December 5: Anne Boleyn Dolls

Today’s Advent Calendar treat is from Anne Boleyn Files follower, Gill, who makes stunning dolls of Tudor characters. A few years ago, she kindly sent me one she made of Anne Boleyn. They really are incredible.

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I will be sharing some exciting news about an Anne Boleyn-themed event taking place in early 2022 with my Anne Boleyn Files mailing list the week beginning 13th December, so please do make sure you've signed up - https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/free-report/ - you get lots of Anne Boleyn treats too as a thank you. If you have any problems signing up, contact me at claire@theanneboleynfiles.com and I'll be happy to help.

Gill has kindly sent these photos for you to enjoy, and explains:

“I used bjd (ball jointed dolls) which I get from China as they see to have the most realistic faces. I start with sourcing the fabric which can be difficult as trying to get a similar pattern in the fabric the same as the portraits can take literally hours! Also I like to use silk velvet instead of cotton, and this can be expensive. I then use patterns which I have made myself for the skirts, bodices etc. and start to sew them together. I have used hooped underskirts in these to give some fullness to the skirts, and I also make underskirts as well.

The jewellery was challenging!I had to find the 'jewels' as close to the portraits, and it was hard and time consuming, but worth the effort in the end.” Aren’t they beautiful?