I do believe these last 3 weeks have been some of the busiest of my life… It seems there just aren’t enough hours in my days… I know that’s not true, but it sure seems like it…
This morning I got up, did some painting… then had to help my hubby in the attic… then had to deliver the blue dress… while I was out my hubby asked me to pick up a few things for him… when I got home I worked on Julie’s dress for a little while…then had to work in the attic with my hubby some more… then it was dinner time… then I sewed some more on Julie’s dress and now it’s 11:23 and I’m just now getting to my post… This too shall pass… and I’ll be glad when it does… :o)
A few of you asked about the dress I altered and I thought maybe I’d share a few more pictures of it… (By the way, I just got a text a little while ago from the mom and she said the dress was beautiful and they loved it.) She wasn’t there when I dropped it off… so I left it with her son. I asked her if it fit well, and she said it was a perfect fit. (I can breathe now!)
The reason she wasn’t wearing a strapless bra was because the party dress code said no strapless or one shouldered dresses… they didn’t want that much skin showing. So she decided to just kind of camouflage the strapless side and use lace. That was allowed…
Anyway, here are a few pictures… The dress is much more flattering on than it is just hanging on that hanger…
I actually wanted the scalloped edge of the lace to point outwards to her shoulder, but when I pinned the lace in place at her house, I didn’t realize I had pinned it in place but on the wrong side… so when I got it home and realized it needed to be turned over, I didn’t think to just mark it and flip it to the other end… I didn’t want to lose my pin marks… so it ended up pointing the wrong way… hope she didn’t remember…
Okay enough on that dress… let’s see what I did on Julie’s dress. I think Charlotte called it violet? I was thinking it was more like lilac or lavender and found this rug picture, but that wasn’t right…
Oh no… here we go again…I searched online and think it’s actually hyacinth… it has more blue tones than pink tones…
However when I photograph it, the color is just the same as what it looks like in person. I just need to figure out what is the “name” of that color… I’ll have to wait until tomorrow and see the fabric next to my computer and those Hyacinth petals to be certain about the color…
This is the pattern I was using for Julie’s dress. It’s a Keeper’s Dolly Duds pattern and I had never used it before.
I am using this view, but placed the dress on the fold to eliminate the seam down the front. (It had a seam there in case you wanted to do a dress using a color block…)
I asked for my daughter’s opinion on the lace to use for the sleeves and she liked this one… not too dainty and not too chunky…
Things were going along splendidly but I wasn’t thrilled with the shape of the dress…it was kind of weird under the arms…
It was kind of wrinkly and wouldn’t lay right…
When making a doll dress, you generally set the sleeve in and it’s just sewn in flat and then you sew from the wrist or elbow or cuff on the sleeve down the sleeve to the armpit area, and down the side of the dress and to the hem… like this…
…but on a dress with a smooth fitted sleeve sometimes it can make it too restricted in the armhole area… no matter if you clip it, it still won’t lay right…
Since it’s not a “huge” alteration fix, I decided to try taking the sleeve underarm area apart and putting it back together like a human sleeve would be put in…
Here it is taken apart… just enough to get to the seams going up and down and across…
First, you sew up the side seam all the way to the end…and then you sew up the sleeve end… ( I really need a drawing for you.. it sounds complicated but it’s not.) So you have the seams going up and down sewn all the way to the ends…
Then you turn the sleeve to the inside and stitch around the bottom section of the curved armhole area of the sleeve…
Here is a picture of both ways… the one on the right done like “MOST” doll clothes… and the one on the left like human clothing is put together and how I just redid Julie’s sleeves…
It is better but it’s hard to see… I only have one light on…
I’ll have to see what happens tomorrow… but this should finish up fairly quickly…
Thanks everyone,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne and all, Love the color and the fit of this dress. She needs some kind of trim for the collar area. Will see what you do tomorrow
That dress does look better on the hanger, seeing the whole thing, I mean. Now I see why she couldn’t just wear it as is, with the one shoulder. Too bad she couldn’t have found a style that was within the parameters of what was allowed, though!!
You did have a busy day yesterday!!
Now, about that color…first I was thinking heliotrope, but that’s much more pink. Then I thought, “Wisteria”, and I think that Might be the color name you want! Look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisteria It has a really good picture of wisteria, and–at least on my monitor–looks pretty close to your fabric. You could call your dress, “Wonderful Wisteria” or something along those lines. Lots of alliterative phrases to choose from, I think!
As a long-time seamstress, I know exactly what you are talking about with the sleeves–and I think I’ve made that same change myself in a pattern or two. It’s the difference between sewing ON a sleeve and setting IN a sleeve! It definitely can make a difference in the fit!
I am currently working on finishing a “round robin” Christmas quilt piece that I started over 25 years ago! I made my own bias mini-piping, and have it sewn in place and pressed to the wrong side. The next step is placing the piece on the background fabric, and pinning and sewing it in place. It is to be a wall hanging, and the person who added the final border cut the thing into an oval–and you can’t hang an oval!! So I am turning it back into a rectangle. I’ve spent some time now and then in the last few years thinking about just how to do that, and it is about to become a reality!
