Elizabeth

She clutched Elizabeth to her chest and buried her face in the doll's head, inhaling the familiar scent that made tears spring into her eyes, at the same time that it filled her with a deep comfort. Many nights she had sat at Mother's feet, stitching her own little sampler, while Mother carefully embroidered Elizabeth out of fine linen and tatting thread, rocking and humming a haunting tune from the old country. Now as she pressed her nose against Elizabeth's softness, she could just catch the scent of the lavender Mother had kept in her linen chest, the sweet aroma of Mother's hand soap and the home fire by which they had stitched together each night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet Elizabeth....

She's been in my mind's eye for literally months and I'm so pleased with how she turned out. A friend gave me this amazing embroidery pattern and I was immediately smittened. Equally detailed front and back motifs were already "doll-sized" and needed only to be transfered to a lovely piece of ivory linen. I hand-embroidered each stitch with heavy tatting thread, just like the Mother in my story above, a little while each evening for a couple weeks.

Elizabeth holds a charming little bouquet of vintage millinery flowers, vintage velvet millinery ribbon and a bit of almond-colored antique lace. Her dress has a bit of antique tatting lace around the collar and she wears a ribbon on her head, adding a dimensional quality to her appearance. Elizabeth stands about 14" tall and is stuffed firmly.

Don't miss the details of her back...even down to the part in her hair and buttons made of French knots!
If you are interested in adopting Elizabeth, visit my etsy shoppe, Stitching a Dream.