My baby

[Chris Richard]

Well, actually my baby is a ten year old daughter named Emily.

Here's a first photo of P&J's baby.

I found the small turned wooden candlestick at the craft store along with the wooden egg. There is a hole the width of a finger drilled up into the bottom of the candlestick for manipulating him. The head is pegged and glued with 1/4 inch dowel. The nose is also pegged and glued. The mouth hole is drilled in.

He stands 6 1/2 inches to the top of the head.



(He has not really been glued together yet.)

I'm going to drill a hole through the candlestick at "shoulder height" and attach the wooden hands with some of that wire twist-tie stuff that holds all my daughter's toys into their packaging when they're first opened. I could use twine if I wanted floppier arms.

I'll post more as he comes along.

[Chris Richard]

Here now is the baby with his face painted and the hands attached with twist-tie wire. I am going to change that to cord to make the arms more floppy.



And here is the first fitting of his linen shift, still unhemmed, and his finished hat. He will have a bit of lace under his chin and maybe on the bottom hem.



The hat is linen and is stuffed lightly with polyester stuffing.

Chris R

[Trevek]

Oh sweet... That hat is looooooong... won't it get damaged flying about?

[johnstoate]

Looks great! - Just a suggestion, but, instead of chord for the arms, I would use nylon 'Zip ties' They should give you 'floppy' arms which still retain an element of stiffness. I would think this will be a nice compromise to your wire option, and easy enough to replace if and when required. Nice to see that you appreciate the size of a good hat

[Chris Richard]

Here's the finished baby.



A few notes. Instead of wire for the arms I used a length of what is called, in historical reenacting circles, "artificial sinew." It's a heavy, waxed nylon fiber that is very, very tough.

The dowel that secures the head is glued into the body, but not glued into the head. It runs nearly all the way up inside the head and is snug enough to hold very well by friction. It won't pop off during a show, but it can be easily removed if needed.



The hat is a sturdy 100% linen. It was scrap left over from an 18th century gown my wife made for herself. Linen is much more durable than cotton. It's securely tacked to the head. I have little fear of it being damaged during the baby's relatively short appearance on stage.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

Regards,

Chris R