poland
• Edith from Austria
• Wilhelmina from Holland
• Anna the Gypsy
• Florenz from Switzerland
• Abrán from Peru
• Paul from Czechoslovakia
• Thor from Norway
• Jennie from Sweden
• Dorotea from Cuba
• Rella from Turkey
• Novelty Dolls
  • Nanette Blanche from France, Sewing Doll
  • Elizabeth from England, a Tea Cosy
  • Rosa from Mexico, a Door-Stop
  • Pagliacci the Clown, a Thirty-Six Inch Doll
• The Doll's Dolls
  • Making the Doll's Dolls
  • The Eight Inch Doll
  • The Six Inch Doll