Like I mentioned yesterday, my hubby gave me a challenge… He thought Nellie’s dress was pretty and nicely made, but he’s a BIG fan of blue…so he said, “I think if you made a blue dress it would have been better!” Well, we talked a little bit and decided to see if he was right about the color blue, or if Neutral or “bland” as he called it, could hold it’s own…
As you’ve seen, I AM making another pleated front dress like the beige one and this is what I plan to do…
When I get them both finished and you’ve seen them, you’ll have to decide which one you think will go for the highest price on Ebay. You’ll have an opportunity on a certain day (I’ll let you know the day) to post a comment letting me know which dress you think will go for the most money. You can choose either Beige or Blue and then when the auctions are over, I’ll put all the names of the ladies who picked the highest priced dress and put them in a hat… If it’s Beige that goes for the most, “I” will draw out a name, but if the Blue dress goes for the most, I’ll let my “hubby” draw out a name… AND the winner will receive a pair of cute little beige shoes shown on Nellie.
I emailed the lady who had them for sale and she found a few more pairs but I bought the last pair she had…at least for now… she may get more in. Then I’ll send them to the person who’s name was drawn! Get it? I think I explained everything… but for now, I just need to get them both finished and take some great pictures of each…
I got quite a bit finished on Samantha’s dress over the weekend… the snaps were sewn down the back, buttons added to the back, and the skirt sewn on and hemmed.
I used little glass white buttons down the back…
I began looking for buttons to use on the dress and was having some troubles… because all of my vintage buttons are yellowish and the blue dress needs white.
I laid a few of the vintage buttons on the fabric so you could see that they need to be white.
Did anyone notice I reduced the size of the sleeves? They are much nicer and not so droopy on the blue dress…(although I think that was the idea with beige dress…droopy sleeves…)
I’m using this blue ribbon for her pleated sash…
…and I have these 2 buttons I “could” use for the brooch.
I’m probably going to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and see if I can’t find something in the charms or beads that might work better to finish up this dress.
Linda suggested possibly a dickie to go under the “V” in the front of the dresses… I like that idea and might do it.
I fixed the ends of Nellie’s sash, shortening them about an inch and like them much better. They were too long before, I think.
…before…
…and after shortening it…
Someone wanted to see the sash in the front and in the back… so here you go…
Let me show you another dress amde from this fabric, actually made for and modeled by Nellie, back in 2011. Marilyn is the proud owner of this dress… :o)
Well, I hope you are anxious for me to get this dress finished and lots of pictures taken… I’ll hurry…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a neat challenge! Sounds like fun! (And with a prize….even better!)
Although I love the oval “brooch”, and it looks wonderful on the dress, the square one picks up more of the “feel” of the fabric, I think. I guess it depends on if you are going for more contrast or more “matchy matchy”. And, yes, the sleeves are better a little shorter, I think–good call on that. Ditto the sash on the first dress (and I really LOVE it on the back!).
For some reason I don’t remember the first “blue diamonds” dress. It’s pretty, too, but I think I prefer the current pattern you’re using. JMHO
I too, am a big fan of blue, but I really love the fabric of the beige dress. And the shorter sash. And the intentional droop shoulders.
I think the square brooch is perfect on the blue dress. Maybe a simple necklace to fill the chest space. Or not.
However you end up finishing it Jeanne, I’m sure it will end up perfect, as usual!
Can’t wait to see them again side by side and cast my (bet?) LOL! This is going to be fun!
Three out of three — on the blue dress I too like the square pin. Like Linda, I like the bigger sleeves, because they work so well with the beige fabric. The blue, though, is especially beautiful on Samantha and the blue ribbon is a great match. Making Nellie’s belt shorter was a good idea.
I had forgotten that Blue Diamonds was shown on Nellie because Lindsay usually wears it here, and in fact, she just took it off. It may be my favorite of those I own. At least it’s in the top 10.
Goodness sakes, Jeanne, Linda S. took the words right out of my mouth! I too, love the blue, especially that soft blue, but I prefer the beige version over the blue one, the shorter sash and the droopy sleeves! However, I do prefer the first button over the second square one. I have that first button on the dress I made for Felicity, except the metal is gold instead of silver.
A lace dickie or is it dickey, would be perfect, and a removable one at that! I just think it would look more appropriate for cooler weather, and more to what I see in dresses of that time. If it is removable, it could be used for other outfits too.
This is going to be fun to see what happens next!
One more vote for the blue. I love the beige and it go more in keeping with the original as far as you can tell. There is just something about the blue.
The adjustments you made are great and you can really see the difference when you reference the before and after. I love the sashes and I wonder if in the original they were fabric and more like a comberbun than a sash. The cumberbun being made out of the dress fabric.
George came up with a great idea and I think he might be the winner. I can’t wait to see the dresses finished. Just a thought would you ever consider making a copy of the dress pattern and selling it?
Blue is the winner! In my opinion.😉
Marilyn, I wondered if you had the other blue diamonds dress. It’s gorgeous! Who in your doll family gets to wear it?
I’m a fan of the beige dress. However, I liked the sash longer than it is now. Not as long as before though. 🙂 The blue makes a lovely dress too. I like it without the buttons personally as the button on the sash is enough decoration. Square button for me. I would like to see a piece added to fill in the v neck. When I hear dickie/dickey it makes me think of a knitted turtle neck that some used to wear under a v-neck sweater. I can remember several dresses with that whatever it is called fill in piece that had a button on each side. I think they were nautical look as I remember.
