I wanted to share with you a new doll that I just completed for a lady in Louisiana. She wanted a doll to represent Nellie Grant, who was General Ulysses S. Grant's only daughter. I found some pictures of her on-line, and this is my interpretation of her. She is about 24" tall, with cloth body, and paper clay head, shoulder plate, arms and hands. The lady who commissioned her sent me the fabulous antique doll boots for her to wear. She has been oil-painted, and her wig is synthetic mohair. My customer also sent a linen handkerchief that was her mother's to be incorporated into the outfit, so I used some of it to make the linen "guimpe" (blouse). Her cape is wool, and I added crochet trim and the fringe from wool yarn. Her jumper type dress is of rusty red velvet, as well as her jaunty little hat. Nellie was a lot of fun to make, and as usual, I love planning the outfits and picking just the right fabrics.
