Embroidered collars make very special doll dresses!

I love to see embroidery work on doll clothes. No matter if it’s smocking with a ton of bullion roses, or just a simple collar with a few sprays of color… it can really make your doll clothing very appealing. Whenever I set out to do any kind of embroidery work, I generally have a rough idea of what I hope it will look like in the end, but I love the freedom of just doing what I like and then “hoping” it turns out right.

I’ve decorated quite a few collars in my years of making doll clothes and thought I’d share some of them with you…

This is my 16″ Kish doll showing you her two embroidered collars…one for Spring and one for Christmas.

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Isabelle wanted to be included in the “collar” post but her collar is actually a vintage hankie that’s been machine embroidered…

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Bitty Bethany probably gets the prize for having the most embroidered collars on her dresses.

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Wren loved this Christmas dress… (me too!)

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…and since this is my all time favorite pink fabric, it gets two pictures!

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I searched in all my pictures and Nyssa only had this one dress with an embroidered collar…

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Tiny 7 1/2″ Riley Kish got the other corner of Isabelle’s vintage hankie for her collar…

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And last up is Patsy Tonner in two “sort of embroidered” collars!

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Okay, now you know I was gonna ask… who wore their embroidered collar best?

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

18 thoughts on “Embroidered collars make very special doll dresses!”

  1. Charlotte Trayer

    So many pretty embroidered collars, Jeanne, but that first one….I love the crisp white-on-white embroidery. It must have been cut from something else, I’m thinking! Still, it looks wonderful. That said, it looks to me more like a yoke or a bodice overlay than a collar, since the sides seem to be included in the armscye seams. So….I guess I get to pick a second favorite!! 😉

    And that would be…..Wren’s Christmas dress…..or maybe Isabelle’s dress….or the third one on Bitty Bethany……but I also love how you did the lace collars on those two Patsy dresses.

    Okay, it’s just too hard to choose a favorite!!!

    1. Thank you Charlotte,
      It makes me feel good that you had a hard time choosing your favorite… 🙂
      That first “collar” was done with a piece of lace that fit well between her sleeves.
      Thank you so much for all your kind compliments!
      Blessings, Jeanne

  2. I wondered what the first commenter would say, and there it was — my first choice as well. Is her collar made from some of your Swiss embroidered trim or what? My second choice — anything that lovely Lark doll wears. She is exceptionally beautiful or photographs exceptionally well, and of course her ability to pose helps a great deal.

    Does this mean that you are considering an embroidered collar on the new sister dresses?

    There is not a single one of these that would not be welcome at my house.

    1. Hi Marilyn,
      Thank you so much for all your sweet comments. The lace on the first dress was a piece of pointed cotton lace that I got from Joann’s and this piece was very nice but I tried to find more and it wasn’t the same quality.
      I’m not sure how the sisters dresses will be finished yet.
      Thanks so much,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. They are all such lovely little works of art. If I have to, your favorite pink fabric dress on Wren would win, but Nyssa’s dress with the berries that match the fabric so well would be second. Amazing how beautifully the flowers match the fabric. The work of a true artist. Thanks for the lovely post.

    1. HI Susette,
      Thank you so much for your sweet comment about my collars being little works of art. That is so fun for me to hear.
      I knew I surely wasn’t the only one who thought Wren’s dress was a beauty! I just love that fabric and always have.
      Thanks so much,
      blessings, Jeanne

  4. Hands down for me is your first photo of your 16″ Kish doll. I love how you used that beautiful lace and managed to embroider the design to match exactly with the fabric flowers. Well done!!

    1. HI Karen,
      Thanks so much for your compliments on my collars. I almost didn’t include that one because I thought maybe it wasn’t so much a collar as it was just a bodice decoration… I’m glad I did now though.
      Thank you again for your sweet comments.
      Blessings, Jeanne

  5. I really liked the pink Daisy hanky collar that Isabelle and Riley shared:) wren looks so serene in her Christmas portrait! Jeanne, they areal wonderful:)

    1. Thank you Shara,
      I still remember the day I found that little pink and white embroidered hankie in an antique shop. The lady asked me what I was going to do with it and I told her cut it up and make doll collars… she just about gasped!
      I think that picture of Wren sitting in that chair is one of my all time favorite poses pictures. She looked so pretty that day. I had just braided her hair like that for this dress…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  6. Ah, Jeanne, each and every collar is enchanting….beautifully made. The only way I can choose which one “wears it best” is by choosing my favorite colors (although they’d all win, hands down) together and I’d have to say the last photo of Patsy Tonner would win over all for me…although I highly admire each and every one of them. Thanks for the beauty.

    Take care.

    1. Thank you Becky,
      I think that little dress on Patsy was voted the number one dress by the readers here on my blog a year or so ago. I asked which one they liked best and they picked that dress. I’m glad you like it too…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  7. Wren’s pink is the winner for me with lovely Nyssa and her curly wig right behind.
    School lets out here next week for summer, so new fall dresses can’t be far away.

    1. HI Joy,
      Oh goody, another vote for my favorite fabric again! Thanks!
      Oh dear, School and Fall dresses already? Tell it’s not so….
      Thanks so much Joy,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  8. My favorites are the first and second picture, so pretty and perfectly matched to the dresses. I did a number of silk embroidered collars on dresses my mom made for my daughter when she was young. Whenever I have time to make a doll dress I’m going to do the collar. The great thing about that is the doll won’t ever outgrow it.

    1. HI Laura,
      Well, my Kish’s dresses certainly got the attention today and if I still had her, I’d let her know how much everyone liked those dresses…
      Yes, it is a shame when you go to so much work on a little girl’s dress and then she outgrows it. At least you are right about the doll dresses… they can’t out grow them.
      Thank you Laura,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  9. Oh, I love embroidered details! I think I would also choose the first and second dresses as my favorites since the embroidery mimics the floral prints so well, but they are all very pretty.

    1. Thank you Carolyn,
      I guess the first dress is the winner of the favorite embroidered collar… It is so subtle to me, but maybe that’s what makes it a favorite…simple is better sometimes.

      I think embroidered collars are fun to do and add such a pretty touch to the dresses…
      Thanks again,
      Blessings, Jeanne

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