A Painting Project and a Patsy Project…

I kept thinking about that white wardrobe I saw at the Antique store a few weeks ago. (HERE) It was 9″ tall and was actually a little plastic wardrobe for the 8″ Ginny dolls. This is what it looked like…

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I did a little snooping around on Ebay and found there were several of them listed so I watched for a really good deal on one and snagged one for less than half the $35.00 price tag on the other one. The one I won had a bit on pink on it and a few stickers on the front. My plan was to see if I could paint it…

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I love the little raised roses on the front of the piece…

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…and on the drawers too…

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Ten Ping spotted it as soon as I got it out of the box and she jumped down from the dolly shelf onto my cutting table to check it out…

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I called my sister for some painting “advice” and proceeded to mix up some chalk paint… I could have spray painted it but it’s rainy and very damp outside, so it wouldn’t have worked tonight and I was in the mood for a “project” now…

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I used little pieces of paper to get the mirror covered…

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Then I gave it the first coat.

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It’s drying now, so you’ll have to come back tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have it finished…

There was still time in my evening, so I started on my next project… Patsy’s Easter dress. A while back when I was picking out “Valentine’s Day” dress fabrics for my girls, I actually had picked out a sweet pink for Patsy, but she decided she wanted a different fabric for her dress so I told her it was okay… It’s a pretty cream and blue and light olive green floral print and goes wonderfully with her eyes. I’m putting a lace neck ruffle on it and I think it’s going to have a pair of bloomers. Here’s the start of it…

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…Fitting number 1…

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Before we could even have fitting number 2, Patsy had jumped in my Dolly Toy Box (HERE) and found the cute little bear she wants to go with her dress…

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I have to admit he’s pretty cute with the colors in her dress…

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It’s now 12:45 a.m. Friday morning, so Patsy’s going to have to wait until tomorrow for anything else to be done, as I’m heading to bed…

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I’m hoping to get one or both of my projects finished tomorrow… we’ll see…

Have a wonderful Friday,

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

17 thoughts on “A Painting Project and a Patsy Project…”

  1. Jeanne, I always wondered why you didn’t get that little wardrobe! It seems it DID also catch your eye, as it did mine. I too, looked for one on Ebay, but then why would I do that? I do have a Ginny doll, but I only set her on a shelf. it’s the AG dolls I buy for! I’m so glad you did get one, and that was a good buy! The pink and white isn’t bad, but those hearts………….! I think by painting it white will make it easier to use for a background piece to accent all the different colors of dresses you will be making! Can’t wait to see it finished!

    Patsy’s new dress will be just adorable, and that teddy bear is just perfect! Just wondering, why did you baste the outer edge of the lace ruffle? What does that do?

    1. HI Linda,
      I just finished painting the wardrobe and “embellishing” it with some gold rub-n-buff… Ten Ping likes it… so I guess I’m good to go…

      Thanks for the compliments “so far” on Patsy’s dress. I baste the outside edge to keep the gathers even…if you don’t hold them in place, when you sew on the lining, it’s too easy to get folds and puckers instead of nice straight gathers that go out from the neckline like they should. The gathers won’t stay in place if they aren’t held down… does that help?
      Thanks so much, Jeanne

  2. I too can’t wait to see how the wardrobe turns out as well as Patsy’s dress…and I too wondered about the basting of the outer edges of the lace ruffle. Thanks for sharing your time and work with us.

    Oh, and congratulations on such a magnificent sale for that recent smoked dress. What an encouragement!

    Take care.

    1. HI Becky,
      Well, the wardrobe is finished and I’ll show it tomorrow… It looks more old fashioned to me… the way I like things… some people might have liked it better the other way, but me?… not so much…
      I told why I did the basting stitch in Linda’s comment… up above…

      Thanks for your kind congrats on Lian’s dress. I was just as surprised and anyone, but truly blessed by it! I still remember that first year I was sewing for the dolls in 2006… my average price for an American Girl doll dress was $27! The Lord truly has been good to me!
      Thanks Becky,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. So, did you wash the wardrobe first? Or treat with something so that the paint would stick to the plastic? I know that they have spray paint made just for plastic, but maybe the chalk paint is made of something that will stick?
    I too am curious about the basting. The finished collar looks lovely, as do the sleeves.

