Pandemic Sewing--11 New Doll Dresses

Anybody else doing pandemic sewing?  I can't imagine I'm the only one!  With all of this time at home and no outside commitments, I've been able to spend more time in my sewing room.  I had the best laid plans to get things deep cleaned and organized...but then I got sidetracked with all of my pretty fabric and suddenly I found myself sewing 11 new doll dresses!

They are all the same style except for the one in the center front.

I was complaining to my myself about a month ago how I hadn't seen any Journey Girl dolls in the thrift stores in a long time.  And then, in the matter of a couple of weeks, I found five, all on separate days and locations!  And all different!  Of course, they were all naked and had stains and messed up hair, but I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose.  I also came across an 18" Gotz Pottery Barn doll, and an American Girl Lanie.  So I brought them home and gave them each a spa day.  

Journey Girls, left to right:  Meredith, Kelsey, Callie, Dana, & Chavonne

I've always thought that the Journey Girls have such pretty faces.  The older ones are my favorites, with their slightly more innocent looking face molds.  The newer ones also tend to have joint issues.  Thankfully, I didn't have to repair any of the joints on these girls.  Just some hair styling and stain removal from their vinyl.  The dress is just a simple, sleeveless bodice with a gathered skirt.  I added some trim at the waist to match the hemband.  I think they turned out really sweet.  I tried to pick colors that would compliment the doll's coloring.  Callie and Dana have silky, straight, long hair.  Meredith and Kelsey had their long hair set on rollers so they now have some pretty curls.  Chavonne has naturally curly hair and just needed a wash.

American Girl Lanie (2010 doll of the year) and a Gotz Pottery Barn doll (She had a red hair bow in the group picture, but then I switched it to a blue one here to match her dress).  I haven't been able to figure out her name.  I've seen plenty of these dolls with the brunette/brown eyes combo, or blonde hair/blue eyes, but none with brunette/blue eyes.  I guess I'll have to keep looking.  I found Lanie at an antique store back around Christmas.  I wish I would have taken a "before picture", because she was so pathetic looking.  She had black ink stains all up and down her legs.  Her hair was a tangled, frizzy mess.  I had no clue who she was until I got her home and started researching.  That's when I discovered that she was Lanie, American Girl's 2010 doll of the year.  I paid $15 for her because I knew I could probably save her.  After two months of treatment with 10% benzoyl peroxide cream on her vinyl, I finally got nearly all of the black stains removed from her legs.  I gave her hair some pretty curls back with sponge rollers.

Here dress is a similar style to all of the other dresses, but I had to make the bodice a wee bit larger because American Girl dolls are chubbier than Journey Girls.  I also added big pockets to the skirt and cute, little capped sleeves.  I just love the fabric and how it turned out!

Isn't she sweet?  I fully intended on selling her, but now I've sort of fallen in love with her!  (Darn it, that seems to happen every time!)  I will probably still try selling her in the future, but just enjoy her a bit for now.  Besides, with this whole pandemic thing going on right now, eBay sales have really hit a standstill.  So I probably won't list any dolls until things have returned back to normal.  Hopefully soon.  Although I can honestly say that I have enjoyed having to stay home.  I've only ventured out twice in the past two weeks, and those were both to just pick up some fresh produce at the neighborhood grocery store.  Lucky for me, I have a fabric/sewing stash that could last me for years before I run out!

These are the remaining four dresses that will fit Journey Girls or other slender, 18" dolls.  I was going to list these in my Etsy store, but with the ways things are going right now, maybe I should wait?  Are any of you having any luck with sales right now?  I suppose many people don't have jobs right now, or are waiting to see what happens with our economy before they make frivolous purchases again.  I'm really hoping things go back to normal soon.  I feel so bad for all of the small businesses that may not survive this storm, and everyone who may be struggling to make ends meet.  So far, my husband is still working because as a truck driver, his job is considered "essential".  Although, he drives for a lumber company, and our state has now shut down all business and residential construction.  He delivers to other states, though, so hopefully this won't affect him.  In the meanwhile, I will try not to worry and keep myself distracted with sewing and gardening.  

Stay safe, everyone, and fill your hours with things that bring you joy!

COMMENTS...and Why I Haven't Seen Them! Also, Current Ebay Listings...

