I worked at the International House today until 1:15 and then went to work at the Food Pantry. I came home and decided I “had” to make my hubby dinner tonight since he fixed his own last night while I was listing my latest doll outfit and trying to figure out the new changes to ebay!
I made barbequed chicken, zucchini, we split a sweet potato and had a baguette! He was pleased!! Me too… it was good!!
I didn’t make it into my sewing room until 9:30 and I’m not going to give any hints as to which doll is up next, but I did get her dress started. You’ll have to study the top pieces of the dress and see what you make of it.
The fabric had this pretty edge next to the selvage, so I decided to include it on my dress…
I’ll see what I can get done on it over the weekend and see you on Monday…
Have a great weekend!!
Blessings, Jeanne
Well, the print looks like it could be fir Kirsten, but the square neck…I’m not so sure about that. I’m guessing one of the AG dolls, though.
I see your auction has one bid already!!
Today I was hugely busy–a call from the foods supt. started my morning, and we agreed on one day only where I can judge a cooking contest or two. My schedule has really filled up, not just judging, but doctor appointments and other things, as well!
I also cleaned the church, practiced my music, mailed some packages (and picked up one!!!), made a quick stop at the library to use the copier, got gas for my car, made a little lined drawstring giftbag for one of my 4H girls who sent me a grad. announcement (she’s aging out this year 😟)–I got her a gift card, which I will put in the bag, and then she can use the bag for other things later. I also did a load of wash, took pictures of two items I’ll be displaying in our “alumni exhibit”, and dug out the Dolley Madison-style gown I had made for the bicentennial (for you young ‘uns, that was 1976!) and found it doesn’t even need ironing! But….gosh…was my waist ever That tiny?! (I wish I was as fat now as I Thought I was then!! 😂) We did go out for supper, so at least I didn’t have to cook!
Barbara, I saw your comment about how kids dress for school these days, WE were not even allowed to wear slacks to school–OR college!! When I was in first grade, I remember, even on the coldest days (Upper Mich.), we could wear slacks under our dresses, but the slacks had to come off while we were in class. It was always the dilemma: do we wear our slacks/snow-pants Over our dress (tucking the skirt in) and risk getting it wrinkled, or Under our dress, and risk the boys seeing our undies?!! The boys were not allowed to wear jeans to school…At. All.! Casual slacks, that was it. In college, we girls could only wear slacks around campus after 4 (in your dorm room, it didn’t matter) or on weekends. Different times, for sure! (I graduated HS in 1964, and college in 1968.)
Dear Charlotte, oh my goodness, you do have a long “must do” list. I hope you were (are) able to build in some sit down with your feet up time. Your namesake Charlotte Noelle would say “stop and eat the cookies” (laugh).
I was not a fan of uniforms in school because we had to wear them but anything to improve how girls dress for school now would be an improvement. I was appalled at my two 16 year old grands dressed for the first day of school😳🥲
This latest dress will be lovely…you find wonderful fabrics. That design on the end will be a fun detail…so they are ruffles? Love the linen look.
My sis left this AM but will be back mid December for a couple weeks. Things may be back to normal here …maybe😉. Enjoy your Sunday
We couldn’t wear slacks either and I can sure relate to your comment about wearing slacks under/over our dresses on cold days. When I got to junior high and we no longer did that, I often longed for the good old days. In jr. high it was about how you looked and had nothing to do with comfort. If anyone had worn slacks under their dresses on cold days they would have never lived it down. No jeans for the boys either. That surprises my hubby because he was raised in farm country and often the boys came straight to school after doing farm chores. They even had “good” jeans for church and special occasions. I graduated high school in 1965. It was years before I actually wore slacks to church and I insisted my stepdaughters wear dresses. By the time my daughter got to high school I had relaxed the dress code a bit but I still would have had a difficult time seeing her go to school in clothes with holes. My daughter-in-law never pays attention to how her kids look. Fortunately my granddaughter wears a uniform to her Charter school. One Sunday Skyy came to church with the knees out of his jeans (he actually wore holes in them). My son assumes his wife will look out for this but she couldn’t care less, so he didn’t see what Skyy had on till they got to church. He was not a happy daddy.
Here in NZ the children still wear school uniform from entry till year 11. If they stay on till year 12 they can wear mufti. Normally the boys wear shorts till year 10 when they can wear longs and the girls wear dresses in the summer and skirts or kilts in the winter. They have got a bit more relaxed though so primary school the girls can wear skirts, dresses or track pants and boys can wear track pants too. Things have changed a bit with gender equality so schools now allow the girls to wear the boys uniform if they choose.
