Bad Hair Day

 You can't be 18th Century, darling,

without the powdered hair.

Even if the shiny wig with ringlets

is a Hollywood invention,

we've come to expect 

our Maries to be coiffured

in glossy, white hair.

I wasn't looking forward to this at all.

I don't think Marie was, either.

Still, before the wig

came the  satin bloomers 

and here they are!

They have elasticated legs

and they need some

 lace and

 ribbons and

 bows and

 roses and

 pearls and 

ruffles and 

embroidery and

flowers and

 furbelows and...

....because they are 18th century

and anything goes.

(What are  furbelows ?)

After the bloomers

came the corset.

Now, I have made a boned doll's corset before

(once)

but I'd never put those fiddly eyelets in.

The trick, apparently,

is to keep the hole in the fabric

as small as possible.

Then, I made stockings,

Sorry about the horrible flash photography.

 I'd really put it off as long as I could...

 I had to do the wig.

I have a big hank of costume hair.

It's very bright white

and perfect for

Santa or Gandalf.

It's also loose and

I was really worried about using it.

(I was hoping to link a 

hair wefting tutorial here,

by Antonette Cely

but I can't find it on-line any more.

Essentially, it involves sewing the hair 

onto tissue paper

with a sewing machine.)

I sewed strips of the hair

onto used tumble dryer sheets.

They're white and soft 

and pretty invisible behind the hair.

So, I sewed two strips

and I rolled some loose hair

into a ball.

Essentially there's a row of hair sewn at the front,

a row at the back,

and in between, a big pouf

sewn into a tulle bag

to provide the height.

It's all sewn, 

Ladies and Gentlemen.

No glue.

The tips of the hair I gathered into a topknot

and tucked it into the crown and stitched it in place.

She still looks a little suspicious...

Tomorrow

I'm going to have fun,

embellishing her wig

and adding girly stuff to her clothes.

Marie's story starts here.