I wanted to get all patriotic today and find some really neat poem to share with you about what freedom means to me, but I decided I could do it myself… not the poem part this time, but just a sentence or two about how I feel.
I am very grateful for freedoms we enjoy in America, and thank the men and women who have given us those freedoms. It has cost many lives over many decades and I never want to take that for granted… someone’s son or father or brother or sister or wife lost their life so I could enjoy what I have today. I am thankful that there are men and women who cared enough about our country to lay down their lives for me. There are many who are in harms way even today and I pray for them that safety and wisdom and courage would follow them. I hold them up to the Lord and ask Him to be a very present help in time of need. May the Lord truly bless all of our Armed Forces this day set aside to honor them.
I thought I would share some of my favorite red, white and blue doll outfits… These have been pulled from the archives and I’m sure you’ve seen many of them before, but I have some new subscribers so I hope they enjoy them for the first time…
(I hope to get working on my “Sister Set” soon too… my brother and his family are leaving this morning, and sewing is on my “to do” list!)
Let’s start off with Lian, my 13″ Little Darling, by Dianna Effner in her red, white and blue dress…one of my very favorites…
(If you click on my pictures, they will enlarge.)
Next is Patsy Tonner in her very full skirted dress… and she got a monkey to go with her dress!
Molly’s era, the 1940’s was a time when patriotism was in full swing, and she’ looking pretty patriotic herself in this dress set…
Kirsten didn’t celebrate Memorial Day…but IF she did, she’d have looked awfully sweet in something like this dress….
My 16″ Winter Kish doll is standing up pretty tall and if she could bend her arms I’m sure she’d salute you…
Isabelle is doing her part to look sweet in her red, white and blue dress.
7 1/2″ Riley Kish is waving her flag to show you just how much she loves America…
Janie, another 13″ Little Darling of mine is wearing another of my favorite Patriotic looks that I ever made…
Bitty Betany, an 11″ Helen Kish doll is looking mighty cute in her red, white and blue full skirt…she was a cutie in this quite a few years ago…
I think Isabelle is the recipient of the only shirred bodice dress I’ve ever made… You can’t see them but she had bloomers underneath her dress.
Molly’s dress was a “non-typical” patriotic fabric, but when her dress was all done, she looked pretty patriotic to me!
Bitty Bethany is wearing a fun red, white and blue patchwork print dress and a sweet 3/4 length sleeve jacket. I loved this set on her…
Not necessarily patriotic, I always thought Riley looked so cute in this..
Wren, my 14″ Chrysalis Kish doll, is trying to look relaxed and comfy in her red, white and blue batik capri set…another favorite of mine…
Molly just might win the prize for “looking” the most patriotic in her sailor set with her sailor hat… :o)
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my girls in their red, white and blue… now you know I’m going to ask… did you have a favorite???
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m especially fond of the winter Kish outfit and of Janie’s outfit. I love the arrangement of the star buttons on Lian’s dress, and I think that Molly’s last outfit suits her personality perfectly. Over all, what a nice variety of patriotic display.
We got our flowers out just before it rained so they may have been ruined. I’ll go check a little later to see what I can do. I have two of those metal florist’s baskets — I found one on ebay — so creating large beautiful displays is easy. The baskets need to be spray painted every other year, but one has been used every Memorial Day since 1958 and is still doing well, so it’s worth a little care.
By the way, there are a lot of books about women and their contributions to WWI and WWII. My current favorite is And If I Perish, I Perish, about WWII nurses. There was a recent controversy about whether WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) could be buried at Arlington — it was decided that they can. You may recall that Molly has an aunt who was a WASP and gave Molly a plane ride and a WASP uniform. Women pilots ferried planes to the bases where they were needed, freeing male pilots for training new pilots and for overseas assignments.
HI Marilyn,
I’m glad you liked so many of my patriotic dresses… me too!
Oh, I hope your flowers weren’t ruined… maybe they survived. That’s amazing that you’ve been using the same basket all these years since I was 2 years old! That’s a long time!
Marilyn, I’m always happy when you tell us about new books or just give us information that we may not have known… I truly appreciate that…
Blessings, Jeanne
I knew it was coming: We’d be asked to choose a favorite. So difficult, so the second Isabelle with the shirred bodice may be my favorite, but they are all just wonderful. What an extensive collection! For Marilyn: Our family does have a USAF history and I found the WASP uniform on eBay. I’ll dress her up in it today as I’d forgotten. Thanks for the memory jog.
How super! My dad was a B-17 pilot and not in the least interested in dolls, but when I tossed him Molly’s flight jacket, even he had to look pleased.
Awww Marilyn,
That made me smile! How sweet!
My husband, who served in Korea (USMC), was also pleased with Molly’s flight jacket and helmet! Thought they looked quite realistic.
Too bad the AG company doesn’t do things like that any more.
HI Susette,
I’m an Air Force brat too… My dad retired as a Master Sargent and is actually buried just a few miles from where we live.
I’m glad Marilyn reminded you of the WASP uniform for Molly. I hope you got her dressed in it and she’s standing at attention for you today…
Thanks so much for your comments Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
Although all just are so very creatively and uniquely and beautifully made, I’d have a tie between Kirsten and Wren’s outfits as my favorites. It is SO wonderful to see your work, Jeanne. Thank you.
Take care.
Thank you Becky,
It’s fun that everyone has a different favorite this time… I had SO many more I could have picked, but just chose these as some of my favorites…
I hope you’ve had a wonderful day Becky,
Blessings, Jeanne
Lian’s first dress is my favorite. I made something kind of like it but could never figure out how you were able to place and sew all of those star buttons. It’s adorable.
Enjoy your Memorial Day.
HI Joy,
I LOVE Lian’s dress too and it might be at the top of my favorite Patriotic dresses. To get her stars straight, I used a basting stitch on my machine and made a few rows evenly stitched apart and then stitched my stars on the rows… then I pulled out the basting stitches…
Maybe that will help… I think I showed how I did it on a blog post… I’ll have to check and see…
Blessings, Jeanne
Riley and Isabelle get my votes this time. Honestly is anything cuter than red white and blue?
All your designs are wonderful but those two “speak” to me?
HI Kathie,
Your comments came through this time… did you do anything different? I was thinking maybe if you unsubscribed and then subscribed again it might “reboot” your subscription… I hate that you haven’t been able to participate in all the commenting… maybe try commenting to my post here and see if works again…
Jeannie B in Texas is having the same troubles… it won’t take her comments either…
Thanks Katie,
I’m glad you found 2 that you liked…
Blessings, Jeanne
Kirsten’s outfit is my favorite–hands down!! Everything just “works” together in that set.
I do have to say, though, we really shouldn’t say “Happy” Memorial Day, since it is supposed to be a time to remember those who have died in battle. The date (May 30th–and this year it actually fell on THE day) was chosen (many many years ago) because it wasn’t the date of any particular battle, thus it could honor all the war dead. In our family, we have many veterans, but only one who died in battle, my mom’s brother Ed who was killed when the Bunker Hill (aircraft carrier) on which he served was hit by two kamikaze planes in May, 1945, the year before I was born.