Pattern Review: Keeper's Dolly Dud's Spring Dirndl, Wellie Wisher Size

 This doll was a thrift store find.

She is the Russian doll from the Dolls of Nations series, designed by Helen Kish, and was sold in Target in 1996.

Helen Kish also designed the American Girl Girls of Many Lands series. She's a very talented and prolific doll designer.

So I thought this doll was worth picking up at $2. She is 12 inches tall, but she fits Wellie Wisher clothes perfectly.

Unfortunately, the outfit that she comes in resembles something made by a 1980s Maria von Trapp on drugs.

The boots were particularly bad- they were made of fabric like Kirsten's boots, but a thick seam along the bottom did bad things to the doll's balance.

I found a new pair of boots that fit this doll on a porcelain doll at the thrift store.

Then I made her a new dirndl, based on the traditional outfit worn by women in Braunschweig, Germany.

Honestly, I didn't need to make her a dirndl- I could have made anything from a Wellie Wisher pattern- but I had already done the research on this dirndl and had been meaning to make it in 18 inch size for quite a few years now. And I already had the fabric I needed for this project on hand.

I liked her headpiece, so I left it alone, even though it did not match the colors.

I have used Keeper's Dolly Duds Spring Dirndl pattern before. This time, I used the Spring Dirndl pattern sized for 14.5 inch dolls.

It came together delightfully easily. It helped that I was already familiar with the pattern. 

I am really happy with the result!

I am also pleased that I can use the dress for Wellie Wishers or Hearts for Hearts dolls if I want.

I might make her a Ukrainian dress next. That would go well with the headpiece.

I also kind of want some of the other dolls in the series now!

Shirt for Corinne

 I love Nordic style patterns, so when I found a shirt at the thrift store with a small Nordic print, I jumped on it.

I took it home, cut it up, made it into a long-sleeved American Girl shirt, and then I had to decide who would wear it.

Well, I realized that it is perfect for Corinne! It even matched her leggings, boots and hair highlights!

I didn't actually plan for it to be Corinne's, but when there's a perfect match, there's a perfect match.

For the pattern, I used the Liberty Jane Cropped Sweater pattern. I just lengthened it at the bottom a bit.

It was a very fast and easy sewing project, and I am so happy with it!

Labyrinth Baby Sleeper

 I have made a sleeper for the American Girl Caring for Baby based on the one worn by baby Toby in Jim Henson's Labyrinth.

I used the pattern Baby Sister's Sleeper by Read Creations. It is available on Pixie Faire.

To find the perfect striped fabric, I kept an eye out at the thrift store. There were a number of striped red and white women's shirts, and I just had to pick which one I felt was the best match.

The pattern came together easily, and I am very pleased with the result.

Labyrinth was released in 1986, so this would be appropriate for Courtney's baby brother. 

You can see another sleeper that I made with this pattern in this blog post.

Samantha's and Kit's Dolls

 One of my grail items for many years has been the dolls "owned" by Samantha and Kit.

I really love the dolls for dolls, and I have the ones for Felicity, Addy, Josefina and Kaya. I didn't have the ones for Samantha and Kit. They were grail items for me.

I always loved the story of Samantha's doll. We can all sympathize with seeing the perfect doll and yearning for her.

A very generous and sweet friend sent me the ones for Samantha and Kit!

I am so awed by her generosity, and so happy!

I have a lot of pictures that I want to take, but these are the ones that I have so far!

Thank you so much! You know who you are!

Thrift Store Find: Addy Walker

 This weekend, I had my best thrift store find yet.

The store has three places where I sometimes find AG: a shelf where more expensive items are displayed, a shelf where porcelain dolls are piled, and a shelf where play dolls like Cabbage Patch and Our Generation are piled.

The porcelain doll shelf was really full, so I was pulling dolls out and looking at them just to be thorough.

On the bottom of the pile was this beautiful Addy, and she was marked as $3.99.

I grabbed her and I ran straight to the checkout. I did not breathe until she was stored safely in my trunk.

I think that the collection of an adult doll collector was donated to the Goodwill. Most of them were porcelain. Addy was on a stand like the porcelain dolls and was priced as though she was one of them.

Addy is a Pleasant Company doll. I think from the way that her wig is made that she is a first edition. I think she has been sitting on a shelf untouched for all these years. The elastic in her pantaloons gave out, but that's normal with age.

A Tale of Two Addys

One of my friends found a Pleasant Company Addy for $25 earlier this year. She lives further south than I do, so when we found out that it was snowing here today, she suggested that we take pictures of our Addys enjoying different weather on the same day.

Here is my Addy:

Here is hers:

I think hers looks like she has sunburn across her nose!

I am really in love with my Addy and so happy. Now I have two Addys, Beforever Addy and Pleasant Company Addy!