Hi everyone,
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and those of you who have kids starting school today…well, I hope your morning has gone just as you hoped it would. I hope the lunches were packed, the backpacks filled up with new school supplies, the socks all had their mates, and the brushes got rid of all the tangles!
I have a few things to share before today’s post…
If you happened to miss Susette’s beautiful Prom or maybe Christmas or Valentine’s Day dress she made for Molly… You’ll certainly want to check out Saturday’s post… HERE.
And I think it was Sandra who wanted to see the tape measure running down all the new fabrics to judge their scale… she said she was from Missouri, the SHOW ME state! So I’m showing you today, Sandra… hope this helps! :o)
School starts here today at the University but the grade schools start next week. The traffic in town certainly keeps us on our toes, especially at the beginning, when all the new students are learning which streets are one way and which ones aren’t! :o)
Linda managed to get her girls dressed for school…and once again they are adorable scenes that she has created.
First up is Josefina with her school desk…
Then a little bit later in history, we see Felicity and Cecile…It’s just a make believe setting so Cecile has Samantha’s book strap, books and pencil box at her desk. Cecile is wearing Samantha’s cotton meet dress, because it was just TOO HOT to put her in that wool school dress in this weather!
Then onto the 1940’s girls… we have Molly and Susan meeting up and they just found out they are in the same class with “Sister Mary Ruth” as their teacher… (Take a close look and who do you see?) It’s Ruthie if you can’t tell… :o)
The modern girls were dressed in things that kids wear today. They are standing a the bus stop and Scarlett and Ivy are looking very scholarly in their new glasses! Instead of an apple, Betsy is taking a couple of roses from her mother’s rose bush to her new teacher!
Linda has been QUITE busy getting those girls ready for school, hasn’t she? I think she needs a break… how about we let her sit back and enjoy this slide show of some of my girls down through the ages in their school dresses. This will probably take 2 days to show… here goes…
Okay now it’s my turn… I pulled up some pictures from the archives and my goodness, right off the bat, I’m embarrassed by my pictures… I looked this one up and it was from 2008… called School Girl Charm. I clearly needed some photography help! Yikes!!
Here is another one…almost like the previous one, but the book bag and the buttons are different. That book bag must have a ton of books in it because it looks P-R-E-T-T-Y big for Riley!
This next one was called Teacher’s Pet.
I made a second version of this set too…improving it just a bit… :o) the jacket is a pretty creamy pale yellow…
Next up in their pretty school dresses are my two 11″ Bitty Bethany dolls, by Helen Kish…
These pictures of Song are quite dark but this was the prettiest set… I loved it on her… She was 14″ tall and was from Helen Kish.
Here it is on Isabelle… the pictures are a little brighter…
Here is another set that Isabelle and Song could share… I loved this one too… it was the first time I had ever done anything with Isabelle’s hair… I loved her in those pig tails!
Next up is Kathie Effanbee…
Molly and Katie are both sharing this next dress… I don’t know who wore it best…
Okay… CLASS… that’s all for today.. you are dismissed until tomorrow!
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne (your teacher!) :o)
First of all, Linda, thanks for sharing the pictures of your girls ready for school! I love all the pictures, but the parochial school one is so cute, with the girls in “uniforms”, and Sister Mary Ruth teaching the class!!
Jeanne, you have certainly made a lot of cute school outfits. I think my favorite is the black and white check that Molly is wearing–it looks so appropriate for her era!
I also like the “cherries” outfit that Isabelle and Song shared. Those striped socks are sure fun! Did you make those, too? (Silly question….)
School doesn’t start in the Seattle area until after Labor Day, I think, so we are kind of behind the rest of the nation in that way. Still, we are seeing lots of “school shopping” happening, so we know it’s just around the corner. But first, I have to get thru Fair….
Thank you for showing my girls, Jeanne! I certainly had fun with it, and am happy to be able to show them to people who appreciate it! I will say, that I forgot to show the modern girls have backpacks on, like kids do now, and should have turned Ivy more sideways to show hers. Everybody has some sort of way of carrying books and school supplies and I had fun filling all of them, plus their lunches!
