Hi everyone,
Our power came back on about 5:30 Saturday morning… all is well!
I found some time over the weekend to work on Molly’s yellow and pinkish print dress! It’s such a fun pattern and was actually a little girls pattern, but someone resized it for the American Girl dolls and added some simpler directions along the sides of the original instructions. If I remember correctly, the last dress I made from this pattern was this red and black dress. It belongs to Marilyn now! :o)
So here is the dress finished!! I’m still not sure I have the picture thing figured out just yet… some of the pictures are a bit fuzzy around the edges…almost like the picture is curved. Oh well, for now, it will have to do. I do want to get some outside pictures of this… hopefully this week when it warms up a bit.
The skirt is the right length for the 1940’s. (I didn’t take my picture all the way to her feet as I had her ankles tied with a ribbon and it looked silly!)
This was the perfect print to sew on some “flower buttons” on the back. It’s done with a 4 hole button, making French knots.
I need to figure out which shoes Molly wants to wear… I have a vintage looking pair of black and cream with some rhinestones and then a pair of burgundy/red pair. I will of course be making her some new white anklets!
Here is another hint for her accessory for this dress…
It fits in this box and is 3 1/2″ long…
Here it is covered with a kleenex…
I still need to make her a slip and probably tie some ribbons in her hair.
Oh Boy…almost done!
See you tomorrow!
Blessings, Jeanne
Aha! For an American Girl, as I thought, but not Rebecca, Molly! I wouldn’t have guessed that because MY Molly doesn’t really wear pastels. Her favorite color is red, and she also has a lot of navy in her wardrobe, as well as several red/white/blue things.
The dress has turned out really pretty, though, and I love how you did the buttons on the back. I think, of the two shoes you show, I’d go with the black and cream, as I think the red ones (much as I really LOVE red shoes!) would fight the ribbon at the neck and the pink of the flowers. However, I think plain white or plain black shoes would be my choice, were those among your options.
Now, I wonder what the accessory could be?! I think 3-1/2″ is too big for a purse for her. That is more the size of her school bag, as I recall. Hmmm…
Oh, my lunch with grandson and family got postponed because Skyler (almost 3) woke up with a bad cough on Saturday. We will reschedule. His birthday party is next Saturday, though, so I may go to that for a while, anyway.
Oh, I just KNEW it! A dress for Molly! She looks so pretty in her sweet yellow dress with red roses! I love everything about it, and I know my Molly would too, not to mention Ruthie and Susan!
As far as the shoes, I would rather go with the burgundy ones, sorry Charlotte! I had shoes like that , but never would have had shoes with rhinestones on them. I also have those fancy shoes but only Cecile wears them, as I consider them somewhat more old fashioned. Just plain black Mary Jane’s would also go, (which is what I would have her wear) depending on where she would be wearing the dress. Maybe she could wear it for their Valentine’s Day party at school, or picture day, not to mention it would be a cute Easter dress too, or for Sunday School! Are you planning to sell the shoes too, because I didn’t see you say that. The owner can put any shoes on that she wants.
Now as to that mystery accessory, I was clearly wrong when I mentioned a parasol! I couldn’t really see the size of it, and now I am really stumped! A pretty straw hat with rosebuds? I guess we will have to see, although I don’t recall you ever making a hat, other than with a coat, for Molly, but that would be cute!
I never would have guessed so there we are!
I love this dress. I would love the pattern.
I LOVE THIS DRESS!!!! Jeanne, those buttons! I want to try making buttons like that, how absolutely cute!
I hope everyone is feeling good and had a nice week-end. I sewed a lot
and forced myself to clean my bathrooms. Of course I did a really good job so I do not have to think about that for a while.
Anyway, Rain all Saturday, I sewed all day, Sunday we had sunshine and in the afternoon we had to go to the old house and “clean up” and make trash and go through more stuff. Ugh, I do not enjoy that. In fact, going to the old house gives me a mix of “anxiety and dread” … well, I keep in mind that sage old saying “just do it” 😂😂😂
I just need to get enthusiastic and happy about that chore, and I do fit a little bit of sewing in every day as well. I am making a new cute quilt. (I have a lot of unfinished projects but oh well)
I am going to guess what goes into that box!…. A little poodle?
I’m thinking some kind of pet also.
