Grace Marks was an Irish girl working in Canada as a maid before she was convicted in 1843 of murdering her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery. Her conviction was controversial, and sparked much debate about whether she was actually the driving force behind the murders, or merely an unwilling accessory.
Her entire story is on the blog! I highly recommend reading the novel Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and watching the series Alias Grace on Netflix!
Grace was arrested in and testified while wearing Nancy Montgomery's pink dress as well as her bonnet. This dress is petal soft and features a ruffled neckline with a pearlized floral button. While Nancy would have worn a collared blouse beneath, Grace is wearing her own simple chemise. Gathered white linen sleeves peek from beneath lace trimmed belled sleeves. The bonnet is the one detail featured in the only actual image of Grace, a drawing from the trial. There are pale pink ruffles under it, and it is burgundy with a ribbon tie beneath her chin. One of my favorite things about Grace's outfit is her little white linen handkerchief with blue trim and hand embroidered blue flowers. I adored making this miniature feature for her. The hankie was a gift from her beloved friend, Mary Whitney. It was also what was used to strangle poor Nancy Montgomery.
Grace was made in my smoke free, one cat household. She is made of tea dyed cotton muslin, and fiberfill. I made her and her clothing with a combination of machine and hand stitching. Her hair is sheep, and has no odor.