Lucy would call me “Great-Grandma” if she could talk, but I don’t expect that ever to happen because she is a doll. She belongs to my granddaughter Maggie, and once before her picture showed up here, modeling clothes that I made.
This year I made some more outfits for Christmas presents. When the family flew across the continent to California Maggie couldn’t fit Lucy into her carry-on, so her Aunt Kate’s doll Felicity who still lives with us modeled the new togs the night before Christmas.
I only got two outfits done in 2011: black silk pants with a corduroy jacket (McCalls 6137); and a cowgirl skirt, blouse, vest and boots (McCalls 6257). I guess the boots are really moccasins, because I didn’t want to put foam board on the bottoms as the pattern called for.
Everything was made out of used clothes, either my own or things I found at the thrift store, such as a leather skirt that worked nicely for the vest and boots instead of the faux suede that had been suggested on the pattern envelope.
Felicity
While she was visiting here, Maggie had Felicity wear all the clothes, and she brushed out her hair and braided it nicely as well.
But as soon as Maggie returned home, it was time for Lucy’s 4th birthday party, so she wrapped the new clothes in pretty paper and ribbons, and a tag attached, “From Great-Grandma.” They were presented to Lucy along with chocolate cake for the occasion.
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Lucy!
After the holiday I got word that a new (18-inch) “great-granddaughter” has arrived in Annie’s house, and her name is Elizabeth. I don’t think I’ll stop sewing doll clothes anytime soon!
I’m back from my visit to family and friends in Maryland. Some things went as expected: Cooking and playing games and exploring the woods with the daughters and grandchildren…
Bed for deer
We walked along the creek, and then up to the top of the ridge where we flushed out a thundering herd of deer, and saw their resting place.
Many little plants were pushing up through the thick layer of leaves, but most of the trees were just budding. These mystery trees at the top were an exception.
Skunk cabbage coming up
onion grass
I took walks with Pearl and Kate and had cozy teatimes and visits with their friends: except for the warm day I blogged about, we had to bundle up like this to take our walks.
Maggie and I embroidered together, and Philosopher read to me many stories of Warrior Cats. Most school days I was able to rouse myself in time to walk them up the hill to the bus stop. The older boys have to get on the bus an hour earlier.
Rolling out gnocchi
When Kate came over, we cooked up a storm, including sweet potato gnocchi.
Me draining gnocchi
Maggie spying on whatever was in the oven.
There were surprises, too: someone’s back injury that made me glad I was around to help out more; meeting a fellow blogger face-to-face; and a rain shower we were unprepared for. Maggie had gone to great lengths packing a picnic to eat with me at Philosopher’s soccer game, and was loaded down with cloths to spread on the ground, her picnic basket, and a bag full of coloring supplies.
None of us had remembered to bring an umbrella, so while we were waiting around for the game, which was canceled in the end, Maggie used the tablecloth for a hood.
I was surprised to see a bear wearing the coat I sewed about 30 years ago for My Friend Mandy. He was hanging out with Lucy who was wearing her new togs.
The biggest surprise of my trip was on the way home, when I opened my wallet at the Baltimore airport and found that my I.D. and almost all my important cards were not there. I had left them back at Pearl’s in a purse I’d borrowed from her earlier in the week, as I realized eventually. I did get through airport security without them. First, though, I had the dreaded experience of rummaging through my giant suitcase on the sidewalk in plain view of a hundred people because I was sure the missing items were in there. I’m so glad I had packed most everything in one- and two-gallon ziplock bags.
It was a learning experience. Switching from one purse to another will demand a thorough double-checking from now on.
Two whole days of the trip were given to traveling. I got on the bus to the airport at 5:15 a.m. at the beginning of my trip, and it took me a couple of hours before I could get over being homesick that morning. I finally arrived at Pearl’s house about 8:15 at night, on the other side of the continent. It’s always a surprise, if I think about it very much, that I could cover so much territory so….quickly?
I actually enjoyed my time in the air. I was able to really get into the book I am going to start blogging about. On two of the four flights I had a one-seat row to myself, and could look out the window and not need to even say hello to anyone. But the long hours take their toll.
It’s only to be expected, that I am t-i-r-e-d. I know I sound tired. It’s odd that I am already home again, and not surprising that I am feeling the weight of all the work I have to do, in contrast with the easy life of helping with someone else’s housework, walking in the woods, and hugging people I now miss.
