Meg

I'm excited to finally be able to share this collaborative Little Women project!  As I mentioned last time, I leaned heavily on the sewing and research skills of my friend Rebecca from Stitch in Times Designs for this collection, and I've also had a lot of fun sharing ideas with Rebecca along the way.  I'll give you a little peek into her creative process as I present each doll.  

To get started, though, let me tell you what I've been up to for the past few days: I photographed Meg, watched the 1994 version of Little Women while editing the photos, decided I didn't like Meg's hair, re-did the hair three times, photographed her all over again, and then watched the PBS miniseries of Little Women while I edited those photos.  It's a good thing that the hair finally turned out in a way that I could tolerate, because I've cried too many times in the last few days and don't think I could have handled another version of the story!  How many times can a person watch Beth die?

I've composed myself for the time being, though, and am ready to introduce Meg.  Meg started out as an 01 vinyl Catherine from 2001.  The Catherine mold is fairly common and doesn't tend to get a lot of attention, but I've always liked the sweet smile and large eyes on this face:

2001 My Twinn doll with the Catherine face.

Meg came to me in fantastic condition for a 2001 doll.  Her body is almost completely free of picks and squeaks, and even her wig was nice enough to keep:

She had really pretty coloring, too, with bright blue eyes and some faint freckles:

Here's a closer look at her nearly-immaculate fabric torso:

And here she is from the back:

The stitches in her back seam are a little close to the edges of the fabric, so you can see some edges peeking out here and there, but this didn't seem like a big enough problem to fix:

Meg had one blemish on the fabric of her left leg:

But I was able to spot-clean this with a damp washcloth.

She also had a few stains on her pale vinyl limbs, but I didn't even notice these until I brought her into my workroom:

I put some Remove-Zit on the stains while I was working on the head, and they faded quite a bit.

Anyway, here's the head right after I removed the wig and the body:

The eyebrows were very faint and some eyelashes were missing, but I really like the freckles!

Meg's original look was pretty, but she didn't look anything like Meg March!  

So, I removed the eyelashes and scrubbed all of the dirt off her face...

I removed all of the factory paint and washed the head again...

And then I popped out the old eyes (and kept them):

Both Rebecca and I did a fair amount of research before embarking on this project (well, mostly Rebecca.  She even re-read the whole book!).  The descriptions of the March sisters that we found suggest that Meg has green eyes and dark hair.

In fact, here are the description that we found, just in case anyone has contradicting information:

Meg: green eyes and dark hair

Amy: blue eyes and light blonde hair

Beth: blue eyes and blonde/brown hair

Jo: grey eyes and auburn hair (her one great beauty!)

So, I chose these incredible dark green D400 glass eyes from Hand Glass Craft:

This is one of my very favorite colors from this company!  They are beautiful:

With the eyes in place, I got to work painting the face.

I modeled Meg's eyebrows after Willa Fitzgerald, the actress who plays Meg in the PBS miniseries.

The eyebrows didn't actually come out looking much like Ms. Fitzgerald's brows, but it's always nice to have a real-life model for inspiration.

I blushed the cheeks and painted the lips next (which always makes a huge difference on these pale faces!):

The Catherine face mold has very pretty lips:

And then I gave Meg some freckles and a few moles:

I finished off her look with some dark brown eyelashes and a dark brown Timarie wig from Monique (this is the same wig Gabriel is wearing):

Let me pause for a moment here to go back in time a few months.  Long before I even had a doll chosen to represent Meg, Rebecca was hard at work on the outfits.

There are many amazing things about Rebecca, but two of them are that she has a keen eye for detail and is absolutely bursting with ideas.  When we first spoke in February, we agreed that late fall would be a good goal for completion of the outfits, and so I figured that I wouldn't hear from her for several months.  Wrong!  Within days, Rebecca was writing back to me with wonderfully-detailed ideas about the outfits for each girl--complete with photographs.  

After researching the different styles of undergarment that each character should wear (based on their ages at the beginning of the book), Rebecca set about making a unique design for each character.  

