The Stuffed Horse, Doll Drivers & Sleighs

The Stuffed Horse, Doll Drivers & Sleighs Project : 

The Stuffed Horse, Doll Drivers & Sleighs Project A silly idea that grew and went overboard!

The Original Idea:: 

The Original Idea: Make a sleigh for one of my stuffed horses.

The MODIFIED Idea:: 

The MODIFIED Idea: If I have a sleigh, it has to be connected to the horse with a harness… If I have a horse in harness, hitched to a sleigh, it should have a doll driver in it… I’ll find a sleigh in a craft store, modify it, and make the horse, harness & doll to go with it...

The Idea Gone Overboard:: 

The Idea Gone Overboard: Make a sleigh of wood & metal from my own design to fit the scale of my horse because I couldn’t find any sleighs as décor or toys. Then, I found a wicker basket sleigh! Then, we went overboard: I can make TWO (2) sleighs… One big horse to a back-to-back sleigh with a doll driver and a passenger on back; the wicker basket sleigh pulled by a tandem of two bay ponies with a driver! The drivers and passenger dolls should be period styled to 1780’s (when the first Morgan appeared)… 3 horses, 3 dolls, 3 sets of harness & 2 sleighs!

So it Began…: 

So it Began… Horses were made first: 2 small bays, 1 small black & 1 large bay. * The black was an extra & I added a foal.

The Horses: 

The Horses

The Sleighs: 

The Sleighs I designed the wooden sleigh after seeing a picture of an original. Then, created a cardboard mock-up.

Sleighs in the Making: 

Sleighs in the Making

Sleighs in the Making-Continued: 

Sleighs in the Making- Continued I found a wicker basket sleigh at a craft store AFTER I’d searched previously and we’d started making mine. It became the 2 nd sleigh project; modified to fit my small horses.

Doll Making: 

Doll Making I made dolls from scratch, creating patterns for everything along the way. I’m no doll maker so it was a learning process too. They weren’t getting a simple top layer of clothing-you can’t fake period style nearly as well as you can really make it from the underclothes to the finished outfits. Hat and shoe making became part of the process and another learning opportunity.

Doll Making- Continued: 

Doll Making- Continued Some fabrics work better than others & every fabric makes up differently-who knew HOW differently? Live & learn. Covered in hair & hats, no one will notice different shapes of heads. Embroidery and hand-sewing is much harder to do well with failing eyesight!!! Sewing arms straight out is planning – they’ll be reaching forward to hold the reins of their horses in the sleighs so they’ll hold their arms upward & all I have to do is bring them forward.

Doll Dressing- Continued: 

Doll Dressing- Continued I made underclothes including boned stays (using paperclips for boning), pockets, stockings, shoes – everything needed to be a properly attired wealthy woman of the 1780s. The hats were quite a process of creating a hard molded felt hat blank, then decorating them – they’re the size of a shot glass so it’s not much to work with! I used nothing new for anything-all scraps.

Doll Dressing- Continued The Jackets: 

Doll Dressing- Continued The Jackets

Doll Dressing- Continued The Hats: 

Doll Dressing- Continued The Hats The hats are made of felt which I shaped & hard molded, then hand-sewed the decorations onto them. The hats are smaller than a 3 oz. Dixie cup or shot glass so it’s hard to work on them.

Doll Dressing- Continued The Dolls Get Dressed!: 

Doll Dressing- Continued The Dolls Get Dressed!

The Dolls Meet Their Horses!: 

The Dolls Meet Their Horses!

Current Project Status: 

Current Project Status Horses completed Dolls completed Basket sleigh completed; back-to-back sleigh being painted & finished Waiting for buckles to make three harnesses for the horses. Harnesses should be fast once I have the buckles. Once harnesses are complete, we set the scene & take lots of pictures; then figure out how to store and/or display it all! The fun project has taken four weeks of work & I’m not done yet!

The End of Part 1 – Look for Part 2 Soon!: 

The End of Part 1 – Look for Part 2 Soon! Part 2 will include the harness-making process and actually putting all the elements together to form a scene of the two sleighs put to the three horses with their doll drivers and one passenger leading the foal in tow. THE END (For now!)

All patterns, designs & finished products by Chris Redmon: 

All patterns, designs & finished products by Chris Redmon Help with the sleigh production from Brian Redmon. Moral support from two Border Collies & a Corgi (Buster, Gilley & Pandy ).