My "Circle Me In Dresses" Victorian Wool Felt Penny Rug Dresses Picture Free E-Pattern

As mentioned in a previous post back in 2010 I decided I wanted to try needle felting and penny rug felting with wool felt as it seemed like everyone was having so much fun with it that year. I don't mean wet needle felting where you are actually creating a needle felted object from the wet felt. I'm just not that adventuresome!

Penny rug felting involves using pieces of wool felt hand-sewn in a decorative pattern using a blanket stitch or other embroidered stitch to create a miniature rug that is hung as a decoration or used as a table-mat.

Needle felting is similar to penny rug felting only it also includes using roving that is punched into the wool felt to create part of the decoration. Decorative pieces created of this nature are usually primitive in design and created for a primitive decor.

For needle felting you take a piece of wool felt and place it over a needle felt mat. Then you take a bunch of the roving and using the needle felt tool you keep punching the roving into the wool felt piece until you get the desired effect that you want.

Wool penny rugs started out as coin shaped decorations stitched together from scraps of fabric.

According to Wikipedia.com: In the 1800's, starting around the time of the Civil War, thrifty homemakers would use scraps of wool or felted wool from old clothing, blankets and hats to create designs for mats or rugs. Using coins as templates, they created circles and each piece was then stitched in blanket stitch fashion. (Thus, the name "penny" rug). Sometimes, the mats or rugs were backed with old burlap bags or feed sacks. Sometimes a penny was stitched inside the mat to make it lie flat.

Penny rugs and needle felted wool decorations are very popular with the "primitive" home decorating community.  They are no longer rugs for the floors but have developed into all sorts of decorations for ones home.

My Victorian Wool Felt Embroidered & Embellished Dress Ornament Free Combo E-Patterns

How can you not love a combination of everything and anything Victorian and crafting with wool felt. Not sure you can. At least I can't...lol

After creating 9 handmade Victorian wool felt dress ornaments that I embroidered and embellished with beads, ribbons, and lace trim decorations I decided to create Victorian wool felt dress free e-patterns for so you could create some of your own.

Recently I decided to create three 6 in 1 Victorian wool felt dress free e-patterns so you could create multiple combinations of my Victorian dresses.  I hoe you enjoy creating your own wool felt Victorian dress ornaments.

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"Black Elegance Belles, Green With Envy Belles and Waltz Thru The Pink Night Belles" Free Combo E-Pattern #1

I love dresses of every kind, shape and size.  I especially love Victorian dresses and thought it would be fun to make some Victorian dress ornaments out of wool felt.

If you love making dresses, too then you're going to love our wool felt Victorian embroidered and embellished dress ornament s6 in 1 combo free e-pattern.

6 in 1"Black Elegance Belles, Green With Envy Belles and Waltz Thru The Pink Night Belles" Wool Felt Victorian Embroidered And Embellished Dress Ornaments Combo E-Pattern- 38 Pages

Wool Felt Victorian Embroidered & Embellished Dress Ornaments Free E-Patterns

I just LOVE creating with wool felt. Whether it's an ornament, a pillow, a wall-hanging, a doll or a penny rug - I just LOVE it.

I was introduced to penny rugs during a shopping trip with my Mom to Sturbridge many, many years ago. There were several wonderful primitives shops out there that we liked to visit who carried primitive doll kits, wool felt kits, punch-needle kits, and penny rug kits.

One store in particular specialized in wool fabric. And, boy, did they have wool fabric. Some of the most beautiful wool fabric you'd ever want to see. And, boy, was it EXPENSIVE.

This store, in particular, would put together wool fabric bundles, maybe 10-15 wool pieces per bundle. I just loved looking at the color combination's and would imagine what I could make out of them. Then, my Mother would snap me back to reality by turning the price tag over. YIKES! Beautiful wool is expensive. Alas, all I could do was dream and save my pennies.

During the last couple of years there was also a store out there that we liked to visit that put together penny rug kits. It, too, is no longer there. However, during our last visit I bought several penny rug wool kits and, finally, had a chance to put some of them together during the summer  of 2010.  That's when I developed a love for penny rugs. I was already in love with wool felt as I had been using it for my doll and animal crafts for years and this was a new craft I could try.

That new craft turned into a love of penny rugs and wool felt.  Not only do I love penny rugs and wool felt but I also love everything and anything Victorian and love it when I can combine a love for Victorian dresses with a love for crafting with wool felt. Such was the case when I was designing and making handmade Victorian wool felt ornaments with embroidery and embellishments.

After creating nine handmade Victorian wool felt dress ornaments that I embroidered and embellished with beads, ribbons, and lace trim decorations I decided to create Victorian wool felt dress ornaments e-patterns for all of them so you could create some of your own.  I hope you enjoy creating your Victorian embroidered and embellished dress ornaments as much as I did and fall in love with penny rugs and wool felt.

