Vintage 1930s Dresses!!

I recently found these dresses online.

Included with these was some doll bedding.

Two little pillows, some quilted 

bedding and a quilted coverlet.

I am still deciding what to do with these.

These two items were what made me bid

on this lot of doll items.

Such a sweet dress!  It has white cotton

collar and inset edged with ric-rac.

This palazzo pant play suit is adorable!

Palazzo Pants or Beach Pajamas became a

 fashion in the late 20s and early 30s.

By the late 30s and early 40s they had become a 

great deal more elegant, worn as evening dress

 and for hostessing.

The WWII Rosie the Riveter era

made women wearing pants a necessity, 

not just a fashion choice.

First try on. Both fit my 17" Patsy Joan dolls!

They need to be pressed, but they don't

have any odor so I may not wash them.

The palazzo pantsuit needs snaps 

on the shoulders.

And, this collar needs to be neatened up.

This organdy night gown I'm not too

sure about, but I'll press it and see.

This play dress fits her waist, but is too short.

Makes me wonder if it originally had shorts?

 

This stripe dress doesn't fit ANY of my dolls!

Either too short, too tight or wrong era.

Hmmm...

The blue flowered dress had a few things 

needing attention. This collar I pressed 

out flat and reinforced with a zig-zag. I also

Fray Checked all around the white 

fabric on the collar.

Here is the collar seam laid flat

 ready for zig-zag stitch.

The collar is much tidier now.

I opened up both sleeves and removed the old elastic.

I struggled a little sewing the new elastic into the sleeves

until I slowed the machine down.

OH! Say hello to my new Bernina sewing machine.

(This machine is a little intimidating even after 

taking the new owners instructional 

class! But I will persevere!)

Next I wanted to start adding snaps to 

the shoulders of the palazzo pants.

But, the bodice has this tiny raw edge.  

I knew I had to do something to 

keep this fabric from unraveling.

I use Fray Check a lot to save these

old doll dresses.  Many vintage and older 

doll clothese were not sewn with 

finished edges. 

Fray Check stops the fraying.

Yes, I added a line of Fray Check all around this top.

When it is dry I will add snaps.

Well, how did it all turn out?

Oddly two of the dresses did

not work for ANY of my dolls!

This red and blue dress and

This red stripe dress.  They were either too

 short or too tight around the waist!

So I may do a makeoover on these.

But how did the others come out?

HERE

ARE

THE

OUTFITS!

Here is the organdy night gown.

It is beautiful! Much prettier

than I thought it would be.

Charlotte wanted to wear it to bed 

that same night!

I love both these outfits!!

But I especially love these Palazzo pants!

So Cute!!

I do love this little dress too.

I recently found a lot of vintage doll socks.

Here are some of the socks I found.

Charlotte has socks that match her

 dress perfectly! How cute is that?

Charlotte and Joan are very happy

with their new outfits!

The Crissy Ponytail Saga

My DH and I were thrifting in a nearby town,

when I spotted a Crissy Doll like this one.

I looked her over, but she had cracks in her legs!

I knew I couldn't fix her, so I left her behind.

I was so disappointed.

I couldn't stop thinking about having 

a new Crissy to work on....

SO....

I found this "Movin Groovin Crissy"

on eBay.

She was wearing this mini dress 

I hadn't seen before.

I assumed it must be for the smaller

Velvet or Cricket doll.

In the photos was this reference

page. She is wearing a 

"With-it Knit" mini-dress outfit!

Then I saw her ponytail!

Look how long and thick it is!

So, I got her!!

She arrives in a few days.

I recently found some fat quarters 

that have that 70s feel.

How cute are they?

So, of course I will be cutting out a couple outfits

for my new doll..

I was SO excited!

BUT

This

is 

how

she

was

PACKAGED!

It was like an ominous foreshadow.

I had to be VERY careful

cutting her out of the packaging.

