Dolls! Sindy Then and Later

 

I bought this Sindy doll some time ago at a doll show.  I left her in the original handmade dress for years until I spied this little outfit at my local market last week.  How gorgeous is it!!  I have the pattern for the jacket, which was published when these dolls were popular, probably in the late 1960's.  The knitter of this jacket has used almost the same coloured wool as the  original one!  I am knitting a scarf at the moment, and when that is done, I am going to have a go at knitting up some of these vintage doll patterns.

 

She has the dearest softest and dewy face paint!  There is some ground in dirt on her chin, but I just don't want to scrub at it fiercely and remove the pigment.

 

I looked up a Sindy identification page on the internet, and I don't know much about these dolls, but I think she is the Frankenstein one from the odds and ends sent by Pedigree to New Zealand, according to the Petra Dolls Sindy Information Page. 

 

In other dolly news, I gave in recently, and bought a dolly from ebay in a mad greedy grabbing doll-buying rush, and then realised she is not what I thought she was, but I still quite like her.  She was sold as a 1980's doll and still has the lovely Sindy face.  According the the Petra Dolls site, she could even be from the late 1970's.  I really do not know, and if anyone reading this does and could throw some light on which Sindy she is, I would be most grateful.  She is wearing another one of the little outfits I bought from the market stall and a ridiculous wig over her shaved hair.  She was wearing one of the Styling outfits when I got her, which I have forgotten to take a photo of.  At the moment she is in the salon waiting for her hair to dry after a treatment to get it to sit a bit flatter and longer, but I don't like her chances!  She was originally a black haired doll but I think this honey blonde wig colour suits her.

 

 

Bad Hair Day!

If this mess doesn't flatten out a bit, I will try and see if I can get a reasonably priced replacement wig.  I will let you know of the outcome with her hair soon.

I was very lucky this week and got a porcelain Ashton Drake My Little Ballerina doll at the local op shop. She is very grimy, and I have not done anything with her yet, but I will show you all how she cleans up soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Dolls! Hello, and a Tale of 10 Crissy Family Dolls

Hi!  I am back!  I had a shocker of a year last year on so many levels that I could not get to blogging.  I wasn't doing much doll stuff and not too interested really.  Didn't stop me from buying the odd doll or two though!

This mostly scruffy line-up is all of my Ideal Crissy family and friends that I went out and bought when I read Nymphaea's posts about the wonderful makeovers she did on hers.  Nymphaea, if you are out there, I hope you see my post.  I really miss your blogging and comments on my blog too.

Anyway, I was at a trash and treasure market recently, and I spied a Brandi in her original, if not battered, swimsuit.  The seller would not budge on anything less than $20.00, but that was pretty good as once I got her home and took her hair out of the plait, I could see it was in good condition.  I will still wash it though to freshen it up and straighten the foundation hair.  Anyway, I remembered having a Country Crissy, and do you think I could find her in the mess in my spare rooms?  I took one room apart to find her and found a lot of other dolls too.  I found all of these Crissy family dolls, and counted 9 in total, which I thought was fairly good going.  And I got to re-arrange my dolls in storage, and even make more space in the spare rooms.

 

This photo got a bit lightened for some reason.

 

Country Crissy, who started the Great Doll Clean-Up

This is the Brandi that I got from the market last weekend. She still has her tattoo.  I have already made my other Brandi (see first photo, top right) a maxi dress, and I will have to think what to dress this one in.  Perhaps a beach set to wear over her swimsuit?  I am particularly fond of the Brandi dolls, I am not sure why.  She just looks so tanned, healthy and happy.

 



 

 

I am not sure who this one is in the orange spotted over-alls, but a quick check of Beth's site makes her look like a Tara.  Her hair is a mess and the base foundation hair has been trimmed as has the extension.  I will still give her a mini makeover though. 

 

 

This ratty little ghost at the front has an badly matted hair extension.  I am going to struggle dealing with this one, but I had some success with my first Brandi when I did the wet towel and warm iron technique (until I over-did it a bit and frizzed the ends). 

 

I was packing up the dolls in the not as messy spare rooms, and found this little rotter - a Cinnamon!  So I posed her with all of my "good" Crissy family dolls who arrived in good condition, or I did makeovers.  She still needs a good wash and her hair cleaned, but that is a job for another day.  So that makes my collection of these dolls come in at 10, hence the name of this post.  Nothing wrong with round numbers!

Phew, that felt good to do a blog post!  Hopefully you will see more of me this year.  Please stop by and leave a comment, I would like to hear from you!!

 

 

Dolls! Brandi from the Ideal Crissy Family - the Ugly Doll?

