#Louisa Munzenmaier

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Louisa says “So long, farewell” to 2023

May 2024 bring peace, prosperity and happiness to you and your loved ones

#american girl dolls #american girl #my dolls #agig #ag #sewing #Louisa Munzenmaier

[futuristicsaladparadise]

Louisa's traditional outfit (called a tracht) consists of a white elbow-length blouse, red skirt and black vest. She wears a kerchief when working outdoors, which she can use to protect her head from the sun, or keep her shoulders warm.

Her family is from Lower Saxony, so they don't wear the dirndl that most people think of when a traditional German dress is mentioned. Dirndl are worn in Bavaria and Tyrol, in southwest Germany, while Saxony and Lower Saxony are in the northeast. Lower Saxony's traditional dress includes a red skirt, while the skirt may be one of varying colors (usually a vibrant color or black) in other regions. The black vest is quite common and is usually form-fitting. This outfit is more of a work dress than one to be worn to church.

I haven't yet made her Sunday hat, which is sort of intimidating, as it has huge stiff bows, and I'm still dithering on the color to make her apron, or if I will just stick with the embroidered white one I've already done.

I found these images at several different sites.

I've been using the shawl from Rebecca's dress up set for a shoulder covering, but the shawls are also often quite fancy.

#american girl dolls #american girl #my dolls #agig #ag #sewing #american girl doll #Louisa Munzenmaier

[futuristicsaladparadise]

"Smile, Liebchen, we made it to America!"

With fingers benumbed by the cold February air, Louisa (Wilhelmina Louisa Augusta Munzenmaier, if you really want to know) clutches the bundle of blankets and clothing Mutti has given her as they make their way off the Athena.

It was a cold crossing, sailing from Bremen in late January 1867, but Mutti, Louisa, Freidrich, and August have finally made it to New York to join Papa, and Louisa's older brothers, Carl and Wilhelm. Papa and the boys have been working in New York, earning money to buy a farm in Texas before bringing the rest of the family across the ocean. Soon they will all be together again!

To keep warm, Louisa is wearing two petticoats under her outer skirt, one cotton and one wool. Her white blouse only reaches the elbow, in keeping with traditional clothing, so she wears knitted forearm warmers to cut down on the chill. Her blue shawl and plaid kerchief are warm and cozy, as does her black woolen vest buried beneath the shawl.

I've been doing some genealogical research into one side of my family, and found a great-grandmother who came from Germany with her mother and little brothers when she was seven, joining her father and older brothers in the US, so I have roughly based Louisa's story on hers. I've changed some of the names, ages and dates of crossing, but all are taken from family records.

#american girl dolls #american girl #my dolls #agig #ag #sewing #Louisa Munzenmaier