Dolls! Jacket for my 1950's 21 inch Sweet Sue Doll and the Pierre Cardin Connection

Here is my Sweet Sue doll in her new jacket. I have been wondering whether I will put the 3 buttons down the front, as called for in the original pattern, and  have decided I will. I searched right through my button jar but could not find the right ones, so I will have to get some this week. I won't have to rush though because she is going off to the doll hospital tomorrow to get new eyes! The 'doctor' said he has some from an old doll that should do the job.

To recap, this is a copy of the original 1950's pattern that I used. I made the dress too - you can see what it looks like here.

And here is the back view:

And finally, just to make sure you can see how wide the jacket is cut from waist to hem:

Now you are probably wondering about the 'Pierre Cardin' in this post title. Well, on Boxing Day, I dragged my poor tired self back into the city to go to the Clegs remnants sale. I had never been before, and spent a pretty penny by the time I got to the checkout. I nearly put this fabric that I used for Sweet Sue's jacket back, but decided against it at the last minute. A week later when I was undoing the remnant, I pulled out the piece of paper with the details of the fabric content and care instructions, and there in black and white was Pierre Cardin as the designer!! And just in case you missed it, it is woven (not printed) into the selvage of the fabric. An added bonus is that the fabric was made in Italy. I almost decided against using such an illustrious design house's fabric for this doll, and figured that as she is 50+ years old, she is worth it!

And for those readers that have come at the end of this dolly make-over, here are the before and after shots:

     



Now I am thinking about getting a price on a more appropriate wig for her. More on that later!

Happy Sewing!

Fabric Free February Pledge

I am pledging to not buy any fabric in February 2012 as I have soooo much of the stuff. So you might ask, why have I chosen to show you a picture of fabric in this post? Well it is still January, and I have not been to Mary's shop in ages, so I thought I had better go before February. So I did, and this pic shows the results; 2 gorgeous floral print fabrics perfect for 1950's fashion doll dresses.

One of my fabric buying buddies at work just laughed at me when I said I was going to buy less fabric this year. And one of my sewing club friends is going to buy less this year as the coat cabinet she uses to store her fabrics in has never seen a coat!

Have a look at that nifty 9mm or 3/8 inch bias binding maker I got at Mary's as well. Very useful for making the narrow bias binding called for in this 20 inch 1950's fashion doll clothing pattern.

That cute green swimsuit and cape in the top right hand corner calls for loads of bias binding.

So wish me luck in keeping to my Fabric Free February pledge. I know I can do it!

Dolls! New Dress, Hair and Hat for my 21 Inch Sweet Sue Walker Doll

You might recall the 21 inch Sweet Sue Walker doll that I got at an auction last year. She was sorely in need of a makeover. Well here she is wearing her new dress, which is pattern McCalls 1983 from the 1950's. I made the pink dress, the hat and I am just working on the coat.

This is the back view:

To recap, this is how she looked when I got her:

As you can see, I changed her wig to a much better one, but it is still not like the one she would have had when she was made. There is a very talented lady on the internet who sells replacement wigs that she custom makes to each doll, but it would have ended up costing me more than the doll cost in the first place.

It is the eyes that bother me the most though - the previous owner put these terrible blue cheap looking ones in, and they are nothing like the beautiful eyes that were used on these Sweet Sue dolls. I am going to make inquiries about having better eyes put in, but that will depend on the cost.

Finally, here is a photo of her in her new hat. The pattern did not call for any interfacing, but I used some iron-on on the brim. If I made it again, I would line the part that fits around her head, and possibly interface that too.

I will post photos of her coat when I finish it, and the story behind that gorgeous red wool crepe fabric that I used.