My Victorian Miniature Dress Ornaments Free E-Patterns

I have been in love with beautiful little girl dresses my whole life. I have to blame my grandmother "Dee" for this as she used to buy me the most beautiful little girl dresses. They were frilly, flouncy, lacy, filled with tulle underskirt dresses and I just loved them. I could stand and look for hours at my dresses.  The dresses I loved - the tulle not so much!

I, of course, wasn't allowed to touch them - I'd get them dirty. They were for our best occasions which I was hoping would be that day or the next day just so I could wear the dresses. Inevitably, a holiday or special occasion would occur and I would get to wear one of my dresses.

I'd tell my mother I just wanted to put them on for a few minutes.  Truth be told I wanted to put them on and just twirl around and around and watch them poof out!

I could just twirl and twirl and twirl in them. Around and around I'd go.  Until I got dizzy and fell down and, you guessed it, the dresses would get dirty.

My mother always knew I'd get the dresses dirty and then she'd have to wash and iron them before the special occasion I might be wearing them to so she always said "no."

I never understood then why she'd say "no."  I do now, but didn't back then so I'd pout for the rest of the day.

In our family room we had some steps right next to a sofa. When I was wearing one of these dresses I would love to stand on the steps and then jump down into the sofa.

As I did my dress would fly up in the air like a parachute and then come landing down on me.  I loved it and thought this was a lot of fun!

Of course, everyone could see my frilly underwear, leotards, slip, etc. when I did this - but, only for the briefest of moments.

My Grandmother would "tsk, tsk" and would give me one of those looks of "that's not a lady like thing to do!" I'd just look back at her and smile. I just had to be me.

And, then I'd look over at my Mother and she'd be smiling. She knew I just had to be me, too.

My Grandmother was born in 1896 and she definitely had a closet of beautiful Victorian dresses when she was growing up, like the one shown in the picture to the right.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 1975.

While she is not here with me now she left an indelible impression on me, my life, and my creativity. She is largely responsible for my love of Victorian dresses.

When I was knee-high she gave me a very old print of Godey's Fashions for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie (the first female in my family to graduate from college). I was captivated with the dresses and forever hooked. That was the start of my love of Victorian dresses.

When I was designing some of my doll patterns I decided I wanted to design some Victorian dress ornaments.  I thought they would be cute and could be hung up as decorations for most of the year.

What's Fair Is Fair! What About Me! It's All About "Debra!"

In my household you can't showcase any one particular doll without causing some kind of resentment by another doll.

This time my "Debra", you know the pain in the...., doll that I created and named after my baby sister was annoyed by yesterday's post about "My Favorite Victorian Doll."

She feels that if I'm going to mention her that I should at least show some pictures of her, too.

Well, I really can't come up with a rationale for not doing so. She is right. I did mention her in my post and I probably should have shown some pictures.

So, to appease "Debra" I'll give in and post about her here. You know, it seems to me that I used to have to appease my baby sister a lot, too. Boy, Debra really is like her namesake.

So, here we go. It's all about "Debra."

“Debra”is named after my baby sister. She is a 27” free-standing faceless Victorian doll that I designed for my "other Victorians" e-patterns and is wearing a 1853 walking dress.

Grandma Aurora May and Grandpa Lewis - On An Expedition!

A little while ago I asked the readers of my Linda's blog what kind of dolls they would like to see me design. Well, one of the responses was to design a "Grandmother and Grandfather" couple. I liked that idea and decided to make my Grandparents a Victorian couple.

I also decided that my "Grandma and Grandpa" couple should have marvelous gray hair so they could join the "Gray Is Beautiful" series of dolls. Of course, I had to ask all the "Gray Is Beautiful" dolls if this was okay with them. They thought about it for awhile and then told me they would be thrilled to have new members to their exclusive club. So, "Grandma Aurora May and Grandpa Lewis" were born and became the newest members of the "Gray Is Beautiful" series of dolls.

"Grandma Aura May - On An Expedition!" is ready to go. She's been ready for over a year and is anxious to get started on her expedition with "Grandpa Lewis - On An Expedition!"

"Grandpa Lewis - On An Expedition!" isn't as anxious to go. He loves to please his wife, but is really more of a homebody and would prefer to stay home working on his coin and stamp collections.

Grandma Aurora May loves a good adventure and loves finding new places and new venues to explore. She'd rather spend all day looking for a great site for a picnic and always looks forward to their annual expedition to the beach.

Her main reason is that she loves to spend time with her grandchildren and loves cooking for them.

It's not that Grandpa Lewis doesn't love his grandchildren - he adores them. It's just he doesn't have a lot of patience for his grand children's boundless energy and "ants in their pants" inability to sit still. After one day at the beach with the grandchildren he's ready to go home.

Grandma Aurora May tells him to lighten up a bit. That's the way children are. Full of energy. Exploring everything. What's wrong with that?

Well, Grandpa Lewis doesn't mind enthusiasm and willingness to learn. He just can't stand little idle hands playing with the cherished coins in his coin collection and touching all the stamps in his stamp collection.

And he can't leave his collections at home while he's on a three month expedition to the beach. He'd go stir crazy without something to keep him occupied all that time.

