This is one I’ve never done before, but Dorothy put the idea in my head and I followed her lead!
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest.
Today is the 100th anniversary of that very special day and I thought I’d do my part by making a dress to celebrate! It can also be used just as a pretty skirt and blouse set if you lay the sign down! :o) (I like dresses that are versatile!) :o)
I literally looked at hundreds and hundreds of pictures and illustrations of dresses from that time in history searching for what I wanted to make. Long suit coats were very popular, and huge decorated hats were too, but I wanted something a little more simple for a younger girl. Something for a little girl who maybe wanted to help her mama march for the right to vote.
If you click on the link below and scroll down just a few pictures, you’ll see a trio of 3 ladies in long skirts and pretty white blouses… this is the look I was going for.
This was what I came up with… I know you already got a bit of a sneak preview yesterday for the skirt…but now it’s finished, with those tiny gold buttons added down the front.
The blouse was made from the same fabric as the 2 little tops I made for the Boneka dolls last week. I told you I loved that fabric and thought this would be the perfect weight fabric for a pretty blouse. I drafted this pattern and was pleased how it turned out. The inside of the blouse yoke is lined with tulle (netting) and gives it a sheer, but not see through look. It’s light as a feather and I had ONE tiny blue cameo button left. It had too long of a shank on the back so I clipped it off, hot glued the cameo in place and used super fine gold metallic thread to sew it on the blouse over the sheer white bow.
I added a row of sweet pearls to the cuffs for a little “extra” prettiness!
I didn’t want the winner of this to always be fiddling with tucking this blouse in the skirt and pulling down the blouse from underneath the skirt to get the gathers evenly spaced, so I added a section to the bottom of the blouse, kind of a “hip yoke” and added a bit of elastic sewn to the edge to hold it over her hips. It works well and I hope the winner will be able to use it for other outfits as well. You can make it as puffy as you like around the waist by pulling it up higher if you like.
I decided to just go with a pretty white bow that can be clipped to your dolls hair. I think it looks fine for a young girl.
Here is ___?______ holding mama’s sign for a few minutes. (I still haven’t thought of a name for my girl yet…)
Well, I hope you enjoyed these pictures… I will try my best to get it listed on Ebay tomorrow. I realize now I should have gotten this done 2 weeks ago… :o(
Thanks everyone,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a cute outfit, and perfect for a young suffragette! I love the cameo “brooch”–it has the perfect blue background. Also the hip band is ingenious, and will add some versatility to the blouse, as the amount of “pouf” can be adjusted.
For a name, how about using Emmeline or Emily, after the the two suffragettes featured in the blog whose link you shared? If you want, you could do a variation, like Emelie or Emelyne.
Thanks to all for your concern about Ron. I did answer your comments on yesterday’s post. Ron had a quiet day today–feels a little stiff after his fall, but is moving a bit better, I think.
Hi Charlotte, I went to read your comments yesterday. I thought of two more possibilities. Has Ron ben put on any different medications recently (like Jeanne had her issue recentlY)?
The other thing could be an undiagnosed inner ear bacterial infection (I saw that on Mayo, my online medical source). I got ear infections as a child all the time and boy, did they hurt. i can’t see how you wouldn’t know, but according to Mayo, it’s possible.
I did laugh at your comment to Anne about stubbornness when it comes to looking weak or driving. Before GPS and cell phones, I would never have any qualms about stopping at a gas station for directions. A man would rather drive around for an hour or 10 miles out of the way than ask for help. I’ve had plenty of experience with family doing that.
Thanks Laura. No, no new medications for Ron. Not sure about ear infection….but I don’t think they noticed anything there in the ER. However, it’s something to consider at his follow-up appt. He does have significant hearing loss (of course, he doesn’t “need” hearing aids! LOL), and I’m not sure if that might affect his balance. Again, something to bring up to the doctor.
You are so right about the directions thing!!
Hi Charlotte,
I can’t believe I had ONE little blue cameo button in with all the black ones. Good thing!!
Emmeline is a pretty name but I already have Emmie…my Little Darling by Lana Dobbs.
I’m glad your hubby is ok…better keep a close eye on him… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
I should have said, the hip band on the Blouse is ingenious!! Sorry about that. Must do better proofreading!
Oh, that’s so pretty, Jeanne! Your new doll looks perfect in this outfit! What I mean is she fits the looks of the time, but also does look perfect in the skirt and blouse! I think by putting the bow in her hair, and not a big hat, does make her look younger!
