Well, this little dress didn’t take too long to finish, did it? It’s listed on Ebay now, so I’m calling “All Little Darlings” to take a peek! (Well, actually their mommy’s!) :o)
You can see it HERE… or you can click on the picture at the right side bar and it will take you to the Ebay listing.
Emmie and I had a very nice photo shoot and if you haven’t seen any pictures of her yet, you’ll see what I mean when I say she is very photogenic. I had over 100 pictures that I had to whittle down to 26 for my listing and it was HARD! There was hardly a bad picture in the bunch. I just had to pick the best of them all. That’s probably overkill for a listing, but I just didn’t want to eliminate any of them… sorry…
Her thigh highs are just like the ones I make all the time… from little girls tights, so they “look” like real tights… They just slide up your dolls legs very easily.
Emmie’s dress fabric was so soft it needed a boost to hold it out a little bit. One of my half slips worked perfectly!
Her dress had one slight problem… the fabric was so delicate and soft, when I pressed the neck and armhole on one side, all of the ribs in the dimity fabric apparently shifted so the dress ended up with just a slight ripple of extra fabric across the front bodice. When you look at it, you probably won’t notice it, but I did. It’s about 1/8″ too wide, but when her jacket is on, you can’t see it…The armhole stands a little bit away from her arm on one side and that bugged me, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, unless I wanted to start over… I discovered this on my final pressing of the dress… ugh!
See if you can see what I mean…
Her jacket went together pretty smoothly… I ended up adding some extra leaves around the pink roses this afternoon. The roses looked like they were just floating on the felt and I thought some leaves might help.
I wasn’t sure if the brown hat would show up with her brown wig, but I think it looks pretty sweet with this dress set. I got a little nervous toward the end of making the hat. It takes about 5 yards to make these little straw hats and that’s what I had…or at least that’s what I had ordered. I didn’t measure it before I started, but after wrapping and wrapping and wrapping it around and around the mold, I only had 5 inches of the braid left over. WHEW! There wasn’t even enough to add the little ruffled edge that I like to add to the brim. But I made it… thank goodness!
I already had the turquoise paper roses and the pink flowers so I didn’t have to buy anything to decorate it with… I just used what I had.
You can see her little teddy bear. I added a silk ribbon bow around her neck and then some glass beads…
Here are a few more pictures of the full set…
If you missed the link above for the Ebay listing, HERE it is again…
Well, that’s it for another dress..and now Emmie has made her debut! I think she’s a keeper!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a sweet little outfit, Jeanne! This just all fell into place and quickly too, didn’t it? Emmie is a doll (!), and she will be so easy to sew for. I didn’t see what you were talking about with the pulling of the fabric, it took some time, but gee, if I did that, I wouldn’t even have noticed! I do see how that happens with dimity though, since I made Betsy a dimity dress, and yes, it is very delicate to work with. I love the full skirt with the petticoat underneath! She is going to have fun twirling in that!
We are off to the Mo. Botanical Gardens today, to take advantage of the nice weather!
It looks like I’m first today, but I’ll bet that right now someone else is writing and will finish before I do.
Congratulations on your pretty new listing. I suppose all the time you were working on the floor you were thinking about a name for this listing. The one you chose is just right for this pretty dress. One of my favorite things is the tuck in the skirt — another Jeanne Marie detail.
When you worked on your sewing room, you recovered your ironing board or, if I remember, may even have replaced it. I have never liked mine, mostly because it’s sort of industrial orange, but I couldn’t find one I liked well enough to buy it. Finally I thought, I’ll spray paint it — just the legs, because the top doesn’t show, and I’m not sure how paint might stand up to the heat ironing boards have to take. It’s now gray with a new cream cover printed with gray dandelions. I think it now looks respectable and I’m quite happy with it. I feel I’ve managed a Cindy solution.
I hope you’ve had a chance to try out the new AG custom doll site. People seemed to be having a lot of fun with it, and one woman wrote that one of her girls color printed her favorites and made them into paper dolls.
