REMINDER:
Tonight the tiny little set, “Bunny in My Pocket,” for Mini Bailey, ends on Ebay. If you have missed it, please click the picture at the right side bar and it will take you to the listing, or click HERE. I will hate to see this one go… Bailey didn’t take up much room on my cutting table, and I enjoyed looking at her in this dress the last few days… :o)
But alas…it’s time to move on to new and BIGGER things… like 18″ American Girl dolls…
For anyone who just chimed in today, I bought a #27 Truly Me American Girl doll, who had been given a haircut. I’m planning to let her be my new Kit doll.
Sidebar here… My big question to all my regular ladies is… do you think I can just start calling her Kit… or will people look at my doll and say, “that’s not Kit!” I really don’t want to call her Kit 27… or my redone Kit… or my Look Alike Kit! Let me know what you think about that….
Okay, back to the doll… I trimmed just the very ends of her hair… we’re talking only about a tablespoon of hair snippets… TOTAL! I wanted to keep it as long as I could.
Then I washed her hair… to see how it “laid” when it was wet…
As it was drying I curled it under with my hands… I had her wrapped in a plastic grocery bag to keep her cloth body from becoming water stained. Then I combed it back to see how it laid too…
When it was dry, I combed it out and it was very pretty and so shiny.
Here are a few of my “old” Kit dolls… see the difference?
I actually think her hair looks longer now than it did before I trimmed and washed it…
before…
after… I LOVE the different highlights in it…
Okay, so I think everyone might agree that she’s very pretty… so let’s talk about her dress…
Last night when I showed you those fabrics, they were just some pieces I grabbed thinking they might go well with her eyes… but as I looked on Etsy at all the different versions of this dress, made from this pattern, I realized, just about anything would work… so I looked on my fabric shelf again and pulled out about 5 more…and studied them…
In the end I picked an old faithful fabric that has never let me down when I made a dress from it. I have this is the pink version and the blue and yellow version…the latter is what I chose… I hope you like it because I didn’t want to wait a day and show you 5 more choices… I just wanted to try out this pattern… and I have to say I have loved making it. It’s very well written and easy to follow…
So here are a few pictures… they are a bit on the washed out side, because it’s late at night and I am using lights not natural light.
But here goes…
I know it doesn’t look as flared as the one on the pattern front, but my fabric is just a little softer… I know how to fix that… A SLIP…which I was planning to make anyway.
The front is very pretty with the tucked stitched down and the belt coming from underneath the center tuck…
The dress isn’t hemmed yet, or the back finished, but the belt is tied in a bow to show you how it WILL look when finished.
The next thing I need to decide on is the ruffled collar… As I was making this dress, I was thinking to myself, how lovely it would be if I had a piece of white trim, lace or fabric from something Kathie had sent me… I have all her laces and things in one drawer, and when I looked everything was too vintage and pretty much ecru and off white. It was a nice thought, but just can’t happen with the white that’s in this fabric.
I don’t have ANY white batiste fabric or anything close to it… which is what would be pretty on this dainty dress… but I wanted to see what these white laces would look like next to the fabric… so here are some pictures…
Now, I want you to know… these laces ARE NOT sewn on… just wrapped across “Kit’s” bodice to show how they “might” look…
I just remembered I have another container of some white fabrics… I may look in it in the morning and see if I see something…
Well, that is what I got accomplished today…
I will see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, several things to comment on tonight!
I would suggest you call her Kitty, or maybe Kate, both of which would be Close to “Kit” but not quite exactly. That should clear up any confusion in the casual observer, and also give a gentle nudge of association to the Kit dolls that are out there.
She really does have lovely hair, and it looks nice and even now. Good job on the trim!
I actually love the first Kit in the “old” pictures. I like shorter hair on dolls. Since I am “hair-challenged”, shorter hair that I don’t have to fuss with is a bonus for me! I’ve always said God knew what he was doing when he gave us a boy, as I’m sure I would have made a mess of any little girl’s hair!! 😂 With Daniel, we just kept his hair fairly short (sometimes a little long on top, and I’d carefully comb it with a side part, but that was as fancy as I ever could get). When I got my first AG doll, Molly, with her braids, I kept them as they were as long as I could but finally I just HAD to redo the braids. It took me three tries before I could get the braids to come out even Kind of similar!! Yup, hair is not my thing at all.
The dress is really pretty, and I do remember that fabric, and that it’s a favorite of yours. As to the laces, I think my favorite is the bottom one, although the top one is pretty, too. The middle lace might work if the dress fabric was a more geometric print, and/or a bolder colorway, but I think it overwhelms this delicate print.
Oh, I love her hair with all the shine and highlights! It really did her a favor and brought her back to life! Her face coloring is so crisp and clear, and that is why I prefer the newer dolls to the older PC ones, since their coloring has faded over time. However, to be clear, I perfectly understand those who have and love their PC dolls!
