I can’t believe so many of you noticed my little box labeled “Dianna Effner Leather!”
It’s all Kathie’s doings… :o) She told me Dianna Effner’s daughters were selling off lots of Dianna’s supplies and dolls and all kinds of things she used making dolls. One of the listings was for some leathers… like the ones shown in my box. I tried unsuccessfully 3 times (I think) and didn’t win any of them. There wasn’t much of a description so I asked the sellers if they knew more about them… they didn’t and couldn’t even find any pictures of the shoes she had made from the leathers. They just assured me they were hers and told me they were very soft.
Kathie emailed me one day and said there was one more listing, so I decided to go for it… and I WON IT this time… even for less than the other ones I had bid on. Oh well… I just wanted something of hers and I wanted to keep it separated from my other leathers… although I won’t have any trouble knowing which is hers and which is what I already have. I think hers might be lamb leathers. It’s extremely soft and supple. You can roll it around your finger and roll it up like a rose. I haven’t tried making any shoes from it yet, but it certainly will be wonderful for the tiny dolls shoes… at least I think it will…
So that’s the story of the Dianna Effner leather…
Next up is my disaster for the day… I had this cute idea of a dress for Stella… yes, I decided to go ahead and make her a dress to go with her new green hat… I found this picture and it was my inspiration…
I know that’s a top, but I thought with an extra ruffle around the hem, it would make a cute baby doll dress…
BUT… UGH… my does NOT look like what I had hoped for… part of it is, the navy print is so dark you can’t see any of the details on the dress… LIKE WHERE HER ARMS ARE!
If I lay her down, you can see where the dress is and where the arms are…
But with her arms down by her side, she looks like this…
I spent so much time getting this hand stitched vintage trim on the bodice and then sewing some tiny buttons down the front…
It looks cute if you are in the light and her arms are out away from her body…
I top stitched it in the green and it looks very pretty, but it’s not flattering…
I discovered if I scrunch her sleeves up to her elbows it does look a little better…
…but not enough for me to keep going on with this…
It’s a beautiful color on Stella and I laid her on her back under one of my lights and she was very pretty, but I can’t sell a doll dress with pictures of a doll on her back…
So, any thoughts? I’m stumped!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for explaining about the “Dianna Effner leather”. Makes perfect sense, and it looks lovely. I agree, it will be nice for teeny tiny shoes, or maybe a slouchy bag or a soft belt (the kind that scrunches in around the buckle)….
That dress definitely has potential, so I don’t think you should abandon it just yet! If you can shorten the sleeves a little, that will help. Do you have any more of that trim? Perhaps a band of it just above the lower edge of the sleeve would help differentiate where the sleeve ends and the dress begins.
And you might also try one of those scrunchy belts to add around her waist if she wants a belted look. That would define the waist and add some visual separation between the sleeves and the body.
Ron had a check-up with his PCP today. Last time (3 months ago) he said that Ron wasn’t ready for hospice care “quite yet”, but “maybe next time”. Today he was happy to see that Ron was much more alert, and moving better, as well. (Thanks to PT!) In answer to a question, Ron said his new place was “okay” (we had at least two “get me Out of here!” conversations that first month!!) The doctor said Ron definitely is NOT ready for hospice care yet!! On the down side, Ron has been losing weight–he’s down 12+ pounds in six weeks–so that is a concern. All in all, though, it was a pretty good checkup.
Sorry about Ron’s weight loss. Maybe he misses your cooking. Otherwise it looks like things are going well for him.
Oh, so that’s what the Dianna Effner leather is! Yes, it does look very soft and supple and I can see why you have a special box for it! Thank you for explaining!
As for the dress, well that first picture of it looks quite shapeless! It looks like she needs shoulder pads or something at the shoulders, but when you scrunched the sleeve up, it did improve. I think having a balloon type sleeve at the top part and then continue with the lower part tighter around the arms would look cute with this dress. Do you remember Josefina’s Christmas outfit with sleeves like that? Then too, making the dress a bit tighter around where the sleeves are attached and the bodice would give it more definition and shape. If it is too full, it looks more like a muumuu, if you know what I mean! I like the flair out of the skirt at the bottom, which also gives it a shape.
