This isn’t a long post, but I think you’ll like it… because I’M BACK IN MY SEWING ROOM and Kit is up next. YAY! Laura suggested Kit and I thought she was right…it has been a long time since Kit modeled anything. I looked at the flour sacks that I received from my sister, but I found another picture that caught my eye. I’ll use the flour sacks the next time.
A few years ago, I received this single page from a lady who knew I made doll clothes. It was from a 1935 catalog.
It was filled with lots of little girls dresses and they were just too sweet to pass up. I think they are all adorable, but the little navy and white dotted Swiss dress appealed to me the most. I had some vintage navy and white dotted Swiss, so I figured out a few things to see if I could do it and off I went.
It took me forever to decide if I was going to do hand embroidery on the yoke or use my embroidery machine. The machine won out in the end, but I added some tiny colored buttons to brighten it up just a bit. I didn’t have any dark navy lace for the second row like seen in the picture, so I just made a bias trim and stitched it around the curved yoke.
As I look at it, I have the dots off just a tiny bit on one side, so I’m going to straighten it up. It was one of those things I didn’t see until I saw it in my picture.
The catalog picture shows angel wing sleeves and I’m going to have to see if my dotted Swiss is to stiff for them. If it doesn’t lay right, I will probably just go ahead and make puffed sleeves with a cuff from them.
The hem of the dress looks like it is scalloped but I’m not sure I will do that either. The flocked dots in this fabric are pretty stiff so it might not work very well…we’ll see…
Well, that’s it… just wanted you to know I found my way back to my sewing room and it felt wonderful to be in there!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I agree that the blue dots dress is the prettiest of the the entire set, though the pink dress looks very much like a pink dress a friend had and loved — she called it her fairy dress. However, she was much younger than 10 when she wore it and AG made a slightly more grown up version sometime relatively recently for Easter. I had a collar like that on my First Communion dress.
I really like the white collar fabric — another of your fabulous white fabrics. If the angel sleeves don’t work, I can see that cuffed sleeves would work well or maybe even better, maybe with white cuffs that match the collar — or maybe they should be blue — you’ll figure out what will look best. I like the dots even better than the blue lace.
It is good for you to have some sewing time. I’m glad you made it back to the sewing room. How is your sunburn?
HI Mairlyn,
Maybe I’ll just start at the next dress and work my way down the whole page! I think any one of them would have been okay to make, but since I had the navy dotted Swiss, I decided to go with it first.
It WAS wonderful to be back in my room again and my hubby is gone today SO… who knows what I might get accomplished today in there!
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, I love looking at old catalogs too, Jeanne! They are so interesting to see how we lived and the prices we paid, well, our parents actually! And to think these are people clothes, not doll clothes! Can you imagine making money sewing doll clothes back then?
I too, love the navy dotted Swiss dress. That’s more like I would have worn as a little girl, instead of the fuller ones, which look to be for the smaller girls. I think the ruffled angel wing sleeves would be a lot easier to sew than a regular puffed sleeve!
The collar and trim are just perfect, and I can see Molly also wearing this dress.
So glad to see that you are back in the sewing room!
HI Linda,
Yea, those prices caught my eye too… I sort of said to myself, “I hope this goes for more than the .98 cents it went for in 1935!!
I’m hoping the dots aren’t too “hard” for me to make a rolled hem. I also hope when I press the sleeves with my iron, that they’ll soften up. The dress in the picture was made from a flocked dotted organdy, so it would have been super sheer and soft. Mine is more of a cotton that’s flocked. I guess we’ll see. The sleeves will be coming up soon in my sewing.
It WAS great to be back in there and I’m surprised I decided what to make so quickly…sometimes it takes me forever to decide on something when I’ve been away from it for a while.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Yeah for such a pretty dress for a pretty Kit. What fun! So glad you’re back in your sewing room, dreaming, creating and sewing. The dress looks to be turning out beautifully….can’t wait to see the progress and final outcome.
Take care.
Thank you Becky,
Kit is the most excited one of all to see me back in my sewing room… She couldn’t believe she was the one to get “picked” for the next dress!
Thanks,
Blessings, Jeanne
Very fun dress for Kit. The hem in the picture just looks wavy because of the gathers and the way it falls. I think it is just a plain hem. Hope that helps. 🙂
HI Christine,
I zoomed in on the hem of the dress and I think you’re right… at first it looked like it was big scallops with about a 5″ hem….sort of like heirloom dresses or some smocked dresses have, but looking at it bigger, I think it’s just stitched on the top, about 5-6″ up but it does appear to just be straight around.
Thanks Christine,
Blessings, Jeanne
Beautiful, Jeanne! You have a real knack for taking illustrations and turning them into dresses. I agree with Christine about the hemline probably being a straight hem. Enjoy your (hopefully) sewing filled day. I look forward to seeing Kit’s dress when it’s completed.
HI Cindy,
I’m so sorry I haven’t commented on your blog lately… more than lately… in a long time!!! I did catch up on all your posts yesterday but just took them all in and enjoyed your work. You have made some beautiful dresses lately and I loved the post of your dolls face shots. You have some beautiful dolls, Cindy, and you have some really nice shots of them. I think my favorite shots are still the ones with your fingers involved…you’ know… the ones where you are holding the tiny hangers with those itty bitty sweaters on them or when a doll is sitting in your hands.