When I saw Nymphaea's post about the Ideal Crissy doll, I was immediately caught up in the Crissy doll phenomenon, and promptly got one from Ebay.  The 'caught up' feeling didn't stop with one member of the family, and now I have Brandi, Crissy's Californian tanned friend (I also have some more of the family in a fairly beaten up state, but that is a story for another day). 

Brandi pre-makeover:

When my Mum saw Brandi after her bath and her hair treatment, she remarked on what an ugly doll she was.  I thought she wasn't the prettiest doll when I got her, but now I think she is great.  I made her an outfit this week from one of the patterns Beth Colvan kindly has on her site for free, and I think she looks sensational in an outfit from her era, the 1970's. This dress is the backless maxi-dress for the larger Crissy family dolls which are about 17 1/2 inches.

I think that is a pretty face, don't you?  Brandi doesn't have the glassene eyes that Crissy and some of the other members of the family have such as Velvet and Kerri.  I don't have a Kerri and would like to get her next.

She is an out-doors type of gal.  Note the daring backless maxi dress which is great for showing off one's tan.  This fabric is left over from a top I made and I was able to 'shop my stash' for all the ribbons and lace trim.

Out-doors gal

These are the markings on her back, showing that she was 1971 model.

Now, about her hair. I did my usual technique of shampoo, conditioner and fabric softner but I could not get her hair to stay un-tangled. I would just get one section untangled and it would be tangled by the time I had finished the next one. So in desperation, I tried the wet towels technique on the ironing board. It de-knotted the majority of her tail, but the ends were still frizzy so I gave them an extra iron (still protected by wet towels) and made them melt and frizz even more. My Mum suggested cutting them off, but I have decided to leave them on and just say she is an out-doors sun loving gal who hasn't looked after her hair very well.

I did read on the internet about this kind of hair can stretch with a lot of brushing, and I think that the previous owner did a lot of brushing, which is understandable as the main focus of this toy was the hair.

Hair before treatment

I adore these dolls and I am about to make a maxi dress for Crissy, hopefully this weekend. Thanks Nymphaea for writing about them on your blog.

Dolls! Patons 1970's Knitting Pattern Book for Dolls

I was quite a long way from home earlier in the week getting some footwear for work.  After I had done that I walked around the drab little shopping strip that happened to be full of op-shops.  There were four all up and I went around to each to see what was on offer. The only find was this little pattern book for dolls using Patons knitting wools. It was sitting on the top of some magazines in full view so I didn't even have to try hard to find it!

I don't recognise any of these dolls, and I would say they are from the 70's as there is a Peasant Outfit for a 24 inch Wendy Walker doll.  I did a quick google search for Wendy Walker dolls, but just found a few of them on ebay and couldn't identify them for sure.  In my mind, the hat that goes with the Peasant Outfit places this book in the early to mid 70's.

Peasant Outfit for a 24 inch Wendy Walker is on the right

The Patons wools used for these doll fashions


Don't you love the fashions for these Sindy dolls.  Notice how some of the Sindy dolls have eye lashes and some don't.



The book is really useful for identifying the dolls as most of the instructions name the doll the outfits were designed for.  These two in the pic below are 16 inch Wendy Walkers, and I wouldn't mind one of these for my dolly collection.  I have been ebaying off some quite gorgeous knitting wool that I can't use because of my dodgy back, but I reckon I could just about manage making the little outfit on the left which is knitted in  Bluebell wool.  Not sure about the crochet part, but I might give it a try.  Isn't the bag gorgeous!

There is also this kinda creepy baby toddler doll called Sally-Ann. A lot of people say to me when they know that I collect dolls that the eyes creep them out. Well I rarely have that problem, but this Sally-Ann doll's eyes do creep me out. Pattern 19 in the bottom left pic below is called a sleeping bag.

These two dolls don't have names clearly stated in the pattern design, but when you get a little further down to the doll measurements section, they are described as "Nacho".  I had a quick look on google for these dolls, but couldn't find them, so maybe Patons gave the doll that name.  I do like the cable and striped jumper and of course the overalls.  The dolls have strange squashed faces though.

Finally, for Audra, here is a pic of two Teddies.  They state in the instructions that they were purchased from David Wang, whover he was.  I think the blue outfit is a Sherlock Holmes outfit, but they just call it Coat, Cap, Boots and Scarf.  Patons could have got a bit more imaginative I think and called it a Sherlock Outfit.

My sewing and blogging out-put has been low due to a bit of a bad back episode which has calmed down and general blah about sewing anyway. I am still studying and that takes a bit of time out of my week, but I am determined to sit down and do some work on my owl and fox fleecy dressing gown which has been giving me a bit of grief.  I hope to blog about that in the next couple of days.

