Black Doll Collecting: Trish Williams

Showing posts with label Trish Williams. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The Final Two Justyne Smith Doll Restorations

The green-circled dolls are the subjects in this post.

This could have been more than one post; but since it's the finale of this project, I wrote it as one long illustrative post.

I retrieved the last two circa 1940s Justyne Smith cloth dolls from the shed to begin their restoration. They were included in a package of eight dolls I received in December 2023 from the late textile artist, Trish Williams.

The dolls' first photos after undressing are shown above and below.

First Things First

Upon reinspection, except for their smell, I didn't think these last two dolls required much restoration. Unfortunately, the dolls had a heavy moth-ball scent because I keep mothballs in the shed to ward off vermin, and they had been exposed to mothballs for over a year.

After treating a stained area on one dress, the clothing and one doll's hair ribbons were soaked overnight in a mixture of liquid detergent and OxyClean. A wooden pole served as an agitator to swish the clothes around in the soapy water.

I removed the clothing and sprayed a stained area of one dress (made of satin) with a stain remover before soaking the clothes overnight in hot water, liquid laundry detergent, and OxyClean. I wiped both dolls from head to toe with disinfectant wipes and inspected their cloth outer surfaces. During this process, I noticed that one doll had a small horizontal tear on the neck and a few holes in the cloth feet. I laid both dolls on the washing machine to air dry and air out overnight before attempting to repair them.

The next morning, I saw several fine black specks on the washing machine and discovered that one doll's yarn hair had dry-rotted. The slightest touch and movement caused tremendous shedding. I cut the yarn off the doll's head, discarded it, and fashioned a new wig as described next.

This photo was taken after I removed the dry-rotted yarn from one doll's head. (This is the doll on the left in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.)

The head from the back after the yarn was removed illustrates how Ms. Smith fashioned the original wig, but instead of sewing the yarn to the head, I devised a quicker method.

Making the New Wig

Working with a mask on, I began making the wig but had to stop after only one side was completed because the scent of mothballs was too overwhelming. I placed the dolls outside to air out for several days (and had to wait for rain to stop in between days). I brought them in each night. The following short video and photos illustrate the wig-making process.

Making the New Wig Captured in Pictures

A vertical piece of yarn tacked in place at the top, bottom, and center creates one side of a center part. Strands of yarn were looped around the vertical yarn and secured tightly as illustrated in the next two photos and the above video.

In this photo, two equal pieces of yarn have been folded in half, a loop created on top, and the loop was slid underneath the vertical yarn (the doll's center part). The long ends of the looped strands hang loose.

The long ends of the looped strands were crossed over the vertical yarn and inserted into the loop before the ends were pulled tight to create a knot on top of the vertical yarn.

This is how little I completed of one braid before stopping to air this doll out. Even with a mask on, the mothball scent was unbearable.

The first side was completed and work on the other braid commenced after a few days using the same process: another vertical piece of yarn was tacked adjacent to the first piece, and strands of yarn were looped around the vertically placed yarn.

Both braids are completed in this photo. I left some loose longer strands of yarn on both sides of the doll's face, which were trimmed later. The ends of the braids were trimmed later, too.

This is how the wig looks from the back. (I did not use a lighter colored yarn for the part like Ms. Smith used for some of the dolls. I might glue a tan string down the center of the hair later.)

I added bangs using the same looping method, except the strands were looped around a horizontal strand of tacked yarn. (The bangs are sparse and it is my fault that one side is longer than the other. Later, I might use thicker black yarn to redo the bangs. I'll cut them straight next time.)

The original ribbon headband dry-rotted. I attached a ribbon headband similar to the way Ms. Smith fashioned the original one.

Lastly, I trimmed the long sides of loose yarn that frame the face and stitched a couple of yarn strands on top of the stitched-on ends of the ribbon headband to conceal the ribbon ends.

Repairing the Neck and Cloth-Covered Feet

After the dolls had aired out enough for me to handle them a few minutes at a time, I repaired the neck and feet.

The Neck Repair

The neck tear with small pieces of a cotton ball placed inside to stabilize the area is illustrated above.

I painted over the cotton-stuffed tear with Mod Podge.

The mod podged area was painted with Apple Barrel's Classic Caramel acrylic paint.

I placed two overlapping strips of Micropore tape over the stabilized tear.

I painted the taped area to closely match the surrounding cloth again using classic caramel acrylic paint hoping the dress neckline would conceal most of this.

Unfortunately, just as I was about to dress this doll, I picked it up by the neck. My thumb pressed against the repaired slit causing it to re-tear.

