Hi everyone,
REMINDER: Tonight “Summer’s Delight” ends on Ebay. It’s the debut dress for Mae, a My Meadows 15″ doll. I have already had “the talk” with Mae, and she reluctantly took everything off and is back in the dolly shelf.
It really is amazing how sewing the pieces of a doll dress together can make such a big difference. Last night you saw Rebecca’s dress being held together with straight pins…
…and now you will see it in its new state.
The snaps are sewn on the cuffs, but the dress isn’t hemmed yet.
I have looked at the buttons again and I’m leaning toward the little blue glass button. I even took a scrap of a fabric that matches the green leaves in the fabric and fringed the edges quickly “just to see” what it might look like as a little bow underneath the blue button… If I decided on that button, I would of course, make the fringed piece better and even. The green leaves in the fabric doesn’t show up very well in my pictures, but the little fringed piece is a perfect match.
I’ll try to have some choices for you tomorrow… and see what else Rebecca might need for this set…
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne
First of all, congrats on your current auction; I see you have five bids now!
Oh, yes, it looks so much better sewn together!! And I did take another look at the pale blue button, and do like that one, too, but the plaid fabric you have it sitting on seems a bit too yellow for me, but perhaps it’s just my monitor that is playing tricks on me tonight.
Anyway, I do think you have a winner here!
HI Charlotte,
I am anxiously awaiting the end of Mae’s auction… it might determine my future with Mae outfits!
I knew you’d like it better stitched together…
I can’t get the lighting right on the little fringed piece of fabric… so I will probably pass on it. It’s a perfect match to the leaves, but if I can’t show it in the pictures, what’s the use of using it.
Thanks for your kind words…
Blessings, Jeanne
Much better sewn together, Jeanne! I love those beautiful sleeves!
The button is ok, just that yellow piece in the back seems a bit jarring, at least close up. Again, I would like to see the whole dress and the button before making up my mind. Maybe a smaller blue or black bow under the button, with the yellow part only partially showing?
Thanks Linda,
Yes, aren’t those sleeves like something from 1865??? I love them too.
I am looking for something else besides that little fringed piece. I have tried everything to make it look in my pictures like it does in person, but it’s a no go! The right color of it just can’t be captured… so I’ll look for something else.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
I too would like to see dress, button, and bow together in one picture. Linda’s idea of a black bow is working for me, though the green bow would be less ordinary. I think the black would give more emphasis to the lovely white collar.
I thought yesterday that the bodice wasn’t quite centered, but realized it was pinned, not sewed. Today it’s lovely, and so are the gathers where the bodice joins the waistband. Linda’s right about the sleeves too.
I was wondering if a Civil War era doll might drink iced tea. Wikipedia:
Iced tea started to appear in the United States during the 1860s. Seen as a novelty at first, during the 1870s it became quite widespread.[15] Recipes appeared in print, iced tea was offered on hotel menus, and it was on sale at railroad stations.[16] Its popularity rapidly increased after Richard Blechynden introduced it at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
So it’s possible that a girl in this dress might go to a friend’s house to try this new form of tea as a sort od domestic adventure. That would be fun. Ice was stored in ice houses, insulated with sawdust or straw. Blocks could be delivered and shards would be chipped off. I was startled to read that delivery of ice blocks died out in the 1960’s. I remember ice deliveries in the early 50’s.
Loved the history lesson, Marilyn. I was surprised iced tea has been around so long. Your mentioning block ice brought to mind something I was surprised to discover recently. When Sean was without power after the hurricane but had a generator and could run fans, I suggested running the fans over a block of ice. We had air conditioning in our high school when I was a senior in Wilmington, DE (never had A/C in PA) but with all of us seniors on the stage for graduation rehearsal it wasn’t cooling enough and some were actually passing out. So for the ceremony they brought in fans and blocks of ice and we were all very comfortable. But Sean told me it was hard to find block ice these days, only crushed. I had no idea.
Neat story about the ice blocks used at Graduation, Barbara.
Marilyn, very interesting about iced tea. Real iced tea, not from a mix is delicious. 🙂 Here, up in the Sierra, not far from where we hang out, there are lakes where they used to harvest ice by cutting ice blocks in the winter many years ago. Then, it was loaded on trains bound for San Francisco all packed in sawdust. I often wondered how they got that mess off the ice before using it and whether or not there were frozen fish inside? The lakes are called “Ice Lakes” and “Crystal Lake”. We have the old icebox used by other person’s parents at their cabin in the 50’s. A big block of ice lasted a week for them. 🙂
Barbara, sounds like the good old days with that block of ice and the fans. But, it worked. Our graduation in 1967, was outside in the evening, so no problem with heat.
HI Marilyn,
I have the snaps sewn to the back now, so the dress fits nicely around the neck and I will get some variations of things to use with the button. I wish
the green check would have shown up better. It’s a really nice complimentary color to the leaves, but it just won’t work. I have decided to nix that fabric.
I like that you researched about the iced tea… that might make a great story line… and would be a bit in history too! :o)
I feel like an antique, because I remember my grandma getting a block of ice for her refrigerator to keep things cold.
Speaking of cold…I’m getting old! AND soon to be OLDER! EEK!
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I love the colors in the dress. I love the white trim you are using to set off the colors. This little miss will surely “go to the head of the class” in this ensemble!