Everything from the cameo brooch, to the beautiful pearl buttons on the sleeves, to the pretty gold buttons on the skirt, just make it one of a kind! Another perfect touch that makes a versatile outfit, that hip band which makes it a lot easier to dress her! It also keeps things underneath much smoother when putting the skirt on. You hit a home run on this one!
I think a red sash would be just the thing to help her get out the vote!
HI Linda,
I’m glad you like this new blouse and skirt set. I’m loving this blouse… want one like it for me too! I’m thinking Chrissa (for now) is very pretty in this… she is pretty photogenic!
I didn’t get the red sash made but I DID get the set listed on Ebay. With as much going on today as I had, I was amazed to get that done! The sign will have to do for now!
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
My mother was six years old in 1920. It didn’t dawn on me until about ten years ago that women didn’t even have the voice of the vote when she was born. I have a picture of her which I think may have been taken of her at that age and she has a Huge White Bow on her head.
That’s a very good idea for keeping the fabric under control beneath the skirt. Well done.
My mother also wore those huge white bows in her hair as a girl. My father, who lived across the street from her, told his mother, my grandmother, that the “Jello Girl” moved across the street, when her family moved there!
Thanks Susette,
My how times have changed, haven’t they? What we take for granted nowadays…
Thanks for your kind words.
Blessings, Jeanne
Your pretty doll looks elegantly lovely in her new outfit. How wise to make that hip yoke to hold the gathers in place. This little young lady would look quite appropriate amongst those standing for a woman’s right to vote.
Blessings.
HI Becky,
I think Chrissa is a very pretty doll… I’m still trying to figure out her name… but it will come…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
That white fabric is SO PRETTY. It really makes this outfit special.
HI Julia,
The more I sew with this white fabric, the more I love it too! I need to begin a new search for me because I’ll be through what I found in no time.
Thank you,
Blessings, Jeanne
Love the skirt and beautiful buttons. I’m glad that no extra trim was added. I like the simplicity. The blouse is lovely and goes so well with the skirt. I’m never a fan of hot glue, but in this case, the button/cameo looks wonderful. Chrissa or whatever name is chosen photos so well. The white bow in her hair is perfect. Now get out the vote!
More strange weather yesterday for us. Large hail. In the summer? Hot and muggy? So unusual. I don’t think we’ve ever had a summer when the yard didn’t need watering. But today the forecast is for 103. Back to watering and sweltering. Fortunately, our power wasn’t shut down as we did receive a call that there was a possibility. Many areas across CA did have shut downs though due to the large demand for air conditioning. Not enough power to support the draw. And the lightning did spike wildfires all across northern CA. Just about everywhere on the map. Can’t wait for it to cool off. 🙂
HI Joy,
I love the blouse too… and hope someone else will too! Chrissa, for now, does look pretty in her pictures… I still don’t have a name for her, but I’m looking.
I heard them discussing the weather in CA today on the radio… poor CA… I don’t know how you stand it when it’s so hot… You guys NEED rain!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh gosh, I love that blouse. Those tiny pearl buttons are so sweet. The whole outfit is lovely, and I think you have captured the style of that era perfectly.
Thank you Carolyn,
I hope I got it right…and thank you for your kind compliments on the set. It was fun to make.
Blessings, Jeanne
Your doll is absolutely beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so pretty. This outfit is perfect on her. For some reason she looks Irish, to me, with her gorgeous blue eyes and black hair. I vote for Fiona as a name.
Thank you Debi,
Maybe I’m not the only one who was smitten with her… she needs a sister for YOU to buy! I always thought Chrissa was a pretty doll, but never thought I’d end up with her. Now for that name… ???? Maybe I should look at Irish names as I’m not coming up with a name from my baby books… Fiona is pretty… thanks
Blessings, Jeanne
I was taking Blue Diamonds off of Leah yesterday, and I was so grateful for the snaps you used. Much nicer than velcro and so much easier than buttons for my poor numb fingers.
The site you linked us to is British — their movement was documented in the PBS series Shoulder to Shoulder, also available in book form. Emily Davison threw herself in front of the horses at Ascot to draw attention to the suffragist movement. Other British suffragists set fires in postal boxes and broke store windows and chained themselves to railings of government buildings. Lacking any voice in public affairs, they did what they could to attract attention to their cause. Emmeline’s two daughters, Christobel and Sylvia, also worked for the cause, as did Harriet Stanton Blatch, the daughter of our own Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Our best known suffragists were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, so I was thinking of Susan Elizabeth or Elizabeth Susan as good doll names.