So….no, I haven’t made any doll clothes in the last 2-3 weeks!
You described the change in sleeve attachment very clearly. I knew just what you were doing!
Thanks for showing all of the dress. Now I get it.
As to the color of Julie’s dress, I’m sticking to lilac because the hyacinths here are all pink! 🙂 We have lilac’s in a light pink and a dark purple as well, but we do have grape hyacinths which might be closer to the color of Julie’s dress. Maybe since it has birds in the print, it could be called blue bird purple? Ha ha.
I just read Charlotte’s post and I think she nailed it with Wisteria!
I’m sure Julie appreciates the sleeve fix. A girl wants to look her best. 🙂
Oh no, not another color controversy! Just for fun, how about calling it periwinkle? It is close to that and unlike lilacs, and hyacinth’s, periwinkle has only one color flower……that I am aware of! Surely, but I’m no expert!
That dress you fixed looks very nice on the hanger,way better than if it was on me!😂. You did a great job, and I’m sure she was very appreciative.
The sleeve explanation of Julie’s dress just went over my head, but that’s ok, I will never have that problem, since I don’t sew that much, but if I ever would need it, it will always be there on your blog to look up.
I would think Julie is getting rather inpatient with getting her dress done……..if we can ever come up with the name of the color!!
Sorry, Joy, I’m going to go with Hyacinth. Reminds me Hyacinth Bucket in the British comedy “Keeping Up Appearances.” I’m sure others will think of that too.
I noticed the orientation of the lace yesterday but didn’t mention it. I’m sure it was fine with the young lady and it’s a lovely dress. Super Seamstress comes through again!
Hyacinth “Bouquet”. I loved “Keeping Up Appearances”, especially Daisy and Onslow. And then there was Rose. Who could forget Rose and her underwear contribution to the charity. My favorite episode was when Hyacinth and her husband bought the property in the country. And I loved when the preacher’s wife used to call Hyacinth that “Bucket woman”.
I loved watching all of the episodes of the adventures of Hyacinth and friends. Each character had it’s charm. I remember her often trying to hide in the bushes so that one of the influential people in town wouldn’t see her with Rose, Daisy, or Onslow. And her long suffering husband. What was his name? 🙂
Richard. I couldn’t remember it earlier today.
I can totally relate to not feeling there are enough hours. I never made it her to comment yesterday because we were expecting a freeze and snow and I was outside covering the blueberry bushes, the daffodils that haven’t bloomed yet, and the bleeding hearts etc.
We did get snow, five inches!! The sad thing is the snow damaged and broke a few of the crab apple trees that are in the curb strip. Two of our neighbors lost a huge branch out of theirs and another had their tree split completely. The trees are old as they were planted in the 1970’s. The city is out there right now cleaning up.
Wisteria! Charlotte is spot on. A perfect name for the color. I absolutely love wisteria.
Love the sleeve ruffle and looking forward to seeing what’s next.
I love Julie’s dress, especially the sleeves and the color. Very pretty lace and perfect for the dress. I noticed that on some of my older patterns they tell you to put in the sleeve like you ended up doing it. Not quite what you’d do when sewing people clothes but still easier than actually setting it into such a small area. But my newer patterns show it the first way and now I usually do all my sleeves that way. But I never thought that sometimes it might not look right. I haven’t run into that yet, but if I do, now I’ll know what to do to fix it. I’d love for you to make the pantsuit on the pattern sometime. I had a pantsuit almost exactly like that one. I loved it.
I think I actually like your “mistake” on the altered address. I like the fancier side closer to the face. I’m glad the dress passes muster now, but it still seems there’s plenty of skin showing if the idea was to have minimal. When I was young we lived in a Catholic neighborhood. It was a new development and there was a Catholic church and school right down the main road so it was a good place to live if you wanted your children to go to Catholic school. We were not Catholic, but many of my friends were and went to Catholic school. They did not start the year wearing uniforms so that everyone could get what they needed, they could do uniform swaps, etc. My friend’s mother was going through her closet before school started segregating dresses she could wear to start school. She put a nice one aside saying she couldn’t wear that one. I asked her mom why not. She said it was sleeveless and they could not wear those type dresses to school. We’ve come a long way from that. I walked into church one Sunday to see several of the teen girls sitting together. It looked like they were all naked. They had on strapless dresses. In church! This old foggy here thought that was a bit shocking to see.
Some of my sofa sisters are mentioning snow in their areas. No snow here but it was 53 degrees mid-morning and that’s cool for this time of year. Last week we had the A/C on and this week it has been the heat again. But it does make for some beautiful days, now that the days of rain have finally left. Actually feels like spring days during my youth in PA.
Barbara, in many of our beautiful basilicas and cathedrals here, strapless bridal dresses are not allowed. I remember when teaching in Catholic schools in the late 60’s, the teachers were not allowed to wear sleeveless blouses. Times certainly have changed, but I am still not happy with how brief some young girls dress today, in and out of church! I guess I am another old foggy!