HI Dorothy,
Well, this “little Miss” might be going for Tea… I know you know a thing about that! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
The dress is coming along swimmingly. Love the lake blue color. However, I’m not a fan of the dotted sort of modern look button background. I’d like to see a solid color instead. Perhaps, a piece of lace? Maybe, black, gold, or darker green solids instead? The current fabric seems a bit jarring, but maybe when seen in a full length photo I may have another opinion, as now it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. 🙂
We have cucumbers and tomatoes coming out our ears around here. My favorites are the Chinese and Armenian varieties. Neighbors like them as well. I took a bag of soft cukes to our neighbor for her chickens yesterday. Asked her gardener if he wanted some fresh ones and he said yes. Ran home and grabbed some cukes and tomatoes and quickly brought back a bag for him. He looked inside and said oh, salad. Perfect. I don’t think he knew what I was talking about. I’m sure the neighbors will soon be hiding from me as I drop off bags of produce on their door steps. Not huge zucchini’s though. 🙂
On another note, the zinnia’s are really lovely this year.
Oh, Joy, I so wish I was one of your neighbors. We lost everything in our garden during Beryl and it’s not coming back and it’s too late in the season to replant, even here. The idea of some fresh cukes and tomatoes sounds so yummy. Nothing like that in the grocery store.
HI Joy,
I’m trying to find some “alternates” for the piece behind the button…
I’ll show some ideas… the snaps are sewn on and the hemming is next…
Great job on the garden veggies… I doubt your neighbors will be hiding… they’ll probably be ringing your doll for more! :o)
I’d like to see your Zinnias… oh wait, did you send me pics… I forgot about using them… I will…
Blessings, Jeanne
What a lovely lovely dress. The adjustments are wonderful, although we knew you had just started on the dress yesterday. Love the sleeves and the pin with the ribbon. The material is beautiful and Rebecca looks so elegant,
Hi Paula…
Thank you for your sweet compliments on Rebecca’s dress.
I am still working to find the perfect fabric to go under the button “brooch” as it just won’t cooperate with my camera… and show the right color.
I think it does look elegant on Rebecca…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
I did not get to comment yesterday but did see the blog. This fabric blew me away. What a beautiful piece of fabric and what a lovely dress it is turning into. I didn’t realize till it was sewn together that it actually has a waistband. I like the look. The sleeves are lovely and I love the white collar and cuffs. I’m waiting to see what you end up with for an embellishment. I’m not sure what my opinion is on this and would have to see the overall look. I like the button but am up in the air on what to put behind it.
I recently did a search for doll clothes designing software and found some for a reasonable price. I have a couple dolls that no one has sewn for before thus I can’t find patterns and I’m not good at freehand designing or even altering so I decided to give this a try. It looks like it will be fun. I always loved designing my own clothes when I was young, often combining pieces from different patterns to achieve a look I wanted so this is definitely of interest to me. I haven’t tried it out yet just played around with designing using what they already have in the software (measurements for some of the more common dolls like Betsy McCall). I plan on using it for my two Lissy dolls and my two rescue dolls first. My 16″ rescue doll Emma can wear AGAT patterns with some altering and my 12″ rescue doll Brenna can wear LD patterns with some altering but it will be fun to design and make clothes especially for them. And often I’m looking for a pattern for something that doesn’t already exist and my go-to people don’t always have the time to draft or resize a pattern for me so this should help with that. But sadly there is no bathing suit pattern I can use for dolls that I can’t find patterns for, so I’m still on my own there.
Oh I forgot to say give Mae a hug for me. I know this is a trying time for her. The first time someone has to give up an outfit they’ve come to love can be traumatic. After a time she’ll realize there will be another, and another, so she’ll get used to it.
Mae seems to be fine… I think she knows there will be more… especially when she saw me get something in the mail… and I held it up to her…
*wink* *wink*
Blessings, Jeanne
HI Barbara,
I think I got this fabric at a store one time when my hubby and I were traveling… It may have been a Joann’s but not sure. I loved it the moment I saw it. I think they had it in different colors. I just remembered, it has Joann’s on the selvage edge so it had to have been Joann’s.
I’m still working on the “embellishment” fabric… or lace… whatever I can find that looks nice.
I would LOVE to know what software program you are talking about for making doll patterns… I never even thought to Google Doll Patterns software. I guess that is a good place to start.
Let us know how that goes…
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
The site where I got the software is called Wild Ginger. They are in Alabama. They actually do patterns for people including costumes. After printing the patterns they require some matching and taping, even the doll clothes, but I have done that before with patterns for Jaiden. This afternoon I created patterns for a back-to-school ensemble for my MA Lissy which includes a yoked skirt, a jacket with long sleeves and a scoop neckline and a blouse with a Peter Pan collar. I did the blouse to close in the back and I’ll do lace and buttons on the front. I am also going to make the yoke for the skirt and add a pleated skirt to it at some point. You could either do a straight or an a-line flare but with my perfect pleater I can add a pleated skirt with any size pleats I want. Adding the pleats to the pattern was not an option but I think it’s the only one they missed but they do actually have a box pleated skirt option. I had a lot of fun but I’ll tell you if you have a Chrome or Edge browser downloading the program was rather circuitous. The woman at Wild Ginger said downloading with Firefox is painless. I have Edge and I did get it done so all’s well that ends well.
This is a beauty. I love the button and I adore the swatch of fabric with it to pull out that lovely green. Wow.
Happy Tuesday everyone. Another hottie here in northern Virginia
HI Rosemary,
Thank you for your sweet comments about Rebecca’s dress.
I think you may be the only person who mentioned that the fabric piece was green. I think I’m looking for something else… Now that the dress is almost done, it looks more fancy than a piece of gingham fabric for a neck tie.
We’ll see…
We are having a nice day… not a “hottie” at all!
Blessings, Jeanne