HI everyone,
Well, it seems there are 2 camps regarding this dress… those who like the blue bow and those who don’t… I’m not sure how to solve things, so for now, I think I’ll just leave it as it is, and if the winner wants me to remove the blue silk ribbon bow, I can… I think it may look differently in person. To me, it’s very sweet… and just like so many I’ve looked at on 1930’s vintage patterns and in pictures.
Okay, enough on that… I wanted to make a second collar and wasn’t sure what I should make. A few ladies seemed to like the sheer embroidered lace I showed a few days ago… so I thought I would at least attempt to make a collar from it. What a pain it was, though… It honestly was like trying to sew a kleenex. The lace was so delicate making it hard to handle… but I persevered and came up with something.
All was going well, until I got to the neckline. It’s curved and there is nothing stretchy about this lace. It isn’t stiff, but it just doesn’t curve. So after I finished the sides of the lace collar, I used a piece of white tulle and cut it on the bias, and stitched it on the neckline. I thought it just might pull in the neckline area to make it appear curved… I actually had to run two very thin lengths of elastic thread through the casing and snug it up just a bit for it to work. The back closes with a snap…
I had worked for several hours on it when I finally decided to leave it alone for now and see what I thought in the morning. It can’t be shortened… I have too much time in it, and I’m afraid to “adorn” it with anything… so I moved onto a hair bow… actually I made 2 because I thought her hair could be pulled back on both sides and look cute. The bows have snap clips on the back and are easy to put in.
Then I took one of the bows out, lowered the other one and discovered I liked this look better…
In the middle of fiddling with her hair bow, I discovered something about Kate I didn’t know… she has a tattoo!
It’s kind of hard to make out, but I do see a heart there… :o)
Here are a few more shots of her from today… I think I’m traumatized from the lace work today.. I may never recover! :o)
SewBig commented and suggested gloves, but fingerless gloves are really the only ones I make. I’ve seen a pattern for some that look really nice, but I’ve also read reviews that they take a long time to make… not sure I want to spend more time on them.
Rosemary B, I make a lot of my patterns, but as you can see this one was purchased from an Etsy shop. I do like this pattern…
I will see what I can do over the weekend and maybe get this listed…
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a pretty collar! And a completely different look for Kate’s dress! I love it. (In retrospect, this lace might have been better in the ruffled style, and make the square collar out of the embroidered lace! We live and learn….)
I’m glad you made two hair bows; if someone wants this for her Molly, that will give her a bow for over each braid!
Kate’s tattoo will probably remove pretty easily with an application or two of Oxy-10, should you decide to remove it.
All in all, a very cute outfit!
I was one of those hoping you would use this piece of lace for the collar, so I was very surprised to see that you actually did! I love it! I certainly does “dress” the dress up! I think a prettty little chain type of neckace with some sort of locket would look good with it, but don’t worry about making one, Jeanne! It’s just a suggestion for whoever wins the dress!
Yes, one bow looks best, but can you “fluff” it out more? I think it would show up better than flattened. I absolutely love this whole outfit!
I have a chocolate cake to bake for our church’s fish fry tonight, plus that’s where we will have dinner! It’s always nice to not have to figure out what to make each night (for once), and fun to see friends enjoying each other’s company!
I do love the collar as well. You put a lot of careful construction into that and it turned out so sweet. I remember wearing dresses like this as a little girl.
Your outfits are so versatile
I love this dress pattern!!
Sorry the lace didn’t cooperate. The collar is very different than I expected, but I like the style. A sweet locket like Linda, suggested would be in order as well for the new owner. I think a puffier bow would be nice too. Have you ever used clippies for bows? I like them much better than the snap clips as they are easier to put in hair for me. But, that’s just me. I would love to see regular gloves for this outfit should any extra time arrive. I think they are sort of like oven mitts aren’t they? I don’t think I’ve seen any with individual fingers, but maybe they are out there. This outfit is just striking on Kate. Looks like she will now need the Oxy-10 treatment like Charlotte suggested. Always something as they say.
Going to be out doing yardword this morning. The weeds are winning.
Hi Joy,
Yes, gloves with individual fingers are out there. AnnVanDorenDesigns on Etsy sells the pattern she created for the PC/AG girls. The pattern allows you to make four lengths- wrist, riding, elbow, and opera. I bought it (along with a RRFF shoe pattern) last year to have for in the future and I also bought a couple of pairs of gloves made from that pattern from another Etsy seller the year before. as Ann’s pattern was not available for sewing machines (just an embroidery machine pattern at that time).
The weeds are winning here in one place or another also. We are implementing the rewilding technique in the bottom back portion of the yard this year.
Oh, I’ll have to look for the pattern. Thanks. And we have a wild garden. Well, right now, most of it. Lots of blackberry and strange weeds appearing. Everything I don’t want seems to like the gravel paths which I put in to prevent weeds. Go figure. 🙂
I love the look of the new lace collar; it gives the dress a beautifully different look. I also love the collar with the blue bow and flossing.
All your creations are stunning. Lucky person who gets them!
I’m happy that you made the lace into a collar. I expected you to use it to make the ruffled collar shown on the pattern which I love the style of, but this design is nice as well.
I like the two hair bow idea, but since Kate has a side part, one bow works better. Offerings two bows is great for anyone who has a doll with a middle part.
She looks very sweet.
I like the square lace collar. It gives the dress a whole different look. Both collars are lovely. I never think to do something to give an outfit an alternate look. I need to give that some more thought. Sometimes I’m lucky just to get it made at all. All the gloves I have seen for dolls do have the “oven mitt” look but they are still very pretty.
I was browsing on the Dollspart website yesterday and saw a pattern for 10″ Tonner dolls like Anne Estelle and Sophie. The designs of the dress patterns seemed very familiar so I looked closer and the patterns in the book were designed by Jo Flitton of the former Jos Doll Shoppe. I was always wishing she would do patterns but she said she would rather sell the clothes already made. Unfortunately she is no longer doing that so it will be fun to have some patterns of her designs.
“Dolls” magazine this month as a wonderful article on the Ginger “Ginny” dolls. They have a history before I was even aware of them in the mid-1950s. It is a great article.
Barbara, is that Ginny dolls, or Ginger dolls? They were two different things. When I was a kid, I had a Ginger doll, but never a Ginny. Now I have some of the newer (1990s) Ginny dolls–but I sold my Ginger at the first doll show I ever did! Sometimes I’m kind of sorry I did, but….oh well!
I guess I’ll have to go to Barnes & Noble soon; for some reason I never seem to find doll magazines there any more. I’m not sure if they don’t stock them, or if I’m just not there at the right time! I don’t get in there very often, I’m afraid.
I LOVE this new collar. My grandmother used to make dresses for me when I was little, and she made me a dress with a collar like that. Beautiful work!
On the neckline edge, for future reference, use heirloom lace with a “header” with “pull” threads. You just pull (gently) on the top most thread to curve the lace. If you’ve ever looked at “heirloom” lace, garments (google Martha Pullen) and you’ll probably be able to find some examples of loops and scallops , etc., of lace-work. In THIS case, and most versions of this type of work, you would need to use insertion which would have pull threads on both edges.