Since SBA and ECS were both dead by 1920, other leaders had taken their places, among them Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, who led the movement to success. Carrie would also be a good doll name to honor a woman whose role is underappreciated.
Ken Burns’ series on SBA and ECS is called Not for Ourselves Alone.
There is a movie, partly fiction, about Alice Paul. It’s called Iron-Jawed Angels and is based on a non-fiction book Iron-Jawed Angels: The Suffrage Militancy of the National Woman’s Party, 1912-1920 by Linda G. Ford. The book is both academic and rare, so it’s expensive, but that’s why we have libraries and Inter-library Loan departments, not that most are currently available.
Of the attendees at the first women’s suffrage convention, only one is know to have survived to be able to vote. She was a 19 year old glove-maker when she attended the Senaca Falls conference. If you want a detailed account of the process of getting the vote, consider Eleanor Flexner’s Century of Struggle.
Gold was apparently the color most associated with the movement. If you look up https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=women%27s+suffrage+sash+colors
on Google, you’ll see the sort our library displayed, which also appeared in Iron Jawed Angels. They are gold, cream, and purple. In England, green was used instead of gold.
I took my Women’s Studies students to see the library display after we saw Iron-Jawed Angels. They were running around the small area shouting at each other “Look, here’s Alice! There’s Sarah!” Then we went up stairs to see the WS section. There were homeless men sleeping nearby, and the students were at first intimidated and then inspired by their fearless fore-mothers, began pulling books off the shelf and calling to each other to come see their discoveries. I loved WS. It changed lives.
HI Marilyn,
It’s funny, you mention Blue Diamonds and I know exactly which dress you are talking about. I’m glad I give things names! Now I just need to find one for Chrissa. :o)
There you go… Marilyn is back doing what she does best… teaching us what we didn’t know! :o) :o)
Thanks so much!
blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, what about Christobel? As Marilyn said, she was the daughter of Emmeline, so it would be a suffrage-related name.
The other variation that I think is pretty is Carissa. It can be shortened to Chrissa when you want to, but is pretty as it is. Carissa means “dear one”, while Christobel (or Christabel) means “beautiful Christian”.
That was fun and educational! My favorite part was in your link …the picture of a sign that said “ Women give Birth to all voters” . In this day and age we can hardly believe politicians wouldn’t want as many voters as possible!
You picked the best look from all the pictures. The blouse is especially perfect. That extension at the hip is brilliant. Makes it smoother and the look is right on! The blue of the skirt is so deep and the buttons just make it. I have pictures of my mom with big white bows in her hair and she was born in 1912.
Hope lots of ladies want that outfit😉
Thank you Kathie,
I am glad Dorothy inspired me to make something different… The day would have just gone by and I would have had a post about some other doll in some dress I was making… Now we all know a little bit more than we did yesterday!
It seems big white bows were the rage in the early 1900’s. I did see LOTS of them in all my searching through pictures… The bigger the hat the bigger the bow! :o)
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
The blouse is so elegant looking and the skirt is lovely with the jeweled buttons. The hip yoke was very innovative. The blue certainly does set off “blue-eyed beauty with no name”‘s eyes. I like Charlotte’s suggestion of Emmaline, made me think of Emmaline on Anne on Avonlea. Fiona is a lovely name as well, I have that as one of my doll’s middle names. Emily was the name of the suffragette who threw herself in front of the king’s horse. Have you seen “Suffragette”? and speaking of Mary Poppins, I should watch at least that scene of Glynis John’s marching around shouting “Votes for Women”.
My grandmother’s birthday was yesterday, she was born in 1903. She would have been 17 when the right to vote was passed. The white bow is perfect. I have my grandmother’s confirmation picture when she is wearing a long white dress and a wide white bow in her hair..
HI Laura,
When I decided Chrissa was going to be my next model, I was only looking in my blue fabrics. I liked this one because it was so soft and lightweight. I wanted the skirt to be drapey but not flimsy.
No, I haven’t see Suffragette… and I looked up names for 1920 and Mary was the number one name…
Another white bow in the hair… guess I got that part exactly right! :o)
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, the dress is so pretty! Your little sweetie looks proud to be wearing it.
I wonder what our foremothers were thinking on this date 100 years ago. I am guessing it was excitement AND fear. Excitement that the goal had been achieved and fear that it somehow could be taken away. The Amendment gave the vote to women but many women of color were prevented from voting. As other folks have noted, we can study our history through videos and books. That is wonderful.