    1. HI Joy,
      I did wash the wardrobe off some with a disinfectant cloth… Chalk paint sticks pretty well to most surfaces… some really slick things have to be primed, but this worked fine. I’ll show it tomorrow. I just finished it… I didn’t have any spray paint in the color I wanted, so I just mixed some lime (Calcium Carbonite from the farm store) with my latex paint. It has a little bit of a grit to it, but that’s fine as I didn’t want it to look super slick like.
      I told Linda why I basted the collar in place… I might have to show a collar “with” basting and one “without” to show you the difference.
      Thanks so much Joy,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  4. I thought you were probably going to get one of those little wardrobes since you seemed so enamored with it. 🙂 It’s great you were able to get one for less and paint it. It’s looking very nice. I agree with Linda that white will make it nice and neutral and can be used with anything. I want to try some of that Annie Sloan chalk paint sometime as it appears to be really nice to use.
    Patsy’s dress is so cute. I’m glad you went with blue, seems to suit her better. When I see her she always seems to remind me of Mary Engelbreit’s Ann Estelle with brown hair instead of blonde.
    We got an inch of snow overnight. It is the wet and heavy kind that clings to the tree branches. Everything looks like a winter wonderland this morning.

    1. HI Laura,
      I know I probably shouldn’t have been so obsessed with it, but it’s a really cute little prop and I thought it would be a great piece for some storylines for Ten Ping… I think I might be able to use it for Patsy and Elin too..
      The white color now will definitely make it more usable in my listings…
      I haven’t used any Annie Sloan chalk paint but my sister has and she says it’s wonderful!

      I need to get cookin’ on Patsy’s dress now… :o)
      We didn’t get snow, but it’s very cold here today… I hope you are enjoying looking out your windows!
      Blessings, Jeanne

  5. I’ll take a shot at the reason for the basting on the outside part of the lace as I’ll take the suggestion and do it myself next time: Especially when working in such a small area, pins are in the way when stitching the facing on and the collar or lace edges have a way of getting caught in the seams which have to be ripped out and re-stitched. Taking the time to baste sure beats ripping and redoing seams. Thanks for another great idea. Cute little wardrobe and can’t wait to see it finished.

    1. HI Susette,
      Yes, pins do get in the way, but it’s just a way of holding the gathers in place so they don’t get folded under and ending up with tucks instead of gathers… it keeps them all separated and where they are supposed to be so the gathers come out straight and not lapped over one another…
      The wardrobe is finished and it’s pretty cute… at least to me… (and Ten Ping…she likes it!)
      Thanks Susette,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  6. The wardrobe is so cute, perfect for Ten Ping! I know that Patsy’s dress is going to be beautiful, it reminds me of my all time favorite Patsy dress that you made.

    1. HI Regina,
      You might like this one so much, because I AM making it like that All Time Favorite Dress for Patsy that everyone liked too. It just seemed like the right one to make this one like. We’ll see if it’s as well liked as that one was…
      Thanks so much Regina,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  7. I am all for painting plastic but for me it is big no no to paint a good piece of wood furniture that is not damaged or just needs polish. Great start to dress!.

    1. HI Jan,
      This little wardrobe certainly needed some help as it was two toned in color and sort of limited my ability to put it with something that wasn’t pink or white… being all white is much better!
      Now to get back to Patsy’s dress….
      Thanks Jan,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  8. Marilyn Grotzky

    I am so glad you got that wardrobe. You liked it when you saw the first one. How did you get the stickers off without leaving residue? I’m looking forward to seeing the completed wardrobe tomorrow. The mirror is a wonderful feature.
    Taking the extra step — basting the ruffle — makes such a difference. Thanks for demonstrating.

    1. HI Marilyn,
      I did get the wardrobe finished and you’ll see it tomorrow… Some might not like it since it’s painted, but it’s right up my alley and very much my style… Ten Ping likes it too… that’s all that counts.
      The stickers came off with some Goo-gone… they were just paper like stickers.

      I’m working on Patsy’s dress now… got the bloomers made and now adding the skirt to the bodice… hope I can get it finished…
      Thanks so much,
      Blessings, Jeanne

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