Lewis Carroll said, “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.” I have come to the end of my Maryland trip, and am at the beginning of a three-week period that includes Pascha — the feast of feasts! In three weeks B. and I are going together, Lord willing, on another trip, to see other family and grandchildren.
This story began around the end of October, and now that some pictures of the dolly modeling her togs have become available, I am giving the whole rundown. To begin at the beginning:
Back in the fall I heard that Littlest Granddaughter could use some clothes for her 18″ doll Lucy, and that the craft store carries that sort of thing. It would be a welcome Christmas present.
Coat lining from leftover dress fabric
But Lucy is a fancy doll, and it pained me to think of her wearing cheap clothes bought at the craft store, so what could I do, now that I have an organized sewing room (that’s another post) where I can actually find the materials needed, but dive in and put scraps and patterns together and come up with some outfits.
I wanted to use scraps not just to save money, but because the constraint made it easier, somehow, to come up with ideas for outfits. If I had started out at the fabric store I’d still be wandering the aisles, overwhelmed with too many choices.
I didn’t dream I would spend an impossible number of hours before I was through. But even now that I know, I would do it again. I learned a few lessons this go ’round, which should speed things up next time. I expect several more Next Times, because I absolutely loved doing it.
Would an aspiring painter count the hours he worked on one canvas, in order to calculate how much he might make per hour? If that were all there was to it, he might go into another line of business. Or if he needed a painting for his wall, he could look in galleries to find one. But there is joy in the creating, in the details that satisfy when they are done “right.”
I did run across some handmade doll clothes online, while I was looking for a glossary of decorative braids. One would have to greatly streamline and simplify a doll dress in order to make any amount of money on it. One cute dress was $18; I hope there was no hand sewing involved in that one.
When sewing a collar or a sleeve cuff for a little blouse, sometimes it was easier for me to sew the whole seam by hand, rather than to risk bunching the edge of the fabric under the presser foot and having to take out messy stitches.
Attaching the two types of braid took forever; I won’t ever used twisted cord again, and the Chinese braid I would sew by machine. My clever use of scrap fabric for the coat necessitated sewing the braid by hand so as not to spoil the lovely lining with contrasting thread. Now I know to plan that kind of thing more thoroughly.
Even though her mama likes to put her blouses on backwards, it appears that Lucy is very happy with her new clothes. And to complete the wardrobe, she got a new pair of black shoes from the craft store.
I’ve begun sewing doll clothes for a Christmas present, and my sewing room is starting to get messy again, with all the scraps and pattern pieces swirling about like my creative juices. This doll and her clothes were waiting on the bed in that room, and as they have already been lost in the house several times in the last years, I thought I better take their pictures right away and add to my blog sewing archives the first successful doll clothes I ever made.
Oh, I sewed some other ones by hand when I was ten years-old or so, for my Barbie. But I didn’t have a pattern, just laid the doll on some scraps, cut out what looked to me like the shape the garment should take, and when I sewed the pieces together I was always surprised at how ill-fitting the clothes were. I can almost see the very shirts and dresses in my mind, though I threw them away pretty early.
Rebecca was the first doll given to my first daughter Pearl. She was hard and small and her limbs didn’t move, but I thought she was good enough to be The Doll, and I discouraged relatives from giving Pearl any more because “She has a doll already.” I was different then.
Sewing for a doll like that is challenging; knitted clothes are a bit easier to get on when the dolly insists on holding her arms stiffly by her side. I wasn’t an experienced knitter but I found some patterns for much larger doll clothes at the thrift store and managed to adjust them for this little mite. This gives me hope that in the future I might be able to at least knit a dishcloth that I like.
The pictures show most of the wardrobe I made for Rebecca 30-plus years ago. Nowadays I like to use velcro fasteners; I don’t know if we didn’t have it back then or if I just liked the old-fashioned and time-consuming snaps or button loops that the little girl almost certainly couldn’t do up for her own doll. As I recall, the young children are good at ripping off the dolls’ clothes and then they come to Mama to help them dress up the dolls again. If Mama is busy there can be a lot of naked dollies lying around.
Pearl did eventually get some other dolls, the My Friend Dolls made by Fisher-Price, and I sewed for them a little. I never thought to take photos of the clothes, but I plan to, next time I see Mandy, Becky and Jenny.
For the granddaughters’ dolls, so far I’ve only made the clothes for Maxi-Muffin shown here. Now I’m working on an American Girl type of doll clothes, for which many patterns are available. With luck I’ll have some photos of these creations within the month.
Gladsome Lights 