When I started this little blog many years ago, it was set up in such a way that reader's comments were automatically posted.  I would check in regularly, see the comments, and happily respond.  Then suddenly, about a year ago, the comments just...stopped.  I would check everyday, but no comments.  Well, I figured, that's what I get for not posting very regularly!  Any readers I had out there had probably just given up on me!  Still, as the days, weeks, and eventually months dragged on, I found it rather odd that not even ONE lonely little comment had been left, especially since my stats showed that there were plenty of readers visiting my blog.  Hmmm.  Perplexing to say the least.  Well, I finally had the bright idea to do a little sleuthing on my blog this morning.  I checked the comments section.  Nothing.  Then I noticed a line under the comments that said "Awaiting moderation".  There was no number next to this, or anything highlighted, so I didn't think clicking on it would amount to much.  But I did, and boy, was I wrong!  An entire page of many, many comments that had been left on my posts over the past year suddenly appeared before me!  WHAT?!?  I couldn't believe my eyes.  How had this happened?  My best guess is that last year, my laptop had to go in for repairs, so my husband had to wipe everything off the hard-drive and transfer it elsewhere.  I'm not sure how the entire process works, but that's the best way I can explain it.  Anyway, when I got my laptop back and everything was reinstalled, the comments section for my blog must have been switched so that they wouldn't appear until I had read them FIRST.  But I didn't even know there were any comments to read, since there were no notifications!  UGH!  I feel so stupid.  And VERY sorry for all of you who take the time to visit me in my little corner of blogland, and left a comment which I never answered.  Please accept my sincerest apologies!  I have since published your comments and answered them, if that makes any difference!  At least now I know how to go about accessing any future comments, should you all still be taking the time to leave them!  And I don't dare mention this to my kids--they would most certainly roll their eyes and laugh at their poor, old, technologically-challenged mother!

Now, on to other news.  I have boxes of thrift store dolls piled up in my attic closet.  BOXES.  Probably a least 30-40 dolls?  I'm not sure.  I haven't really counted.  I'm kind of afraid.  Anyway, I purchase these poor rejects in the hopes of making them pretty again, and then maybe making a little money on eBay in order to fund the dolls I want to purchase and keep for my own collection.  Lately, I've made it a goal to try and have at least 10 listed on eBay at any one time.  Some sell very quickly, while others languish a bit and need to be relisted several times.  Because they are all from the thrift store, they usually need a good clean-up and maybe new clothes.  So this takes time.  Which I really do love doing, but with a family of still three kids left at home (down from the original eight!), I'm still really busy.  Between homeschooling, gymnastics, ballet, youth group, and everything else it takes to run a household, hours are precious, and there never seem to be enough of them!  That said, here are some of the most current things I have listed, just so you can see what I've been up to:

BABY SO BEAUTIFUL dolls, by Playmates

Do any of you have any of these sweet dolls?  They really are beautiful, and so nicely made.  Every time I find one, it seems to make it's way home with me, even though they don't seem to be good sellers.  All of these little girls received new dresses and bloomer panties or flannel diapers.  Here are some close-ups:

This one is my favorite.  I just love her.  I won't be sad if she doesn't sell.  Actually, I had sold all of these dolls a couple of weeks ago to one buyer, but after she won, she asked me to cancel her purchase.  :(  So now they are all back on eBay again.  

20" ADORA baby with a weighted body.  So snuggly and fun to dress.  She has the best hair!

Another ADORA baby, also weighted.  I love red-haired dolls.  My daughter-in-law is a red head, and I held out great hope that I would eventually have some little red-headed grandbabies.  Well, three grandchildren later, and no gingers.  Two are blonde and one is a brunette.  Awfully sweet, all three of them, and I love them to pieces, even if they don't have red hair!  But whenever I see a little red-headed doll like the one above, I imagine that's what my granddaughters might have looked like!

Anybody collect Cabbage Patch Kids?

I must admit, I never really cared for these dolls.   I don't dislike them...just never felt like I needed any in my collection.  Well lately, I've noticed an abundance of them in the thrift stores, so I decided to educate myself a little bit about them.  I figured out what their tags and dates mean, and which ones may be a little more desirable than others.  I've sold a couple already, and now have three more available.  This little brunette is one of them.  She's from 1985.

Also from 1985.  She still has her original pacifier!

1985 Cabbage Patch Preemie in her original gown.  That tuft of hair is awfully cute!

18" Madame Alexander ARIEL, all original.  I think these older Madame Alexander play dolls have the prettiest face mold.

21" Vinyl Julie Good-Kruger  "Christmas Cookies"

This is a really sweet doll.  I have long admired Julie Good-Kruger dolls.  I don't like all of their faces, but this one is sweet.  I will most likely end up keeping her if she doesn't sell.  She is similar in body type (tall and slender) to my German Zwergnase dolls, so maybe they can share clothes.  

18" all-bisque Dianna Effner doll

Oh my, isn't she just the cutest?  There is a Goodwill right across the street from our church.  So every Sunday after services, we do a quick pop in, "just to see".  Well, yesterday I discovered this little gal in the porcelain doll section (I always check that section, because many times they have nice vinyl dolls thrown in that they don't realize aren't porcelain)  I also like to look for dolls that may have nice clothing and wigs I can harvest for other dolls.  Anyway, this little sweetie was standing on the bottom shelf.   I didn't know who she was, but I could tell that her wig and clothing looked like nice quality, so I went to pick her up.  And her head FELL OFF!  Fortunately, it landed on a pile of other dolls, so it didn't break.  I wasn't too concerned about it though, since now that meant Goodwill would reduce her original sticker price of $6.99.  Besides, I didn't care that her head was off, since I would probably just be chucking the doll when I got home.  

Goodwill "gave" her to me for $5.  They used to drop damaged items to half the ticket price, but their new policy is to only go down to the nearest price point, which happened to be $5 in this case.  A little miffed, I asked the manager what they intended on doing with her if I didn't purchase her, and she shrugged and told me she would be "removed from the shelf".  Well, we all know what that means.  She would be undoubtedly thrown away.  Which makes me angry, since they would rather throw away a doll that was donated in good faith than let me have it for a bit cheaper.  Oh, well.  I decided to pay the $5, because I couldn't bear the thought of having her thrown into a dumpster somewhere.  I'm so glad I did!  Once I got home and removed her wig, I saw that she was JENNY II, by Dianna Effner.  I then looked her up on eBay, and was amazed by some of the prices these dolls commanded!  So now I realized I needed to reattach her head and get her listed.

I wish I would have taken pictures of this process, but I didn't think about it until afterwards.  'Sigh'.  Her legs and arms were strung nice and tight, so I didn't want to mess with those.  I ended up inserting a wooden craft wheel into her neck (I went up through the hole where one of her leg attaches to the body), and another into the base of her head.  I attached them together with stringing cord, secured with crimping sleeves.  Really an easy process, once I figured out what I was going to do.  So now the head is on nice and tight again!  I imagine the original elastic cord (or whatever they used) had just disintegrated over time.

Her little pinafore has "August" embroidered across the bib.  I wonder if she was made to represent the month?  She is quite heavy, as she is entirely made out of bisque.  She also comes with a sturdy, metal stand for display.

Isn't she just precious?  I'm not generally a fan of modern bisque dolls (I prefer the antiques), but this one is just too pretty.  I can see why people collect Dianna Effner dolls.  I would love a Little Darling someday.  

See my eBay listings here

All right, that's it for now.  Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Unmarked, Big, Happy Baby Doll with Caracul Wig!

Oh, I have a love/hate relationship with Goodwill.  Anybody else?!?  Most of the times, I search and search and never find much.  Is it just me, or is anybody else wondering where all the dolls have gone?  The toy aisles are consistently filled with plastic toys that make all kinds of annoying noises, but pretty dolls are getting harder and harder to find.  Right now, the ones I seem to run across the most are the 18" Our Generation line from Target, and the "My Life As" 18" dolls from Walmart.  Also, the Disney knock-off princess toddler dolls seem to be popular as well.  I don't even find many Barbies anymore.  But every now and then, just when I've given up

, I find something that restores my hope in finding a nice doll.  

Just look at one of my recent finds!

This 24" cutie is unmarked, except for "24" on the back of her head.  Maybe identifying her size?

She has a hard plastic head, cloth body, and composition limbs.  She is most likely a transitional doll from when plastic was first introduced, yet they were still trying to use up their composition body parts.  

She has a cute, soft, caracul wig.  There is one, little bald patch in the back, but nothing that a sweet, little bonnet can't cover!

Her only marking

She was not dressed nearly as cute when I found her.  The dress she came in, while sweet, was much too modern for her era.  I found this darling, pale yellow baby dress in my stash, along with a bonnet that almost exactly matches!  I just love it when that happens.  

Sorry for the slightly out-of-focus picture, but it's the only I got with these precious, hand-knit baby booties.

She has beautiful, thick eyelashes.  This makes me so happy, since many times these old babies are missing chunks of lashes, if not all of them.  Isn't that Peter Rabbit stuffy so cute?  He came from Goodwill too, and I just couldn't leave him behind.

I was initially going to sell this baby.  I bought her for a mere $4, and thought I could make a little profit with her.  Well, once I dressed her and took her pictures, I fell in love and decided she needed to live with me for a while!

I wish I knew exactly who made her, but there were so many companies around that didn't mark their dolls.  I believe she's most likely from the late 1940's.

Can you imagine being a little girl and seeing this sweetie under the tree on Christmas morning?  They just don't make dolls like this anymore.  

27" Effanbee ROSEMARY Composition Doll

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to check out shopgoodwill online.  Have any of you shopped there? I've won a couple of doll auctions there in the past.  I only look for the dolls, and if you just put "doll" into the search bar, usually over 4000 items will pop up!  So I generally refine my search to certain brands, like "Effanbee", "Gotz", "Vogue", "Horsman", etc.  Sometimes I just push in "vintage doll".  That is what I did this particular time, and look what popped up!  Effanbee Rosemary.  Her beautiful little face stared back at me, just begging me to bring her home.

There was not much description given for this doll, other than she was "vintage" and had some wear.  But even though Goodwill didn't mention her name,  I could tell right away that it was a Rosemary.  They didn't even come out and say how large she was, although I could tell she looked like a bigger size.  Goodwill is not very good at taking pictures, and close-ups are out of the question.  But I just had a good feeling about her.

From what I could tell, her composition seemed really nice, and her hair looked original.  So I decided to take a chance and place a bid.  She was only at $4 when I first saw her.  I placed my max bid of $101.00 and waited.  And waited.  It felt like the longest five days that I ever had to wait!

I kept hoping that nobody else would notice her.  Somebody did.  But they didn't bid high enough, and I ended up getting her for a mere $57 plus shipping!  I was so excited!  I have always loved Rosemary, and used to have a smaller version.  She was pretty banged up, though, and I never got around to fixing her up, so I sold her.  So when I saw this one, in what looked like near perfect condition, I jumped on the chance to own one again.

I paid immediately upon winning the auction, and then had to wait again.  Goodwill takes their time in shipping their items.  Four days later, she was finally on her way to me.  And three days after that, the FedEx man ran up to my doorway and dropped off a very long, rectangular package.  This got me excited again, because now I strongly suspected that this was going to be a large doll.  And she was!  I had hoped she might be the largest size that was made (30"), but she actually measures 27", which is the second largest size.  I was happy with that.  I love big dolls!  Yes, they take up much more space, but boy, do they have a presence!  As I removed this pretty girl from the confines of her box, I noticed just how wonderful she is.  Her composition is nearly perfect, with no cracking or crazing. Her greenish, tin eyes open and close perfectly and have all of their lashes.  Her hair is human hair, and original.  It will need a little gentle combing and restyling, as all of her pretty curls have become a bit messy.

 Her head is on a shoulder plate, and clearly marked on the back.

She does have a "mama" cry box in her back that no longer works.  I have seen a youtube video that walks you through on fixing these old cry boxes with bellows, so I may try it in the future.

The only thing I didn't like about this girl were the modern, satin baby shoes that her previous owner had dressed her in, so I removed them.  They were just not the right era for her.  As luck would have it, I happened to have a vintage pair of black shoes in my stash that fit her just perfectly!  It was obviously meant to be.

Her clothes are not original, but they are era appropriate.  I like the drop-waist style.  I may look through my vintage clothing stash and see if I have something else that fits her, but in the meanwhile, she will continue to wear this dress.

Effanbee manufactured ROSEMARY from 1925-1930.  She ranged in size from 14"-30".  Her composition head is on a shoulder plate which is connected to a firmly-stuffed, cloth body.  Her arms and legs are composition.  Tin sleep eyes.  I've read that the final year they were made, some had flirty eyes!

I really love this doll.  When I first started actively collecting dolls some 30 plus years ago, I focused on compositions, since they were plentiful and more in my price range than the earlier bisques.  In the past few years, I have focused more on early cloth and papier maches, and many modern vinyl dolls.  But lately, my heart is being drawn back to these pretty composition girls.  I wonder who donated her to Goodwill?  She was obviously well-cared for, and most likely proudly displayed.  Makes me a little sad that she was discarded to a thrift store, but ultimately, I'm glad she was!  Because now she sits proudly in my doll room, and I smile at her every time I see her happy, little face.