Saturday 30 November 2013

A Little Tribute to Pearl

My Nan, Pearl was born on 30th November 1906 and she was one of those whose stories I am the sum of.
She spent her whole life making things, today I would like to share just one of them with you.

She made this doll as my Christmas present one year. I named her Emily and I loved her. Here I am holding her at the Christmas dinner table! Judging by the photo it must be about 1977/78.


She has lost her shawl along the way but other than that she is pretty intact. She now lives with my nieces.


She was really beautifully made and very "playable with". All her clothes are removable, and she has a pretty vest, petticoat and proper long pants/bloomers.
This is the hand stitched pattern on the petticoat. I remember my Nan showing me how to do this, I must try it out sometime, see if I can still do it.

Here she is in just her vest

The embroidery round the hem of her underpants/bloomers

The dress fabric has faded quite a bit on the front, but the back is still like new.

She used to have a little bit of blusher on her cheeks and she smelt of my Nan (Lavender and Johnson's baby powder) for years. 

So today I'm remembering a prolific crafter for whom making things wasn't a hobby, just a way of life.x


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Hello, I'm Julie. I love making things and this is where I share my enthusiasm.

7 comments:

  1. She's beautiful what a treasure, I hope your nieces are careful with her.

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    1. She is lovely isn't she. It's only now that I really appreciate all the work that went into the details on her lovely clothes.

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  2. What a beautiful memento to have of your grandmother :) Your grandmother really had skills to make a doll with that much details. Hope your nieces play nice! Have a great one Julie! -Iva

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  3. What a lovely treasure to have from a special grandmother!

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  4. What a gorgeous doll. You were a lucky girl. Congratulations on your SITS Day.

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  5. What a beautiful and heartwarming keepsake. Happy SITSDay!

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