Discover Top Posts Tagged with #singing bird

Kirsten Larson - Semi-Complete Costume Collection

Kirsten's outfits were interesting– her Work Dress in her collection is green like the one in the books, but has different sleeves and lacks her red stripes. I also included her original On the Trail outfit from when it was in AG Magazine.

American Girl Costume Collections, 6/?

#kirsten larson #american girl #american girls #american girl dolls #beforever #anna larson #lisbeth larson #singing bird #greta larson #anders larson #peter larson #lars larson #olav larson #inger larson #miss winston #1854 #ag costume collections #mine

Comic #358 : The too early bird - Website links here ~ The -too- early bird catches some heat from the cranky bear 🐻💢 Spring may have sprung but I need my beauty sleep!

#bearcomic #thebearminimum #the bear minimum comic #grumpy bear #singing bird #American robin #why start so long before the dawn #me whenever I dont have access to my earplugs

Meet Singing Bird!

To nobody's surprise, Singing Bird's clothes in her illustrations are not accurate to her culture's dress for the period. I spent a few weeks searching for examples of 1850s Dakota clothing, looking at museum sites, labeled/dated photos, and artwork from the time period and location. I found a few written sources to work with as well and drafted patterns based on that research. I decided to make everything in faux suede because that is what I had on hand. The sewing took about three working days.

I wanted to also stay true to the character she's intended to be, which led to having to take a few creative licenses with the decoration on her clothes. I used the illustrations as a starting point for the beadwork. Her shoes are a more accurate moccasin shape with the long tongue and the laces, but I copied the beadwork design from the illustrations and also used that on her belt.

It was hard to tell from her illustrations if the black and red beads are necklaces or beadwork, but there is only one necklace shown in the shadow on the one picture so I decided to use them as sewn beadwork. Rather than a fully beaded yoke, I kept it simple, just the two rows at the neckline. I gave her two rows of beaded tassels on the front and back of the skirt.

The beading took another six working days. I used 1575 #11 seed beads, 104 #8 seed beads, 22 carnelian beads, and 22 bone beads. 1822 beads total on the dress and shoes. Plus another 14 dyed quartz beads and 67 dyed howlite beads for her necklace. If I had make a fully accurate outfit, it would have been so many more than that. I might make her another fully beaded outfit with deerskin at some point, but that's a long-range project. I'm still pricing materials and tools for that, but also making tiny moccasins in faux suede with sewing thread about did my fingers in; deerskin and sinew may be beyond my skill level.

Eventually I will make her doll and her pouch and its contents too. For today, she and Kirsten played together for a few minutes before we had to come inside so nobody melted (August afternoons in Florida are brutal!)

Edit since it didn't occur to me to include this before: Signing Bird herself is made from a Truly Me 76 (boy/closed mouth Sonali) doll. I swapped the eyes out for pinwheel brown eyes (these came from a Joss that I used for a different custom, and I repainted the eyelids to match the rest of the vinyl), removed and repainted the eyebrows, added a little pink to the cheeks and lips, and traded the original wig for a long black wig with no bangs from Global Wigs. That brand is discontinued now; I found the wig on eBay.

#american girl #pleasant company #doll customization #custom doll #singing bird #kirsten larson #Kirsten's best friend #singing bird and yellow hair