I’m almost finished with Maryellen’s dress set. It’s almost been like making 2 different dresses…almost! But I’m on the homestretch now. It won’t be long! :o)
I went to town today and when I got home, my hubby had mulched the leaves in the yard. Oops… I was going to take some pictures of Maryellen out in them… I still might take some pictures of her outside so you can see the color of the dress better. In some of my pictures the color is spot on… and others it’s a bit on the dull side. The fabric is very pretty!
I got the snaps all sewn back on the skirt and waist section of the dress… (just between you and me, I’ve had my fill of sewing on snaps for a while!) :o)
The lace has been carefully sewn by hand to the underneath side of the collar…and the bow has been tied and stitched on.
I tried a strand of the fabric for her hair but it was too much matchy-matchy, so I just used the same ribbon as I had on the dress. I think it works okay.. I did have some wider wired ribbon but it was too dark brown and didn’t go at all.
I took a picture of the length of the dress at eye level so you could see where it hits on her legs.
Someone missed her slip yesterday…here it is…
…and a few ladies noticed I changed her shoes from black to brown… I knew I had some brown ones, but couldn’t find them. When I undressed Julie to send her dress to the winner, there they were…on Julie…duh… Her shoes aren’t included but her socks are!
Since my hubby mulched the leaves, we improvised and used some leaves inside…
…anyone spot the kitty?
I still haven’t figured out her storyline but hopefully I will tomorrow.
Thanks everyone,
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Maryellen’s dress is lovely, Jeanne, and I do like the brown ribbon in her hair. And, yes, I spotted the kitty!!
Thanks Charlotte,
Ihope you have a wonderful day!!
Blessings, Jeanne
Sorry about the premature mulching, but the indoor leaves are nice and the rustic background ties everything together.
We’re heading out to see the grands today and celebrate a 10 year birthday. Can’t believe he’s 10.
Have a nice weekend everyone.
Hi Joy,
But if you leave…who will be in charge at the camp? :o)
Have a great day celebrating!!
Blessings, Jeanne
Ha ha, I left Ardyn, the bird watcher in charge. 🙂
HI Joy,
I hope Ardyn looks down from the sky every once in a while to check on things… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
I really like that color fabric on Maryellen. Kudos for making the white lace an under color, and keeping the gold collar next to her face.
Hi Carolyn,
I’m glad you like how the dress ended up! I’m liking it much better now too!
Thank you for your kind comments!
Blessings, Jeanne
I didn’t spot kitty until you mentioned it. Be careful kitty, you might get raked into a pile of leaves!
Mary Ellen’s dress has turned out sooo cute. You managed to incorporate just about everyone’s vision for it, too.
HI Julia,
Well, I guess you could say, “I aim to please!” Really, I just needed help with this one… once I figured out what was wrong… I just moved ahead… but like I said, next time I’m copying a picture.
Blessings, Jeanne
Mary Ellen’s dress has turned out lovely. I love the color of the fabric. So fall looking. I really like the bow in her hair and agree it’s probably better than using the dress fabric. I’m a very matchy-matchy person – my daughter would vouch for that since she teased me a lot about that – but I do have my limits. Coordinating is sometimes better than matchy-matchy. Love the term.
I actually missed the kitty. I agree with Julia that he/she could be in danger of being raked up with the leaves. I usually spot things quickly, but not so much this time.
Joy, have a great time celebrating your grandson’s 10th birthday. My grandson had his 10th in July. My granddaughter will be 9 on New Year’s Eve. Then the new little one in that family arrives in late January. I plan on seeing his 10th too. I will be 84 years young at that point. My youngest grandchild at the moment had his 3rd birthday on 10/6. Tempus fugit as they say.
Hi Barbara, My youngest grandaughter is 10 on 29th Dec. My oldest Great-grandaughter will be 9 next April!!!.