As far as her name, I like the name Kate, close enough to Kit, but a bit more updated.
The dress is darling, and I see why you picked that material! Of the three collars, I do like the first one best of all, since it is not so overpowering and fits the vintage look, which you are going for. The delicate look of it works better than the heavier look in my opinion, plus the white of the lower two overtakes the pattern and colors of the dress. Just my opinion, and others might think differently.
I agree Linda, I like the first one best
Your doll looks remarkably like the picture of our dear friend Kathie on her Facebook page, Kathie Kiefer Welsh. I named my only doll from childhood Kathie in honor of the fine rehab Kathie did for her when all of her limbs had fallen off after spending 75 years in a closet. I wonder whether her family would mind having a Mary Hoyer doll named after her?
The dress is perfect for her. The only thing I would change would be to make a collar that was not so ruffled. Maybe a detachable collar or even two interchangeable collars. I like the last white fabric for one of the collars. Just a thought.
So nice to see another Hoyer lover!
Dear Nancy, do you know about the Hoyer gathering that meets the 4th Sunday of the month on Zoom?
Hi, Dorothy. No, I do not know about that. Please tell me more.
Jeanne, you did a great job with Kit’s hair. She really looks nice. I was thinking the same thing as Charlotte on names. Kitty but not as much as – Kate or Katie ( which is basically the same.)
Her dress is so sweet and perfect for Kit’s era. The material is so crisp and clean looking. I prefer the last piece of material for a collar. It’s crisp looking too.
Good job on Kitty’s hair. Or whatever you decide to call her. Love the dress fabric, but since the dress is not 30’s feedsack, perhaps the collar can be flat instead of with those ruffles, like Susette suggested. All three collar suggestions would work as they are lovely pieces. I’d hate to spoil the pretty fabric with too many ruffles at the neck.
Rained again last night, but we might get a break before more rain later in the week. Growing lots of moss around here which is not my friend.
I love that fabric on her. If you want to call her Kit, maybe My Kit would do? If not, maybe Kitty? The dress is gorgeous. Not sure I have seen that pattern yet but I have been wallowing in vintage Hoyer things the last few days. My thoughts on the collar would be something very simple, batiste or voile, so as not to challenge the beautiful fabric. Of all the choices, I would choose the lace. You did a beautiful job making your Kit and her hair is gorgeous.
Hi Nancy, Just wanted to make sure you saw Dorothy’s response to you about the Mary Hoyer doll club being on zoom… You can chat more with her about it if you like…
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, yes, I did. Thank you. I was not sure if I should give her my email to continue off site. I have had Hoyers since a was very little (so about since 1951-2). We spent every summer in an apartment in Ocean City, NJ and I was forever on that boardwalk staring at the Hoyer shop. I was very ill around that age so to keep me relatively quiet activity wise, Mom would sit with Mrs. Hoyer in the shop, knitting and crocheting their fingers off, while I played with whatever Mrs. Hoyer passed to me to enjoy. It was glorious.
Well, people will know she is not Kit because she has no freckles and I really think #27 is blonder and I also know the dark blue eye color has changed. So depending on when your #27 is from that could be different as well. I would give her a new name as I always do for my historicals (except Felicity, I loved her name) and mention she is your 1930’s doll. Kitty, Katie, Kathie or something entirely new.
I love that fabric and the first collar choice,
Could be Kit’s sister, Kate.
Love that dress pattern. Have made the collar with organdy, and batiste. I think the pleats in the collar are a nice design feature, but any contrast collar works. You have some great choices to pick from.
Jeanne I love what you have done for Kit 27.
(That is interesting, the hash key on my computer actually comes up as £ which is the English pound symbol. I have a similar problem with @, I have to hit “. My BIL tried to fix it for me a few years ago and someone else looked at it too neither could change it. Unfortunately I have no idea of the alternative key for the Hash).
I really like the lace for the collar rather than the heavier pieces particularly if you are making it ruffled like the pattern, I think the cottons would be too overwhelming.
For some reason I no longer get your blog through my e mails. I have been going into the ‘deleted’ e mails then clicking on the current blog.
Anne, have you checked spam for the blog? Since I’ve started doing that, I’ve found all sorts of things that weren’t spam. 🙂
Another vote for naming your doll Kate! When the granddaughters stayed here and made up stories for the dolls, my Kit remained “Kit” but my granddaughters doll was renamed “Kate”. I think your doll looks a little older…maybe a 12 year old? Lovely job freshening her up. I liked the first, fine lace for a collar. Enjoy this dolly fun every day!
Dear Jeanne, I think your doll looks adorable. The fabric is very pretty.