Theodora of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Tis the season to be jolly!  And, that means lots of bright and merry songs, treats and brilliant color schemes.  After making Twyla, I simply wasn't done.  Like my passion for Alice, The Twelve Days of Christmas can never be explored enough.  Its a part of Christmas as much as Rudolph, mistletoe and my favorite Christmas composition, O Holy Night.  O Holy Night always brings a tear to my eye.  Of course, Bing Crosby singing Do You Hear What I Here evokes an equal sensation when one considers little lambs listening to the night wind and passing the message on to shepherd boys.  I'm a sucker for Christmas music, Christmas anything.

Lately its been the ridiculous Elf on a Shelf.  This is only but a theme from very long ago, for as a child we had these little fabric and wire, felt faced elves on our tree.  There were three of them, and never having enough dolls to play with, these elves would entertain me endlessly as they progressed through the branches of our tree while I played with them.  What ever happened to them? I wonder.  American Girl came out with an Elf on a Shelf for their dolls this year.  And, I had to have one.  Should have bought two.  But, I found some in the Vermont Country Store catalog and bought a few.  Why not?  Christmas for many is staying in touch with the dearest of past memories while living fully in the present.

And why not create a second and completely different Twelve Days of Christmas doll?  Actually, this one was made for a friend of mine, so I felt it must be a sheer delight to receive.  In the case of this doll, it began with a miniature hurdy gurdy that played the tune.  You know...the clear acrylic encased ones you can see the mechanism in.  Second, came this fabulous Makower fabric from the U.K.  At this point, and a week "project completed past", I can't remember why I was looking for Twelve Days of Christmas fabric....???  Oh!  Yes I do.  I wanted some to send to Olga in Russia.  One of my favorite costumers for the Effner Little Darling.  She'll make knitted sweaters and leg warmers and a hat, then make these fabulous flounced and tiered skirts to go with them.  I needed Twelve Days of Christmas themed outfits for my two Little Darlings.  And, this is where I got the idea to dress a 16" Lawton doll in the fabric.

So I began looking at illustrations for dress designs under "Partridge in a Pear Tree".  What I came to find was that the ones I liked best were either Regency inspired or earlier.  However, the colors and feel of the contemporary images inspired me to push the envelope.  So I chose a Regency style of dress comprising a full length gown and over dress or coat - in a completely contemporary and adorable print depicting the story and the characters therein.  I guess this is the fun and latitude you get to enjoy with art dolls.  Also, I think this season's Poldark had me drooling over tricorn hats on handsome heads.

I really like the little pattern I made for this dress and do believe I'll use it again sometime.  Credit where credit is due, its similar to the gown Wendy Lawton's Emma wears.  The difference is short sleeves on the underdress (to fit nicely under the over dress), and opaque "quilting" fabrics, sensible sleeves on the over dress. The next thing to tackle was what she should wear beneath.  A street performer needs to be properly shod, so I made a sensible pair of red shoes in the style I chose for Marigold, my doll inspired by the illustrations of Kate Greenaway.  I wanted something other than boring, old white stockings.  I found a blue jersey blend in my "stocking fabric pile" that complimented the blue in the Twelve Days print.

Next I started tackling how to cover the little hurdy gurdy.  This was causing me some dilemma in that you cannot just purchase a box and stick the thing in it.  You have to build a box around it, and especially the little crank that turns the mechanism to play the music.  I always hope that my finished product doesn't look labored over, but this certainly was.

First I had to cut cardboard pieces and one with a hole in exactly the right place for the crank to fit through.  Then I glued all the edges together and hoped they'd stay glued.  Its like a card house that you'd try to preserve.  This also had to be stable enough to withstand an outer covering of scrapbooking paper and more glue.  I spent some time on the 32 Degrees North's website looking for the perfect Dresden trims and only used a fraction of what I purchased.  The top would have a little framed picture of something related to the Twelve Days theme.  I wanted a partridge in a pair tree and ended up severely cropping an image I found on a engine search.  The full picture is below (the one with the bunnies under the tree), along with some other delightful contemporary images.  All of these with their bright colors were my inspiration.  I think you can see how I would make the connection with the illustrators of Alice books.  Each style is completely unique and dear in its own way.

The strap was a nuisance to figure out, too.  But, its basically two very long gold head pins positioned through the gold leather ends and shoved below the first layer of cardboard.  The length of the pins adds stability.  It works.  People make ornaments this way.

And, speaking of ornaments, I went on a long search for a little drum ornament to use as a symbol of the twelve drummers drumming.  Theodora needed a little drum to go with her tricorn hat.  I actually bought several that were too large and too heavy, so I made one myself.  Isn't this usually the case with me?

Go ahead and try it!  Here's what you need.  The cardboard roll from a roll of craft ribbon.  Pull off the top and bottom and you have a nice little drum.  Trace around the inside of the drum twice on cardboard and you have the top and bottom of the drum.  Glue these circles just below the edge of the drum.  Cover all pieces with scrapbooking paper and decorate as you please.  The drum sticks were knob topped craft wood pieces I found at Michael's, which I shortened and painted gold.  Understand that I studied a lot of drum ornaments to get this look.  The strap on the drum is pinned too, but glued in place and not removable.

Part of the look was also positioning these musical instruments on the doll to create a lifelike look and wear well.  The drum needed to be slung across her body, like a cross-body purse.  Soldier drummers wore their drums this way as the drums were often heavy and this gave them more freedom of movement.  So when Theodora has played her music to the audience on one street corner, she can drum a little beat as she carries on to the next spot to entertain.

Finally we come to the tricorn hat.  No, this was not my first design for a head piece.  I'd purchased some miniature holy on wire and was going to add red berries.  But, once I sat the holy on her head and noticed how it pulled at the hair of the wig, I ditched that idea.  I'd bought a human hair wig and separated each curl into two, and there was no way I was going to ruin this pretty wig.  Besides, the piper in the fabric print was wearing a green tricorn, and I just had to try making one.

Essentially, a tricorn is a wide brimmed hat that is pinched in the front and folded up in the back.  Traditionally made of wool felt, these hats are fabulous.  However, I have never mastered or figured out how to work with wool this way, washing it, steam and block molding it and all that nonsense.  So I made one of buckram and cotton velveteen.  The brim has hat wire sewn onto the edge to shape it.  Lots of tiny stitches went into making this tricorn, and I swear I just plodded along hoping for the best outcome as always.  But, when I finished lining the crown of the hat and pinched and folded up the wired edges, a tricorn was born.  I do not know any other way to make this hat, but if you had a doll hat already, one that had a nice brim, you could play with it some to make your own tricorn by tacking up the fold and pinch with buttons and thread.  (I saw that done on a YouTube.)

I love Theodora.  I was a little bit sad to give her up, but she's a Christmas present and Santa delivers.

I know exactly what I want to tackle next and hope to begin tomorrow (December 6th).  I'm writing this early and will post it after the doll's been received and the box opened.  Can't make it a surprise otherwise.

I do not think my next project will be done by Christmas, so this will most likely be the only post for December.  This year I'm celebrating two Christmases.  One on December 25th, and Russian Christmas on January 7th, to celebrate with my Russian friends who I know through their work with Little Darling.  Given that, I get TWO Twelve Days of Christmases to enjoy.  In the meantime I get to figure out how to maneuver through Jacquie Lawson's new Cotswold Advent calendar, build fires in the fireplace at night, go cross country skiing when the snow falls at 5,000 ft., and tuck in reading great books.

Wishing you all the most wonderful and precious holiday season ever!

Merry Christmas!
Melissa