Grandma Aurora May really does understand her husband and knows that she has to keep him happy or their won't be anymore expeditions to the beach. And, that she wouldn't be happy about. So, each and every year she tells the grandchildren that Grandpa Lewis's stamp and coin collections are off limits. Most of the time the grandchildren listen. Sometimes, however, there are those idle hands.......

A Mouse Brother and Sister - "Keep Me Squeaking, Phebe!" and "Stop Mousing Around, Reginald!" - Handmade Victorian Mouse Dolls

"Keep Me Squeaking, Phebe!" is hoping that her life long friendship with "Barely Victorian, Deb!" will guarantee membership for herself and her brother, "Stop Mousing Around, Reginald!" into the new Victorian Tea Society started by "Bearly Victorian, Ryan!" and his wife "Bearly Victorian, Deb!" She's got her fingers and tail crossed.

"Bearly Victorian, Ryan" and his wife, "Bearly Victorian, Deb!" decided to start their own "Victorian Animals Tea Society" for all their wonderful Victorian animal friends because they had been turned down for membership into the posh "Victoriana High Society Tea Club."

Their club would truly have an open membership and be accepting of all individuals and creatures. None of this "open to all", but really closed to animals rules. So what if Ryan and Deb were bears. They were still Victorian to the core. In fact, their lineage was probably older then some of the snooty Victorians who turned down their membership application.

"Keep Me Squeaking, Phebe!" knows that her lineage is of the highest so she and her brother should have no problem getting accepted. Plus, well - you know, she had that life long in with Deb. They're BFF's and tight as mice. Or should we say, tight as mice and bears!

"Keep Me Squeaking, Phebe!" is regal and Victorian to the core, but she has a little bit of an imp in here and just loves a good laugh. Or, in her case, a good squeak! While ball room dancing she has been known to belt out several squeaks or two or even three of laughter. She just loves to dance, and twirl, and laugh, and squeak.

Her brother, "Stop Mousing Around, Reginald!" is much more serious. Much more studious. He is every bit the proper Victorian gentleman. He has a high IQ, great style and pizazz, and is well behaved. It's not that he doesn't like a good laugh like his sister, Phebe. It's just that he feels there are some things you can do in the privacy of your own home and some things you can't. Squeaking is one of those things that belongs at home. Not when attending the finest social gatherings.

However, he adores his sister, Phebe and can't help but chuckle every time he hears her delightful squeak. He loves when she is enjoying herself, but just wishes she were a little quieter about it.

Taking One Day At A Time - A Pair of Victorian Dogs - "Best Dog In Class, Granny Esther!" and "I'm A The Best Papa, Pepper!"

"Best Dog In Class, Granny Esther!" takes life one day at a time and wasn't too concerned about getting an invitation to the "Victorian Animals Tea Society" from "Bearly Victorian, Ryan" and his wife, "Bearly Victorian, Deb!" She knew that eventually it would come, so why get yourself all in a tither until it does?

When she was younger she may have worried about such things, but aging has mellowed Granny Esther. She much prefers spending her time reading, watching her Grandchildren, sewing, and just plain enjoying life than worrying about memberships to tea societies.

She can understand why "Bearly Victorian, Ryan" and his wife, "Bearly Victorian, Deb!" set-up their own tea society. She was young once and would of done the same thing. Now, memberships just weren't that important to her. Good health, love of family, love of life. Now those are important issues.

Granny Esther had no doubt that she and her husband, "I'm The Best Papa, Pepper!" would be invited to join as their families had been at the top of the social circle for generations. They were show dogs after all and had well established pedigree lines. The finest of the fine. In fact, Granny Esther had won "Best Dog In Class!" for so long that she had lost count. And, her husband, "I'm The Best Papa, Pepper!" had been Father of the Year for so long he had lost count.

However, both had aged ever so gracefully and time had been kind to them. For that they were grateful. They were both proud of who they were, proud of their families, proud of their friends.

But, they also knew that each and every moment they had together was precious and that there wasn't anything better than a quiet romp in the woods holding each others hand or sitting on the porch enjoying a glass of lemonade. Yes, time had mellowed both "Best Dog In Class, Granny Esther!" and her husband, "I'm The Best Papa, Pepper!"

A Sleek But Refined Husband and Wife - "Come Here William Augustus" and "I Love Mrs. Buzz, Michelle!" - Victorian Cat Dolls

"I Love Mrs. Buzz, Michelle!" could hardly wait to tell her husband, "Come Here, William Augustus!" that they had gotten the much anticipated email from "Bearly Victorian, Ryan" and his wife, "Bearly Victorian, Deb!"

You see, "Bearly Victorian, Ryan" and his wife, "Bearly Victorian, Deb!" had decided to start their own "Victorian Animals Tea Society" for all their wonderful Victorian animal friends because they had been turned down for membership into the posh "Victoriana High Society Tea Club."

