I have made cloth replacement legs for a late 18th century English wooden. Paul Robinson suggested that cloth legs are acceptable when the old wooden legs are gone and the wooden joints to hold them are compromised. The legs are made from a pair of linen slacks I dyed and cut up, very stiff and hard to stitch but with wonderful texture, and I am pleased with them. the legs are fastened to the dolll with heavy cord through the holes that once held dowels for her leg joints. My friend Penny brought beautiful linen for a petticoat. I pulled a thread for all cuts and another to turn the hem crisply. I used a bit of 1/8 in tape at the waist.
Now with her replacement legs in place and the linen petticoat to give body under the frail dress Susan is on a stand, The doll stand is wired to the lower part of the wooden torso to keep the stand's waist piece from rising higher on the doll and pushing against the dress. The linen feet are the same color as her original arms and barely show beneath the skirts. Susan is 22 inches tall.
Her flax braids are appealing. The first place ribbon is from the UFDC Cincinnati convention in 1964. Wonder if there are records to tell who owned her then? I am delighted with her. She is on top of my cluttered little black desk for safety now. e
