Madame Alexander 16" Baby Doll

On our recent driving trip to Seattle, we stopped

 in a little town called Sedro Wooley.

At the local Goodwill I found a  Madame Alexander

15 inch Pussycat doll from 1965.

She looked a little sad, but I knew I

could make her beautiful again!

She is marked "Alexander" and 1965.

Her hair was not too bad.  I knew I could

fix it.

Here is the back, it looks worse than it is.

She had a tear under her arm.

And a tear in her inseam.

Back at our hotel I washed her 

hair and her arms and legs.

I picked up these little clothing pieces

at the thrift store.  I couldn't stand the thought 

of her being naked all the way home!

She looks a little happier.

Once we were home I fray-checked the tears

in her body. The fray-check stops the fabric 

from fraying so the fix is more stable.

Under her arm repaired and...

Along her inseam.

I found this little crochet doll dress a couple

of months ago! Little did I know that a little

girl would soon arrive that it fit perfectly.

I will be adding the pink

ribbons and buttons on the back.

Isn't this button card adorable?!?

Buttons attached!

Next I started some little pink booties.

I started with a chain of 6, then started going 

round and round, slowly increasing with single 

crochet stitches. When it fits her foot I 

started decreasing until it was snug.

WANT TO SEE HER NOW?

HERE




SHE




IS!!!

The pink velvet ribbon adds a bit of interest.

Here are her new booties.

And she has a name bracelet.

BUT, she has another dress!!

This dress has been in the doll closet

for a while.

When it first arrived Charlotte

modeled it, but I could see it was

meant for a baby doll.

And I was right!

Here are the Before and After photos.

Yellow crochet dress.

White christening dress.

I am SO happy with how her hair turned out!

Welcome home Ruby!

Madame Alexander Maggie!

As requested, here is 17" Madame Alexander Maggie.

Here she is.  Her legs are not attached in this

photo.  Luckily when I spotted her I saw

her legs lying nearby! 

I am SO glad I saw her and recognized

 her missing legs!

Here she is with everything she came with.

She still had on her original underthings and socks!

I forgot to take photos of her restringing, but

here is a useful diagram below.

I purchase my restringing elastic on

eBay or from Dollspart. You will want

to purchase elastic based on the height 

of your doll. I used stringing elastic.

Tie off the elastic inside a leg opening

 and push the ends back into the body.

Maggie borrowed some PJs from Marylou

while her dress soaked. Her hair is quite messy.

At first I was going to restyle her hair 

without washing, but I just couldn't do it!

So she got a full spa day. I finished 

with a leave-in conditioner.

Her hair is very coarse.  This is the first 

comb out. These MA dolls are highly styled 

from the factory. They used some kind of 

mega hold hair spray to hold the style, it is 

hard to wash out. She had her original hair 

clips and several odd bobby pins in her hair.

Looking better.

Her hair retained all it's curls.  I just

finger combed them back in place.

I even managed to get a little shine back

in her hair.  

This is my cleaning crew. I especially love

the Revlon Synthetic hair products for wigs.  

Sadly I can no longer find them!

I did some research and ordered this

wig spray.  I like using products designed 

for wigs on dolls with wigs. These products are 

designed to care for synthetic hair. I'll give 

you a review after I have tried it.

Here she is getting ready for the night in

a borrowed nightie.

I'm debating whether to pink her cheeks.

Maggie in her underwear and socks.

Freshly pressed dress.

Well, I decided to pink her cheeks.  She just

looked too pale!

Want to See Her Now??

HERE




SHE 




IS!

Ready for school!

I found her some new shoes.

So pensive.

And, in her coat and hat carrying her

book bag.

I am in love!!

Before        and        After

Before        and        After

I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts with 

my readers. I started blogging about dolls 

to show how simple it can be to make a 

big difference in a doll’s appearance.  I so 

enjoy bringing back a doll’s 

beauty and charm.  

The other thing I think about, a lot! is, 

‘who was the girl who kept this doll so 

carefully for so many years’? I think

her coat and hat are ‘Mom-made’.

But, she had her original underwear 

and socks! Someone kept all these 

accessories together.

Someone, somewhere, loved this doll

And kept her in beautiful condition for 

Many, many years. Oh, how I wish 

somehow that girl, who is most likely 

an old lady now, could see her precious 

Doll is loved and beautiful again.

Driving Trip Doll Haul!

 So, my DH and I went on a driving trip from
Utah to Seattle and then from Seattle to Portland.
We were mostly visitng family and friends, but
along the way we stopped in Thrift Stores and
Antique Shops.  You will not believe 
In WHO ALL I FOUND!!

Our first stop was in Boise Idaho at a place
called Antique World Mall

We were not even thinking of stopping anywhere because
it was Sunday and, as most of you know, almost all
thrift stores and antique shops are closed on Sundays. 
I looked anyway and I found Antique World was open!

This place was HUGE! I was in shopping heaven.

The first thing I saw was this...

(recreated for your viewing pleasure)

An Ideal "Look Around" VELVET in her BOX!

Yes, and she was in perfect condition.

I continued looking through all the areas of the 

mall and eventually came to this area...

(recreated for your viewing pleasure)

Some familiar feet were sticking out of a 

basket of random items.

It was an Ideal CRISSY doll!

(recreated for your viewing pleasure)

I was almost done when on the last row, in the corner, in

a glass front cabinet, I saw...

This Dawn Doll case.  I asked someone if I could look inside.

Inside were these four dolls!

Glori, Angie, Dale and Dawn

It was like a 1970s nostalgia doll tour!

After visiting friends in the Seattle area, we spent 

a couple of days in a small town called 

Sedro Wooley, WA.

It had an adorable old Downtown area. It was here 

that I found a Madame Alexander Baby doll.

She was at the Sedro Wooley Goodwill shop.

She is a 15" Pussycat Doll by

Madame Alexander.

As we headed down the coast towards Portland,

to visit family, we stopped in another little town 

called Centralia, WA.  It was in one of their many

antique malls that I found...

This 1950s era Shirley Temple doll.

Finally we made it to Portland!

We visited our family who are also thrifters!

We had SO much fun going to as many

shops as we could fit in.

One place we went to was Better Bargains Thrift Store.  

I could not believe it, but as soon as I walked 

through the doors I saw...

This an 18" 1950s era Gerber Baby Doll.

You would think about this time I'd

be feeling like I had hit the doll haul of

the century, right?!?

But then we went to one last shop.

The Monticello Antique Marketplace in Portland.

It is a beautiful shop.

I walked all through this huge shop and

didn't find a thing, until...

Sitting on a bottom shelf, sad and alone, 

her legs fallen off was...

This 1950s era Madame Alexander 

Maggie Face Doll. She is 17" tall.

I am just SO happy I found this little girl. 

I will be slowly going through all these dolls

and showing you how I have restored them.

Some I have already started work on,

becauase I can't wait to fix them up!

Which doll do you want to see restored first?