What a nice springy surprise. The dress makes me happy! When I looked at the photos, they almost looked overexposed. Kind of too light. But, then, I hit the enlarge which really didn’t enlarge so much as tone down the brightness. The background in the enlarged pics also looks darker which makes for a nicer photo, I think. Anyway, the ribbon dress tie doesn’t match the burgundy shoes in my opinion. The black/white shoes don’t do much for me either. I would love to see some plain black or patent leather shoes like we wore in the 50’s. But, the dress is lovely, and I especially like the button on the back detailing.
This brings me to clothing details. My latest RR, Kelly, came with a lovely buttoned jacket. I have never seen button holes so small in my life, making unbuttoning the jacket a trial. The buttons being so small, that I could barely grasp them and using a tool on the tiny metal buttons would have scratched them. So, with great effort, I finally managed to maneuver the buttons through the tiny button holes. Sore fingers for sure. I know that I could have tried to stretch the holes with my hemostat, but because the jacket came buttoned, it was impossible to fit anything more inside the holes. So, because I was timed out for my dolly dressing, I heard other person returning from the store, I did not even have time to put the darned jacket on her. Hopefully, soon though. And after looking at some other details on Kelly’s outfit, I believe that I have found a way to end my snapaphobia. I’ll have to send Jeanne some pics.
And thank you to those who wrote comments to me on Friday. I didn’t get back to read anything until very late.
I forgot. I guess the surprise probably isn’t a little Valentine heart as the box is pretty large, so maybe it is a small bouquet of spring flowers for Molly to take to her grandmother or her teacher? 🙂
I know someone wrote a comment on the Fan Page about the small buttonholes. Didn’t notice who. You? I never did find the comments on Sage’s boots that were so hard to buckle I just took the straps off. Thankfully that was easy to do and I can put them back anytime I want to. But they’ll still be hard to buckle. I have snapaphobia too. The darn things always slip from my fingers and drop down in the side of my chair. Usually I just get another snap part but if I have to move my chair for anything I find all the wayward snap parts just waiting to be retrieved.
That sounds familiar like our couch where snaps congregate down the side in nowhere land. 🙂
I didn’t write about the button problem on the fan page, but did make a comment. Those button holes are well very very tiny. 🙂
Dear Jeanne, what a lovely dress. It offers “thoughts of Spring.” Those are good thoughts, indeed!
It would be a great dress for Molly to wear for the Maypole dance. How many days until May? LOL
Dear Barbara, yes it would be! Summer, sunshine, strolling in the park.
Jeanne, I really love the dress and the fabric. I wish I had some of that fabric to made a dress for one of my LD’s but even it I had some it would not be a pretty as yours. I know we are all looking forward to seeing more tomorrow!
We had a deluge here where we are still in Helen. Some of the roads leading our of the area where we are are blocked because of the water. However, Peyton was able to get around it and we made it to the laundromat. Then, Sunday as we left for Church, everything was dry and the sun was shining! We hated leaving the church. We have attended it for some many years and made some friends and are so welcomed. We will miss coming up here every year, but this is the last time. It is a 5 hour drive, and also we are old and if anything happened while we are here we would have no way to get home unless family would have to come from far away to get us. We have many happy memories.
I know how disappointed I was when we decided to stop our annual trek to western Colorado. We had many years and evolutions of that trip. At first we did primitive camping at Forest Service sites with only a pit toilet and a pipe for water when the kids were growing up. Then as it got harder for us to sleep “on the ground” we got a pop-up camper and had that for years. The kids had backpacking tents and loved to use them rather than sleep in the pop-up. Then we sold that and just started staying at motels. We made all those adjustments while still being able to enjoy the beauty of the area. Our last trip was to see my sister in WVA and spend some time in TN but once we did that we determined driving wherever we wanted to go was not doable any longer. We’re looking into train travel as a possibility now and I still want to do one of the Mississippi River cruises that leave from New Orleans and that’s an easy drive for us.
I really understand, Barbara. We just have to enjoy our memories and photos. We would love to go on a train but there isn’t one where we live that would take us where we would want to go. when my older son and his family were in CA we were set to drive to Colorado to visit my niece and then go on to CA in the winter on the train from there. However, Covid arrived and killed the trip and when covid was done the family had moved.
Your trip sounds so fun. Maybe my sons ended up living far away from me because I encouraged them to take trips in the summers when the were old enough.
