Antique Dutch Doll House of Petronella Dunois - Close Up Views

Here are close up views of the rooms of the doll house Petronella Dunois had made c. 1676, one year before her wedding in 1677. Of note are the silver miniatures in the kitchen. The Dutch are renowned as silversmiths.



The little figures of people in the doll house are dressed in fabrics and authentic costumes of the day. Doll houses at this time were for the wife of the house to play with and display to her lady visitor, rather than for children to play with.

This doll house is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Resource information - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Article and photo credit Susan Kramer.

Antique Dutch Doll House of Petronella Dunois - Attic Laundry Room

Here are close up views of some of the rooms of the doll house Petronella Dunois had made c. 1676, one year before her wedding in 1677. Of note are the silver miniatures in the kitchen. The Dutch are renowned as silversmiths.



I particularly enjoy looking at the details in the laundry room on the top floor. Even today in many houses in Holland the laundry is hung to dry near the ceiling on the top floor. At this time in history it was laid over wooden dowels.

This doll house is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Resource information - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Article and photo credit Susan Kramer

Antique Dutch Doll House of Petronella Dunois

Petronella Dunois had this doll house put together c. 1676, one year before her wedding in 1677. Of note are the silver miniatures in the kitchen. The Dutch are renowned as silversmiths.

The doll house is made like a cabinet and is as tall as an adult.



Doll houses in the 17th century were not made for children to play with - they were the hobby of the lady of the house.

This doll house is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Resource information - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Article and photo credit Susan Kramer

Wooden Dolls from Poland

These six-inch tall wooden dolls were made in Poland in the 1970s.

Their bodies, arms and legs are made of wood. They can be posed and stand on their own.



I like the hand-painted expressions with eyes looking to the side and long hand-painted eyelashes.

Their soft hair wigs are glued on, and their costumes are cotton material with braid trim.

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Article and photo credit Susan Kramer

Doll Making for Charity

I'd like to suggest that if you spend time making doll clothes, anyway, that you collect a few dolls from friends and neighbors and sew a wardrobe or a complete outfit for each doll. Then donate the doll in the completed outfit to a charity that distributes used dolls and toys to kids that otherwise would not have any.

When I was a little girl, nothing brightened up my face more than my mother making me a new outfit for my doll.



Other sources to find used dolls to fix up and dress up are yard and garage sales. And lots of churches have annual rummage sales of used clothing and toys, including dolls.

In fact, used clothing can be cut up to make a dress or pants and shirt for a doll. Also, save the trims off old clothes headed for the ragbag - they can dress up an outfit nicely!

Whenever you have a spare moment rummage through all the old clothes in your closet and those of your family members. The clothes that are not quite good enough to be used by someone else as they are, are just the clothes I'm talking about to be cut up for doll clothes.

I've found so many nice trims for doll outfits this way, also. When you cut off a piece of lace or decorative trim, include half an inch of the fabric alongside the length also. This gives you a ready made seam allowance for your new outfit.

When you get together a big heap of odds and ends and pieces you are ready to mix and match for your new doll making outfits. An advantage to using used clothing is it is preshrunk.

It would be really nice if you have the pieces of fabric to make a small quilt or blanket to wrap each rehabilitated doll in before passing on. You can easily make a small blanket by folding a pillowcase in half and stitching around the edges. They run a few lines of stitches across the surface from corner to corner and some lines from top to bottom to keep the layers of the blanket in place.

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Now let me ask you - is there any nice feeling than being able to brighten the face of a child through your doll making projects?!

Article and photo of slim 18 inch Magic Attic doll by Susan Kramer

Costume of a Woman from Java

This photo is from an exhibit at Madurodam, The Hague, in The Netherlands. Here we see a woman vendor in the street on the island of Java, Indonesia, who is selling what she has made. In this case it is sirih, with the main ingredient being betel leaves, which people like to chew.



Indonesia declared its independence from the Dutch in 1945. The dress and scene portrayed are typical of the time before 1986.

Note the earthy tones of the woman's clothing - rich burgundy and oranges offset the unbleached color material in a plaid-like pattern of the wrapped skirt and plain bodice.

If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.

Article and photo credit Susan Kramer

Ballet Costume from 1954

This is me in 1954, 7 years old, in my recital ballet costume. My dance teacher was Adelaide Molter in Severna Park, Maryland.

I thought you'd enjoy seeing this costume with the tutu portion made of tulle, which is a softer form of the nylon netting that we have today. Because it doesn't have the stiffness of nylon net it is much fuller in volume.

The bodice is a stiff form of velvet, though I don't know what it is called. Perhaps a reader will comment and let us know?

The plastic headband is covered with starched cotton roses.

And, this is still before pink tights became the standard - hence the white socks with black leather ballet slippers.



If you need help with sewing techniques for dolls and costumes I recommend consulting my book.