For example, no two sets of pantaloons have the same length or finishing:

Clockwise from upper left: Amy, Beth, Jo and Meg's pantaloon designs.

Notice how the pantaloons of the younger girls (Amy and Beth) have growth tucks in the legs that can be let out as they get older!

Rebecca also pointed out that early in the book, Marmee gives each of her daughters a bible with a specific color on the cover: Meg's bible is green, Jo's is red, Beth's is dove, and Amy's is blue.  

Rebecca used these signature colors to accent each of the beautifully-unique petticoats:

Clockwise from upper left: Amy, Jo, Meg and Beth's petticoats.

Again, note that Amy and Beth's petticoats have growth tucks.  Also, none of the petticoats have lace at the bottom because Rebecca remembered a scene in the book where Meg is packing her undergarments and is upset because they are so plain.

So--you see what I mean.  Even before we'd moved on to talking about dresses, I knew that these outfits were going to be something special.

When it came time to discuss Meg's dress, Rebecca's first thoughts were that it should be dark green with fringed pagoda sleeves (and white under-sleeves)--worn over a full petticoat with a crinoline.

I wasn't sure how to picture all of that in my head, but I know I wasn't expecting something quite this gorgeous!

This type of photograph was common during our experience, too.  Rebecca would pin things together in a mock-up, ask my opinion, and then start sewing.  I loved getting these photo updates!

Meanwhile, I'd return the favor by sending freaky pictures like this:

Meg's eyes and hair--before I switched to glass eyes.

Anyway, I loved getting to see the different stages of outfit creation, and I hope you do, too!

The fringe around the sleeves was made by laying embroidery thread back and forth over the edge of the sleeve and then stitching it into place.

And look at all of the ruched trim!

Here's the picture I got when the dress was complete:

Wow.  Right?  Just look at those intricate sleeves peeking out from underneath the fringe!  And look at the handmade fabric-covered buttons!  I was dancing a little jig when I saw this picture.

But that wasn't even the end of the fun.  With the dress finished, it was time to decide if Meg should have a bonnet, like this:

Or perhaps a grey cloak?

I'm a very cloak-loving person, in general, but I actually thought that a bonnet might be best here because it wouldn't hide the beautiful dress!

After settling the bonnet vs. cloak issue, I even got to play a role in choosing the inner fabric of the bonnet (green to match the dress) and the lace trim (I liked the far right one best):

The finishing touch to this beautiful outfit was a crinoline, which really makes the skirt come alive:

Ta-da!

I trust Rebecca 100% with decision-making, and would have happily given her free rein to do whatever she wanted, but it was a real joy to take part in some of the little decisions.

Now, it's time for Meg to get dressed! 

First, here's a look at her re-assembled body:

You can see that the stains have faded considerably, but are still visible:

Meg actually has to be dressed in reverse order of what a person would do in real life (since it's hard to get things over her head) but let's pretend she's a regular 1860s girl getting ready to go out.

First, she'd put on her stockings and pantaloons:

Meg's pantaloons have no growth tucks and are adorned with delicate lace:

Next, the crinoline ties around Meg's waist with a thin satin ribbon:

(Marmee didn't let her girls wear corsets.)

And then the full petticoat (with its green stitching) goes over the crinoline:

Meg's outfit also includes some lace-up brown boots:

And Rebecca was careful to design the pantaloons just right so that they would cover the very tops of the boots:

Meg's dress is dark green, but there's little risk of staining because the bodice is fully-lined in white:

Once the dress was on, Meg just needed to do her hair and put on her bonnet. 

Now she's ready for an outing!

The dress is glorious.  The skirt is so full, I can picture it swishing and flowing as Meg dances along to Beth's piano music. 

I also think that the rich forest green color is a perfect match for Meg's eyes and dark hair:

I love how the bonnet has a straw-like exterior and a softer fabric lining.  It looks good from every angle:

You'll probably have noticed that Meg's hair is not in a full up-do.  I was not able to get all of the thick wig into a single bun without it looking ridiculous.

Instead, the hair is braided and then hangs down Meg's back in some thick ringlets.