Oh gosh, you have SO many cute outfits to show us! One thing I am seeing is in almost every picture red seems to be a popular color for back to school, although not every single one. I too, like Charlotte, love that Scotty dress that Molly is wearing! It fits her to a “t”, and I can imagine that I would have loved that dress as a 10 year old too!
The cherry print skirt and blouse worn by Isabelle is another one of my favorites! Too bad little girls don’t dress like that for the first day of school, or most any day, for that matter!
Jeanne, loved all the darling school outfits, especially the pleated ones. They are totally School đź‘— dressed for sure!
Thank you for the picture of the measuring tape on all the stack of fabrics as for me, that certainly shows the size of print and let’s me gauge the size of print better. Love all the fabrics for sure!
Bless your đź’“ for sharing so much with us!
All of these are such very cute pictures. I love the outfits.
Oh my!! What a fun “ Back to School” post!! Linda’s girls are certainly ready. What enjoyable pictures. Thank you Linda! You probably have many memories of those first days in school.
I always loved the smells of the first week or so of school. Shiny clean floors, the smell of papers and pencils and books. It was always e citing to be back.
However, when my children were little ones heading back to school, that was always a sad day for me. I was excited for them but missing them a lot.
Jeanne, the school outfits are absolutely adorable. I love the black and white check dress especially. I even see a plaid kilt! Love kilts. There are a few dresses I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Oh, those plaids and the cherry print blouse! So cute! Thank you for the “ Back to School” pictures from your archives.
All the back to school outfits are fantastic, Jeanne! I am always drawn to dogs and I love Mollie in the checks with the cute Scottie. Second is the figured corduroy. I have such a weakness for that. Our schools also start after Labor Day.
Linda, all your vignettes are so much fun to look at. I could look at the accessories and all the little details for hours! (Maybe I will!)
Well, that was a fun way to start the day. Loved seeing Linda’s wonderful girls. So happy to see Josefina, my very favorite AG doll. I appreciate all of the time spent setting up the scenes and adding the great details. Thank you Linda. And Jeanne.
All of the back to school outfits were great. I don’t believe that I have ever seen the denim fabric with cherries like Isabelle/Song are wearing. What a great outfit it made.
Enjoyed the show.
Dear Jeanne, what a fun posting!
I am imagining Linda’s photos in a promotional booklet, entitled something like “Miss Linda’s School for Girls.” The photos would show a rich history of the school over time.
I am imagining your photos in a catalogue entitled: Miss Jeanne’s Back To School Collection for Girls. I can just see little girls pouring over the outfits and begging their Mamas for this one or that one. I think you better alert your mail carrier of the increased volume.
I guess my imagination is on “high” today (laugh).
I really love your imagination. I went back and looked at the pictures of the dresses Jeanne created and I can see it as a catalog of the latest and greatest in back-to-school attire.
Dear Barbara, thank you. I kind of saw it as “what the fashionable doll” is wearing to school. Needless to say I am not letting my girls anywhere near the computer as they will surely be whining about what they want me to purchase (laugh).
Dorothy how about a mini catalog just for the dollies? Maybe 3X3 would do it. Think how many fun scenes that could be made with that. 🙂 Dolls looking at dolls.
Dear Joy, I love that idea!
That was a really fun post. I loved all the plaids on all the different sized dolls. Maybe my favorite was the black and white check with the Scotty dog or maybe Bitty Bethanys red and blue plaid dress
Did you ever follow a Pam Johnson who sewed for Riley? She made the cutest multiple items for Riley. This was probably 12+ years ago. We corresponded and luckily She gifted me one of her outfits to treasure. She was the reason I bought a Riley. She had a theme and all the items interchanged and were so adorable. Your skills remind me of her. Your multi pieced ensemble show off your many sewing talents.
Have a good week!
