Assembling the Glittering Gentleman’s Nightcap – Part Two
Mandy Modelling The Nightcap
Before we move on – here is the Glittering Nightcap, being modelled by Mandy, who was given to me for my first Christmas. My grandfather made me a cradle to fit her, and I intend to make some bedding, and some clothes for Mandy, to go with the patchwork coverlet my grandmama made for the cradle. Unfortunately, I carried Mandy around by her hair for years, so the hair you can see is a wig, which in turn meant that that when I found Mandy again I didn’t think any modern little girl would welcome her. The cradle, with bedding and Mandy will end up as a sort of display piece. Eventually.
In the meantime – doesn’t she look sweet!
Etui Sections
The étui is made of triangular sections covered with brocade and mounted on brocade covered circles to create a little pyramid. Each external face consists of skirtex with padding covered with brocade, and then has a different element – a doctor’s flannel panel for needles, an ultrasuede scissor pocket, a pincushion, and a brocade pocket for stilettos or mellors. The ultrasuede is a real trial to stitch – very, very tough to get the needle into – but it’s done now.
Each face is backed by another triangle, of card covered with brocade, and the two slip stitched together. Then there will be the interesting challenge of mounting the triangles somehow.
The cap is looking wonderful!
will her entire outfit be jacobean to go with her hat?
when using real suede it helps to drill all your sewing holes first with a tiny dremel type drill, but am not sure that would help with ultrasuede
Mandy looks great in the nightcap. Now I am wondering what happened to my first doll, who had exactly the same face and golden curls. I can’t even remember her name, poor thing. I never liked her, to be honest. I could never see the point of dolls at all. My little sister used to rescue them from a life of neglect.
Those triangles look like a real challenge to put together.
Mandy is modelling the hat beautifully! I don’t have a doll from childhood, but I do have a rag doll from my twenties!
She’s adorable and I’m sure much happier with such a lovely hat upon her head.
The night cap is looking great.
I had a horrible doll when I was small. It was one of those celluloid ones, cold and horrible. I put it in the rubblish and got into terrible trouble. Your Mandy looks much nicer.
oh I love Mandy! You should be careful, she is likely to steal the show, your embroidery, (which as always is fabulous) is likely to be pushed into the background. I have a Mandy of my own, she is called Susan. I think being carried by the hair must have been the transportation of choice then.
The nightcap is beautifully modelled by Mandy. I had a Tiny Tears doll, I’m afraid that I cannot remember her name (probably Susan because I wished that I had a nice name like Susan). She had a wicker cradle with some tiny bed linen to sleep in. I think that my parents gave her to my niece (with my consent) but I don’t know where she is now.
I wonder if leather needles would make stitching the ultrasuede any easier!
OK… so now I’m a little confused. Are you saying the the glittering nightcap is not in fact a decorative piece but doubles as an étui? All these things are inside the hat? It’s beautiful, by the way.
As for my first doll, she was Suzie. I don’t have her but I do have some photos of her, and yes, I believe I may be carring her by the hair in one of them!
I haven’t visited in a while and so the progress here for me is remarkable! I love the circle skirt, the nightcap, the amulet…phew! And all the other wonderfulness here. I am longing to spend more time in stitching and reflection but it will only be a few more weeks. Thanks for giving me a solid dose of inspiration and longing and keep up the great work!
It’s great to see this coming together. What an amazing project!