Myanmar with the Kruselings

Sitting in their new chairs

Some time ago, when Petalina held their closing down sale (March 2018) I bought Luna, the oriental Kruseling character in her original fairy outfit with the modern girl jeans and jacket outfit. She changed into the modern clothes and sat in one of my doll cabinets with other small dolls. Then in August this year, I was invited to be part of a group of tutors for an educational project my university is involved in and this meant a week in Yangon, Myanmar during November. I started to wonder if the Kruseling would be a good travelling doll. It was not practical to take a Sasha doll because there would be little space in my luggage as we all had tutor resources to carry and I had very little time for any doll photography because the 5 day programme was so busy, so the travelling doll had to be small and robust (I decided my four Heather Maciak dolls who have previously travelled overseas with me would stay at home this time).

I started to look up information about Myanmar, its people and the clothes they wear, even watching videos on how to tie a longyi (the long cloth tube worn by both men and women as a long skirt). I made a t-shirt and a miniature longyi for the Kruseling doll then decided she needed a travelling companion so bought another Luna (this time in the tennis outfit) and cut the new doll's hair short (though traditionally some Myanmar boys wear their hair long tied in a top knot). I made another t-shirt and longyi, this time with slightly more fabric because for playing sport the longyi can be tied up as shorts, the length I had used for the girl's longyi didn't allow me to hitch fabric in the way shown in the videos.

I bought some brown sandals from Boneka for the pair of dolls and their Myanmar outfits were complete. I made a pair of long shorts for the boy from a scrap of denim so he had some western style clothes too.

The dolls and their spare clothes travelled in a small zip up packing cube in my hand luggage to Yangon. I eventually gave them Myanmar names: the girl is Zarni (beauty/hero) San (moon) and the boy is Thet (calm) Khin (friendly) so they haven't strayed far from their Kruseling name of Luna (moon).

Bogyoke Aung San Market, Yangon

On the first day in Yangon, a Sunday, after a morning meeting with colleagues to finalise our tutoring preparations, some of us went to Bogyoke Aung San Market in downtown Yangon to browse. The Market was formerly called Scotts Market when the British controlled Burma. It has a huge number of stalls, selling a wide range of fabric, puppets, plenty of jade and locally woven cane. I brought the two Kruselings in their bag with my camera and was delighted to find a stall which sold many woven cane items including some delightful miniature chairs which were the perfect scale for the dolls. One of them ventured out of the packing cube to try the chairs (there were 2 different styles) and my colleagues agreed that one style was better than the other style for the dolls (they were intrigued and tolerant rather than teasing about my hobby). I also bought two beautiful pieces of Indonesian fabric to make a skirt for me and a table cloth.

I didn't buy a puppet as I already have a Myanmar elephant puppet which my cousin had sent to me years ago when he and his wife visited the country and I want to see a puppet show in the country to understand more about the characters before choosing another puppet.

Puppets in the market

One of the alleyways in the market leading to fabric stalls

The central walkway of the market, surrounded by stalls

The cane stall with the miniature chairs

A doll on the counter of one stall at the entrance to the market

Back at the hotel the dolls tried out their new chairs.

Thet Khin and Zarni San in their new chairs with the two pieces of fabric I bought,
and their travelling packing cube

Thet Khin relaxing in his chair

His shorts were entirely hand-sewn, because I made them
one evening when visiting our elder daughter in early November

Zarni San wearing the t-shirt I made with her original jeans and trainers

The following morning they changed into their longyis and stood beside their chairs, with the new fabric in their own little display where they remained all week, when there was no time for doll photography.

Zarni San wearing her longyi and t-shirt

Thet Khin wearing his longyi and t-shirt

On the Thursday evening while on the way to the Rangoon Tea House in Downtown Yangon with some colleagues, we passed a shop window which had some puppets on display.

Shop window puppets and statues

After leaving them in the hotel room all week, on the Friday I took the Kruselings with me because after we had finished work some colleagues and I went on an outing we'd been looking forward to all week. The predominant religion in Myanmar is Buddhism, so Yangon has plenty of temples and pagodas. The biggest in Yangon is the Shwedagon Pagoda. We saw it at dusk as we approached, by the time the taxi dropped us by the West entrance the sun had set but that didn't mean the gold of the pagoda was diminished, it just became more dramatic against the night sky, and was well lit. There were lots of steps and escalators to get up to the Pagoda and temples, we had taken our sandals and flip flops off so climbed the stairs and travelled the escalators with bare feet.

