Clothing a Circa 1915 Composition Doll

This 9-inch circa 1915 composition with dimpled cheeks doll arrived wearing dirty trousers
that were several sizes too large.

I won this little girl in a make-offer eBay auction for $7.50 (the seller's beginning bid had been $15).  Because of the doll's condition, I did not think a $7.50 offer was unreasonable.  The seller did not think so either and accepted the offer. The marks on her back appear to be AGD.  The seller thought the G looked like a C and attributed the doll to American Character.  The "C" actually looks more like a "G" to me.  The doll was probably made by Allied Grand; they made dolls from 1915 through 1980.

The doll has an unjointed head and neck with spring-jointed arms and legs.  The body is severely crazed from age, which is common for some composition dolls exposed to drastic changes in temperature or moisture.

Because it is uncommon to find black composition dolls of this type that bear a manufacturer's marks, (unless they were made by one of the well-established doll makers like Alexander, Effanbee, Horsman, or Vogue, who usually always marked their dolls), I wanted to bring this one here to make her presentable.

Some materials used to make clothes:  plastic wrap, scissors, water, gift tissue paper and Mod Podge (not shown)

First and foremost, she needed clothes.  Because I do not sew, I decided to make a papier-mache-type romper using gift tissue paper.  I have done this before for modern fashion dolls (a link to that post is provided at the end of this post), but never for a vintage doll.  Because of the composition medium, which should never be exposed to water or moisture in any form, I was a little hesitant to do this, but decided to take the plunge (or allow her to, so to speak).

First the baby was wrapped in plastic wrap from head to toes.

The next task required placing several squares of wet tissue paper over the body to create what would be a romper.  (See the cut-out squares underneath the scissors in the above image).  Several layered, wet squares were used.

In the above images, wet pieces of tissue paper have been placed over the baby's plastic-wrapped body to create the shape of a romper.  The baby was next placed in the face-down position with body propped up on hands and feet to allow the tissue paper to dry.

Next, Mod Podge was applied generously all over the tissue paper.

The baby was again propped up in the position shown above to allow the Mod Podge
 to dry for several hours.

In the above photo, the Mod Podge has dried.

The romper was removed by first cutting a slit across the crotch.

Next, a slit along the right side of the romper was made. After the romper was removed, additional Mod Podge was added to all edges of the romper to ensure all layers remained flat. After the romper and plastic wrap were removed from the baby, I cut and folded two strips of  extra tissue (about 1/2 inch wide each), applied Mod Podge to these and added one strip to one side of the crotch and the other was secured to the side slit.  This extended these areas for the closures that would be created later.

I used Elmer's Wood Filler to repair a hole that developed between the baby's legs that must have been caused by moisture seeping through the plastic wrap.  After the wood filler dried, I painted that area with Real Brown acrylic paint by Apple Barrel, which closely matches the original paint.  Using a make-up sponge with several drops of the Real Brown acrylic paint applied, I rubbed the sponge across areas of the baby's face, body, arms, and legs to cover some of the cracks in the composition.  I repainted the hair area black and sealed that area only with matte varnish.

Delicate lace was glued to the leg openings and crotch to add trim before a self-adhesive
Velcro closure was created.  One piece of Velcro was placed on the extra strip of tissue that was added to this area.  The opposite Velcro was placed on the other side.

Velcro was added to both sides of the side slit with one piece placed on top of the extra piece of tissue that had been added.  

This is how the right side looks when closed with Velcro.

The baby also underwent minor facial repainting of the eyes and mouth.  A matching apple green ribbon was glued to the top-center of the front of the romper, which ties in back, as shown next.

Back ribbon tie

For completion, a tiny white bow was added to the front center of the romper.

I think she looks and feels so much better!

Here is the link to the first set of paper clothing made using toilet tissue and gift tissue.  

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Going Green No-Sew Doll Dresses

With the exception of a Singing Holiday Sisters (Barbie, Stacey, and Kelly) and a couple of May birthday/birthstone themed dolls, very few of my playscale dolls wear green.  I needed at least two additional green dresses for a photo-sharing event.  I checked eBay but did not find anything suitable or economically priced.

Next, I watched a few Youtube videos on making simple no-sew playscale dresses and found instructions for one that looked pretty simple.

What can be any simpler than making a dress from toilet paper? I thought.  Yes, you read it correctly, a toilet paper dress.   Photos of what I did to make it are shared below.

Kara's body is Saran wrapped and two sets of  10 continuous sheets of toilet paper will be wrapped around her body.

Kara's body is wrapped with toilet paper with the paper moistened with water between layers and molded to the shape of her body.

Kara's legs are inside a paperclip holder on my desk where she is allowed to stand overnight until the toilet paper dries.

After the paper dries, painting begins.  I used green acrylic craft paint, leaving the top and hemline unpainted because these areas will be trimmed.

I used white acrylic paint to color block the dress because areas on the sides were a darker green after the green paint dried.

The paint has dried; ready for Mod Podge.  "How are you going to get it off?" asked my husband.  "Cut it." I replied.  

A generous layer of Mod Podge is applied and allowed to dry overnight.

The tricky part was cutting the dress off.  I used the smallest pair of on-hand scissors, but could not maneuver the scissors where the dress covered her buttocks.  I don't trust myself with an X-Acto knife; so I used a pocketknife to score that area.  Then I gently poked the tip of the knife in the scored section to create an opening.

In the video, duct tape was placed along both sides of the opening to create a closure in back held with Velcro dots.  I used white sports tape instead of unsightly duct tape.  The plan was to paint the tape, but after it was applied, that plan changed.  Kara models the dress from front and back later.

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Because painting was required, which also extended the length of this project, I decided to make a second dress using green wrapping tissue.  Except for painting, the steps to make this dress were very similar to those described for the first.

Kara's body is wrapped with wrapping tissue.

The paper is moistened liberally and gently molded to the shape of her body by squeezing out the excess water.  A strip is placed at the waist to create a belt.

The paper has dried and is ready for Mod Podge.

A generous layer of Mod Podge is applied and allowed to dry overnight.

The dress is cut off using the same technique used for the toilet paper dress.

As noted for the first dress, sports tape was used on one side in back to create a flap-over closure.  It extends far enough onto the other side that I did not have to use Velcro to keep the flap in place.  For the wrapping tissue dress, I used Curad adhesive tape and tiny strips of Velcro to secure the closure.  I initially planned to Mod Podge and glue a strip of wrapping tissue on top of the back flap of dress 2 for a monochromatic look, but decided to leave it as is.

Kara and Marisa model their new paper dresses.  Marisa models hers initially without the white "belt" that I added later (seen below).

Kara is now wearing color coordinated earrings and bracelets.  Marisa's "belt" is made using the adhesive  tape that was used for the back closure.

The ladies have officially gone green without saving the environment being the initial plan.

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Two other paper ideas for doll dressmaking include using colored Kleenex facial tissues (if you can find), colored or print toilet paper (again, if you can find it), and white toilet paper or Kleenex colored with food color-tinged water.  There are loads of possibilities.

Click here to view the Youtube video that inspired this project.



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