More 1970s Childhood Dreaming

Recently, through thrift store finds and an amazing estate sale,

I have begun collecting some dolls from my childhood.

I wound up with ALL these Crissy Family dolls.

But I have set myself some doll collecting rules:

1. No more than ONE of any kind of doll.

2. A second doll can be added if the hair or skin color differs.

3. Every doll needs a place to live in the doll room.

4. There are exceptions to every rule!

I did however whittle down my Crissy dolls to

Shea and Crissy 

and...

Cricket and Mia.

Also from my childhood era are the Kiddles.

Kiddle Kolognes, Apple Blossom 

and Sweet Pea, and

Dainty Deer Animiddle 

and Liddle Kiddle Florence Niddle.

Finding Florence

The latest addition to my 70s dolls are...

DAWN DOLLS!!

I had a Dawn doll as a girl.

I loved how petite she was!

Sadly, all my chldhood dolls

got lost somewhere along the way.

SO, I found this trio online.

They are 6 1/2" tall.

On the left is Angie and on the right is Dawn.

I also found a few extra outfits.

So groovy!

Very COOL.

(I will only be keeping Angie and one of the Dawns)

When they first arrived I wanted

to try making an outfit.

I made a dress, boots and shoulder bag.

WHEW! These girls are small!

I also crocheted a little pink dress.

(I may just be happy with their vintage clothes)

What's really fun is that they are

the perfect size to be dolls

for my Cricket and Mia.

Dawn and Angie you 

are so hip!!

WAIT A MINUTE!!

What about us?!?

We want dolls too!

I have something special just

for Shea...

This is Toya. She is a 

Starr Model Agency doll.

She is also 6 1/2" tall, but

from the 80s.

She had very big hair!  She also had

a chemical smell out of her package.

SO...

I gave Toya a bath in dawn and

smoothed her hair, so she would 

Look like Shea of course.

Here's the back.

"YAY! Thanks mom! I love her!"

"Toya is so pretty Shea!"

Crissy is borrowing Cricket's Dawn

until....

This "Head to Toe Dawn" doll arrives!!

 After looking through online

listings , I realized my childhood 

Dawn was actually a head to toe!

She finally arrived!

Here she is with her curly ponytail.

And, here she is with her long, long hair!!

I think I'll name her Heather.

Here are Angie, Dawn, Heather and Toya

A Maggie Doll Restoration

Awhile back, I found this little girl on a trip

to visit my mom.  She was in a box of doll 

parts in an antique shop.

I know! Poor thing!

Click below to see her initial restoration.

A Texas Doll

As soon as I got home, she got a new 

wig and borrowed some clothes 

from my Mary Hoyer doll.

But, what was I going to do with her

blouse and skirt?

Upon closer inspection, her top was actually

not too bad.  No tears, just yellowed and needing

a spruce up.

The slip, which is attached, is pretty tattered.

The skirt was badly sun faded and full of holes!

I admit, I let these pieces sit on my sewing table

for weeks and then months.

Finally I decided to try and save them.

I put the blouse in to soak with Oxyclean.

After a couple days I sprayed the collar 

and wrists with spray n wash.

The wash water kept turning yellow!

This blouse was soaked for a week!

A few days later I decided to try and re-dye the skirt.

I started by just rinsing it in cold water.

I decided to try a dark blue dye.

After 30 minutes, I pulled the skirt out,

rinsed it in cold water and laid it out to dry.

Not perfect, but better!

After the blouse was dry I fray-checked

all the holes and tears.

I did the same with the skirt.

After everything was dry.  I played with different ideas for 

how to cover up all those holes.  I tried this and that. 

These pink flowers gave me an idea...

I decided to use embroidery to cover up 

all the holes on the front of the skirt.

I started with these simple roses.

All you do is 5 long stitches from the center.

Then basket weave in and out, round and 

round, until you get this rose.

I just covered up each of the worst holes

with either a rose or a leaf.

Want to see it all

put togther?

HERE

IS

MAGGIE!

Here is Maggie in her restored 

skirt and blouse!

Such an improvement!

I think Maggie is happy to have her outfit

all restored.  

OH, I almost forgot...

I ordered this pair of vintage roller skates

for Maggie.  They should arrive very soon!

Before and After!