Shwedagon Pagoda from a distance

Approaching the west entrance of the Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk

Scaffolding up the side of the West entrance of the Shwedagon Pagoda

The pinnacle of the pagoda 

The pagoda surrounded by lots of temples

The moon and the pagoda

Reflections on the pagoda, and the moon

It was tricky to find a place to photograph the dolls at the pagoda, as it was busy with people lighting candles, making offerings and saying prayers. I forget to remove their sandals, which was disrespectful.

Thet Khin and Zarni San on a pavement reflecting the golden pagoda 

Thet Khin and Zarni San near one of the temples which had plenty of seated Buddha figures

With the temple and seated Buddha figures

Posing with the Shwedagon Pagoda in the background

The following day some colleagues and I visited the Banana and Coconut market beside the river, on the way there we walked passed some boys playing football with a cane football, something we had seen at the market a few days before (cane footballs are very hard-wearing). Later that evening, at the airport, I found a woven mat and key-ring size cane ball, perfect for the dolls.

Myamnar boys playing football with a cane ball

Back at home with their new mat, chairs and cane ball

Thet Khin hitched up his longyi ready to play with his cane football

Zarni San is all ready to catch the ball

My Myanmar elephant puppet arrived in the post about 12 years ago rather unexpectedly, one of his tusks arrived in an envelope a few days later as it got lost temporarily before my cousin was able to send him to me. As soon as I saw horse puppets in the Bogyoke Aung San Market I recognised the style and decorations matched my elephant, who normally hangs quietly in my sewing room window with 2 other puppets. It seemed a good idea to introduce the elephant to the Myanmar inspired dolls.

Thet Khin and Zarni San with their elephant

The elephant has decided the ball belongs to him

The Myanmar elephant puppet closeup

Tending to their elephant

As for the Kruseling dolls: they pose well (they have 13 movable joints - even their wrists and ankles are articulated) and are well proportioned child dolls with a good head of hair. They are not too fiddly to sew for and dress. At 9 inches high they are very portable so are very satisfying as travelling dolls.

Jenny, Lexie, Annie and Emily's Cape Town adventures

One big advantage of the size of the Heather Maciak dolls is that they are small enough to travel.  I took my Jenny and Lexie to Washington DC and Vancouver when I visited those cities for work conferences because they fitted easily into my hand luggage.  It is risky taking porcelain dolls on travels though, and with the arrival of Emily and Annie I did wonder if they would become the travelling dolls instead, but somehow Jenny and Lexie were persistent in persuading me that they should come too when I got the amazing opportunity to present at a conference in the city where I was born!

One March morning the four girls looked out of the hotel window at the City of Cape Town.  They had even brought their own dolls with them for the trip.

Emily, Annie, Lexie and Jenny look out towards The Waterfront and the sea

Their hotel window gave a fine view of Signal Hill

And Lion's Head could also be seen from the hotel room

After the conference was over, the dolls came with me to stay in a private house in the suburbs with my sister and family. With me the dolls visited my former school teacher who had her childhood dolls restored then had sent to a relative with children.  The dolls visited one of my first school friends at her home as we reminisced about our childhood and discussed the changes she was making to her home, then admired their tiny sweaters and shoes.  Her mother had been one of my knitting inspirations.

Jenny, Lexie, Annie and Emily also visited my puppetry teacher artist Jill Joubert (who was a founder member of the Handspring Puppet Company, which later made the famous War Horse) but I didn't take photos of my dolls with the puppets in her home. Jill had taught my sister and I how to make rod and glove puppets at a memorable 5 day workshop during our school holidays in September 1985. Jill enjoyed looking at my dolls and the miniature knitting I had done for them.  While visiting Jill I saw her puppets for the Briar Rose story, which she had made around the time her daughter became a teenager.  Jill's version of the story concentrates on the other fairies who gave wishes to Briar Rose (see Page 209 of a Thesis "South African Puppetry for the Theatre since 1975" by Zuanda Badenhorst).  Jill also makes incredible wood sculptures from found objects.

Jill Joubert's 'Briar Rose' puppets, made from papier mache and cloth

Earlier in the week I had visited Fabric City for some plain fabric for printing on for another doll project.  Although Fabric City was four floors high (bigger than Dressew in Vancouver) with a vast array of fabric and haberdashery, their collection of African print fabrics was limited and Jill was able to tell me about the shop to visit nearby. so the next day the dolls were taken on an outing to a wonderful fabric shop, called Mnandi Textiles and Design, in Station Road, Observatory.

