You may be wondering why I would write a blog about a book that hasn’t even been written yet. At the moment, it is still in the concept/outline stage, but hopefully, this blog will help me focus my energies and encourage me to keep going until it is finished. As I continue to research the characters and locations in the story, I will periodically add interesting tidbits of information that I come across to the website. My inspiration for A Tale of Two Hittys came from an episode in the book Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field. Some time after the Civil War, one of Hitty’s many owners…
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Tutorial: Hitty’s Sunbonnet
This pattern was inspired by Ancestor Hitty’s antique sunbonnet in the Stockbridge Library Museum. I have created a replica of the fabric, but any lightweight cotton fabric will work. You can purchase Hitty’s Sunbonnet fabric in my Spoonflower store, Designs by Frendi, and an 8” swatch is large enough to make two bonnets. I recommend making a trial bonnet with practice fabric before you cut out the custom printed fabric. Click here to download Hitty’s Sunbonnet Pattern! The original bonnet was quilted. This pattern uses lightweight fusible interfacing instead, to get the stiffness in the brim without the extra bulk. Measure your Hitty’s head to see whether you need the…
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The Ginger Club
Kitty often gets together with some of her friends who like to cook. They share recipes and take turns hosting. And by coincidence, all of them have ginger (red) hair, so they named themselves “The Ginger Club.” Today is special, because the girls are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. They are also welcoming a new member, Kelsey, who recently moved to Maine. The girls gather in Kelsey’s new home for the meeting. Maeve gives Kelsey a housewarming gift. It is a treasured piece of heirloom Irish crochet lace made into a table runner. Here is a closeup of the lace. The thread is crocheted into intricate roses and pinwheel shapes. Kitty…
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Restoring Kitty
My antique doll, Kitty, had a unique experience when she was scanned by a CT scanner for the Virtual Kitty project (see Virtual Kitty). Unfortunately, the anti-glare spray used for the scan left a white haze on her face. Here is a photo of Kitty before and after scanning. I had trouble removing the haze. Finally, I decided to use “Mr. Super Clear,” which has a solvent that was able to dissolve the haze, leaving most of her face paint intact. But it also loosened the glue holding her shoulderhead onto the body. This was the push I needed to do a full makeover of Kitty. To practice techniques, I…
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Georgina’s Makeover
Georgina is a 7.5” tall antique wax-over paper mache doll with glass eyes. Her arms and legs are carved from wood. But her most amazing feature is her feet, which look a lot like Hitty’s and Kitty’s. It’s my guess that all three dolls were made around the same time, since the style is so similar. I named her Georgina after Georgina Hogarth, sister-in-law of Charles Dickens and Mekitty’s Great Aunt. Restoring Georgina When I purchased Georgina on ebay, she was in frightful condition. The area surrounding her glass eyes had lost its coating of plaster, resulting in a scary, wide-eyed look. Her face was dirty, and she had a…
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Virtual Kitty
You may be wondering what “Virtual Kitty” means. Compared to the original, physical doll, which you can touch and see, a virtual doll only exists as digital bits in a computer file. So why would I want to create a doll that doesn’t even exist in the real world? Because a virtual doll is the first step towards my ultimate goal of making the fictional version of Kitty a reality. I love my antique Kitty doll (see Meet Kitty), who inspired A Tale of Two Hittys. I really enjoy dressing her and taking photos of her with my other dolls, but her fragile nature means that I have to be…
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Tutorial: A Visit from St. Nick
The American poem known as, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” turns 200 years old on December 23rd. The poem first appeared anonymously in an issue of the Troy Sentinel, a New York newspaper. Fourteen years later, Clement Clarke Moore claimed that he had written the poem for his children. A family friend visiting from upstate New York, where the Troy Sentinel was published, heard the poem and submitted it to the newspaper without his knowledge. I thought my dolls would like their own copy of the poem, so I found the original newspaper on the Troy Public Library website and made a miniature version. I removed some columns and enlarged…
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Sharleen’s Field Trip
Recently, Kitty Friend Sharleen’s class took a trip to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, TX. Sharleen was particularly interested in the dinosaurs and other fossils. Here are some highlights from her trip. Sharleen is standing next to two dinosaur skulls. One is a carnivore (meat-eater), and one is a herbivore (plant-eater). Do you know how to tell the difference? Look at their skulls. In the illustration below, notice that the carnivore cuts and slices food when chewing, like a pair of scissors. The herbivore clamps down on plant matter, like a pair of pliers, grinding and crushing food with a side-to-side motion. This lumpy rock contains…
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Tutorial: Tiny Crochet Lace
Those of us who sew for Hitty are aware of the difficulty of finding tiny trims and lace in the right scale. Purchased trim often looks too big and bulky. When we do find something tiny enough to use, there is rarely an option for any color other than white. This crocheted lace pattern makes great trim for doll clothing. It is very versatile: you can experiment with the hook and thread sizes for different results. Try making cute collars, as well as trim for dresses and petticoats. Download the Tiny Crochet Lace Pattern Here! Many thanks to the Hitty & Friends Facebook group members (Shelia B.W., Penny G., Sue…
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Hitty’s Library Dress
For the past few years, Ancestor Hitty has been displayed at the Stockbridge Library Museum wearing a copy of her original sprig print dress. This dress, also known as the “daguerreotype dress,” was the one Hitty wore when she posed for her daguerreotype photo. The original daguerreotype dress has shredded in several places, and it has been stabilized and put on display next to Hitty. But where is her dark red dress with oval blossoms, often referred to by Hitty admirers as “the library dress?” When I contacted a curator at the Stockbridge Library, I was told that they could not locate the dress. Furthermore, their records did not contain…
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Hitty Dimensions
The original Hitty doll, also known as “Ancestor Hitty,” is a one-of-a-kind creation. Many of us wish we could have an exact copy, and the only way to do that is with accurate measurements. Keep reading to find out how I made a comprehensive list of Ancestor Hitty’s dimensions. Download Ancestor Hitty Doll Dimensions Download Photos of Perfume Hitty Of all the artists who have created Hitty dolls, only woodcarver Michael Langton made exact copies. Michael Langton began carving in 1972, but his big break came in 1979, when he carved a wooden doll for the movie On Golden Pond. He discovered a way to create resin copies of the…