The hairstyle is not perfect, but I did my best.  

I actually bought and inspected some of Monique's pre-styled wigs, but all of them are thin and strangely-rooted when the hair is let down.  I wanted Meg to have a beautiful, full wig of hair that could be played with and restyled.

I thought about doing Meg's official portrait with the bonnet in place...

But then decided to take her bonnet off before I did the comparison picture.

Here's her portrait:

And here's the comparison GIF:

I wasn't taking a beat-up doll and dramatically improving her appearance in this case, but I do think she looks much more like Meg March now.

Here are some additional photos of the hairstyle:

In my original attempt, I left some ringlet-shaped tendrils hanging loose around Meg's face.  This was pretty, but it's not at all historically-accurate.  I'd watched Sense and Sensibility the weekend before, so I was probably still caught up in the wrong century.  Also, the scale of the ringlets was too large.

I'll reluctantly show you the first hairstyle because I know you must be curious (I would be!).  

Somebody will surely like this earlier version better, but I searched for over an hour to try and find anything similar to this from the 1860s--to justify my choice--and it doesn't exist.  So I had to start over, and I've convinced myself that the simpler version is better.  It's much less messy, which seems right for Meg, and it doesn't look like a beard sometimes when the bonnet is on.  Both good things.

I'm really happy with the Catherine face mold for this character (and I hope Rebecca is, too!).  She has a serene maturity that befits Meg's nurturing personality.

The subtle smile makes Meg look kind, but also like perhaps she's lost in a daydream--reliving that first dance at the ball, perhaps? 

The weather has been hit-or-miss here lately but I was able to take Meg outside for a few pictures in the daylight.

I was terrified of getting any part of Meg's outfit dirty, but we managed to avoid any disasters.

We're getting some nice fall colors here already, which surely reminds Meg of her Massachusetts home: 

She was positively delighted when the sun peeked out from behind the trees for a minute or two!

I loved photographing Meg against the green backdrop of the woods, but I don't think my pictures truly do her justice.

I do like this moment when the wind caught up the ribbons of her bonnet and we worried that the rain might be about to start:  

In the end, the rain held off and Meg was able to enjoy the outdoors for a little while longer.

I have a million ideas for themed doll collections in my head, but very few of them would be possible without the right costuming.  With this Little Women collection, the costumes are--literally--everything.  My job was to match Meg's coloring to the work of art that is her outfit.  It was a thrill and a privilege to do that.  Perhaps it's that I'm still bleary-eyed with emotion from watching so many Little Women movies in a row, but I adore Meg and hope that her sisters will be just as special.

Here's a summary of the work that was done on Meg:

-her head was separated from her body and all vinyl parts were washed

-a dark smudge on the fabric of one leg was spot-cleaned

-three small, dark stains on the vinyl limbs were treated with Remove-Zit and cleaned with Formula 9-1-1

-the old wig and old eyelashes were removed

-the head was thoroughly cleaned and old factory paint was stripped away

-the old eyes were removed

-the head was coated with Mr. Super Clear sealant

-new green D400 glass eyes from Hand Glass Craft were placed

-the face was repainted, including lips, blush, eyebrows, and freckles

-new eyelashes were applied

-she was given a new Monique Timarie wig in dark brown

-the wig was styled with French braids using elastics and bobby pins

-she is wearing a custom-made seven-piece outfit made by the incomparable Rebecca of Stitch in Times Designs.  The outfit includes boots, tights, pantaloons, crinoline, petticoat, dress, and bonnet.

There's still a lot up in the air with this collection, but I'm considering the possibility of offering the four girls as a set.  I would list them as a group first and then split them up after a day if nobody wanted to jump in and purchase all four.  Let me know what you think about that.

In any case, none of them will be for sale until all four are finished.  I'm also hoping to do a similarly-themed giveaway doll, but I'll have to see how the timing goes.

Meanwhile, I hope you've enjoyed stepping back into the 1860s with me, Rebecca, and Meg.  Amy never likes to be left out, and is excited to join the group next!