Their club would truly have an open membership and be accepting of all individuals and creatures. None of this "open to all", but really closed to animals rules. So what if Ryan and Deb were bears. They were still Victorian to the core. In fact, their lineage was probably older then some of the snooty Victorians who turned down their membership application. So, the "Victorian Animals Tea Society" was born and "I Love Mrs. Buzz, Michelle!" was anxiously awaiting her membership email.

She had no doubt that she and her husband, "Come Here, William Augustus!" would be invited to join as their families had been at the top of the social circle for generations. They were, cats, after all and highly prized for their poise, elegance, tenacity, and grace.

The French Doll Fashion Collection At The MET

If you follow my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog you know that I just LOVE the Victorian Era, love history, and love to do research. In doing all of that I ran across the Metropolitan Museum of Art website the other day and fell in love with their collections, the ability to see everything they have in their collections, and the ability to set-up my own "My Met" space to bookmark items at the MET that I love.

Well, while "Moseying At The MET!" last week I came across items from their French Doll Fashion Collection and fell in love with them.  Now all you have to know as to why I would fall in LOVE with them is they have to do with dolls and have to do with the fashions of the Victorian Era and periods before and after that.

They are in fact a collection of fashion dolls displaying French fashions from 1715 until 1906.  There seems to be 42 dolls in the collection and they give you a wonderful picture of the way French fashion has changed through the ages.

Each of the doll pages has information of the fashion year the doll was created for, fashion designer who created it, date created, culture, medium, dimensions, credit line, and accession number. They also include a description containing information on the collection and information on the dolls design.

For example,  the 1715 doll shown in the picture above and at the top of this post had the following descriptive information on her design: The inspiration for this dress came from the painting L'Enseigne de Gersaint by Watteau. Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was best known for inventing the fete galante, a genre characterized by outdoor parties and bucolic scenes in idyllic settings. L'Enseigne de Gersaint was actually completed in 1720, five years after the date of the Rochas design. Watteau created this work for his friend and art dealer, Gersaint's shop, where it is believed to have hung in the window as a sign. This painting, in addition to being an interesting study of everyday life in an art dealer's shop, is an excellent example of the famous "Watteau pleats". The fashionable women in Watteau's fete gallants were so often depicted wearing this style, that they became known as Watteau pleats.

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art the reason for the collection was as follows: - In 1947, in response to the suffering of post-World War II France, an American grassroots campaign organized a large-scale relief package. The following year France, moved by this generosity, organized a gift in kind. As the aide was sent to France housed in boxcars and dubbed the "American Friendship Train" the French created the "Gratitude" or "Merci Train", a set of 49 boxcars filled with gifts of thanks. Each of the 48 states was to receive a boxcar with the 49th shared between Washington D.C., and the Territory of Hawaii, which had contributed sugar on the Friendship Train. A wide array of items was included in these cars, from handmade children's toys to priceless works of art.

The Chambre Syndicale de la Couture de Parisienne, who, to raise money for the French people, had two years prior organized the Theatre de la Mode, a group of fashion dolls dressed in clothing from the 1947 couture collections, chose to create a new set of fashion dolls, this time representing the evolution of French fashion rather than the current season. Once again, the Syndicat tapped the most talented and well-known fashion designers, hairstylists, and accessory designers of the time to create these miniature masterpieces.

The unique design of the fashion doll, originally created for Theatre de la Mode and used again for the Gratitude Train was conceived by Eileen Bonabel, the plaster head by the artist Rebull. Each doll measures approximately 24 inches tall, with bodies made entirely of open wire. Human hair was used to fashion the hairstyles. Each designer chose a year between 1715 and 1906 for which to dress his doll. Their varying sources of inspiration included works of art, literature, and historic fashion plates. The Gratitude Train fashion dolls represent a unique moment in the history of couture as they represent not only creative interpretations of historic fashions by the greatest designers of the period, but also are infused with the unparalleled skill, care, and attention to detail that would have been applied in their full-size counterparts.

I would have to agree with the MET, but would add that viewing this collection in it's entirety would be visual eye-candy for anyone who loves the fashions of those periods.

The collection is not on display so, of course, I set-up a French Fashion Doll Collection Page and a set collection in My MET so I could view all the dolls in the collection at any time.  And, if I wanted to read more on any particular design all I would need to do is click on the image for that doll's page at the MET.  How great is that?  I LOVE it.

Both of my pages are shown below:

My Pinterest Page - French Fashion Doll Collection 

My MET - The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Set Items - Historical Fashion Dolls

I can't quite decide which is my favorite doll of the collection as of yet.  I have to read through all the descriptions first and then maybe I'll decide.   Or, I'll never decide and just enjoy each of the dolls for her beauty and the attention to detail on her amazing costume.

I hope you enjoy the collection as much as I do.

I LOVE Victorian Dresses

It's no secret that I LOVE Victorian dresses. So it should come as now surprise that I've got A "Victorian Fashions" board on my Pinterest page.  In fact there's quite a few boards over there that have to do with my love of the Victorian Era and Victorian Fashions.

