I’m supposed to be working on my American Girl Doll Civil war projects, but I THINK I’m changing course to the Regency period. I NEED a new winter cloak and muff. Everyone in the costume blogsphere has been having such FUN at the Costume Accessories Symposium at Williamsburg that I just couldn’t do it. And ‘Clear out the stash’ projects are intrinsically virtuous, right? And I’d been meaning to make a muff for my Americn Girl doll for AGES.
And then after the blog Time Traveling in Costume went and posted that AMAZING description of the muff-making workshop, things just sort of felt as if they were MEANT. And if you’re making a muff, you need a matching cape, right?
Something like this?
I pulled out trusty Vogue 7923 and cut it down a little to match the dimensions of my fabric remnant – and sewed the cape out of my new green cotton velveteen (with all the wretched purple piling stripped off) with Spotlight’s best gold polyester crepe for the lining (I had to go and buy that. And then go and buy it again when the first lot seized up into matte plastic immobility when I steamed it. Sometimes I really don’t appreciate living so far from a decent fabric store!)
For the muff – white muslin and fibrefill stuffing.
And for the muff covering – a strip of gold silk, some 3mm silk ribbons, a few roccoco-ish pieces of trim and –
C’est voila, n’est c’ pas, como no? A lovely winter cloak and a matching muff. Que piensas?
Also naturally, one muff wasn’t nearly enough, so I made another –
I really loved the muff that the Time Traveler made for herself with all that rococo braid, but patterns that look lovely at full scale just don’t translate to a doll 18 inches high.
So I threw out my preconceptions, dug out the silk ribbons and made this instead.
And it feels very swish indeed! My goodness, I think I need a pair of mitts next!
