Tuesday, February 05, 2019

1930s gift doll dresses

My dear friend Joanne found these dresses in a trunk.
She thought I might like to have them for my dolls.
She was right! Judging by the fabric
amd style, I believe these were 
baby dresses from the 1930s

Both dresses were a little too big for my 
American Character Sally.

I told Joanne I could sell them and send her 
the money and she responded with, 
"Can't you make them fit your doll?
I thought about it and decided, 
"Yes I can!"

This is the first dress.
I believe it is linen. 

This is the second dress.
I only realized later that this was actually the back!

This is the front!
How cute is that?

The first dress I almost completely took apart.
I cut off about 3 inches from the length.
The collar I had to resize to fit a smaller neck.

Here is the collar ready to be put back onto
the bodice of the dress.

AND, here is the remade dress!

I added a little sailboat button.
I'm very happy with this dress.

The second dress was a little less work.
It was pretty quick, just a hem and gather in the back.

I added the little flower buttons.
I made her a headband with the leftover fabric.

Here is close-up of the headband.

I am SO happy with these gift dresses!
Thank you Joanne!

15 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:39:00 PM

    Great job.
    Joan

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  2. Anonymous12:42:00 PM

    I love the dresses but the first is my favorite.
    Marion

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  3. So sweet! Glad they went to a good home!!

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  4. Anonymous2:06:00 PM

    I like the headband. The dresses are very nice,the second is my favorite.
    Marilyn

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  5. Janet C6:11:00 PM

    I love what you did with the dresses! You have a wonderful friend with great ideas. The touches you added were perfect! I saved them on my Pinterest vintage dresses board.

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  6. Thank you Joan, I love sharing my projects.

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  7. Thank you Marion, the blue is my favorite too. It looks so pretty on Ann with her blue eyes.

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  8. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Joanne! Thank you for thinking of me when you saw found these dresses, and thank you for suggesting I make them fit my dolls.

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  9. Thank you Marilyn, I am happy with how the headband turned out. I wanted it to look like a real flower.

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  10. Thank you Janet! I will look for you on Pinterest! I am very happy with these dresses and how they turned out.

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  11. I want to apologize for taking so long to respond to your comments everyone. We had a family emergency that took me away from my normal activities, but all is well now.

    Brenda

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  12. Great job of refurbishing these dresses - they certainlyare god-loking fabrics!

    Janet P

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  13. Thanks Janet, I was SO happy my friend thought of me when she found these dresses. I love the fabrics too. I still have one dress to redo, but having trouble figuring out how to use it. Stay tuned!

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  14. Wow! These are amazing and adorable transformations! I know your friend Joanne is thrilled that you were able to make them work for your dolls.

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  15. Thank you Maryn,
    I am the one who was thrilled, but yes, Joanne was happy I could make them work for my Ann. It is so wonderful having been gifted these old dresses that are so precious. I feel very fortunate!
    Hugs
    Brenda

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Hello all! Please sign your name when you comment as anonymous, so I know who to reply to. Otherwise you are just "Unknown"! Sigh :(