Apr 15

Apr 15 Grandfather's Coat

When Naval was little, she heard great stories of her seafaring family. This always put her in a great mood as it made her travel in her mind to faraway islands and learn new words and their meaning. Even when she was learning to write, she would try to spell these long words and teach herself all sorts of nautical knots. Just in case she went out to sea she told her friends.

art doll in blue wool coat with wisteria flowers behind — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

art doll naval in blue wool coat and linen skirt in spring garden with blooming wisteria — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

custom fiber art doll wearing 18th century navy coat — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

She always loved to walk in the early morning by the shore, with the promise of encountering all sorts of treasure: discarded bits of wood from shipwrecks (or so she thought), seashells, glass, the odd bit of net.

She took home all these sea offerings, much to her Mother’s anguish, as the collection was of epic proportions. Naval loved every single piece and would tell you stories about the weather and what she did the day she found them. Each one a distinct member of her collection.

She thought of the Ocean as her friend. She felt at ease with the waves and the storms. She would talk to her friend when she had sadness or a particular math equation to solve. She always felt the sea listened to her and provided answers, so although people thought her a bit of a loner sitting there, by the cliffs or the beach, to her own thoughts, in reality she was never alone.

art doll naval in blue wool coat with wisteria around her — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

Naval had an insatiable thirst for seafaring stories, from Polynesian travels, to Portuguese voyages around the world, but her favourite was Moby Dick. She begged to visit Nantucket one day so she could see the piers and smell the ocean from that side.

art doll naval in deep blue wool coat — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

doll coat in blue wool 18th century style — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

For her 13th birthday, Naval opened a big brown package. It was wrapped most carefully with red velvet ribbon and had a lovely quote written with blue ink on parchment:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

―Mark Twain

Naval removed the quote so tenderly and unwrapped the velvet ribbon holding the brown paper together. She thought she knew what was inside, as Mother had been working on a patchwork coverlet and she suspected the final recipient. But she was wrong.

doll wool coat with box pleats and metal button — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

brunette art doll in azure wool 18th century style coat — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

18th century style wool doll coat — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

Mother had been carefully unstitching and re-stitching her Great Grandfather’s coat. A family treasure that the entire clan had voted on to give to Naval. She took some parts, carefully removing fabric and storing it so that it could be re-inserted later. This was to be done only when Naval was sleeping, as she was much too noisy to investigate what she was up to.

Completely fooled Naval opened the large brown package and as soon as she caught sight of the wool fabric she knew what this was: the greatest treasure of all! Tears welled up in her eyes, knowing what a special gift she was being given and feeling so grateful to inherit this most special item of her family’s history.

art doll in blue wool coat, skirt and boots — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

Naval immediately tried it on and was so relieved to see it fit her now. She looked at her Mom with a knowing smile, understanding the ruse she had played all along and giggling to herself while she twirled and danced flaring the wool pleats out.

What a wonderful life to be dressed in this! What a precious gift. How lucky she was.

doll coat in azure wool with metal button on back vent — Naval, 18” fiber art doll by Fig and Me.

Naval thanked her parents and headed straight outside. To show the sea her new attire. She knew it will recognize it, and perhaps expecting a story or two from the waves.

Bouncing up and down the trail to the cliffs her parents saw her disappear under the tall grass. To talk to the sea.

Thank you to Rebecca for allowing all the space in the world to bring Naval into fruition. As you know she is a custom doll, made in my Petite Fig style, and she is 18” tall. I haven’t made a Petite Fig this tall in quite a while so it was refreshing to draft doll clothes in this size again.

I can probably tell you way more than you would be willing to read about the trials and tribulations of making Naval, so I will spare you. Just know that I poked my fingers at least a hundred times as I hand-sewed her coat, and that I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Every time the coat took a new seam, a pleat was steamed or I completed a prick stitch, my heart jumped for joy. It is an incredible, most satisfactory endeavour, to create dolls and their clothes and to be supported by the love and patronage of all of you here.

If you are the kind of person interested in more fine-tuned details of the making of her coat, I will publish a post on Patreon soon, with many photos of the inside of the coat as I was making it. You can already read a little bit about the inspiration and how I started making it here.

Thank you for coming to read about Naval’s story. She will be headed home soon.