I had hopes of sharing a wonderful recipe with you today in case you needed one more delicious side, but errands with my hubby took up too much of my time and now it’s “scramble” time trying to get something pulled together. I thought to myself…now what would my readers like to see more of… and I thought… Christmas dresses. I still have several more posts that I can fill with them, so I decided to go ahead and show a few more.
Now remember, these are from my archives, and my photography was pretty pathetic… so overlook the poses and the cropping on them and try to just look at the outfit.
First up is tiny little 7 1/2″ Riley, by Helen Kish…
…next we see Riley in an outfit I called “Christmas Cowgirl” which had some fun mix and match pieces.
Wren, my 14″ Chrysalis doll is modeling one of my favorite Christmas dresses. I loved the way she looked posed in the chair for some reason…
Here’s Katie Effanbee in her red corduroy Christmas dress from 2007…isn’t she sweet?
One of my readers remembered a dress I made for Julie that was copied from a 1970’s catalog. It was a black velvet windowpane dress with white lace sleeves. It was always one of my favorites too…. I guess I’m allowed to have as many favorites as I want…
…and last up is a Christmas dress I made for Kirsten. I found what I thought was a fun adult sized velvet embroidered beanie type hat at a yard sale one time and instantly thought it would make a great hat for a Christmas dress for Kirsten. The lady proceeded to tell me it was a hat she had gotten at The Vatican… EEP… should I cut it up? In the end I decided to and think it’s one of Kirsten’s prettiest Christmas dresses… hope you agree…If I remember correctly, this style dress was called a “Dalarna.”
Well, that’s it for today. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! Thank you for all your kind emails and comments on yesterday’s post… (here)
I’ll be here with something simple tomorrow…so…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
The holly material is beautiful and that little red dress with snowflakes is just too adorable. Katie Effanbee could be handing her grandmother or teacher a little gift…so cute.
Have a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving to you and your family!!
Thank you Paula,
My wish is for YOU to have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family too!
Blessings, Jeanne
HI Jeanne
Darling pictures! Enjoy Thanksgiving with your Family!
Eat lots of Turkey! 🙂
HI Kathie,
I’m making enough food for what looks like an army! I DO plan on eating lots of Turkey, and potatoes, and corn casserole, and sweet potato souffle, and 7 layer salad, and stuffing, and sister shubert rolls, and pumpkin pie, and pumpkin roll, and probably something I’ve forgotten…
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
In regards to Kirsten’s dress–Dalarna is a province in Sweden, and each province has its own costume (there is also a sort of “generic” Swedish costume). My parents used to have a book that showed pictures and described each provincial costume; sadly, that disappeared somewhere along the way (mom’s memory got so bad–she wouldn’t have been able to tell us who she last lent it to during the last 10 years of her life if she had wanted to).
Dalarna does have a special floral print for a kerchief (worn much as your Kirsten is wearing hers); it’s rather distinctive, with largish red and sort of pinky-coral roses and maybe dahlias (something like that), small royal blue flowers and green leaves, usually on a white background (although I’ve seen a couple with a black background).
The Dalarna costume is a black skirt joined to a green bodice with lacing, over a blouse (my notes say white with color, but I don’t remember what that meant! LOL), white stockings, and a waist bag decorated with the parish (church) coat of arms. A varicolor striped apron and a green frame cap with underlace (it sticks out in the front under the brim) are also worn with the costume.
Since I no longer have the book, and it wasn’t anywhere in their house, I’m glad I took notes. I’m pure Swedish, and my great-grandparents came from a total of 7 or 8 different provinces!
Charlotte
HI Charlotte,
Thanks for the lesson on Swedish dresses… I have a few books and this was pretty much the way one of the Dalarna’s was in my book. I’m sure it’s not anything like your books were though. Being Swedish, I bet you LOVE Kirsten’s dresses, don’t you?
Thanks again for letting me know a little bit more…
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, yes. Surprisingly, though, Kirsten was actually my Third AG doll! I got Molly first, and then the Asian “Girl of Today” (as they were called back then). It was inevitable I should get Kirsten, though–her last name is my maiden name! (Larson) I was fortunate to get her bed and trunk from someone who had them to sell, and some other things, as well. Lucky me! 😉
I meant to add, in the book of regional costumes, most of the provinces showed or at least mentioned variations in the costumes–sometimes it could be a matter of color (“with red or green bodice” for instance), sometimes certain items, such as the apron or cap, were optional. I think it is more a matter of getting the “feel” of the costume than having something all cut and dried. Now that new standardized Swedish national costume (which is blue/yellow/white) actually IS pretty cut and dried, as I recall–not much room for creativity or personal touches!
(And, some of the provincial caps looked quite a bit like the one you made for Kirsten–some were plain, some had lace, but some, like yours, had rich embroidery on them. Well done!)