I have major issues with kids (or more probably their parents) paying hundreds of dollars on ‘designer jeans’ that look as though they have pulled them out of the rag bag!!!
As for church none of my grandchildren go but when I was in UK in 2015 one of her granddaughters wore her favourite outfit to church (at least I think it was as she wore it everywhere). Extremely short shorts with a bib front. They were so short you could see her ‘cheeks’. She was quite a big girl weight wise and didn’t really suit them anyway. She was almost 17 then so I guess she felt she could wear what she pleased.
Children start school on their 5th birthday or the start of the term closest to it. So year 10 they are usually 15 but it depends on when their birthday was. Kai’s best friend’s birthday is in June so that year was counted as her first year. Kai’s birthday is in August so her first year didn’t officially start until the beginning of the next school year which made her a year behind her friend from then on. It’s a mad system and the teachers hate it. In the New Entrants class they are continually having someone new come in instead of everyone starting at the same time. When I was at school (and I don’t think it is much different now in UK) we started at the beginning of the school year closest to our 5th birthday.
Here, kinder cut off is now Sept. 1st. Kids must be five by then. However, we also have pre-K for those that didn’t make the cut off. Seems to be working. But, we don’t have kids coming in and out at various times. That would be so difficult to have to repeat everything for newcomers. I’ll bet a teacher didn’t have anything to do with making those rules. 🙂
Oh yes, Jeanne, you have me completely stumped on who this dress is for! It’s hard to tell what size it is, but could be for an AG. I do know it can’t be for Molly with the print, but like Charlotte guessed, maybe Kirsten? Are those strips for a ruffled skirt? No, they can’t be, unless they are folded in half. Why are we seeing fringe on the one picture, but not on others? That really is a pretty selvedge! The mystery deepens!
Charlotte, you certainly did get me to remember how we dressed in high school and college, Same here, in Missouri! I don’t think anyone ever THOUGHT of wearing slacks in high school, and I don’t even remember any reason for our school to have a dress code, since we all dressed pretty nicely, although the boys did wear jeans. College in the ealry 60’s was the same as what you mentioned, no slacks on campus until after 4:00. When I mention this to my granddaughter who attends school there now, she is incredulous! I think people behave better when they are dressed better. It does make a difference! I graduated in 1967 and shortly after that things went downhill with clothes on campus.
I too think the way one dresses contributes to their overall attitude. I noticed when my kids were dressed cute when they were little and people complimented them, they felt good about themselves. We never had the “clothing” arguments so many of my friends had with their children. But I came up with a clever idea for limiting that. I would pull out three outfits any of which were fine with me and then let them choose the one they wanted to wear. Since I’m an “outfit” junkie, all the tops and bottoms went together so it was not overwhelming. My son calls me the clothes nazi and it’s not meant kindly since the comment usually follows some critique of my granddaughter’s wearing attire. I’m longing for the day Jaiden starts caring about how she looks. But sometimes I think she does the best with what she has to work with since her wardrobe usually consists of a sack of hand-me-downs from people she doesn’t even know. I would be delighted to provide her with new clothes made especially for her, but that is not an option since Dionne is determined to make sure her daughter never has more than she did and that is so deeply ingrained I doubt I can ever change that mindset. Sean just feels it’s a battle not worth fighting. There are too many others on the list.
Hello sisters,
I think this will be a regency dress. Felicity and Elizabeth are waiting.
Elizabeth was the first to come to my mind too, and I’m not that familiar with all the AG girls.
Dear Jeanne, the fabric is pretty. I won’t even try to guess what this might become as we all know I failed sewing (laugh). I am anxious to read the guesses of the Sofa Sisters.
I hope you are able to get a bit of rest this weekend.
Alina is very likely right, though a new Julie dress is a real possibility. It does look like Kirsten fabric, though, and an inset waist is possible.
Like Linda and Charlotte, I remember starting college with pretty wool skirts, coordinating blouses and sweaters, and stockings. Even on snowy winter days, no slacks. But only a couple years later, administrators were grateful if we wore clothes. Dress codes stood no chance. And no more sleeping on curlers.
I remember when my daughter was in college (1999-2004) the kids often wore there pjs to class. They’d fall out of bed and maybe brush their teeth and be off to class.
Dear Barbara, college students still wear PJs and slippers to class. I have seen them wear flip flops even in the winter.
I look at the photos of the folks from the 1940s and 1950s when people dressed nicely every time they left their houses. Geez Louise, where did that sense of style and decorum go?
I remember in June of 1965 after I graduated from high school I went for a job interview at DuPont. I wore a suit, heels and gloves. That’s what I learned you wore for an interview in my office practice class. Everyone did that back then. And we even dressed up to go to the movies. Over the years I’ve learned to accept that things were more casual but the one thing I will never get used to is seeing men wear hats inside, especially in restaurants.