Your little Emmie, dressed so very sweetly in her ensemble, brings to mind a scene of a little girl, stepping off of a train, waiting for those special someones to pick her up. Her outfit beckons…you’ve done another outstanding job on another beautiful doll, Jeanne. I know the upcoming buyer will be very pleased with their purchase.
Blessings.
Enchanting,Jeanne:)
Emmie’s outfit is beautiful. I like everything about it. From the under layers to the little bear, everything is breathtaking. I’m especially taken by the jacket. The embroidery on it is so special. I also have to add that you certainly have a beautiful model too in Emmie. She just brings the outfit to life. I can see why you would wait so long to have her grace your sewing room.
Have a good day!
Take care.
Little Emmie just looks so smart in this outfit. Everything just clicks. And your photos are lovely.
Onward to more excitement.
Good morning Jeanne,
Emmie looks absolutely adorable! Job well done!!!
Enjoy your day
Hugs
Ingrid
What a great ‘homecoming’ outfit for Emmie! She looks just precious and I can see why she might want to keep that! Adorable!! The answer to the ‘stretching problem’ you had isn’t because of the dimity. I noticed the bodice front and back is just one piece. When you cut it like that, you will get the front perfectly on the grain, but there is no way to avoid the two back sections being cut on the bias.
The benefit of cutting something on the bias is obvious in clothes that are draped, but not wanted in the pattern sewing we do. I had a work dress once, in a beautiful navy blue knit cut on the bias, which made it fit like a glove as it stretched to my body (at the time I had a body worthy of it, LOL). However, I’d put the dress on in the morning and as the work day went on, the skirt got longer and longer and longer. It’s simply the ‘benefit’ of the stretch you get when fabric is cut on the bias.
When you cut a pattern with both front and back pieces (usually three or more bodice pieces) perfectly on the fabric grain, you will have to sew a tiny shoulder seam, when putting it together, but you will never get that stretch like you have with the one piece bodices. A thin to medium thick fabric won’t be a problem at all in the rise of the sewn shoulder seam on a small doll, even with a lining. That would only happen when you are using a heavier weight cotton, wool, cord, etc., or if the pattern is not cut with the slope of the shoulder compensated for. (In the case of a bad measurement on the shoulder slope, it will rise up every time, no matter what fabric or lining is used. This is why you can’t always just reduce or enlarge the size of a pre made pattern for other dolls, as almost every doll has a different shoulder slope.) So this info only explains ‘why’ it stretched oddly on you, and may again. For cutting it, as always, it’s each seamstress’s choice of what they like best to do.
I love this dimity on Emily, and love the embroidered leaf outlines on the jacket. Just beautiful, Jeanne!! I doubt I could sell it either, LOL. Big Hugs, Ali
What a lovely outfit this turned out to be. Emmie looks so very sweet, I know you must be thrilled with her. I think she is one of those dolls that will be very easy to sew for as she looks good in everything.
I’m sure Emmie was extremely disappointed to learn that, in your home, the dresses aren’t for the doll to keep. You do have a large collection of shoes for them though. I know I haven’t seen those before and sometimes not ones you put on the AG’s either. LOL
Looking forward to whoever is up next.
On a funny note of what one can come across in stores- I have a Meissen Blue Onion coffee service that was my great- aunt’s brought from Germany when she came. I went into Michael’s the other day looking for something and they had a miniature tea set in that pattern (it’s been remade over in Japan in the past, the adult size, that is). Anyway, now Samantha can serve her Merrythought bear and Nutcracker doll tea. It is perfectly sized for them
I don’t have much time as I have an event I need to attend this evening, but I wanted to leave a comment and let you know how pretty I think Emmie’s outfit is. A pretty dress for a pretty little girl!
Emmie looks like she’s ready for most any occasion. The fabrics are just the what the dress and jacket needed . Colors are quite the match! Good thing her unders are sweet since her dress is certainly going to be leaving soon? Your usual awesome ensemble!
I love this outfit, Jeanne–everything works together! That hat is especially nice, I think, and I like it just as it is, even without that little ruffle on the edge.
I’m getting packed, and tomorrow afternoon I’ll be leaving my best friend’s 🙁 and flying home to my sweetie. 🙂 Just wish we lived closer!!