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Curly Heads and Long Legs

hilda cowham illustration

I’ve always loved and been inspired by children’s book illustrators and one of my favorites is Hilda Cowham. Her girls are floppy mops of curls, with the 1920s drop waist dresses & giant bows and are always hanging out with ducks or elves or something equally adorable. I often come back to these drawings and channel them into dolls. The Pixie from my book and this Blackberry Fairy I made for Phoebe come to mind. And now this girl.

handmade doll wee wonderfuls original

I’m having lots of fun playing with her hair. I made her from the Kit, Chloe and Louise pattern shrunk down to 80% and then I gave her hair from the Make-along pattern and I left it suuuuper long so that I could coil it up into big bouffants and curls. I’ve been looking for some sort of U shaped pin that I could use when I’m styling hair. I think I’m going to order some Clover basting pins and see if they do the trick. They look a little long but we’ll see.

handmade doll wee wonderfuls original

Took me 3 attempts to get this drop-waist dress working right but I’m happy now and it should be easy to make more. I’d like to try it again in voile or cotton lawn to make it more fluttery.

wee wonderfuls handmade original doll

The Make-along knit cardigan fits her perfectly!

6 thoughts on “Curly Heads and Long Legs

  1. Oh goodness! I adore her pretty face! Her lips are just perfect. I could see a face like that on a Daisy (Gatsby) doll. Love!

  2. What a beautiful doll and she does look so like the girls in the illustration. What a wonderful talent you have!

  3. Love the illustration, and the doll it inspired!

    warmly,

    Beth

  4. Just found your blog off of Posie gets cozy. Such adorable dolls.

  5. I love seeing the inspiration image along with the doll — so fun!

  6. The hair and dress look fantastic. You inspire me to sew!

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