In finding pins for my "Victorian Fashions" board I happened to stumble across the Metropolitan Museum of Art which has an astonishing collection of Victorian Fashions. It took me close to an hour to go through all the wonderful fashions and, of course, to pin most of them to my board. If you've been following my blog you know I haven't found any Victorian dress I haven't liked.

I also found two Victorian fashion websites that sell fashions from the Victorian era. These included "Maggie May's Historic Clothing" and the "Antique and Vintage Clothing" website.

According to the "Maggie May's Historic Clothing website they sell "Custom and Ready-made garments for the museum, exhibit, and film industry since 1994 featuring historically documented fabrics drawn from museum collections across the United States and Europe!"

According to the "Antique and Vintage Clothing" website they sell "Original Antique and Vintage Clothing for Sale from the 1800's through Today!" What I really liked about the "Antique and Vintage Clothing" website is they had a ton (and I do mean ton) of close-up pictures for each dress. If you click on any of the images I have from their on my board you'll see what I mean.

I also have a few images from the Philadelphia Museum of Art from several of their "Costume and Textiles" collections.

I also found an Etsy shop "Christine Hall Designs" which sells beautifully custom made Victorian dresses.

I just love going to my board and looking at all the beautiful and historic creations. If Pinterest.com is all about the visual then, hopefully, you'll enjoy your visual visit to my board as much as I do.

There are a few dress that aren't technically "Victorian Era" which was during the reign of Queen Victoria and which ran from June 20, 1837 until January 22, 1901. They pre-date that, but were so beautiful I had to include them. They're more American Colonial than Victorian.

I'm going to continue to add to my "Victorian Fashions" Pinterest.com board so be sure to stop by every once in awhile to see what I've added.

Victorian Fashions

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901. I for one am fascinated by Victorian Fashions and LOVE seeing them on display. Here's a few I'd LOVE to see.

If you love my Victorian Fashions board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.

A Wonderful Moseying At The MET!

I spent last weekend fascinated by pictures of beautiful Victorian dresses on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.  I had wanted to add some more Victorian dresses to my Victorian Dress Fashions page on Pinterest and figured that a museum website might be a good place to start.  So, I decided to go to the biggest museum in the U.S. the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

I would have loved to have physically visited the Met and seen these dresses, but they aren't on display right now and New York city is not a hop skip and a jump away.  So, I let my fingers do the walking or keying and spent several delightful hours just moseying through all their virtual displays.  I have to tell you that the amount of donated material is just astonishing.  I couldn't believe how many incredible Victorian dresses they have.  Hundreds upon hundreds.  All I could do was drool over them and think about what an astonishing display it would be to actually see them all in person.  Ah, one can dream.

The nice thing about the Met website is you can see all their collections whether they are currently on display or not.  Everything is cataloged and available online. You can even set up a "My Met" page where you can store and categorize your own MET favorites - which, of course, I did.  Of course, seeing beautiful creations is the optimum.  However, visiting the MET online is a close second.

While I was out there I quickly gathered that there were many, many dresses that might look Victorian, but actually aren't from that period which, of course, led me to a little research.  If you're a follower of my Linda's Blog you know how much I LOVE history and love researching.  My researching led me to several reference websites, several fashion websites, several museum websites, and so on.  I was in research heaven  which for me is like the next best thing to sliced bread.

What I learned was there are many, many periods to fashion and if you were to have a historic lineage display of the fashions throughout the years you'd be able to easily see how a Victorian dress might differ from an Edwardian or a Romantic period dress - even how the Victorian crinoline was different from the Victorian bustle dress.

It was a wonderful eye opener for me and benefited me in two ways.  One, I got to exercise my brain by learning something new and two, I got a lot of research material for my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog.  My Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog is a personal, ad free blog all about the Victorian era, their history, their traditions, and my feeble attempt to create some Victorian dolls of my own.

With all this new knowledge I decided that I'd like to write a series on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog about the different fashion periods and show you some of the astonishing Victorian dresses that you can see on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.  Not only do you get to see some of their Victorian dresses, but they provide you a little insight into the dress and a little history surrounding the fashion.  If you love Victorian dresses like I do you'll be in fashion heaven and be drooling over all the astonishing creations like I was.

I'll be sure to post on my Linda's Blog from time to time to let you know what's going on over on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog or you could bookmark it and check in from time to time yourself.

From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837–1877 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837–1877 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

My Victorian Fashions Pinterest Board and My Historic Periods Fashion Pinterest Board

One of the things I absolutely love about my Linda Walsh Pinterest boards is I can collect all the Victorian and Historic Periods fashions I love in one neatly organized place.

Well, now Pinterest has a wonderful widget that allows me to add a snippet of my two boards within a blog post or on the sidebar of my blog so I can easily share some of my boards with all of you here.

 Victorian Fashions

If you'd like to see more of my Victorian Fashions Pinterest board just click on the board above or CLICK HERE.

Historic Periods Fashions 

If you'd like to see more of my Historic Periods Fashions Pinterest board just click on the board above or CLICK HERE.

