Don’t think if you run across old and outdated Doll magazines they are only good for the trashcan. There are still lots of good ideas you can copy and be inspired from by looking at them. I was at an antique shop a few years ago and found 17 Doll magazines for $3.00. They were dated in the 90’s and early 2000’s and the average person might have thought they weren’t relevant to today. I saw them as a treasure trove and have used them a lot for inspiration for many of my doll outfits. Sometimes it’s just a bodice decorated a certain way, or a hemline, or buttons placed strategically, or a sleeve done in some way that you hadn’t thought of. You have to look at the dolls in their outdated dresses with an open mind and think outside the box just a little bit. I wish I had marked all the pages where I found ideas, but I’ll try to highlight a few for you…then see what you can come up with.
Here’s an idea I could use for Ten Ping with some modification…
How about a scalloped collar?
…or lace underneath the collar for a different look?
Double breasted “anything” is one of my favorite looks…dresses, coats, jackets, anything…
I like this little double breasted dress with the cap sleeves over the regular sleeves and then I love the lace on the sides of the tucks of the double breasted front bodice.
Here’s another double breasted cutie…
How about stitching around the collar with a contrasting thread in a longer basting stitch…
Looking for a cute Fourth of July outfit? How about something like these…
Sew your trim on at an angle instead of the way you always do it…
Decorate your dress pockets with flowers or bullion roses…
Sew your lace on in a chevron style…
Add two rows to your full Civil War dress skirt…
How about doing a themed dress like a watermelon or a spider’s web…
See what I mean by thinking outside the box… use your imagination and see what you can come up with. Okay, who’s ready to go find some
old magazines?
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I love old magazines in general. I find it comforting and certainly interesting to look back at what was the popular look or style of the time. The advertisements often bring back old memories of Christmas wishes, Thanksgiving dinners and ideas for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gifting. I am fortunate to have a good treasure of sewing magazines and patterns. I recently acquired a box of patterns generally meant for porcelain dolls. I found the seller on Craigslist & she was happy to pass off her collection of more than 30 years. I will adapt the styles to fit our current popular dolls. A good starting place to redraft a pattern for sure.
I am still searching for older pattern counter books. They are really quite hard to find at decent prices!
HI Jeannie,
I’m back home and ready to “comment” on a few “comments!”
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees some value in old outdated magazines. I think there is still a lot of good use in most of them. Now if they were 1975’s or something like that…maybe not so much!
I know what you mean about Pattern counter books…when you do find one they can be outrageous!
Thanks so much for your comments while I was gone! It’s great to be home!
Blessings, Jeanne
Love the styles you chose for this edition of your blog. Wonderful,ideas.
HI Jan,
I’m so glad it’s something you can use… or at least be inspired by! Just a couple of magazines can yield a lot of ideas!
Thanks for commenting, Jan,
blessings, Jeanne