Madame Alexander Cissy Doll

AS usual I was thrifting and almost passed by the doll pile every thrift store seems to have.  

I did a double take before it registered what I was seeing.

 Un-believable! A Madame Alexander Cissy doll from the 1950s

AND wearing her original dress!!

 She was dirty and needed some TLC.
BUT! Her lashes are intact, her limbs
are intact and her wig is in good shape!

 My biggest worry was her hair.  This is a wig which 

means I must be VERY careful how I handle it.

 Label in her dress.

She got the usual baking soda wash.

She was very yellow.  I'm not sure what causes this.

Usually it is cigarette smoke, but she had no odor at all.

This is yellow from her eyes.  I used a swab dipped in alcohol.

Here is how her hair looks now!

I did not wash her hair, just brushed 

it out and restyled it.

Ready to see her in her original dress?




HERE SHE IS!

I made her hat, earrings and shopping basket.

Previous owner fixed a tear on her skirt
and the lace is yellowed on this side.

 I love the back of this dress.  

Look at all those gathers!

Here are some more Cissy photos.

 Here she is in another vintage dress.

A lovely vintage nightgown and robe set.

Cissy at her dressing table wearing her
vintage Madame Alexander opera dress.

A vintage picnic outfit.

And another vintage taffeta dress and swing
coat and handmade matching hat.

VERY PRETTY!

I must say I feel amazingly fortunate
to have found my Cissy!

My First Hitty Doll

I have always been interested in wood dolls and thought in some vague 

way that I might want to carve one myself one day.

So I was looking for some doll items online and came across a picture of

the sweetest little wood doll.  She was called a "Hitty" doll.

I had never heard of a Hitty doll!

Below is the original Hitty, doll who lives in the Stockbridge Library Museum, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  She was found in an antique shop by Rachel Field in 1927.

Two years later Hitty, short for "Mehitabel", was the heroine 

of her own novel, "Hitty, her first hundred years,"

written by Rachel Field.

Well, I ordered the book and started reading it immediately.

At the same time I went in search of a Hitty doll of my own.

Most Hitty dolls are carved from wood, some are made from fabric.

The more I researched the more I was amazed at how many people carve their own Hitty dolls!

Challenge accepted!

I decided I would carve a Hitty of my own.

I found this starter kit and ordered it from:

Graberhaus Wood Carvers

I had no idea what to do next!

More research about wood carving and after ordering and receiving 

a set of carvers knives, I was off!

The most helpful  video I watched was this one:

How to carve a Hitty leg

This showed me some basic carving technique and I

 just rushed ahead in my normal impulsive manner.

 Next I started on the torso, how hard could it be?

These dolls are deceptively simple in appearance.

Creating facial features is tricky, but I persevered.

 Next her arms.

Getting there.

 Here is my first try at putting her together.

Not too bad for a first try!

 Painting her face was another puzzle.  The paint kept leeching

out into her face, hmmm.

I tried again with less water and the features were better.

My husband, the woodworker, was a great help at this point.

I decided to use tung oil as a finish.

The tung oil gave her skin a nice warm color and set the paint. 

I like her!

 Here she is all dressed.

 One thing I learned as I tried to dress her is that you must leave 

space between her arm and torso, or her dresses won't fit easily.

I was originally going to make her a puff-sleeve dress, but the arm situation  

made this impossible and I had to try a simpler style.

And a view of her pantaloons.

 Well, what's next Hitty?

(maybe a sister)

Final note:

I kept thinking my Hitty reminded me of something and I finally figured it out!

The mother from the original Fisher Price toys! HA!
I actually had these toys when they were all made of wood. Funny.

Effanbee 1969 Babydoll Makeover

Here she is as I found her in the thrift store.

She is an Effanbee 1969 Babydoll.

She is either a "Sweetie Pie" or a "Sugar Plum" doll.

I can feel a crier in her back but it doesn't work.

I plan on doing some research about fixing criers.

 This may be her original dress and bonnet.

It all fits her perfectly.

 She is quite dirty, but it seems that someone

may have had her for a long time, since she has her

original undergarment, dress and bonnet.

 Her hair was horribly matted under her bonnet,

and I wasn't sure if there would be much to work with.

 She had this strange black mark on her cheek.

You can see where her sleeve is torn.

 Very dirty baby!

 Under her dress she had this one piece undergarment.

Here are all the clothes she was wearing.

There was a tear in one sleeve and the

bloomers were too big, they are actual baby bloomers.

The bassinet was very dirty too, but cleaned right up 

with a rinse under the garden hose.

 She got the usual cleaning treatment.

I put her clothes in to soak while I worked on her.

 After her hair wash I was astonished that her hair 

looked THIS good.

 She is a little thin in back, but we'll see how it looks after it dries.

AND

Here she is!!

 I could see there had been a bow on her dress

in front, so I added one.

Her bonnet is very sweet all clean and pressed.

 Back in her bassinet.

 I repainted her lips and added some pink to her cheeks.

Her right sleeve is fixed.

 I am amazed at how good her hair looks.

The back is a little thin, but

MUCH better than I expected!

 Before and After - front

Before and After - back

She's a cutie!

I had planned on selling her, but now I can't decide!

I SO wish I knew who she belonged to and what her story is....