I added the Pinterest widget to the sidebar of my my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog. so you can visit my Victorian and Historic Periods Fashions boards whenever you visit my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog.

What A Surprise! My Crazy Quilt Purse Is Definitely VERY Victorian!

What is it they say?  "A little rain never hurt anyone!"  Well, that's true as far as I'm concerned as a little rain today allowed me extra time to finish my crazy quilt purse.

If you've been following along with the posts on my Linda's Blog you know that I've been taking my very first online class with Pat Winter on Artful Gathering. The class is called Crazy Quilting 101 and I have LOVED every minute of the class. Pat is such a fantastic teacher. I only wish I had taken one of her classes years ago.

My head is filled with all sorts of ideas for crazy quilting creations that I can make and, maybe, give as Xmas presents this year. Who knows! My head is spinning.

What I do know is that I LOVE crazy quilting and may have found a new passion.  And, that passion is very much up my Victorian passions alley.

Does that mean I'm giving up of dolls, Victorian fashions, silk florals, history and everything else I LOVE. Of course not! It just means I'm going to find a way to combine everything I love. That means I may be creating crazy quilting things related to Victorian dolls or florals.  Maybe a little genealogy? You never know.

I ended up lining and finishing with some addition iron-on interfacing added to the lining material as well.  So, both the lining pieces and the front and back pieces ended up with iron-on interfacing on them.  The front actually ended up with two iron-on interface pieces.

I'm also thinking that I'm going to sew two large snaps to the inside top of my purse to hold the top closed. That way no one can just reach in and steal my belongings. Not that I'd put anything in it worthy of stealing! Well, chapstick maybe!

I'm really pleased with the way my purse came out. Definitely looks Victorian which is certainly right up my alley. I may just have to keep my beautiful blue purse. I'm such a bad sister!

Historical Fashion Periods Timeline

Yesterday I posted an article entitled "A Wonderful Moseying At The MET!" concerning my preliminary research on the historical fashion periods and what I had learned.  Since I tend to like everything nice and neat and totally organized I decided the best way for me to try and understand the different fashion periods was to create a time line that I could update, change, and add to from time to time.

So, I created the following timeline that I've added to the sidebar of my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog .  This timeline is really for me to help me understand what periods the fashions I like might fall into when I see different styles.  I am far from and will never claim to be any kind of an expert on historical fashion periods.  My timeline is being included in my sidebar as a personal reference tool for me. Something I can learn from, something I can update, something changeable if incorrect, and something I can update from time to time.

HISTORICAL FASHION PERIODS

• 0476 A.D. - 1150 Dark Ages
• 1150 - 1485 Medieval, Gothic, Middle Ages
• 1485 - 1550 Renaissance
• 1558 - 1603 Elizabethean/Jacobean
• 1620 - 1660 Cavalier (Early Baroque)
• 1660 - 1715 Baroque Restoration - The Golden Age - Louis XIV
• 1715 - 1775 Rococo
• 1769 - 1821 Napoleonic Wars
• 1775 - 1795 NeoClassical
• 1790 - 1795 Revolution
• 1795 - 1815 Directorie/Empire
• 1800 - 1803 Classical Greek Dress
• 1800 - 1820 Regency Fashion
• 1800 - 1837 Georgian Era
• 1804 - 1807 Etruscan and Egyptian Ornament
• 1815 - 1848 Romantic
• 1837 - 1860 Early Victorian - Charles Worth Era
• 1837 - 1901 Victorian Era
• 1848 - 1870 Victorian Crinoline
• 1860 - 1882 Victorian First Bustle Era
• 1870 - 1890 Victorian Bustle
• 1870 to 1914 Fun De Siecle, Art Nouveau Movement
• 1883 - 1901 Late Victorian - Second Bustle Era, Gibson Girls, Naughty Nineties
• 1890 - 1913 Edwardian
• 1895 - 1914 La Belle Epogue, Lost Golden Age
• 1914 - 1918 WWI
• 1920 - 1930 Art Deco and Roaring Twenties
• 1930 - 1940 Golden Age of Hollywood - Rise of Chanel, Stylish Thirties
• 1930 - 1950 Hollywood Glamour Girls
• 1939 - 1945 WWII
• 1940 - 1960 Dior Revolution. The New Look Era, Hourglass Silhouette
• 1945 - 2000 Ready To Wear Fashion or Pret-a-Porter
• 1950 - 1960 Rock N Roll Era
• 1960 - 1975 Hippies, Flower Power, Baby Boom Generation, Op Art
• 1975 - 1980 Mini skirts, Twiggy, Disco Fever
• 1980 - 1990 New Romantics, Power Dressing, Yuppies,
• 1985 - 2000 Grunge, Deconstructionism, Minimalism, Purism, Bo Ho Hippy

Another Victorian Cross-Stitch Picture And It's Absolutely Wonderful!

I don't know if you remember or not, but last December I wrote a blog post entitled  "You Spent How Many Hours On That Cross-Stitch?" that talked about my spending over 250 hours on a cross-stitch picture. Back then you may have thought that 250 hours is a long time to spend on one project. Well, if I told you that I just spent 315 hours on another cross-stitch picture you might think I really have lost my mind.