Dear Sissy,
I’m sorry that this is the last time you can go to Helen. I watched a couple of YouTube videos, including a walk through tour, and it is charming. It reminds me of going to Fredericksburg, Texas and also New Braunfels. I’m glad to hear you have happy memories and I’m sure there are a lot of pictures.
Thank you, Linda. I never thought of looking at YouTube to see Helen. I will look for that for sure. I will send photos to Jeanne when I get a chance.
Laura I am trying to change to say Laura in stead of Linda. It doesn’t seem to work, trying one more time.
:::crumbs::: I just wrote up a comment and the internets swallowed it. How annoying.
Sissy, I hope both of you can return to Helen. I know what a terrible thought of never coming back. Perhaps you can hire a chauffeur 🥰😂
The rain was incredible on Saturday!
Thank you, Rosemary, it is a no for us but I hope you can get there. Laura said she saw Helen on YouTube, it was a tour. Maybe you can find it. How far are you live from Helen?
I am sorry to hear this is your last trip because you loved it so. We are facing this over our annual trip back to Louisiana. It is a 14 hour drive one way! I came to the same realization last week; there is no way I could manage this on my own. I hope you enjoy your vacation with no more weather problems.
Thank you Debbie, I think I am out of tears now. We go home on Friday. Your 14 hour drive really is a long one! I know how you feel! I guess you don’t want to fly. When i was still going to Modern Doll conventions we went to New Orleans two different times by air. I loved those trips and am so sorry you won’t get there again.
I sure understand what you’re going through, Sissy. I’m glad you have wonderful memories to think of. They mean so much and they’ll always remain in your heart forever.
Thank you, Paula. That is so sweet of you to say.
Five hours is a very long drive. Even the hour and a half it takes us to visit the grands seems to be long now. Sorry you won’t be able to visit any more, but before you know it, they will have some self driving cars available maybe even there. You never know. 🙂
Oh, yes, Joy, I can just see us with our feet up riding down the road, taking a nap, while the car travels down the road. You are so funny!
Dear Sissy, I would be sad as well. I want to go to Paris one more time but I don’t think that is going to happen.
I can’t remember if you ever sent Jeanne a photo of one of your days in Helen. If you didn’t, maybe you could send one so we could all share a little of your memories.
I just knew that dress was for Molly again, but it would also look adorable on Kit as I think it would look equally at home in the 30’s.
The flower buttons are so cute. I would have her wear black patent or plain white leather mary janes. I can’t guess what’s in the box. Of course the best accessory is a pet! I guess we’ll see soon.
I love this sweet little dress and did think of Molly when you showed the fabric. The flower buttons are a great idea. Thanks for mentioning how they are done. Since it is obviously a spring dress, I would think white shoes would be the best, but then I always loved Easter so I could have white shoes. Just me I guess because they were a bear for mom to keep up. Patent leather could be wiped off but I often had pretty leather shoes that had to be polished. I’m voting for a pet as the accessory. Maybe a bunny for Easter.
I guessed correctly too! Molly or Kit but most likely Molly. She looks great in this color with the tiny rosebud print. Those buttons are the best. I do not own Molly so I am not familiar with the shoes she wears. I do think the dark red might be too dark for the dress. I have no idea what is hiding in that tissue paper!
So glad you were not without power all weekend but one night sounds like too much. About those photos…do you have an iphone? The latest update installed a new operating system which uses “liquid glass” on all interfaces. It causes a great deal of movement and fuzziness on the screen. Users are not happy as it is causing headaches and even vertigo. Your photos look clear on my monitor.
Looking forward to the finishing touches on Molly’s dress!
Such a sweet sweet dress for Molly!
I love the print, the buttons, the style.
I picture ankle socks with black shoes too. Ribbons too.
Jeanne, I was looking for the recent pictures of Reuben and can’t find them. I’ve been keeping my husband updated and wanted to show him Reuben’s progress. Thank you.
Paula, the videos of Reuben walking are in the list of Recent Posts, found on the right side of the blog. The one yu are looking forward to is in the “List of Winners of 2025 Doll Dress Review.”
Hi Paula. The videos of Reuben are on the beginning of the, “Here are the winners of the 2025 Doll Dress Year in Review! ” Under recent posts. Hope this helps.
Ha ha, looks like Linda was typing/sending at the same time I did. 🙂