Lots of work going on at your place. These will make such cute sister dresses. I would definitely do some photos of the two together even if selling separately.
Here, the fires rage on. Came over the hills and down into town in two hours. Half of the town is evacuated. Quite a few homes lost. Fire is now in the state park in town. We’ve been packed and ready to go with everything by the front door, but fortunately, our area hasn’t been in the evacuation warning zone. It’s been very difficult to get information so that adds to the frustration. It has been raining embers and ash. Smoke awful, but hopefully has lifted today so the air tankers can make drops. Where is the rain?
My computer was having issues and I had to fix things. Oh, my goodness, please be safe , Joy! So scary to hear about the fast spreading fires. Prayers for safety and that you don’t have to evacuate.
You are a busy one! The ideas you have for the two dresses are going to keep us all watching. The buttons you have are so interesting. I may have to look through my stash and see if any of mine would work on a dress for an antique doll.
What a fun idea George came up with. and a prize at the end. Well, we all have to put our two cents in and I start by saying that, like Joy, I prefer the sash on the beige dress a little longer, but not as long as it was, maybe an inch. Aren’t you glad to hear that? We obviously each have subtle differences. I actually love the beige dress, the neutral color is refreshing, somewhat like I love gray. The butterfly button really makes a lovely touch and I like the intentional drop shoulders as well.
The blue dress is pretty and I think the ribbon and first button choice are great. I love blue, but for some reason the fabric looks a little too modern to me for the era. I’m sorry and it’s funny because I’ve never thought that about a dress before. Speaking of loving blue, Nellie’s AG blue meet dress is definitely one of my favorites, so much so that I have two so Samantha and she can dress alike.
May I see the beige dress on Samantha? I’m betting it would be just as lovely on her as well.
Hi Jeanne
What a great challenge. I love the blue dress though I do like the sash on the white dress. Someone mentioned yesterday that it was difficult for you to use new fabric to recreate what is obviously (in the photo) a well worn dress. I think the blue dress looks more modern with the shorter sleeves but I still love it. By the way, if I am lucky enough to win the shoes I will send you the postage. Don’t worry, I am not that lucky lol. My Dad always used to say it was better to be born lucky than rich. Sometimes it has worked in my favour. When my husband and I were still married but he had already started on his affair with our foster daughter (unbeknown to me of course) a nation wide group I was involved in were running a raffle for a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring, better than anything I had ever owned. My husband took the books to work, we had two. He sold the tickets in one book and bought the other book himself. The winning ticket was in the other book! Imagine what would have happened if he had won?
I only had time to read the blog yesterday and the comments, no time to write. I had to take Sam’s husband to the hospital for treatment at 7.30 am. Sam couldn’t take him, it is school holidays and Caitlin had a day camp for the band she is in and Sam had to get her there before 8.30. Fortunately they gave Greg a taxi chit to get home as I couldn’t wait as I had a hair appointment at 9.30 and still had to have a shower and walk the dog. Then it was coffee morning with the girls and shopping after.
Joy I really hope you can stay safe. It must be terrifying to have the fires so close. I hope you have all your girls packed, ready to go too, never mind stuff that can be replaced. Pets, photos and stuff that has a lot of sentimental value is the most important in situations like that.
Winter has reminded us that it may be spring but he is still waiting in the wings. There have been huge snow storms in the south of the South Island, very difficult for the farmers who are lambing now, and gale force winds all over. There is nothing between us and Antarctica so when the weather comes from there it is very, very cold. We escaped the snow and even the rain here in the East and had a lovely day except for the icy cold wind. After temps of up to 25C last week we had 11C yesterday but I bet the wind chill factor made it much lower than that. We had frosts as well. When I went to take Greg yesterday morning I didn’t realise and my windscreen was completely covered with ice. It took me five minutes to clear it enough to see out of. I don’t think my grape vines will like it. Last week strong winds in Auckland blew two trucks over on the Harbour Bridge damaging the struts so they had to close it. They made a temporary repair till they can get a new strut made but had to close it again yesterday morning. Traffic was backed up for 20 kms with no way of turning around. I guess there were some not at work yesterday.
Well better get my day started, take care everyone.
My tastes are varied and hugely diverse so I’m in a quandary as to which dress I like best. I love the fabric of both and the two give totally different vibes. The blue looks like a fun dress and the beige looks soft and pleasant. I do like the shortened belt on the beige dress and think it would be great to place it differently from wearing to wearing. I like the sleeves on the blue dress but I also like the ones on the beige. I’m not sure how I feel about the buttons. Sounds like I’m wishy washy but I just have very broad tastes so it all usually works for me.
Joy, I am so sorry you are having to go through fire danger again. It’s got to be a scary situation and not knowing from day-to-day has got to be very stressful. Hopefully the fire will not come any further your way. Please stay safe.
I love Anne’s posts. Sure lets us know what life is like in a place most of us can only imagine. I have a friend in Scotland and she says when the cold winds blow off the Russian steppes it is bitter. When I lived in PA it got cold in the winter but, except for blizzards, it was manageable. Here in Texas we’re glad when it gets cold but it can be a damp cold that seeps into the bones and can be very chilling.
Two days down, three to go. That refers to the fact my grandkids have actually been in in-person school for two days. Hopefully this will continue with no further problems.
I like both dresses very much, but for me blue is better.
Joy, I read in horror about your problems. I trust God that nothing will happen to you.
I greet everyone warmly.