Thank you for your concern about the jolt we had. I was fine after a couple of minutes. The jolt itself wasn’t big enough to cause any damage it is the fear factor that is the problem. ‘Is it starting again’? We check Google every time to see where the aftershock was. The real fear is if it is on a different fault line, once we know it is an aftershock we can relax again. It also makes us think of that time again. Pre- Sep 2010 these jolts weren’t an issue, in fact we found them a little bit interesting but after 4 very damaging earthquakes and over 30,000 aftershocks they are very unsettling. I can tell you that I know more about earthquakes than I ever wanted to know! Before the Sep one I didn’t even know what an aftershock was. This is a very shaky country.
My major in college was geology. I often thought I would like to get into seismology because I loved the study of the hows and whys of earthquakes. Then life took a different turn and I ended up working for an oil company, but in the production not the exploration department. I can’t imagine living in an area so earthquake prone. Scary.
An American was living here and teaching seismology at the university as well as doing a study on them. He got more of a hands on study than he expected (or wanted). He lived on Avonside Drive, just across the river from where I used to live. That area was very badly hit and the land so badly damaged that it wasn’t possible to rebuild on it so the Govt ‘Red Zoned’ it and purchased the land from us (the house was covered by insurance but not the land). It is now all parkland.
In your studies did you come across anything by Professor Jane Soons? She was a professor of Geology at Canterbury University until she retired. She was very well thought of in the International Community and used to chair many big International Conferences. She is my Dad’s cousin.
Thank you Barbara,
I like this fabric color too… It’s really a dream of strawberry blondes and red heads… I knew it would be pretty on Maryellen. Bailey had one made from this fabric too…
Yes, that kitty better watch out when he’s sleeping in the leaves… he should be named Chameleon!
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Barbara–we are the same age, or close to it! In ten years *I* will be 84 also! (Jan. 28)
Our grands are all older–from 21 down to almost 13. I miss those “little” years!
I’m a little older, I will be 85 in ten years time. My oldest grandchildren are 31 and 28, the youngest is almost 10 but I do have two great grand daughters 9 and 7
Love this dress!!! It is so cute.
I think your Mary Ellen is a good model- you cleaned her up like new!
Hi Paula,
She really turn from a mess to a princess… I think she is very pretty now too! I’m glad you like her dress!
Blessings, Jeanne
I love this dress on Maryellen. You’ve captured her coloring perfectly. I knew you would be able to come up with the perfect outcome.
Where did you find that little kitty???? It looks just like my cat, Peaches, and I would love get one, too.
HI Debi,
Thank you for your nice compliments on Maryellen’s dress set. She really does look pretty in this fabric color…
I don’t remember where I got the kitty… probably at the Goodwill or Thrift shop or maybe sometime when we were antique shopping. I think it’s a sweet little thing the way it’s sleeping. When I saw what you said your cat’s name was, I remembered seeing something on the little navy and white checked pillow it came with… I knew there was a name on it, so I just got up and looked, and it said “Whiskers” not Peaches… :o(
Maybe you’ll find one sometime… I’ll keep my eyes open for one too…
Blessings, Jeanne
Fabulous Fall! It just couldn’t be any better for a Fall dress…or anytime really. The brown shoes and ribbons and buttons look perfect. The kitty almost blended in but I spotted her!
The inside leaves look just as nice as outside too
Maybe you can rest a day before your next dress design?☺️
HI Kathie,
Rest? Are you kidding…it’s almost Christmas! I’ve got to step it up into high gear, somehow… I wanted to get my kitchen cabinets painted by Thanksgiving… but that looks like it’s not going to happen…
I need 2 of me… to get things done and then have time to sew…
Thank you for your very kind words about Maryellen’s dress! I enjoyed how it turned out…finally after several tries!
Blessings, Jeanne
Spot the kitty? TBH, that is the first thing I laid my on as I saw that whitish spot. When I enlarged the picture, they was an adorable kitty. I love him/her!
I love Maryellen’s dress… every detail is perfect. The brown ribbon in her hair is the best choice. That look is common for many eras. I wore my hair like that, minus the bangs, in the early 1970’s. The brown shoes are cute.