Thanks so much, Jeanne, for posting Linda’s scene photos! Linda, each time Jeanne shares these with us, you take me back in history. Seemed I was there with Josephine and each of the others, too! You really bring History alive for me, and you do a super great job doing just that! Thank you, Linda!! Your scenes are fun, lovely, and perfect!!
I hope you are getting un-busy now, Jeanne. While I’ve enjoyed seeing all the outfits you’ve posted again, I miss knowing what is going on in your life, as well as the creativity that comes out of your sewing room!! If nothing else, I hope you have been on a real vacation or are, at least, having a great time!! : )
Love and Hugs, Ali
What wonderful back to school scenes! The era clothing is wonderful and the scenes are terrific. I really love the scene with Molly, Susan and Sister Mary Ruth. I love their sweet little uniforms. And the modern girls look adorable too. The biggest problem I have with my grandkids and back-to-school is I want to dress them like we dressed for back-to-school when I was growing up. Where everyone had on new clothes and shoes. If you had older siblings or cousins, it may have been the only new outfit you got all year, but nearly everyone had new things from the skin out for the first day of school. Today it seems no one really cares about that. It seems to have gone the way of dressing children up for Easter. Last year I bought my grandkids several outfits to start school, including new jeans for my grandson. Their parents were having some financial difficulties and I wanted to help out – and I love getting kids ready for back-to-school. My daughter-in-law went to Goodwill and bought jeans and those are what he wore for the first day. I think because our parents were raised during the Depression, it was important to them to be able to send their kids back to school in new things. I need to keep reminding myself I’m from a whole other era. Since I can’t dress my grandkids the way I’d like, I lavish all that on my dolls. And they love it!
I’m glad I decided that dolly back-to-school start-up is the day after Labor Day. I think I can make my outfit goal by then. I have Betsy’s pretty pleated skirt and vest completed and still need to do her beautiful blouse. Anyone who doesn’t get a back-to-school outfit will be in line for a Fall or Christmas outfit. Maybe some will have both.
My grandkids don’t go back until 8/26. Their district is the latest to start back. When I was in school in PA and DE we always went back the day after Labor Day. I never heard of starting in mid-August and ending in mid-May until I moved here. It’s hard for me to understand because it’s a whole lot hotter here in August than it is in May and you would think they would want to save on A/C – not to mention the problems with starting up athletic programs when it’s so hot. But having most of the kids back in school was great for a weekday at the waterpark last week. No long lines and the grandkids (and their parents) got to make the most of their day.
I finally have some scenes coming for doll photographs. I got on e-bay and put every AG scene book, etc., I could find in my basket. Then I went through and found the most reasonable price for the item and shipping – $88.00 with over $50 shipping was definitely not a good bargain. I did well and even managed to find the classroom scene I was looking for. I got a good deal on that and the Grand Hotel Window scene. Can’t wait to do something with that.
Jeanne, all your outfits were wonderful. My favorite outfits were the checked dress on Molly and Isabelle’s cherry themed outfit. I have some embroidered denim and corduroy in my stash somewhere. Think I’ll go looking.
Linda has put a lot of thought into her little vignettes, and aren’t they sweet. I just love the 1940’s one with the girls in their plaid jumpers and Sister in her old-fashioned habit. Anyone who attended Catholic school can appreciate that picture. Interesting note, my grandchildren are in Catholic school and there aren’t many nuns anymore. Mostly lay teachers. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad as the nuns could certainly keep everyone in line!
Jeanne, your back to school outfits are lovely. Molly looks so nice in the black and white check.
I can’t believe there are still dresses that I haven’t seen yet. You surprise me every time. Molly in the black-and-white check is my favorite if I had to pick just one. What an imagination you have, and I do appreciate the creativity and ability that goes into every little detail and change in a pattern that you make. Most of your doll clothes are not simply cut out from a standard pattern. I’ve fallen into the trap of always wanting to alter a pattern somehow. You still need to publish a book with stories, Jeanne.