My little granddaughters, Dana and Sarah have American Girl Dolls and Jeanne, their Mom, requested me to make some doll clothes for them. It was a task to consider because I hadn't made doll clothes for ages since the last time my daughter used her handmade doll clothes to wipe off the chalk board. But, knowing my little Dana and Sarah, I hoped that they would like to dress their dolls more than my daughter, Jean. I started out by making a practice dress for my aged almost seventy year old doll. She has the sweetest face; but her eyes have dark spots on them, her skin contains cracks, her arms and legs are getting wobbly and her hair thin and flat. Sometimes, she reminds me of my own aging body.
After braving the first sewing, I tried making a little play suit with my own ideas. It didn't turn out the way that I pictured it; I wanted to make a 2 piece outfit. But it might look cute on the Bitty babydoll.
Finally, with the help of a master doll designer, my friend Rita, I constructed the dress that looked the best on my model doll. It was tons of work; but it was fun creating the costumes. Now I have to sew some underwear to match. My friend, Dorothy, has more scraps of material for me and my friend, Pete, has an American Doll pattern to give me. I guess that I am in business now!