I’m with Alina and Marilyn. The strips have me stumped though. How are these going to be part of the sleeves and still show the fabric selvage? Guess we’ll have to wait until Monday to find out.
Evangeline siblie is up for grabs on Rubyredtoys.com this morning. Head on over and take a look. 🙂
Francesca is happily out of her box after her strange delivery and standing around in her undies. She’s been pointing at some fabric and saying how much it matches her eyes. Oh dear, another vocal one. 🙂
Since it may be over 90 yet again today, maybe I should actually sit down and do some sewing.
Have a fun weekend everyone. 🙂
Forgot, but in the late 60’s in college, we wore pants as well as shorter wool skirts and knee high socks. We started wearing boys Levis about 1968, and I still wear them. Somehow, the size is larger though. 🙂
Looks like full ruffles on the ends of the sleeves…. I’m guessing Caroline or Addy. Can’t wait to see!
So, does anyone else on the Sofa remember wearing wool Bermuda shorts with knee high socks and a v-necked sweater to football games in the 1960’s? (I’m the same era as Charlotte and Linda from St. Louis.) I saved a pair, because they had fun memories and who would believe you’d wear WOOL Bermudas! Actually, the knee high socks were a step toward casual from the nylons we had worn!
Yep, had wool Bermudas, knee socks, and v-necked sweaters. Wore the outfit spring skiing as well. 🙂
Being raised in PA I do remember wearing wool Bermuda shorts with knee socks, broadcloth long-sleeved shirts and v-neck pullovers to football games. I loved that look.
Linda G., I did wear Bermuda shorts with a blazer, but for the life of me cannot remember wearing knee high socks with them. I wore flats. My Bermudas were a blue and gray plaid and I wore a gray blazer with them.
Actually in the late 80s Eddie Bauer (for whom I then worked) started a minor fad of wool shorts with cotton tights worn underneath! You bet, I wore them to work sometimes. Had to be in style, you know! (I do remember Bermuda shorts in the 60s, but I don’t think I ever had wool ones.)
Yes, I am guessing AG but not sticking my neck out for any particular doll. Lovely fabric, Jeanne, and good luck with your current auction. I very much enjoyed reading how you made the school supplies. As I think Linda said, it increases the fun of dolls when you can have the accessories and props.
I want to wish Charlotte all the best for her fair activity. I know she eats this up and I can imagine her bustling all about! Well, Charlotte, I can’t wear anything I wore in 1976 either. I DID have wool bermudas and knee sox and Bass Weeejuns. My skirts were SO short and my boots SO high as I went to UVM on Lake Champlain…boy those winters were cold, biting, penetrating cold from the lake. Fashion makes us dumber than dirt some times. 🤪😏
Thank you very much to DOROTHY and OMAKATHIE for your remarks about the doll clubs. Dorothy, I still have to look up ning as I have no idea what that is about. And thanks for the offer of your email address. Kathie, I will get in touch with Karen Allen.
BARBARA, I am dying to know if all that furniture was in that one box!!
JOY, yup, back to the sewing machine today for you, and have a fan moving the air. Our hot days are over for another two weeks. September usually brings another round of ugh. Congratulations on your Francesca and your successful delivery retrieval. Nothing like the taste of success. 😁👏
Happy Saturday!
I remember Weejuns but I never had the money for them. They were nice shoes. As for fashion making us dumber, I remember the fad when I was in high school of walking to school in the dead of winter with your coat unbuttoned because you thought it was cool. I gotta admit I never fell for that one. I don’t like being cold for any reason.
Dear Sally, oh sorry, I thought you were a member of Our Little Darlings on ning group. We used to be on Yahoo years ago. This is an online group of folks who have Little Darling dolls. We post about them and show photos of them. Right now we have a Drawing going on.
Here is the link:
https://ourlittledarlings.ning.com/
Dear Dorothy,
Thank you so much!
🙂
I think the square neck could be Regency and Elizabeth came to my mind. But I’m definitely not an authority on things AG so I’m excited to see what it is and who it’s for.
Yes, Jeanne, I did see the offer on Pixie Faire yesterday and bought the dirndl pattern in all the sizes. I couldn’t resist since I have no patterns anything like it. I forgot to comment yesterday that I love Rozen’s outfit and accessories. I must admit to buying school supplies for my girls. I admire your industriousness but then you will be sending them out with the outfit while mine stay here to do service year after year.