I started this Dimensions Needlecrafts Counted Cross Stitch, In Her Gardenon December 29, 2010 and finally finished it on May 14, 2011. Hubby painstakingly documented my progress day by day so we'd have a detailed breakdown. I worked on this a few hours every day - every chance I got. I quickly learned that there were a lot of color changes due to all the flowers and, as a result, this was going to take a lot of time. And, for sure, it did.

So, was the 315 hours worth it? Absolutely! I'd do it again as the cross-stitch picture framed (shown in the picture above) is absolutely stunning.

To give you a little background on why I would create yet another massive cross-stitch picture I have to take you back to the rationale for my previous cross-stitch picture.  In July, 2010 I wrote a Linda's Blog post about my pressed flower pictures entitled "My Pressed Flower Pictures - Now That's A Great Idea!" In that post I told you about a large pressed flower picture I had made that was hanging in our master bedroom and, sadly, was fading which meant it needed to be replaced.

Well, my husband thought a needlepoint picture like the one I had done in the dining room but much bigger would be nice. I wrote about this needlepoint picture awhile ago in a Linda's Blog post entitled "Needlecraft Picture From A Decade Ago - Or So!"

So, since our house is filled with dolls and pictures of buildings & houses I thought a cross-stitch Victorian scene might be just the thing. So, I set out to find some large cross-stitch kits that would be suitable.

Wonderful Articles From Marta of Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas

I keep going back and back to read and re-read posts from Marta's Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas blog.

You see, it is filled to the brim with pictures of Victorian dolls and information on the Victorian Era and I am fascinated by the amount of information that Marta has within her blog. I can only imagine the amount of effort and work that goes into finding all the material for her posts.

If you LOVE Victorian dolls, history, and pictures from the Victorian era then you'll want to visit Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas .

Here's a listing of the articles from Marta's wonderful Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog.

1. Children of Paris
2. The Queen is Dead...Long Live the King!
3. "The Fashion Doll" Trend Setters of the 18th Century
4. ...and all the King's ladies
5. Edward Albert...Son and Heir Apparent
6. The Regal Beauty of Parian Dolls
7. Little Lord Fauntleroy... The Edwardian Era
8. Bertie...a rebellious prince. "The Edwardians" (part 2)
9. "The Edwardians " (part one) an introduction.
10. Walking Down the Red Carpet 19th century style
11. Porcelain, from the T'ang Dynasty to Meissen
12. Pale yet lovely, glazed and beautiful.
13. "Waifs and Strays" The Poor Victorians
14. "Upstairs, Downstairs" Victorian Middle Classes
15. It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times (Victorian era part 8)
16. The Holly, The Ivy, and the Mistletoe (part 7 Victorian Era)
17. The Ethereal Beauty of Wax (Victorian era part 6)
18. The Art of Victorian Mourning ( Victorian era part 5)
19. Queen Victoria: Wife, Mother and Widow (part four Victorian era)
20. Dolls of the 19th century..The Dawning of Porcelain (part 3 Victorian era)
21. Victoria and Albert (part 2, Victorian era)
22. The Victorian Era 1837 - 1901 (part 1) Princess Victoria of Kent
23. Grodner Tal, "Tuck Comb," Peg Wooden Dolls
24. Biedermeier Period 1820-1836
25. Origin of the Term "Milliner's Model Doll"...What's in a Name?
26. Milliner's Model Doll... A Fashion Model or a Toy?
27. Those Frills, and Flowers, and Buttons and Bows......
28. Street Vendors of the 19th century...Peddlers or Pedlars?
29. Hot cross buns, one ha' penny, two ha' penny hot cross buns...
30. The Georgian Period 1714-1830
31. Georgian Children
32. House of Hanover
33. The Endearing Cranford Ladies
34. A Time of Sense and Sensibility
35. Jane Austen's Regency Gentlewomen
36. Papier Mache Dolls and Key Manufacturers: Muller 1805-1892
37. The Key Manufacturers: Voit 1806-1882
38. The Key Manufacturers: Kestner 1805-1938
39. From the Forests of Thuringia
40. What is Papier-Mache?
41. The Napoleon Influence
42. “Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste” a Fairy Tale Without a Happy Ending
43. A Wedding at Versailles
44. "Marie Antoinette," The Last Queen of France
45. French Court Mannequins and Couture
46. The Beginning of the End
47. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
48. Queen Elizabeth I "The Golden Age"
49. Elizabethan Children
50. 17th and 18th Century Dolls
51. Medieval Children
52. The Dolls of the Middle Ages
53. Once Upon a Time.....
54. The 12th Century a Time for Knights and Damsels in Distress
55. A Glimpse of Richard Wright’s Incredible Collection
56. I'm all that's left of a bizarre childhood...
57. The Nutcracker
58. The Golden Age of Automata
59. Commedia Dell' Arte
60. The Graham Children
61. The Magical Musical Dolls
62. Mechanical Dolls / Automatans
63. Le Marottes et Folies
64. Kings and Fools
65. Florence, Jane, Mary Louisa, and Julia.
66. A Gift From the Bees
67. Beeswax..The Primary Material
68. Las Meninas
69. Wax Dolls A Victorian Plaything
70. The Origins of Wax-Modeling
71. Santos and Creche Figures
72. Background on Nativity Sets
73. Dolls of religious significance
74. Coming of Age in the Ancient World
75. The Dolls of Egypt, Greece and Rome
76. Doll House of Petronella Dunois based on paintings from the Dutch Masters
77. Interiors by Vermeer and Pieter De Hooch
78. Early Wooden Dolls to the 1850s… Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder...
79. 1700 William and Mary Period English Wooden
80. 1740 Queen Ann Period English Wooden
81. 1800 Georgian Period English Wooden
82. The Reinassance
83. Portrait of Arabella Stuart ca,1577
84. Christ Blessing the Children ca;1540
85. English School,1506 Children of the King of Spain