To fix this, I wrapped Micropore tape around the neck on top of the existing tape three times for stability.

I painted the new Micropore tape wrapping. After the paint dried, I sealed and further stabilized the tape with ModPodge as illustrated next.

The still-wet Mod Podge has been applied over the painted Micropore tape in the top two photos. The Mod Podge is dry in the bottom two pictures. (This doll's original wig illustrates the lighter-colored yarn used by Ms. Smith to create the part.)

Lesson Learned: When handling this doll, I should never grab it by the neck!

Repairing the Feet

The holes in one doll's cloth feet are illustrated above.

All holes were covered with Micropore tape.

The taped areas were painted with brown acrylic paint that matched the brown cloth Ms. Smith used for the cloth-covered feet.

Thankfully, the neck and feet repairs were relatively quick fixes.

The Clean Clothes

The clean clothes and ribbons were air-dried.

After washing, I rinsed the dresses and one doll's hair ribbons and hung them up to dry. After rinsing, the bodice of the satin dress was torn. Age and fabric deterioration are the cause, but my agitation of the wet clothes with a wooden pole probably produced the tears. Small tears were on a few areas of one sleeve. It looked devastating, but I was determined to salvage the dress and keep both dolls as original as possible.

After washing and rinsing, one sleeve and the bodice were ripped as shown.

Rips in the sleeve

The Dress Repair

From the inside with some reinforcement on the outside, I mended the ripped areas of the bodice, sleeves, and other dress areas with Micropore tape as illustrated next.

Several strips of Micropore tape cover the inside of the bodice and the sleeve to mend the tears.

Strips of Micropore tape cover some outer areas of the affected sleeve and bodice.

Next, I used a sheet of copy paper to trace a bodice pattern.

Using the paper pattern, I used off-white satin blanket binding to fashion the new bodice.

After the binding was cut to fit the bodice, the excess edges were folded under and sealed using Stitch Witchery.

I used a combination of Stitch Witchery, a needle, and off-white thread to attach the new bodice to the old bodice.

Next, I sewed off-white lace to the bottom edge of the new bodice.

The dress and the lower edge of the pantalettes after the repair look much better.

After washing and drying the other doll's dress (the doll that needed its wig replaced), I only had to iron it.

Final Touches

Before redressing both dolls, I ironed both dresses, the pantalettes, and the original ribbons for one doll. I added ribbons to the new wig.

They are dressed and looking much better as illustrated here and in the next photo.

It took three separate sessions to repair all eight dolls. I am pleased with the results. I am confident that Trish Williams and the original circa 1940s doll maker, Justyne Smith, would be happy, too.

How they were.

How they are now (shown in the same order as in the above photo but posed slightly differently).

The heart shape on one doll's face formed after I submerged the doll in water to clean it. Read about that at the first link below.

Three More Justyne Smith Dolls

Trish Williams at Home in 2011

__________

All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

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Black Doll Enthusiast

I am a Black-doll enthusiast, doll historian, freelance writer, author of The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls; Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion; and The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak, I Listen.

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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Circa 1940s Cloth Dolls by Justyne Smith

Eight cloth dolls made by Justyne Smith c. 1940, a gift from Trish Williams

Trish Williams, a fiber artist and quilter of Peoria, IL, sent me the above group photo of dolls on 11/29/23 and asked if I would be interested in them. She wanted to gift them to someone who would appreciate the dolls. In answer to my query about the dolls' provenance, Trish wrote, "This collection of vintage dolls honors James Napier and his aunt both of whom have passed on." I didn't want to press her for more information, but I recorded what she wrote.

As illustrated in this photo, most of the dolls bear the artist's cloth label on their upper backs which reads "Hand Made by Justyne Smith."

I received the dolls on 12/06/23 which is when I discovered the artist's name. My search for information about the artist, Justyne Smith, was futile. I found nothing online about her. I did find that her nephew, James Napier, was a sculptor from Illinois who was co-owner of World of Sculpture with his wife.

I notified Trish of their receipt on 12/08/23 by Facebook Messenger. I also mailed a thank you card to her to express my appreciation. I kept all the dolls in storage until I could find the time to provide the necessary rehab each needed. I also had to research the best way to clean vintage cloth dolls. They weren't dirty, more dusty than anything else, and their clothing needed attention.

A Facebook (FB) timeline update from another FB friend and quilter notified me of Trish's untimely passing on 1/15/24.

A note card from Trish arrived a few weeks after she transitioned. (The top left image is the outside of the note card; the top right is her handwritten inscription; and the lower section was written on the back top of the envelope).