She is a "Movin Groovin Crissy"

But her mechanism doesn't work

and her bangs have been cut.

I also did not like how her neck looks.

I was very disappointed.

What to do?

I set her aside for a couple days

and thought about my options.

I separated the orange from the white pieces of

 the "With-It Knit" outfit and set them to soak.

I'm glad I did! The orange in the belt ran.

The outfit pieces were laid on a towel to dry.

Here is everything.

The belt ends were unraveling.

This is how I fixed it.

I have one spool of orange thread. It looks

like it is from the same era!

I threaded a needle with a long bit of thread.

wrapped it tightly around the belt end.

Then I inserted the needle through the 

thread wrap and pulled it through.

I used Fray Check to lock the threads.

Then I trimmed a tiny bit off the 

ends to make it neat.

During this same time, I also 

made this cute outfit!

As a little girl, in the 1970s, I had a 

yellow dress with lace sleeves.  

Crissy outfits always had matching briefs.

Find the A-line Pattern here.

AND, a crochet shoulder bag with fringe.

This is what I finally decided to do

with the eBay Crissy.

The new doll had a nice ponytail.

A little longer and smoother 

than my Crissy.

I've seen videos of Crissy dolls

having their ponytails

replaced and I thought

"How hard could it be?"

HA!

It seemed simple enough.

I followed some online instructions.

Rotate her leg up to her ear and pop it off.

This gives you access to the inside of her body.

Her leg popped off just fine.

This is the hair winding mechanism inside.

I could see one half of the pin was already broke!

(this image is after I repaired it,

 more on this below)

Using a flat edged tool, like a butter knife,

pop off this center button.

Be aware it has a stem that goes

inside the hair mechanism.

Everything broke.

On both dolls.

At this time I reflected on my 

life choices.

I decided I might as well move 

forward with the ponytail swap.

I really had no choice.

As the belly button pin is pulled out 

you must catch the pony cord before it 

disappears inside the doll's body.

Use yarn or string to tie to the 

pony tail cord. As it is pulled out

through the doll's head the string gives 

you a way to pull a new ponytail 

back inside the doll.

This is what the three pieces look like

inside the hair winding mechanism.

These only appear whole, they are super glued.

Eventually I had to add the tissue paper 

"band-aid" to help hold the pin together.

The REPLACEMENT ponytail

is tied to the string and pulled back 

inside the doll's body and reattached 

to the winding mechanism. You will 

need long needle nose pliers.

Here is the mechanism with the ponytail

cord slid through the unbroken side of the pin. 

The paper you see on the bottom

part of the pin was to repair the break.

I wrapped the wet super glue with tissue

to give it a stronger repair.

The final step was reinserting the doll's leg.

The instructions I followed said:

"The leg twists back into the socket very easily"

THIS  WAS  A  LIE.

For the next TWO hours my DH and I

struggled to get her leg back in it's socket.

Finally my DH, by some magic

and/or miracle got her leg back in.

Note: At one point my DH removed the second

 leg to investigate it's structure. 

The second leg DID screw back in easily. 

So this was just a problem with one leg.

Needless to say, I won't try this again.

BUT!  Look at how pretty this

new ponytail is!

Old ponytail     and      New ponytail

The old ponytail was frizzy and damaged.

The new ponytail is shiny, smooth and a bit longer.

How did the "With-It Knit" outfit come out?

Here it is...

The basic outfit with matching shoes.

(The original outfit had white shoes, but

this works, right?)

And, with some go-go boots and a shoulder bag.

Here is the dress with a silk scarf and pink

go-go boots and matching fringe bag.

Crissy almost looks frumpy in her knee

length A-line dress!

And the ponytails. Shea wins the longest

ponytail prize.

Crissy & Shea

Last minute thoughts:

I am very happy with Crissy's new ponytail.

I know I gained some great experience 

AND

I have the "With -it Knit" outfit which 

seems pretty rare!

Have a Great Week!