It’s nice to be looked out for…and one of my sweet subscribers was concerned a little bit with yesterday’s post about my top ten favorite doll dresses, thinking that someone who bought a dress that wasn’t in the top ten, might feel hurt that their dress was, maybe less or inferior to the others. I understand what she means and maybe if you bought a dress from me last year, you quickly searched the pictures in yesterday’s post (HERE) hoping to see your dress. If it didn’t show up, maybe you did have a little twinge of hurt inside. I’m sorry if you did!
I just wanted to make it clear with today’s post that I love A-L-L the dresses I make and it was very difficult to choose those top ten. I could say wonderful things about any and all of my dresses, but again it goes back to the photo shoot, how I loved working with the fabric, the sunlight coming in just right to capture the most vivid colors of the fabric, the expression I captured on the dolls face. (sometimes I really think I can almost see them smile…) If I didn’t love the dresses I make, I wouldn’t finish them and try selling them. Believe me, I’ve started some that ended up in the trash can.
So, I thought for the next 3 days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I would show all the Honorable Mentions from 2014 that didn’t make the top ten, but still hold a very special place in my heart! I hope you’ll find your dress here. Let me just say too, there is no particular order to them. Enjoy the pictures…
This next set of dresses was actually a gift for some little girls, but I still loved making them…
Sorry, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow for some more Honorable Mentions from 2014…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne,
I really cannot make head or tails of all those gorgeous dresses you have made! I could NEVER pick out a favorite, try as I might! I was going to comment on yesterday’s post but could not figure out what to say—-like what dress was more special than others or prettier than others. As you well know, it has been F R E E Z I N G here, and I must have brain freeze or something! Actually, just busy, taking our Christmas decorations down, quite a feat in itself!
Just want you to know that I love all the dresses you make!!
Thank you Linda,
This freezing cold weather keeps me at home and that is very conducive to sewing…YAY!
I just finished packing up all our Christmas stuff yesterday. Now I’m in my sewing room trying to organize my Christmas fabrics and all my little Christmas goodies that I use…I bought 2 big clear tubs with red lids and hope to get it all in those two tubs. Then to try and hide it somewhere till next September or so…
Thanks for your sweet comments on all my dresses. It means a lot.
Blessings, Jeanne
I agree, all of your doll dresses are beautiful. I think that it is the doll that makes me choose a certain dress. I love the smaller dolls so that is the ones that I am usually drawn to.
Regina,
I think the looks of the doll is half the reason why people choose dresses too. One of my doll customers told me of a lady who sold doll dresses but her dolls was just “ugly” looking. She said as much as she would have liked to buy this lady’s doll dresses, she just couldn’t. Then she told me to always buy the “prettiest” dolls I could find…they sell your dresses for you!” I think that’s true…
Have a wonderful weekend.
Blessings, Jeanne
All of your dresses are pretty, Jeanne, but like Regina, I prefer the smaller dolls. However, of these dresses I would choose one modeled by an American Girl (not one of my favorite dolls, I don’t like to sew for them because I don’t like their bodies). That said I am really drawn to the dress on the right in the second photo. I just love the pink flowered print. With that size doll I’m sure there is more variety of fabric from which to choose because prints that might be too big for the smaller dolls look very nice on her.
Question: At what point do you decide whether to put a band at the the bottom of a short sleeve or to just turn it up and use elastic; when you’re cutting the fabric or when you’re sewing the dress?
Jevne
Hi Jevne,
Thank you very much for your kind words about my doll dresses! The littler dolls are very fun to sew for, but I do enjoy coming up with things for the American Girl dolls too. I think you can make the sweetest dresses for the little dolls, but the AG dolls can use some bigger prints that the little ones can’t and you can get a bigger bang with eye appeal.
I love the faces on the Little Darlings, and they are probably my favorite to sew for…they look so real sometimes that they can almost be taken for a photograph of a little girl. I like it when that happens.
As far as the cuffs go on the dresses, it usually depends on the weight of the fabric. If it is something really sheer, I usually do elastic, because it draws up better. If the fabric has a little more body, I’ll do a cuff so it stands out more and looks puffy like. And then sometimes it’s just a case of laziness… I’d rather do a casing of elastic than gather up the sleeve and get the cuffs just the same size. The Little Darlings left hand is spread out just slightly more than the right hand, so you have to accommodate for that too. I don’t like saggy cuffs on their biceps so I try to get a snug fit…
Thanks for asking, Jevne,
Blessings, Jeanne
I guess I would have to agree with the comment that picking a favorite outfit may be influenced by the doll that is wearing it. I love the AG dolls, and those dresses are my favorites. That brown and cream with the wide lace trim that Rebecca is wearing is just darling. But honestly, all your creations are lovely!
Thank you Carolyn,
I loved that dress on Rebecca when I was making it. I had kept that fabric back for a special dress and when that one was being made, I knew I had made the right choice in making it a Civil War dress.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my work. I do try hard to make pretty things.
Blessings, Jeanne