I am raising my teacup for a toast, Happy 19th Amendment Day to us all!
HI Dorothy,
Thank you so much for inspiring me to make this set. If you hadn’t said something, I never would have done it. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it. I created a new blouse pattern because of it1
When I look through all my old McCalls and Delineator magazines, I’m always wondering who touched the pages before me, what did they make or copy from the pages… which of the recipes did they try, how did they manage in such a primitive time… compared to us today.
Thanks again Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
What an interesting post. Jeanne your doll looks lovely the blouse is just fabulous I love that fabric, you are so talented.
New Zealand Women were given the vote on 19th September 1893. At that time we were still a colony of Britain and our political system still had a House of Commons and a House of Lords (no longer the case we just have one House now). Kate Sheppard was the leader of the movement, she is depicted on our $10 note, Richard Seddon was the prime minister at the time (generally known as King Dick Seddon). His predecessor, on his deathbed, made Dick promise to give women the vote something Seddon was opposed to. When the bill came to the house Seddon felt he had to support it because of his promise but because it had to be ratified by the Lords he then decided to go around the different members of that House to try and persuade them to vote against it. That way he kept his promise to his predecessor (whose name escapes me) but the women didn’t get the vote. Unfortunately for him his scheme blew up in his face. Most of the Lords were also against giving women the vote but Seddon’s blatant attempt to influence them so incensed them that they voted for it and the rest is history, New Zealand (who probably had a population of less than a million) was the first country in the world to give women the vote. Of course, being a man, Seddon then tried to take all the credit but he doesn’t get his face on our banknotes, only Kate does.
What was the first country to give women the right to vote was the question on my Trivia Quiz the other day. I got it right!
Well done Barbara, not many know that
Thank you for your kind words, Anne. I’m glad you like Chrissa (for now) in her new outfit. She looks very feminine, doesn’t she?
..and now we know the history of voting in New Zealand… Thanks for filling us in… so New Zealand was first for women voting… how interesting is that! :o)
Thanks Anne,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a sweet little outfit. I always loved those type blouses. I had several like that over the years and especially loved them for Chorale (we wear black skirts and white blouses). They always look so dressy.
I got to thinking one day that my grandmother was married with two children before she had the right to vote. As far as I knew she always had the right to vote and I never really thought about the dates while I was growing up. Now I sure wish I had asked her more questions about that time. She talked about the Depression, the diphtheria epidemic, the Spanish Flu epidemic, but never the right to vote.
I had an interesting morning. Since my grandkids go to Zoom school right now, it’s easier if I go to their house rather than bring them out here when I have to be “proctor” for the day. They have to sign on before I would even pick them up. Skyy had on headphones but Jaiden had broken hers so I got to listen in on her class. I really like her morning teacher (I left after lunch when my son got home so I never “met” her afternoon teacher). That woman has the patience of Job. Jaiden is in third grade and listening to those kids was sometimes hysterical. Their school day is the same as if they were in-person so they get a little restless as the hours increase. First it was we’re hungry. Did you eat breakfast? Yes. Well maybe you need a snack. I had one. Jaiden pipes up “I had a pop tart”. Then one child said I’m bored, echoed by several others. Then they started asking when they would be back in school. Hopefully 9/8, but the teacher said when it’s safe. As it got closer to lunch, they once again were hungry. I’m sure the teacher was more than happy to have lunch time finally roll around.
We definitely live in interesting times. Makes my last 73 years seem downright boring.
Thank you Barbara,
I’m glad you too, like the blouse and skirt set. I enjoyed making it! Timeless styling, I think.
I wish I had asked some of my past relatives about things that happened long ago too. We just think things have always been the way they are… and they weren’t.
I hope the majority of kids get to go back to school soon too… I think they need it more than any age does. They just need to be kids again.
I have to admit doing schooling with Zoom would be quite a challenge. I just recently learned how to get ON Zoom… I’d be the mom in the class saying “how do I do this?” to the teacher! :o)
Thanks Barbara,
Yes, certainly interesting times we are living in.
Blessings, Jeanne
What interesting and informative posts today. It was fun reading all of them.
Hi Debi
I learned a lot too!!
Blessings, Jeanne
It’s already listed! What an amazing, fast job, and the outfit is full of charming details.
If you watched the convention tonight, the rep for Tennessee talked about Tennessee’s ratification of the 19th amendment and said she was about to become a first time voter.
Both my grandmothers ere grown women before they could vote. I hadn’t realized that NZ was the first to have universal suffrage.