I made the cutest catastrophe this week. It is a shortall with contrasting cuffs and pockets. I was making it for my LD Greer Adele but she is all dressed up for pictures and I didn’t want to have to change her again, so I had my LD Claire try it on. But Claire has refused to give it up so I gave in and it’s hers. It’s a shortall made from a pattern from one of my Russian shops. The pattern did not mention seam size so I without thinking just used 1/4″. It was designed for a metric seam I realized once I put it on the doll. Well then I decided to make a blouse for it but the shortall was too tight to accommodate the blouse so now someone has a pretty white dotted Swiss blouse for a skirt or jumper. Well Claire could not wear the shortall without something under it and I had seen girls wearing sports bras under them, so I got out the pretty camisole she came with and put that on. It actually turned out cute. And when I have more time I can make a camisole with some added length that will actually go with the shortalls and it will be perfect. Another save in my repertoire of many saves.
Sally asked if all the pieces of the patio set were in the one box. Amazingly yes, but “some assembly required” was an understatement. All the arms, backs, seats, etc. were in individual pieces and the chair cushions were so vacuumed down that we wondered if they would be puffy enough when we open up the bags they were in. They came out fine. The chairs glide and swivel and I must say that the engineering is amazing. All the pieces fit and all the pieces to put it together were in the box. Sean and Jason put the set together and they did a great job. The two chairs and side table are now sitting proudly on David’s grilling porch. Problem is he is having several tooth implants done and won’t be able to eat anything he might grill for several weeks. Maybe when it cools off some we can just sit out there and enjoy the weather and anticipate the day he can grill again.
Isn’t it amazing how some companies engineer their packaging to accommodate so much in so little space? And isn’t the BEST to have grown kids and/or grandkids to help assemble things or set up tech stuff?
Poor David!
Definitely yes to the luxury of having kids and grandkids who can help with things. Sean and Jason are great for doing the larger tasks that David and I can no longer do. I used to actually move furniture without regretting it the day after. Skyy and Jaiden are whizzes with the computer stuff even at the age of 10 and 12.
I am not very good at guessing so I have no idea who will get the dress or what style but it is very pretty material so I will wait with anticipation to see what treasure you come up with this time.
I was 13 in 1958 part of the first ‘teen generation. It was the time of the crinoline skirts! Manufacturers came up with all sorts of petticoats for us to choose from. mostly layers of tulle. I remember making one of those for myself. It was pretty hard and I once sewed through my finger, I would like to say I never did that again but I did it again a few months ago!! The worst ones were paper nylon, they made so much noise that the school banned them. I went to an all girls school so you can see the problem. My friend had one made from foam, I thought it was so much nicer than anything anyone else had and begged Mum to buy one for me but alas, they were too expensive. By the time I left school and could buy my own the fad was over and skirts became short A line needing no fancy slips! Instead I spent my money on winkle picker shoes and ruined my still growing feet.
Anne, what are winkle picker shoes? Never heard of those. Your mentioning sleepouts several times got me curious, so I did some research. What a wonderful idea and seems to be peculiar to NZ since every mention of them was from there. They may be called something else elsewhere, but I have never seen or heard of anything similar anywhere I’ve lived, and they probably would be difficult to place here. My daughter lives in a “tiny house”. It’s a little too compact for me because of my numerous hobbies but it works for them and their small son. But even though it is fully contained, they had trouble finding somewhere to place it because most places considered it a temporary building and there were codes against living in a temporary building. They finally found a campground that was okay with them being permanent residents and actually set aside a section of the campground for tiny houses since they are near Colorado State University and a lot of the students like them as opposed to living on campus or in an apartment. When you get your sleepouts ready for viewing, I would love to see pictures. They seem to be a very practical solution to a lot of living situations.
Dear Barbara, you made curious so I did a Google search for Sleepouts also. What cute little rooms.
I watched the tiny house TV shows when they were aired a while back. I like the concept but I don’t think I could downsize that much.
There’s a YouTube Channel called Never Too Small that features tiny apartments all over the world. A friend and I like to view the videos. We always say the same thing, “where would be put the dolls?” (smile)
I used to love watching House Hunters International on HGTV and seeing what exactly people around the world called home. It was a fun show to watch. I can’t live in a tiny house because I have too much stuff and most of it has to do with my dolls and hobbies. My daughter is the head of a non-profit so most of her job is either online or offsite. You might say her job is her hobby. Her husband is the main caretaker for their 4-year-old son. His hobby is photography but his cameras, etc., take up little space. Their tiny house is nice with a lovely kitchen, full bath and two sleeping lofts but in reality it is not much different than the pop-up we used to have for camping and I felt crowded in that. They had a lovely home in Arvada, CO, and when they (her husband actually) decided to go the tiny house route they either sold or gave nearly everything away. Not my cup of tea.