Having Maryellen standing in the leaves is adorable. I think I’ll have to get some faux leaves for my dolls and kitties to play in.
It’s a lovely day, Have a great weekend!!
HI Laura,
I’m so glad you like the dress…and I’m glad everyone else does too…
I used to wear ribbons in my hair too… and still sometimes wear a headband…
I liked having the leaves spread out for her to stand on and kitties to sleep in!
It was beautiful here today too…
Enjoy your weekend,
Blessings, Jeanne
I think Maryellen looks lovely in her pretty outfit. I am not an orange/gold person but love the fabric and the print. The shoes are absolutely perfect for the 50’s. I wore sandals like that all through school in Summer (and in the holidays). I missed the kitten and had to go back and look for it. It is so cute.
It is almost summer here, just a couple of weeks to go. Thursday it was so hot 28C but it has been all downhill from there. Pouring with rain at the moment and has done all night with a projected high today of 11C! It is 9C at the moment. My dog isn’t getting a walk this morning. If it clears up later I might take him then. We needed the rain but it can stop now!
Thank you Anne,
I’m more of cool tones person, but I have some warm prints that I dearly love and this is one of them… it’s a very sweet fabric and looks great on Maryellen. I think she knows it! :o)
28C is equivalent to our 83 degrees…that is pretty warm for summer not to even be started yet… we have a ways to go before we are there… but today was a lovely day in the 70’s…
Thanks Anne,
Blessings, Jeanne
When we went out to pick up my friend Kay for church I checked my phone again. The temp had dropped to 8C but it said it felt like 3C, I can agree with that it was very cold. We did make it to 12C in the end but the dog didn’t get a walk. It didn’t stop raining till after 4pm.
On this gray day, with snow expected Monday, Maryellen’s warm colors look wonderful to me. I always like top stitching, and it’s perfect on this cute holiday outfit. I am so glad this perfect autumn outfit will be ready for this perfect autumn holiday.
Don’t give the kitten away. Produce an accessory instead — someone suggested something like a basket of leaves and acorns to decorate the table.
HI Marilyn,
Thanks for your sweet comments…and no, I’m not giving that kitty away. I love it too much! You’ll see tomorrow what I did… unless you’ve already seen it…
blessings, Jeanne
This is so lovely! The color of the dress is beautiful and looks great on Maryellen. It’s a perfect 50’s dress, I think.
Thank you Conni,
I’m so glad you let me know you love it! Maryellen likes it very much too!
Blessings, Jeanne
Just saw the outdoor scenes, and they are amazing. Such a wonderful fall setting with fabulous photography. And that little tea party with your Meadow kids is sweet. 🙂
Thanks Joy,
Your comments made me smile… but not as much as I smiled when I saw your Camp Meadow pictures… You should have that picture printed and hang it up!
Blessings, Jeanne
You are too kind. But, thank you. 🙂
I loved the picture of the little ‘campers.’ Reminds me of time I spent working at summer camp!
HI Joy,
Yes, wasn’t Joy’s picture of all her Meadow girls just wonderful? Everyone loved it! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m not sure why I didn’t comment yesterday, but when I saw the listing for Maryellen’s dress, I just absolutely LOVE the outside pictures! I spent yesterday outside raking and blowing leaves, and will do more of the same today, but those pictures are just beautiful with the leaves and trees!
Maryellen’s dress is perfect for the background! The background is just perfect for the dress! No way around it, this is a very stunning listing! I see you have a bid already, so someone else thinks so too!
Thank you Linda,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the pictures. It was beautiful here too! I hate to see this wonderful weather leave us for winter… boohoo… :o(
Yes, it was wonderful to get a bid early on and not wonder if I had gotten all the details right… Somebody liked it! Yay!
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
When we went out to pick up my friend Kay for church I checked my phone again. The temp had dropped to 8C but it said it felt like 3C, I can agree with that it was very cold. We did make it to 12C in the end but the dog didn’t get a walk. It didn’t stop raining till after 4pm.
HI Anne,
I hope it warms up for you so you can get that dog walked! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne