Hi everyone,
Charlotte sent some pictures and there is surely something to make you smile today!
Hi Jeanne and all! As promised, here are some pictures I took of dolls I’ve mentioned in the last week or so.
Right after you got comments back on your blog, you shared Linda’s pictures of her girls dressed for fall. Her Molly was in a cowgirl outfit, and I mentioned that I had made something similar for my Molly. She said she’d like to see it. I discovered I did have a picture already taken about 3 years ago, where Molly was in her cowgirl outfit, so here it is. The main fabric is a knit “suede”; the blouse is gingham. Don’t look too closely–I didn’t realize until after I was applying the snaps that I had put the cuffs on backwards, so the snap back over front rather than the other way around! By the time I realized it, it was too late to take them apart and do over, so they will have to be okay!!
And then one day you asked what was the furthest we had traveled, and I said Africa, and that I had bought some dolls while there, so the next few pictures are of them.
This next picture shows all four of my dolls from Africa together. The two small ones I think I bought in one place, and the other two I purchased separately. It’s been 27 years, though, so I don’t remember where exactly I bought them!
The next two pictures are of a doll made by a mission group in South Africa, which apparently has workshops to train people in sewing skills; the closeup shows the tag that came with her. Her hair is interesting, in that it is made of thin strips of jersey that has been pulled to “curl” it (jersey fabric naturally curls/rolls somewhat anyway, and this attribute is sometimes implemented for trimming garments), and beads have been pushed up here and there along the “curls”. She is currently in my sewing room as I noticed the elastic in her shorts has “died”, and since it’s a simple casing, I think I will replace it. (It’s not nearly so easy to do if the elastic is applied with a serger!)
If memory serves, I found her in the gift shop of a hotel we stayed at, but it could have just been a random shop nearby. She has such a joyful expression, I couldn’t resist!
The next two pictures show Sizwe, a girl from Soweto, S. Africa. She is dressed in a two-piece outfit, and came with her own passport! Her hair is loops of yarn (much like is used in some Cabbage Patch Kids). Both she and the previous doll are about the same size, but completely different in appearance!
The next two dolls I do remember getting at the same place (where? good question!).
The first one represents a Swazi girl in her traditional dress. One arm is covered by her cape, but both arms and both ankles have bracelets on them. Since we spent a week doing our work in Swaziland, I wanted a representative of that culture.
The second one represents a Zulu girl (we visited a Zulu village, which is why I got her), which you can tell by her stylized hair. I did a little research and apparently they make beaded hats (as in, ALL beads!) that are shaped much like her hairdo is.
Then one day you asked which was our most unusual doll. I have several unusual dolls–unusual in various different ways–but I mentioned the one I had ordered to represent my son. This is a Cabbage Patch Kid Original (as in, cloth face, with needle-sculpted and hand-painted features), and he is considerably bigger than any of my other Cabbage Patch Kids. I remembered that he was 25″ tall but he is actually closer to 30″ tall!
The first picture shows Daniel Ben (my son couldn’t spell his middle name, Benjamin, when he was young, so for a while he wrote “Daniel Ben Trayer” on all of his school papers) in all his glory. He is wearing a size 18 months outfit! That gives you an idea of his size. He is, in fact, almost as tall as Daniel was when we got him at age three (about 32″), so holding him on my hip is a little bit like holding my son, only the doll isn’t as heavy!
The second picture shows his “booboo”–each Booboo Boy came with a booboo on either his leg or his arm. I think it’s pretty clever, how they did a bandage that didn’t quite cover the booboo, so you can see it’s really there!
The next picture is a close-up of his face. I think if you can zoom in a bit, you will see that he has three dimples–both cheeks plus his chin–just like my son. (My son also had two other dimples “where the sun don’t shine,” but we won’t go there!! Haha….) His brown eyes are very similar to Daniel’s, too.
In the last picture, you see his “birthmark”–yes, he–and all the boys in this edition of 200 pieces–was hand signed by Xavier Roberts! You can also see that, instead of a diaper, he is wearing underwear! Little blue/white striped boxer shorts. A thin line of them shows just above his pants. I think the boxer shorts were made especially for this edition, while the outfits were real baby clothes (as are often used on the CPK Originals).
I should mention, too, that the Originals are Not the plastic-head ones that came in the yellow boxes–those are the toys. These are collectible, hand-crafted versions and, except for the preemies, are usually bigger than the toys, which are about 18″ tall. They are still being made, by the way (both Originals and toys), and Babyland, the home of the Cabbage Patch Kids, is a real place. I have been there!
Thank you SO much Charlotte,
What a lot of fun dolls for everyone to look at today! This should give everyone something to smile about!
See everyone Monday,
Have a wonderful Fall weekend,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you for sharing my doll pictures today, Jeanne. I will try to check back during the day to answer any questions, although I do have an appointment later in the afternoon.
I discovered it was really easy to replace the elastic in the one African doll’s shorts–the elastic was in a simple casing, and the opening was still there. The elastic had been fed thru, and then knotted, and the knot was exposed, so easy to pull the elastic out a little ways, cut it and pin a new piece to the end of the old piece, and pull it thru! I just knotted the new piece the same way the old piece had been done!
By the way, Joy, I replied to your comment on yesterday’s blog, about sewing on black fabric.
Hi Charlotte. Absolutely loved seeing your wonderful African doll collection. So many fun ideas for doll making there. Thanks for sharing. I just popped back to yesterday and saw your note. I suppose that I could have tried a different dark color on the black felt. I’ll try that next time. The top stitching was most of the trouble because I couldn’t see the fabric edge through the clear plastic foot so that white paper underneath worked for me. 🙂 I should have used a single sheet of computer paper and gone with that, but no, I didn’t want to traipse through the house to get it so used little torn up pieces I had laying around. Crazy, but it worked. Still need to attach the top of the hat to the brim. We’ll see how today goes for free time. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Thank you, Joy! I’m glad you enjoyed my dolls.
I’ve used paper under my sewing from time to time, also. As I get older, seeing black and other very dark colors gets more difficult, and I have to use extra lighting and/or other little “tricks” to make it work! I’m glad the paper worked out for you.
Charlotte, that cowgirl outfit is darling! I love the cow patterned vest and skirt! The gingham shirt is perfect with that! I didn’t even notice the sleeve snaps until you mentioned it! Now all she needs is a hat!
What a treasure you have in this African dolls! How many of us have gone to Africa AND bought a doll? And you have done both, and even have several! I notice that some have black skin, while some have brown. I guess that shows the variations in the colors of African skin. I love that the clothes are so colorful, and the beads certainly add to the fun!
Now wonderful that you have a Cabbage Patch doll that was made just for you! Did Daniel ever play with it or was it just for “show”? I would think it was kept out of his reach while he was young, knowing little boys!
Thank you so much for showing these darling dolls, and to Jeanne for showing us on the blog!
Thank you, Linda; I think Molly does have a hat here somewhere, but I’m not sure where it is!
Yes, there is a variety of skin tones among the people of Africa. With the dolls, too, especially since the two larger ones were made by either a mission or some kind of cooperative where they train people, it might depend on what they have available at a particular time.
Actually, Daniel Ben was made in 1997 (Xavier Roberts put ’97 with his signature), and my son was 22 at that time, and not living at home, as I recall. I think I showed him the doll but he was most likely “underwhelmed”!!
Oh, Charlotte, you have gone over board with fun today! I had to show all those African dolls to Peyton, they are so adorable and also interesting to see that different places you got them are like where you went.
I love the Cowgirl, the colors and the whole set. Like Linda, I would not have notices the sleeve snaps if you hadn’t told us. The cow design is perfect! Thank you so much for such fun today.
We have our yard man and his grandson working out side in a light rain. We fill like we should give them a bit more for their work. A lot of people would not work in the rain.
We will be going to our eye doc later today. He will be working my other eye. It is a bit cloudy like the other won was. Last time his helper was holding my head steady so hard that I thought my teeth would break! I will have a word with him today.
I got another Kish doll to try to sell on Facebook today. Hoping it sells.
Jeanne, I hope all is going better with you and George. I wish you had something to tell us. Prayers always going up.
I’ll be thinking of you today at the eye doctor. Hope you have a gentle tech helper this time. 🙂
Thank you, Sissy. I’m glad you enjoyed my dolls. Going to Africa had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl–we’d had a missionary to what was then Tanganyika visit our home and our church, and something about what he said just caught my imagination, I suppose. I decided I wanted to be a missionary to Africa when I grew up! Well, I was, sort of–just short-term, but it was very rewarding work, and we had some time to tour after our work was done.
We have had some rain today, too, but no one is doing yard work at my house today!
Hope your eye appointment went well today.
Charlotte, thank you for sharing all of these cutie dolls.
The cabbage patch doll is a treasure.
Your dolls from Africa are very pretty. I know most of these are “souvenirs” but you can imagine them being loved by a cutie little kid.
A sweet comfort of being small. When I was little almost every photo my dad took I was holding a doll.
Booboo boy looks so cute. I love his outfit and boots.
The African dolls look a little familiar as my daddy went to parts of Africa many times and always brought home dolls. (he was a State Department Auditor for NATO) I was always fascinated by the black dolls. They looked so elegant and fancy.My sisters and I were not too interested in Barbies. We always played school or church with all of our dolls.
I have a few dolls from parts of Africa that look similar. These are superb memories Charlotte.
Do you keep your dolls in a curio? or a protected case?
All of my dolls are packed away, but I am sure I have some photos of my curio before I packed it up. Yes, I should unpack it…. but I have a weird “mental thing” going on after living in our old house for 30 years, I know I live here now, but I am not settled, so I choose to ignore the feeling and just keep busy on the present. I know I packed my things with care, and …. those boxes are all stacked up in the down stairs bath tub behind the pretty curtain 😂
It is Friday again! This week flew! I am still sewing. I have a few chores to accomplish today. Tonight is our next episode of Dark Matter (sci fi on Appletv) and we are rewatching Fauda on Netflix because there is a new season out. Other than that, hubbs is an Formula 1 fan and so I hear, and try to be enthusiastic about racing try outs x2, and line ups, and the final race on Sunday afternoon. I do sometimes loosely wear some earplugs.
It is supposed to be hurricane rain for us this Sunday, so okay. We are ready. I hope all of you are too. Stay cool and comfy, or warm and cozy. I might look for my two plug in pumpkins. I saw a youtube video about painting my plastic pumpkins with dark paint and baking soda to make them look rustic. I do not think I will do that. I am kind of bored with the plastic matte orange, but not on fire to paint.
love you all. Big hugs all around.
Hoping the hurricane will not be bad where you are! I have been in several and stayed all but one at home. Prayers for those in the way of it.
Thank you Sissy. Good luck at the eye doctor!!! 🥰
I think the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Mountains take the brunt of these inland hurricanes. I hope those living in or near those mountain ranges are safe and prepared.
Thank you for your nice comments, Rosemary; I’m glad you enjoyed my dolls. I think the two larger African dolls could possibly be play dolls for older children; the smaller dolls are more “souvenirs”. And, no, I don’t have a curio cabinet for them; they are usually packed away in plastic crates in my basement, in a dark corner so as not to get sun damage. I would have to have a Lot of curio cabinets, and a much bigger house, to put all my dolls on display!!
Yes, I think my Booboo Boy is a treasure, too–and, since he was of a very small edition (200, as opposed to thousands in some other editions), it could be he has retained his value. But that’s not why I got him, of course. I got him because he reminded me of my son.
I understand about the “weird mental thing”–since Ron died (over two years now), I get that way sometimes. I know I should do some things, but just keep going at the everyday stuff.
Well, I need to finish up here; I have a 3 p.m. appointment and so I will have to check back in when I get home.
OH! and Molly! She looks so cool with her cowgirl outfit!! I love it.
well done Charlotte. The cuffs look perfect to me.
Thank you, Rosemary!
Here it is Friday, again. It’s been such a hectic week that I wasn’t sure. So fun seeing Charlotte’s, collection today. Loved her cowboy costume too.
We finally have fog this morning and today is the last day of warmth for awhile. It’s been a hot streak for sure.
I wrote out a list for each house of things we need to do. Other person was not onboard for either I think. Oh well, I’ll see what I can do. So, I filled a can yesterday with more bergenia, I’d say that there is about ten feet more to pull out from the path edging. It’s not easy as the pieces go underground and have to be pried out with my digger. But, I can finally see the rock edging that I put in so many years ago, so there is progress. 🙂 And that job isn’t even on the list. Callie Cat was a big help and was curled up sleeping nearby. And I did have to stop and head up to the far yard corner to give crying Winnie, the pup from next door, her milk bone treat through the hole in the fence. It was nice to have some company. 🙂
Hope that everyone has a great weekend and that Jeanne, gets a moment in her sewing room and we hear that George, is feeling better.
Wow! How fun! Would love to see a picture of your son at 3!
Thank you! I’ll see if I have one on my computer and send it to Jeanne if I do.
Charlotte, your Molly looks so adorable in her cowgirl outfit. And I didn’t notice the cuffs either. Probably because I’ve done that a few times myself. Your African dolls are delightful. They are all so different. You are so fortunate to have them. I’ve never been to Africa but would love to go. Or would that be “have gone” since it’s doubtful I will ever make that trip now. Your Daniel Ben Cabbage Patch doll is precious. No detail left out. You need to take a picture with him on your lap so we can see how big he is.
Still summer here in southeast Texas but we are expecting a few days of lower humidity and a northerly breeze due to the hurricane. Even though it is in the high 80s if the humidity stays lower and with a nice breeze, I should be able to walk a couple times in the next few days.
Praying for my Sofa Sisters in the path of the hurricane. This one missed us totally. We are on the dry side so not even a bit of rain. So where are all these horrible mosquitoes that have shown up lately coming from? I killed one last evening the size of a fly. I thought that’s what it was at first. He was so big I felt him land on my hand.
As always praying for Jeanne and George that things are going well and George is feeling some better all the time.
yes, get out and walk!! Enjoy the weather that you have! Here we are also blessed with a 72º day and very little humidity!
I absolutely HATE😡 mosquitoes. The only place I have seen them as big as horses was in Canada!
Thank you so much, Barbara. I’m glad you liked my pictures.
Actually, one year when I was working at a store called Doll Palace (no longer there, sadly) the outdoor mall it was in was allowing employees at all the stores to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus, and I brought Daniel Ben with me and we had our picture taken with Santa! Later I had it made into a Christmas card for my doll club. I will have to see if I can take a good picture of it for you, and send it to Jeanne. Might wait until a little closer to Christmas for that, as I’m sure it’s buried with my Christmas stuff in the basement!
I would love to see the picture of you and Cabbage Daniel. Hope you can find it.
Charlotte what a wonderful collection of dolls and how lovely that they remind you of your trip. Molly’s outfit is wonderful too and I would never have noticed the cuff if you hadn’t said anything and I love your Cabbage Patch Original. Thank you for putting them up Jeanne.
Barbara, so happy for your good news. You will soon be running down the road again!
Joy what would you do without Callie Cat? LOL. The trouble with the garden is that as soon as you finish you have to start again!
It is Saturday morning here and Sam and I will be going to our last Alice class today. I cut out all the pieces for the borders yesterday morning then made one border and one corner block. Technically, it doesn’t have a block there but doing QAYG, it is too fiddly to quilt and attach each strip separately so that is what I have to do. I am not overly happy with the way it turned out so may remake that one but it was practice.
Stay safe in the hurricane everyone. Because we are in the Pacific we get cyclones here, though not very often in the S.Island. If we do, it is usually only the tail end.
It rained here last night, I thought it was only going to be drizzle but it must have been coming from the N.E rather than the south because the deck is wet almost to the back door and it is a big deck. there is a possibility, as well, that we may have to carry all our stuff this morning from the car park at the school. Usually we can drive around to the classroom, unload the car then park in the car park. Not fun in the rain with two sewing machines, all the equipment we need and I have the quilt as well! I think it is the first time it has rained on class day.
Our Sky box still isn’t working, Sam called them yesterday and they are sending another new box (the third). They have given us some discounts because of the problems and if this box doesn’t work it will go higher up. Fortunately, Canterbury are playing their NPC quarter final on Sunday and so are the Canterbury women and the All Blacks are playing tonight at 7pm, so I don’t need to rely on a recording. I think I would have been leaving class at lunch time if it had been today.
I guess I had better get on and get ready. Sam isn’t up yet (7.20am), I will give her 10 mins then call her. Kai is house sitting for my friend Margaret who is in Australia and Sam is sleeping in Kai’s sleepout because she was going to redecorate her room. she hasn’t got far and now says she will sleep in the lounge when Kai comes home, till it is finished. Oh joy!! If she does it at the same rate as she has done so far she will be in the lounge till Christmas!
Have a great day everyone
Thank you so much, Anne; I’m glad you enjoyed my dolls. I have some happy memories getting them, particularly the African ones. And Daniel Ben really is quite special–I quite agree! Is it the largest of my Originals, although I have a girl who is close to him in size, I think. I’ve never put them side by side to compare. My other Originals are the more usual sizes (about 15″ for preemies and 18-23″ for the regular kids). Dare I say it? I have close to 20 of them!! And, yes, I have been to Babyland!!
I have enjoyed seeing pictures of the dolls. I am anxious to see more of Jeanne’s doll dresses. I under stand the situations, though. I loved the little cowgirl dress. I didn’t mind the
Red gingham blouse. Red has always been my favorite color.
To Jeanne and hubby, I’m still praying for you.
Thank you, Diana. It was nice to hear from you today! Red is Molly’s favorite color, too! She has Many clothing items that are red, or have red in them!!
Anne, it is so good to hear from you!
I hope today went really well and you enjoyed a good time!
Hubbs and I went to the little gym here for about 35 minutes, then we came home and I ate about 10 oreo cookies 😂