I hope to get some major sewing done on Kit’s dress today… my hubby is gone and Rebecca is studying for her last final exam tomorrow…
Thanks Cindy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Perfect rendition. Love it. I also like (w) in the bottom row with the little tabs, and (p) in the middle, little full pleated skirt/shorts with suspenders. Now with the sweet little bow for her hair (f) and she’s all set.
This is really making me miss leafing through the old Sears/Montgomery Wards catalogs as a kid. Especially the Christmas edition.
HI Joy,
I liked the one with the tabs at the waist too and thought about it for a few minutes….but when I saw my navy dotted Swiss, I knew I had to give that one a try.
Me and my brother and sisters used to spend hours looking at the Christmas catalogs… those were the days! I used to go to my Aunt Evelyn’s and look at her Montgomery Ward’s catalog…and get ideas for clothes for myself,..
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m here to second everyone’s comments. You do sew quickly when given the time. I think the new Molly doll I just got needs a dress like this. Thanks for another great post.
HI Susette,
So you got your new Molly doll? I hope she’s a good one since you gave Riya your other Molly. Yes, I think you should make your doll a new dress… let me know when you get it finished! :o)
Thanks Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
The navy dot dress is simply precious. I also agree that once you are in your sewing room you accomplish an amazing amount in a very short time. Kit will look absolutely adorable in this new dress and I have another storyline for you if you would like it.
Kit’s Aunt Millie has come for a visit and she brought Kit this beautiful dress thatshe has scrimped and saved to buy the fabric for ( It is the Great Depression after all). She has spruced it up by a new collar and some embroidery. Kit is simply delighted and plans to wear it to the circus ( I would have said carnival, but you just used that for Molly and circuses were popular also) that is coming to town.
HI Laura,
I worked on Kit’s dress some today, but I had to help my hubby with mowing the grass. He usually does the riding mower and I use the push mower, but it was so tall from all the rain we’ve had and being so busy, it was very hard to mow. I pooped out after an hour or so… Of course it doesn’t help that the heat index is 104 degrees right now… UGH!
I’m back inside cooling off and will get back to Kit’s dress shortly.
I like your story line and just might use it… thanks so much!
Blessings, Jeanne
Quick decisions for you Jeanne, and another charming dolly dress well on its way to completion! How wonderful that you now have some time to get back to what you love best — SEWING! I’m sure the catalogue page is a great source of inspiration for you in the same way those Sears/Wards/Penney’s catalogues encouraged the dreams of our childhoods. I love dotted Swiss, as it takes me back to my carefree girlhood days, and navy and white is so classic. I agree with Marilyn that you have the most beautiful collection of white fabrics, and this one with its scrolling vines and flowers is a lovely companion fabric for the dots. The embroidered yoke has just the right amount of embellishment, Jeanne, and the lace trim with heart detail is so sweet. I’m sure Kit is thrilled with the prospect of modeling this dress, but I’m confident your other “girls” are just as happy that you have found your way back to the sewing room! As always, I look forward to the rest of the details. After so many days away, take your time and enjoy the process on this one, Jeanne!
Thank you so much Anne,
It was wonderful to be back in my sewing room and Kit is pretty thrilled at how much I got done on her dress today… aside from having to redo her sleeves, it’s gone pretty smoothly.
I do like the catalogs I have for inspiration… if there’s a picture, I can usually copy it…
I’m trying to hurry and get this one finished… so I can begin the next one!
Thank you for all the compliments Anne,
Blessings, Jeanne
I like all the dresses in the illustration–so sweet and feminine. It’s lucky that you have some dotted Swiss on hand. It will be perfect for Kit. I like the way you interpreted the collar with the bias trim. There are other dresses on the page that I’d also like to see on Kit; for instance, the blue on on the bottom row with the tabs at the waist, and the yellow one on the top row has a really neat collar. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what you might come up with in the future.
HI Carolyn,
You are the second person to point out the blue one on the bottom row with the tabs…that might have to be her next one. The yellow one at the top does have a pretty collar. I’ll have to try it too!
When I took the bias trim off to straighten it up, I decided to see what it would look like with one row of dots and I liked it better so I switched it out for a new one.
Thanks Carolyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I think that dotted swiss, in the picture, must be see through as her slip shows through. I do not think the hem is scalloped but that’s just the gathers. It has quite a deep hem. I’m very impressed that you can take a picture and make a dress. Looking good!!
Thank you Joy,
Taking a picture from a catalog and making it into a dress is one of my very favorite things to do… I call it copycat creating!
I decided to add a row of decorative scalloped stitching to the hem to give it a little interest…
Thanks so much for your sweet comments!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a fun and cute style to choose!! I loved looking at that whole page.
Did you notice the caption by those three dresses in the upper left corner? First of all, it says, “Lovely sheer frocks” (and they are–organdy/navy dot, batiste/peach print, and dimity/red print), and then it says “Beautifully hand embroidered in Puerto Rico”!! And all for 98 cents each!
I agree with those who commented on the dress with the waistline tabs, but did you see the interesting collar on the yellow dress in the top row? I also like the red and white check playsuit at lower left, although it’s probably too young a style for the dolls you usually sew for.