One Pattern, Three Dresses, Part 2

I cut my linings for all three dresses from an off-white gauzy cotton I purchased many years ago in an Indian sari shop. It was inexpensive so I purchased several yards and may never run out. Since my fabrics and linings all tend to fray, I painted all the edges with my Gail Wilson Fray Preventer. Then I spread them out on waxed paper to dry. The first dress I … Continue reading

Orphan Rescue

My dear husband (DH) has more experience with doll shows than he’d like to admit. He helped my with my booth at countless shows back when I was selling my reproduction dolls. And he’s attended a few more since then. He has a theory that there are particular dolls that always travel back and forth to doll shows and never find their way to a collector’s home. They are just … Continue reading

I Miss Shopping!!

The UFDC convention starts today and I’m not there. One of the most wonderful aspects of convention is the fantastic shopping opportunities. The UFDC showroom is legendary and Rowbear’s National Doll Festival, which runs concurrently, always inspires. I go back again and again during convention and find something new each time. I need a shopping fix and I have no where to go!  Shopping online just isn’t the same. There … Continue reading

Costume Inspiration

Sometimes aimlessly wandering around the internet reaps rewards, but not often.  One such serendipitous journey led me to The Portrait Timeline website. It features portraits and historical paintings from ancient times to the 1930’s. I first searched the 1600’s and was surprised by this colorful costume on a 2 year old girl, c. 1602. I love this embroidered jacket and skirt from 1617. And what décolletage! Then I moved on … Continue reading

New French Fashion Accessories

The UFDC national convention is next week and I’m sadly not going. With my new, expensive 17th century embroidery obsession, I had to make a choice. I went to my first one in 2000 and have only missed a few since. It is always fun and reassuring to be around so many other people who share my interests. And the shopping is fantastic. Over the years, I have collected French … Continue reading

One Pattern, Three Dresses, Part 1

It is time for the Triple Flip girls to get new dresses. I am going to show you how to use the basic small doll dress pattern from Beginning Hand Sewing for Dolls Part 6 to make three very different dresses. I reduced the size on my copier and just used the paper patterns to cut out the dresses. Since I used silk, I didn’t use tape to hold the patterns … Continue reading

Independent Thoughts

My head has been busy in the 17th century, so dolls have taken a back seat. But they’ll be back. Today I cut out the dresses for the triple flips and I will do a tutorial this week showing how to use my basic small doll dress pattern to make 3 very different dresses. Stay tuned. Last time we visited the 1600’s (Plans and Progress), I was thinking about making … Continue reading

A Beautiful Mignonette

I’ve shown pictures of this doll several times, but she has not been formally introduced to you. She is a 6″ (15.5 cm) all-bisque mignonette made by the German firm of Simon & Halbig (S&H). They produced many premium quality dolls and this surely is one of them. She is unmarked, but unmistakably S&H. With her sweet face and shy smile, she charmed me. Her brows are delicately feathered and her face painting … Continue reading

Summer Adventures

Our summer to-do list has come in handy (see Plans and Progress). Whenever things get quiet, Supergirl (SG) checks the list and suggests something for us to do. Last week, we made another fairy. We also saw a movie. The movie was “Belle”. It was my choice. It was beautiful and I loved it, but SG is not a fan of historical dramas. She was very patient through the “boring” … Continue reading

Tiny and Wispy

I love tiny dolls. I love dolls with wispy, painted hair. This one has it all.  She stands 3 1/4″ (8.5 cm) tall. I don’t know where or when she was made. The dealer said that she was definitely antique… She is beautiful. She has blue, painted eyes with red lines highlighting her eyelid crease and single stroke brows. Her pale pink lips are accented with a red center line. … Continue reading