I’m very sorry for the computer issues today when you were trying to comment. It seems “I” was the only one who could get my comments to stay and not disappear. I texted Sarah, my webmaster, and she said she’d look into it. Well, later on this evening, Joy managed to get her comment through and my sister did, then I saw where Barbara got in… So I figured Sarah had figured out what was causing the issues. I sent her a thank you text for “whatever she did!” She texted me back and said she was just sitting down to see what was going on, when she got the text from me thanking her. She said she didn’t do anything, so it must have taken care of itself. Let’s hope tomorrow is a good day and everyone can post without any issues.
YAY! I managed to get James’ outfit listed on Ebay. I was hoping to have some props in with his listing, but decided I better just get the thing listed with the pictures I had. I took a few more and made them work.
If you want to check out the Ebay listing, you can click the picture of him at the right side bar or click HERE.
Now, I have some really goofy pictures I wanted to show you…
I received a pair of Christmas socks in the mail from some group asking for a donation. They were brightly colored socks and would look nice with James’ pieces, so I looked at a few video’s on making a doll sweater out of socks and then decided to do mine a little differently. I don’t like the backs open, because the sweater is generally so tight, the snaps or Velcro always pulls and it looks a little too “gappy” to suit me.
So here are some pictures to make you laugh… I’m sure you will.
I slid the sock up James legs and onto his body…
Sorry, he didn’t have any briefs on, so I blurred out that area… to show you how I cut the sweater…the top of the sock was the part up by his neck and I used the foot part for the sleeves.
Then I split the sides of the sock that was covering his torso… up to about shoulder height.
I sewed the “sleeves” in, kind of at a curve for the armhole, but the problem was all those threads inside caught on his hands when I tired to put his arms through… so I had to use a pair of thin thigh highs that I had in a drawer and use them like long mittens…
So I kept working, even though I knew it wasn’t looking that great…
This is what it looked like flat… I used the rib trim of the other sock to finish the bottom of the sweater.
So here is my sweater… a bit too wide in the neck, too tight in the body and too skinny in the sleeves.
It doesn’t look “too terrible” when worn under the vest!
Okay, did you laugh? I certainly did! But you know what, it inspired me to try again and work on those things that didn’t turn out so well.
Maybe you’ll see another sweater one of these days…
Thanks everyone,
Blessings, Jeanne
Funny, yesterday I didn’t have any trouble replying to your blog–but then, I’m usually the first or one of the first because of time change (I’m on PST) and the fact that I’m a night owl!
Yes Jeanne, I laughed–especially that first picture!! James didn’t look overly thrilled to be stuffed into that sock!! But you have a good start on a sweater idea for the future, and I think that counts!!
I see that James’s ensemble already has one bid–good for you!! I have a feeling this might be an interesting auction to watch!
Joy, I’m glad to hear you carried off another successful dolly caper! I haven’t ordered any dolls in a while; my splurge for December is the “Advent Box” from Missouri Star Quilt Company.
I am still coughing here….the last couple of days, actually. Low-grade temp, too. I did a lot of sleeping on Monday–didn’t even go and see Ron that day, but I did make it there for a little while today. They had a mask for me–I guess they thought it was more important that I be there with him for a little bit than to stay home. He wants so badly to go home, thinks he should be here to “take care of” me, etc.
I guess I’m on here too, finally, if this goes through as planned! So glad things straightened out themselves, but what a mess that was!
I also get those socks from an organization, and wonder what to do with them, since they fit no one living in this house! I just usually donate them with clothes I no longer need or want, but that is really a good idea to use them for doll clothes!
I really do like the sweater with the vest, and wonder if you will send that along with the set. I would!
Well, I got my morning laugh seeing James trying to struggle into that sweater. In years past, cute little sweaters were available as ornaments to hang on a tree. The ugly sweater thing. A bunch of us jumped on those as they fit lots of the small doll set. Since the sweater fabric used was bonded, it was very simple to cut the sweater open down the back, turn over a small facing, sew it down, put on snaps, and have a great sweater. I think most all doll people would want a back opening sweater to avoid messing up wigs. So, maybe next time, iron on some kind of stabilizer or bonding stuff for fabric before sewing, and I think the stretching and hand catching might be avoided. The socks on the hands is a good idea you had as well. )
Glad the comments seem to be working this morning.
Charlotte, sure hope you are better soon. Are you getting a lot of rain? Seeing lots of pics of the northwest on the news.
Heading back to yesterday to see Barbara’s post. 🙂
Joy I have some of those “ornament” sweaters and they fit several of my dolls. You are right that they are easy to alter from ornaments to doll sweaters. I’m guessing they are still out there but I bought mine a few years ago. They are actually pretty cute. The Chorale I’m in sang Christmas carols at the bank this morning so we dressed in Christmas attire. One of the women was mentioning that it was hard to find a pretty Christmas sweater these days because of the ugly sweater craze. I haven’t bought a Christmas sweater in years so I don’t know but I do know my dolly girls’ sweaters are very nice and not ugly at all.
I too have one of those Christmas sweater ornaments and it fits Betsy! Also a few for my tree, they are really cute!
I like the sweater. Perhaps with the wider neck, it would be nice for a girl — you could remake the outfit, girl’s version. Sweater, vest, T-neck or tailored shirt, pleated skirttights, hat, boots, pj’s. Do you have enough lights?
One doll sweater maker always enclosed satin hand-elbow covers — basically a tube of satin that covered the doll’s hand up to the elbow, with the bottom of the tube sewn closed. The sleeve pulled on easily over the satin and the tube pulled off easily after the sweater was on.
Here’s inspiration for a Christmas dress
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/65/ee/eb/65eeeb1656e03f0151b820f25be6f3ba–queen-victoria-children-victorian-paintings.jpg
What a beautiful dress. I used to dress my daughter like this for church but I rarely see things like this on little girls these days. Mostly I think because they take some care. Being the frustrated wardrobe mistress that I am that aspect never bothered me a bit. I actually enjoyed making, ironing and then seeing my daughter wear those lovely dresses. One thing I did make sure though was that they were machine washable, but I turned inside out first.
Hi Barbara, I dressed my daughter for church the same way. Pretty feminine dresses with lace socks and white maryjanes in the summer and tights and either black patent or black or navy leather maryjanes in the winter. My mom sewed some of the dresses and therefore with pattern and fabric choice they were unique. I also had a few catalogs that sold old-fashioned styles. I never minded ironing clothes and still don’t. I also had the trick of going to this one store at the end of the season when the children’s wool coats would go on sale. and find a lovely one made in Canada for the following year. Always had a choice of colors (green, wine, purple, navy) as well.
Probably one of the reasons I love doll clothes with lace, ruffles, frills, etc.
Oh, I do like that dress. My grandmother used to make me dresses from organdy that were amazing. I wish they had been kept.
I get those socks too and when you were talking about creating a sweater for James I thought those socks might work well for that. I think you gave it a good try and with a few adjustments I still think that might be a good idea, but I wonder if maybe James needs a bigger sock.
The sweater is cute. With the wider neck it looks like a girls cowlneck, but not quite.
Congratulations on another successful dolly caper, Joy. I hope you feel better son, Charlotte. I agree with Marilyn that a Victorian Christmas dress would be lovely! Happy St. Nicholas Day, everyone. That was today’s picture on my German Advent calendar.