Time for a Tam?

I decided to make a tam o'shanter for the boy doll I am working on, and consulted the book "Hat Making for Dolls," which I had bought on Amazon.   There was only a drawing of a rectangle and a circle, and "sew band to circle," for instructions.

I made three, before I had figured out the proportion of band to circle.  If the tam was too large, it looked - well, too large, and if too small, it perched on his head and looked cute, but - too cute. 

Too big, too little, and just right.

Tam O'Shanters are named for a poem of the same name by Robert Burns, written in 1791, according to my dictionary which has a kind of odd illustration of a man wearing one.  They go up pretty high on the one side, I noticed. 

So, here is my tam-making method: 



It is a circle attached to a band.   I figured the diameter of the circle should be larger than the head measurement. 

- First, measure around the side of the head, at the angle you want the hat to sit, like so.

- Then draw and cut out a circle.  The proportion I found to look good, in cutting out the circle, is to multiply 1.2 x the head measurement you just took.

The head measurement I took was 13 inches.  I cut out a circle that had a diameter that was approximately 1.2 times that, or 15.5 inches. 

When cutting out the circle add whatever extra for your seam allowance.  I added one quarter inch all the way around. 

Machine sew a basting stitch around the circle your seam allowance or 1/4 

inch, gather and check how it sits on the head,

pulling tighter or letting out as needed.

Then lay it down and check that the gathers are even

all around, and re-check it against the head measurement.

Pinning the band, right sides together

Cut a long strip of cloth on the bias, turn it up a quarter inch, and hem if you wish.  Pin it right sides to the gathered circle, cut off excess and machine sew.   Be careful you sew down all the gathers as you sew.   

Fold over the band in half, and tack down usng hand-stiches, on the inside.  

Then as a finishing touch sew on the pompom, going up from the inside all the way up through the pompom and then back down again, repeat, and knot.

And there you have a tam o'shanter for a doll or anybody.  I hope

this is helpful if you want to make a tam.

Brooding Over a Boudoir Doll

Here is a boudoir doll that I bid for and won recently on Ebay.

I had to bid on her, liking her gold satin dress, and the floppy satin hat.   I'd been thinking about buying a Boudoir doll, and this one hooked me.

Her eyes, though, are missing paint and she is missing some paint on her lips.  When I looked directly into her face for the first time, I actually jumped up and said "Ah!  She's scarey!" 
"Put her away, you're making me scared," my husband said. 

I went and researched more online about these dolls.  They were quite a fad.  After reading about them, I had swirling in my mind the elongated limbs and neon-eyes of the artist-illustrator Tamara de Lempicka.  And the elongated women whom I never liked, by the illustrator Erte.  And Hollywood's golden age, the flapper movement, decadence.  All these trends were swirling around and so these dolls were mass produced, and various designs and construction patented to capitalize on the trend.  The dolls petered out by WWII.
I wonder why I got this doll.  I guess I wanted to see what one is actually like in person.  As in, how does its presence feel.  I don't see them ever at the local doll shows.  They are not expensive (yet) to buy. 

This particular doll, I am pretty sure from the marking on the back, is a "Keeneye."  The satin of her costume is a blend of pink - gold - green.  I cleaned it (above are her leggings, cleaned and below is the skirt, cleaned) and it has that satiny feel now, and wonderful sheen: 

Then I tried to draw boudoir eyes on cloth, using a little abandoned doll of mine I had sitting around.

This looks odd but I guess that is how I feel so far about the boudoir doll.  

A Pink Googly

Here is another "Googly" doll, that I just finished!

She is my interpretation of a Googly doll.

I hand-sculpted the original head in Paperclay.  The clothing is all handmade by me.  There is old-stock garter trim on her dress.  The sleeves (and her "knickers") are made of old-stock crepe-du-chine fabric  from the 1930s.  I made her hat from new hat-straw, and handmade her booties and wig.  The photo above was taken with the stand underneath, which distorted her dress. 

She took many months, because I worked on making a pattern for her dress, tried to get the wig just right, and the summer was so busy.

Here's her pigtail look, using new ribbon for hair ties:

Thank you for taking a peek.