I don’t know if you would ever do this, but a cute little corduroy bolero would work with this too, maybe a tan color, and open enough to show off the lace. I may be completely wrong on that but even a pair of tan boots would look good with the bolero too. I have no doubt that you will work something out, you always do, Jeanne!
Love the leather! I had no idea they were selling some of her supplies. Will have to check that out. As for your dress, a pinafore made from a white hankies or similar material would help I would think.
Hi, Sissy! I’ve been watching the sales on Ebay for some time. They have lace and all kinds of supplies. However, the bidding always seems to go over my price range. I haven’t gotten lucky like Jeanne. 🙂
“over my price range” sounds like I would not get any either. Thanks for letting me know.
hugs,
How about treating the dress like a dropped waist style with a band of lace defining the change the gathers make in the silhouette, narrowing the upper part and letting the gathered fabric define the style. The third picture from the bottom illustrates how this would look in which she had her arms at her sides. Shortening the sleeve made a huge change for the better. Definitely salvageable. You can do it!
If you look at the pics of the 5th up from the bottom dress photo, that is the look I was thinking about. I like it, but without the added bottom ruffle skirt. Just gathered and straight down from the top and short to the knees. A baby doll dress. I like the long sleeves but Maybe it needs puffed sleeves with some lace on the sleeve band to define them more? I guess I’m thinking of a Wednesday Adams dress look but not in black. I’m sure it will be fine. Love that print and it is so cute with the hat. 🙂
Didn’t have time to respond yesterday to the nice comments about my latest adventure with package procurement, but thank you. We were busy with a trip to Kaiser. Got our RSV vaccinations. Now, we are all set as we have already had our flu shots and the latest Covid vaccinations. This should do it for this year. 🙂
I’ve had a few sewing mishaps lately so I can relate to your dilemma. How about keeping the top part and taking off the skirt of the dress and maybe having a plain skirt or a pair of pants to go with the top. You can finish the top either by shortening and leaving it that way to leave it out or tuck it in or adding a small ruffle or peplum to wear it outside the skirt or pants. I love the fabric and the top is great. I don’t feel the sleeves are as much a problem as the fact that there is too much dress thus making the sleeves kind of disappear and her arms with them.
My one dilemma involved a pattern I was using for a tee shirt top. When I finished the shirt and put it on the doll the neckline was just too big. I had this problem with another pattern but it was because the fabric stretched so I cured that when I made it again by using a stay stich around the neckline and then serging the neckline and it worked great. My first effort was too far gone to do that and I didn’t have enough fabric to cut the top again so what to do? I decided to run a gathering stitch around the neckline and pull up the gathers to create a little neckline ruffle in the front. Then I found an embellishment for the middle and it looks cute. I did the same thing with the pattern where the neckline was too big but I didn’t realize it until the top was finished. More gathering stiches and another neckline ruffle and a small bow at the neckline. I made a note on that pattern to reduce the size of the neckline in the front if I use the patter again. So now all my recent sewing endeavors meet with my approval – and my girls’.
Beautiful day again today but I’ve been told we will be warming up again starting tomorrow. Too warm to even be called Indian Summer.
Getting ready to have girls from High School for lunch tomorrow. One is in town from VA and others live here. There was a 60 th reunion over the weekend. It was at a big nice bar…planned by one of the nicest guys but my hearing is so bad I knew I wouldn’t hear and I get dizzy after standing for long periods so I didn’t go. But my friend wanted to get together so offered to have lunch and she wanted to see more of some other friends. That should be easier.😉
Glad Ron has improved some. The weight loss is a lot. Has he ever tried Ensure Complete? It has 350 calories in it and tastes good😉
I didn’t know you finally won some leather Jeanne. 👏 it does look soft in the pictures and more than I had imagined🤗I’m sure you will figure out something for the dress…you always do🫣
Would it work adding a few lines of shirring to the dress just below the top seam to the waist? That might stop the sleeves and dress from merging.