I hope you enjoy Marta's articles as much as I do.

A Wonderful Blog - Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas

I just love it when I receive comments on my blogs - especially if they are in regards to the Victorian era and Victorian dolls.  Well, this morning there was a comment on my  Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog from Marta of  Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas .

Marta's comment was:

Hi Linda you have a beautiful blog...I'm surprised I didn't run into it before, because we love the same things.

I would love if you visit me at Dolls from the Attic...I think you will like it, and maybe care to follow it.
Bisous
Marta

Of course, my curiosity was piqued as I thought she might love the Victorian era as I do and first checked out her profile.

Marta's profile said - I should've been a Jane Austen character... a Dashwood sister with Sense and Sensibility; but secretly longing to be out in the moors sporting dirty, broken fingernails and wrestling with Heathcliff in another novel.

Now I knew for sure that we shared the same interests and clicked over to visit her blog.

Well, I was in  7th heaven - or maybe I should say, Victorian heaven.  I knew for sure that I would be following her blog and immediately added her RSS feed to my Google Reader.

Her blog was filled to the brim with pictures of Victorian dolls, Victorian people, and Victorian fashions.  Plus, every article was historic in nature.  And, if you're a reader of my Linda's Blog you all know how much I LOVE history - especially Victorian history.

Here's Marta's Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog description: Dolls have always been a part of humankind, found in Egyptian excavations, and in Greek and Roman children's graves. Dolls and history go hand in hand, so is my intention with this blog to convey my passion for the dolls of the Renaissance, and the 19th and early 20th century. By borrowing from the work of the masters and archival photographs, I will be able to link them to the history of the times and briefly touch on the primitives. Welcome to my blog, and stay awhile.

If you love the Victorian era as Marta and I obviously do I hope you'll visit her Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog.

I wasn't able to spend a lot of time on Marta's blog this morning, but I'm definitely going back. Next time I'm going to bring a whole pot of tea with me. I'll definitely be there for awhile.

After all, I'll be in Victorian heaven. I might never leave.

Yes, Linda! You Are Out Of Your Mind! - Why Another Blog!

I know that you're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you, but I created yet another blog!

Now I know what you're going to say - YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND!

Well, yes - out of my creative mind, but not out of my logical mind.

You see, there is some logic to this decision and here it is.

I started my Linda's Blog in 2005 and since then it has become the repository for all my blog posts which means it covers everything from doll making to blogging tips, to crafters tips, to book reviews, to pattern design, to my sewing club, to testing of blog service providers, to HTML coding tips, to e-books, to FREE articles, to the "dollie" graphics, to historical traditions, to Victorian dolls, to my handmade doll and doll pattern creations, to family stories, to doing business on the web, to helpful website tips, to helpful blogging tips, etc. In other words everything including the "kitchen sink."

Each of the blogs I've created in the past (and there are a lot of them) were created to house the posts about specific areas of interest. In other words, they were set-up for targeted audiences who were only interested in that blogs subject matter. Not everything but the kitchen sink.

What was missing was a blog specifically for what I started my Linda Walsh Originals website for - my passion for the Victorian era and creating my Victorian dolls. So, I created a new "Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me" blog with all the articles about the Victorian era and traditions I have written, all the Victorian dolls I have created, and all the articles about my childhood that have driven some of my Victorian creations. It's a blog of and about everything "Victorian" and is for all the Victorian era lovers and shabby chic lovers out there.

Here's the description: "I have loved dolls, history, and the Victorian Era since I was little and can credit my grandmother for that. As a young girl she gave me a Godey’s Fashion print for August 1870 from my great, great Aunt Flossie. I was captivated by the dresses and became hooked. I just love to research everything and anything about the Victorian Era. I also love to design Victorian dolls. I hope you enjoy my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions,The Victorian Era, and Me blog."

I hope you get a chance to visit my new "Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me" blog. If you do please leave me comment. I would love to hear what you have to say about my new blog.

Happy blogging.