Make that three old fogeys! I don’t like the idea of strapless dresses in church, nor wedding gowns/bridesmaids gowns that have necklines cut down to There, and skirts slit up to There! Just not proper, IMHO.
I went to a Catholic school for two years — definitely worth it — I had to learn grammar. My classmates already knew the rules after years of terror and drilling, but fortunately my mom had been to Catholic school and could help me with homework. Those two years paid off over and over in my career as an English major and English teacher.
Sometimes we had to wear dressy dresses — for May Crowning, for example. At that time choices were limited. Summer dressy dresses were short sleeved, had scoop necks in front and V-necks in back, full skirts. and cummerbunds. We had to fill in the already modest v-necked back necklines, making our dresses look silly and patchy. Fortunately when we wore them to church with our families, the insets could be and were removed.
I’m going with the wisteria voters for the color name, though lilac would also be nice since May is lilac time, and lilac might work in the title.
I also have to agree with all the people like me who are happy to see the entire beaded dress. I do see why the owner wanted to buy and wear that dressand I’m glad you made that possible.
I’m trying to think of accessories that would make this a $100 outfit, which is my preferred price-range for your auction conclusions.. You could show it with sandals and with flats and lacy tights. She could carry a basket of May flowers. She could have a wide brimmed straw hat trimmed with flowers of the Renfaire sort and ribbons.
Maybe a short bolero too!
Dear Jeanne, I like Julie’s dress. I like that it will be knee length.
I also like the Dress A on the pattern that the Black doll is wearing. It’s more of an a-line. It makes me think of a dress that Shirley Temple would have worn as a child.
I loved Daisy and Onslow too, and Rose. And poor Elizabeth! I think it was the characters that made those British comedies so funny. Maybe it is just me but I think todays comedies rely on bad language and sex to be funny
I agree with you, Anne! And, I’m another fan of Hyacinth and the whole gang.
Sorry I was replying to Barbara’s post about Keeping up Appearances!
I’m not sure how much skin the lace is going to cover! does seem a bit daft with those kinds of rules that are allowed to be circumvented so easily.
Barbara when I was in UK I went to church with my sister. One little girl came one day in a fairy dress complete with wand. I said to my sister that I didn’t have a problem with it but thinking back to the 70’s when I was taking my daughter to church I would never have allowed her to dress like that! She said the same. The little one looked so cute. I think I was too worried about ‘keeping up appearances’ then. My sister’s grandaughter was about 20 when I was there and a little on the plump side and would come to church wearing bibbed shorts (not sure what else to call them) that were REALLY short, so short they showed her ‘cheeks’. This old fogey wasn’t sure that was appropriate either lol.
Jeanne, thanks for the tip about the sleeves I will remember that one. I love the colour of the dress and the style brings back memories! A lines and pants suits with bell bottoms! I made most of my own clothes then and remember mini dresses with shorts (hot pants I believe they called them then) and pants suits with bell bottoms! I look forward to seeing it finished.
Sam wants to do a photo shoot for ANZAC Day on Sunday. ANZAC stands for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps who went to Gallipoli in WW1. Basically as cannon fodder. It is generally held that two nations were forged at that time as opposed to them being two colonies. It is a very important day here and in Australia. Shops are closed till 1pm and there are dawn parades in almost every town in the country and they are well attended with children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren wearing their relatives medals. My grandson would have loved to wear my Dad’s medals when he used to go but unfortunately they were stolen in a burglary many years ago and we have only just realised in the last few years that that is what happened to them. It wasn’t reported to the police at the time and without a police report we can’t get a replacement. Anyway, Sam is making poppies for the girls to sell and some medals and I am making some warmer clothes for them as it is very cold at dawn at the end of April! Will send the photos when we are done
Hi Anne,
I loved the TV series ANZAC girls. Have you seen it? I picked it up at the library one week years ago while browsing through the historical section. They did make a goof by putting one WWII historical event in it.
Looking forward to your pictures. I remember when poppies were always available on Veteran’s day here. I still have some of those old ones.
I wonder if you wrote a letter to the medal replacement people explaining about the burglary and how it wasn’t discovered until much later if that might suffice? Definitely add in how much your grandson would be honored wearing his great grandfather’s medals. Or make a police report now. If one was made way back, perhaps that information could be added to the first report. As a last resort, perhaps they sell used metals on Ebay? Wouldn’t be the same, but could start new memories. Just a thought. 🙂
My calendar has the holidays of places all over the world and I saw ANZAC Day but had no idea what it was. Thanks so much for filling me in. I was going to ask. And how could I not mention Elizabeth. The woman was a saint.
Hi Jeanne, If you want to be true to her Historical Time Period in the 1970’s she needs a contrasting collar, that is all. You have the details on the lace of the sleeves, and the length could be shortened, but most of all she needs a Peter Pan Collar in White. Back then nothing was real fancy anyway, remember? I love the fabric and the color and the sleeves and the length for this doll, just add a collar in white then you’re done.