On 2/7/24, I received a handmade and handwritten thank you note from Trish that again thanked me for the card I sent her and for my support. Before I saw the handwritten statement on the back of the envelope that read, "Mom wanted me to mail this. Kemba," I wondered how she was able to send it after she passed. Even though she was gravely ill, Trish extended her graciousness with the thank you note just a few weeks before she passed, and while she was apparently unable to mail it herself, she asked her daughter to mail it for her.

Receipt of the note card from Trish gave me the motivation to start the doll rehab for three of the eight cloth dolls. What was done and what I've learned not to do with the remaining five is outlined below.

The First Three

The first three are seen in full in this photo before rehab commenced.

This photo illustrates the first three close-up. The doll on the right arrived nude.

This is their close-up from the back upon arrival.

I decided to hand wash each doll part-by-part without submerging them in water. Rehab commenced with the blonde crying doll seen on the far left in the first photo.

Doll 1

The hair and body of the first doll were hand-washed with a mild detergent.

I made the mistake of running water over this doll's face, body, and limbs to remove all the soap I had applied, the results of which are illustrated in the completed photos below. The washed bangs extended below the eyes. To avoid cutting them, I rolled the bangs on sponge rod rollers and hung the doll outside to dry for several days (bringing it in at night).

The first doll was hung outside to dry for several days and even after that, I kept the doll nude inside for a couple of weeks to be sure that it was thoroughly dry.

The apron of the dress was torn

While the first doll dried. I repaired the torn organdy apron of its dress. I folded the frayed edges under and secured them in place with Stitch Witchery between the folds. This created an inverted off-center V. I added a button to the top of the inverted V and sewed matching buttons for the two buttonholes in the back. (The dress was not dirty, so I did not wash it. I did hand wash the doll's panties, which are not shown.)

One side of the torn apron has been repaired with Stitch Witchery.

Both sides of the torn apron have been repaired and a tiny button added to the top of the repair.

Two buttons for the two buttonholes in the back have been added in this photo.

After drying, the rollers were removed from the bangs. Some areas of the cloth dried darker than others. I believe this was caused by the type of spongy, possibly dyed, stuffing the artist used. Some of the color of the sponge stuffing must have bled onto the outer fabric. I contemplated painting the face but decided to leave well enough alone. She's crying and maybe that's because of her uneven color.

To complete this 17-inch doll's rehab, I added ribbons to the ends of the re-braided yarn braids. She's still sad, however.

Close-up of the 1st doll's completed rehab

Doll 2

The doll that arrived nude was surface-washed next. But again, my heavy-handed use of too much water on the face caused it to dry darker in some areas. I applied a remedy that will be illustrated below.

Doll 2 has been hand-washed and rinsed.

There were tiny holes in the cloth feet before washing. The holes enlarged with my heavy-handed washing, rinsing, and squeezing out the water. Some of the spongy stuffing is exposed through the larger holes.

Doll 2 hangs outside to dry. (My husband didn't like this look and said, "What is this the K K K? We don't hang black dolls by the neck here." So, I removed the jute from the doll's neck that I had attached to a clothes hanger and placed it around the doll's waist the next time I took it outside to hang dry.

Full-length view of dried Doll 2 with patched feet. Note that the dark area on the face is heart-shaped.

To lighten up the darkened heart-shaped area on the face, I applied powder makeup. The heart shape is still visible but not as much in this photo.

This is a close-up of the face after the powder makeup was applied. Again, painting this area was an option, but I didn't want to make it worse.

I did paint Doll 2's feet because I didn't care for the patched look. The painted feet are illustrated next.

The feet have been painted and sealed.

In my closet of infant and children's clothing, I found an infant-size pink and white dress that fit this doll perfectly. At a dollar store, I purchased infant-size pink booties to cover the feet, but I actually like the exposed painted feet better.

She was dressed in this picture before I applied the makeup to her face. Can you see the heart shape?

The pink booties cover the entire foot area.

Here she is (before the makeup was applied) wearing her booties.

After makeup, the heart shape is still visible on this 25-inch doll's face, but I will leave her face as is. The heart shape is there for a reason.

Doll 3

After discovering the untoward results of using too much water on these dolls, I used baby wipes only to wipe down the boy's cloth surface after the clothes were removed. I used baby wipes on the red yarn hair as well. One of the lapels of his white shirt was stained. I treated the stain with stain remover, soaked the shirt in Oxy-Clean and Liquid Tide with Oxy-Clean overnight, and hung it up to dry after a good rinse. I did not wash the pants or the coat. I ironed all his clothing pieces after the shirt dried. This process in pictures follows: