My doll class ladies are busily trying to get their dolls finished up in time to be put on display at the Fifty + Center here in Salem on December 24th so all the members who will attend the Annual Christmas Feast will be able to enjoy them, and I must say they are very excited about the chance to show off their handiwork.
One “Molly” doll will get her wig and eyelashes applied at the next class and she’ll be done, and her costume is ready and waiting. This is Dori’s very first doll and she is doing a great job on her. Dori is one of those students we all hope to find. Not only does she follow instructions, but she takes the time to try get it right. She readily admits that she’s looking forward to making many more dolls and is interested in watching the pouring process as well. I’m planning on having a one-on-one cession with her and letting her pour her third doll. Number two is already poured, soft fired and ready to be cleaned.
Bessie just put got the eyelashes and wig on her third doll, which is a Baby Janey, and since Bessie doesn’t sew, I let her talk me into making the clothes. She decided on a short little baby dress that has a white eyelet pinafore over it-the kind that usually has a matching set of panties to cover the diapers- and a fluffy jacket with a hood. The original Baby Janey was pictured dressed in a fluffy hooded bunting, so we’ll just chop if off at jacket length. We found the fabrics we’ll need, and I’m in the process of adjusting the dress pattern to fit properly. There were a couple of issues that we needed to address though. The dress pattern we’re using as an inspirational guide has short puffy sleeves and the porcelain portion of Baby Janey’s hands and feet don’t extend even as far as mid forearm or mid calf, so her sleeves need to be lengthened and she needs tights to cover her fabric legs. And we hadn’t found shoes for her yet either. Time to check out my favorite clothing supply places!
Not far down the street is a consignment store called Once-Upon-A-Child where one can find gently used baby and toddler sized clothing, furniture, and so forth at reasonable prices, and I like to start there. Baby tights will fit many of the modern dolls that we make, and sure enough, we found a pair of white tights with lace ruffles across the bottom in a size 0-3 month size that fit perfectly over the diaper we made out of folded flannel – not that we expected her to need a diaper, but it did fill out her strange little body and give her a real baby shape. The price? $2.50, and the package had never even been opened!
We moved on to the shoe section. There were several styles of soft little baby shoes to choose from, but even the size 0 were too big. We did, however turn up some soft infant shoes that looked like little blue tennis shoes, and another pair that looked like high top tennis shoes in a tan color, and both of them had elastic strings so they would stretch easily to fit over high arches and not need tied and untied. These would work perfectly for the two “PJ’s” that are being made in class, and the colors were perfect, too. They cost $3.50 a pair, and if they had ever been worn, you certainly couldn’t tell it. Little socks to go with them were 50₵ a pair.
There were lots of other shoes that would have been perfect for other dolls, even the 28” children, but I managed to walk away without them. I should have learned how to do that before I ended up with a whole drawer full at home! I do enjoy going to my drawer and pulling out just what I need at times, but I’m running out of drawer space, and am trying to go on the “buy it only when you need it” plan.
Since none of the little shoes would fit Baby Janey, we turned to the bootie section. No luck there either, but we did spend quite a bit of time browsing through the clothes. You know how cute the clothes are for little ones these days, and you can do so much with them! One thing that never seems to fit when trying kids’ clothes on a doll is the neck. Doll necks are just too skinny. But you can get an adorable tee shirt a couple of sizes too big for your doll and use your pattern to cut one out of it and still get the cute design! You can do the same thing with sweatshirts, sweaters or jackets. And frequently the jumpers, skirts and pants only need the elastic waist or the length adjusted. Many of these garments have the nicest appliqués and machine embroidery already done for you!
Tights and socks are always a good buy. I like to see colors that match or compliment the doll’s outfit, and it seems like it’s so hard to find much besides white or beige in the doll supply catalogs, and why go to all the trouble to dye them when you can find used ones in the colors you want that will either fit or can be adjusted to fit, and less expensively at that. And don’t forget to look for hair ornaments, or soft baby toys for your dolly to hold.
Yard sales are also good sources for these items, and I frequently find myself at Goodwill or St. Vincent De Paul’s as well. My students are learning where to go for some of these things too, and are getting more and more creative about things they can adapt for their dolls. I’m sure you have places like these near you that you’ll enjoy as well. Good hunting!