Dolls! All About 1950's Sweet Sue With the Flexible Foot

This is my 20 inch American Character Sweet Sue with the Flexible Foot, made from 1957 to 1958. She originally came with a plastic model's case that had extra shoes, ballet slippers (I think they are her ballet slippers that she is wearing) and a leotard. She is wearing her original outfit called Collegiate.

The quality of this doll is exceptional in my opinion. She is heavy (probably not that good for play though) and the attention to detail is amazing. Because I do dressmaking, the construction of the clothes for these 1950's dolls never ceases to amaze me. The cut, style and fit is as good as anything made for a real person.

According to Judith Izen's book American Character Dolls Identification and Value Guide, the vinyl used for these dolls heads was made with a creamy vinyl unique to American Character. The saran hair is full and of good quality.

She even has red tulle on her matching petticoat or crinoline:

And just because she can, here she is modelling a vintage red straw hat and a Sweet Sue walker's blue handbag.

When I purchased another doll recently, I got this little pamphlet for American Character dolls, with instructions on how to make their fashion dolls walk!

Sweet Sue With the Flexible Foot could wear flat shoes or high heels, simply by tilting her ankle. She also had a twist waist. I keep her in a pair of flat shoes as her ankles are a bit wobbly and I don't want to put pressure on them causing a crack or split in the plastic.

Market Day Finds - Ceramics & Dolls

This is one of my Market Day finds from the weekend. I hummed and haaed a bit, and then decided to buy this little Chinese girl doll. I do not like the pink outfit she is wearing (it is even pinker in real life), so I will try and make a pattern from it, and do it in another colour. The stall owner thinks she is from the 1960's. She has a sweet face and the painting is lovely.

When the oriental Dollikins (I think the collectors call her Lotus Blossom) heard there was a new Chinese girl doll, she wanted to be in the photos. The backdrop they are posing against is a piece of Kimono off-cut that my sister got for me when she was in Japan. She also brought me back the little waving cat doll that you can also see in the picture.

I also spied this kitsch Easter ceramic, and ended up taking it home too. I would say it was from the 1950's or a little later.

I picked up this little kitsch kittens ceramic from an antiques shop in Bendigo when I went to the Grace Kelly exhibition earlier this year. Both of these little ceramics sit next to each other in one of my display cabinets. They were both filthy when I bought them, so I washed them up in luke warm mild soapy water. The grass on the kittens ceramic was ingrained with dirt that I had to get off with an old toothbrush.

Goodbye from all of us, and see you next time!

Dolls! The U2O 1950's Bridal Doll Tries to Expand Her Wardrobe....Again

The U2O 1950's Bride doll can be seen here parading for the camera in an Agatha outfit for a Madame Alexander Jacqueline doll. These Jacqueline dolls were made in the 1960's, and were still being made in the 1980's when this outfit was released.

I initially bought the hat that goes with this outfit to cover up the hair of a poor Madame Alexander Cissy doll who was a little worse for wear. I ended up buying the dress in a separate auction on ebay so that I would have the matching outfit.

The U2O Bride doll will have to give this hat back to the Cissy doll soon, so she had better not get too fond of it. Perhaps I should make the U2O Bride doll her own outfit. Something else to add to the sewing queue!

I have got the felt to make my Ella doll's hat, so I will try and get to that soon. I have come down with the second cold in about 2 weeks, so not feeling up to much. Hope you are happily sewing though!

Dolls! Dollikins Diabolicals

This is my Dollikins doll wearing the U2O Bride doll's new dress. She came with her own little oriental inspired outfit, but wanted to try U2O doll's new outfit on.  She has a pony tail hair-do, so the hat does not sit on her hair that well, but I couldn't talk her out of it.

Here she is wearing her original oriental inspired outfit.

Look at the fabulous fan print.

She has recently come back from a stay at the hospital. She didn't like the administrative procedures or the doctor (he was very brusque), but she has come back in one piece. Soon after I bought her, I sat her in my display cabinet to dry off after a bath, and when I went to take her out to put her outfit back on, she was in pieces. You can see the rubber band that perished in the photo below. Her hair was very dusty so I wiped it down, but I will be ordering some doll hair care products soon so I can clean it properly. I did wash her whole outfit in mild soapy water, and I got most of the stains out.

Here is oriental Dollikins sitting with my other Dollikins who is also wearing her original outfit of frilly nylon taffeta shirt and velveteen trousers.

For the history buffs, Dollikins dolls were made in America in the 1950's by the Uneeda company. They were made with hard plastic bodies and a vinyl head with 16 flexible joints. They were very popular in the 1950's.

Hope you enjoyed the Dollikins pictures!