Mnandi Textile and Design shop - an amazing variety of patterns and colours

The 'fat quarters' of different shweshwe fabrics neatly displayed for easy choosing

Some ties made from shweshwe fabric along with other fabrics in Mnandi Textiles and Design shop

Emily (red hair) and Annie (black hair) were allowed to help choose some African print fabric, including the shweshwe fabric made in Cape Town (such as Three Cats designs by de Gama).

"Annie, what do you think of the fabric we've chosen?"

"I love the patterns and colours Emily"

"Do you think we might get clothes made from some of these fabrics?"

Later that day all four dolls went with me to explore the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, where I met up with two school friends and the children of one of them. Although my friends and I took the dolls on the tree canopy walkway 'the Boomslang' (which means tree snake, because the tree top walkway snakes through the canopy), I didn't dare take them out of the travel bag for fear of dropping them into the undergrowth below (especially as the tree top walk sways).  So they had to wait until we were back on the ground before they could venture out to find Colonel Bird's Bath in a lovely shady place in the gardens.  I have happy memories of visiting this spot on a school trip and at other times with my family when I was a child. My friend's very shy younger daughter helped me place the dolls in a good position to view the bird shaped bath.

"Annie, come to look at this bird shaped bathing pond" called Emily

"Wow, it looks cold" said Annie

Colonel Bird's Bath in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

After visiting the gardens we enjoyed tea and cakes at the Kirstenbosch tearoom with my school friends. One friend showed me the miniature wooden doll I had made and given to her before I left for England.  Her two young daughters were keen to help dress Annie and Emily in their new summer dresses which had I made before the trip.  I made their dresses from fabric I bought in Vancouver at a fabric shop in Granville Island a few days before visiting Dressew with Heather Maciak.  This particular piece of fabric has a gorgeous miniature tie dye pattern, not too big to be overwhelming for an 8.5 inch doll. They had new Boneka sandals too, one pair dark pink, the other light pink.

I had also made similar sun dresses for Jenny and Lexie from some light fabric with red leaf patterns on it.  They borrowed the clear plastic 'jellies' sandals from Florida and California Patsi, who did not join us on the trip to Cape Town.

Soon the dolls were enjoying a picnic on the lawn at Kirstenbosch, with the glorious backdrop of part of the Table Mountain range eastern slopes (Window Buttress and Fernwood Peak).  The lawn was green because the gardens have their own non-potable water supply so are able to use sprinklers even though Cape Town has been suffering from drought for some months because the winter rains last year didn't fill the dams as much as usual.

Emily, Jenny, Annie and Lexie sat back to enjoy their Kirstenbosch picnic as the sun sank behind the mountain

The grass was a bit long for their picnic rug (a childhood handkerchief) so the cups and saucers didn't want to stand up properly but the girls didn't mind too much, they were too busy enjoying being in summer dresses at the end of a long hot day.

On their final morning in Cape Town the dolls went to see Table Mountain from the front, by visiting the viewing spot at Signal Hill.

Emily, Jenny, Annie and Lexie with Table Mountain and its tablecloth

Emily, Jenny, Annie and Lexie in their summer dresses in front of Table Mountain

The girls were lucky to see the top cable car station on Table Mountain as the tablecloth was mostly rolling over the mountain top that morning.  The cable car was still running but we decided not to go up as the magnificent view would have been partly obscured by the clouds.

While I was in Cape Town I started knitting a purple hat to match Lexie's sweater.  I had intended knitting a little on the flight home, but the restrictions at the airport about sharp objects in hand luggage meant the knitting had to go in my hold luggage (no such restriction on the flight from Heathrow with the same airline). Also in my hold luggage returning home was a wooden decoupage box decorated and given to me by my other school friend who had joined us on the Kirstenbosch gardens afternoon. I've decided that this box will belong to my Heather Maciak dolls for their treasures.  I've known this friend since our first day at primary school and she wore the same uniform as me in those days which I later copied in Sasha doll size for the Back to School swap in 2013.  Her grandmother made me my first knitted doll when I was six and I regret that I no longer have that doll, her clothes and her basket bed. Another knitting inspiration.

It was very special to be able to extend my work trip to Cape Town to spend time with family and friends and visit places I knew long ago.

Annie, Lexie, Jenny and Emily in their summer dresses

Annie, Lexie, Jenny and Emily with the Kirstenbosch bag

Annie and Emily show off their new sweaters and summer dresses