Some time ago, I thought it would be fun to have a dolly pajama party and dress all my dolls in pj's. Of course, this meant that the dolls had to have pj's to wear. One thing about a quarantine, or "shelter in place", or whatever you want to call it--plenty of time at home to ponder things that have been put off for various reasons. So, one day last week I decided to see just what I had in the way of jammies for my girls. I dug through boxes and drawers of doll clothes and discovered I had more than I thought.
I think I've mentioned in the past that long about twenty years ago when an internet doll company called iDolls went out of business, I bought a number of dolls and doll clothing in anticipation of gifting future granddaughters. Instead, I have four grandsons and no granddaughters so most of the dolls and clothing just went into storage. I did turn one doll into my version of Amelia Peabody, intrepid archeologist/sleuth from the book series by Elizabeth Peters, and one into Evie Tozer, a character in a favorite Tom Selleck movie, High Road to China.
As I rooted through the doll clothes, I found perfect outfits for Amelia and Evie, and also a nightgown for another doll. It also turned out that I had jammies for several other dolls. That left three to sew for, and now motivated, I began.
So here are my play dolls, all set for a slumber party. Clemmie is sporting her new jammies and is ready to read Tootle to the assembly. A few bears have joined the party and everyone is ready for fun.
See little tiny 8" Betsy McCall? I discovered I had a pattern that included clothes in her size as well as for the bigger 14" Betsy behind her. With a little trepidation, I decided to give the shorty pj's a try. Well. Let me just say that I think I could have made several pairs for myself in the time it took to make them. It has a separate yoke, self fabric ruffle, and puffed sleeves. Oh my goodness. So much detail in such a tiny little garment. But I prevailed!! As long as one doesn't look too closely. (And the reason there's a bear laying in front of her? She's still wearing her shoes and socks. Those little shoes are over sixty years old and I could see that the rubber "buttons" were hanging on by a thread and any attempt to unbutton them would surely lead to disaster. So, what to do? Hide the shoes. So I did.)
And here are Amelia and Evie in their time appropriate sleepwear.
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| Amelia Peabody circa 1890 |
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| Evie Tozer, circa 1920's |
Sweet dreams!! ♥
Ha! I love this! How inspirational!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's sad that some of our childhood things are showing their age. "I don't remember growing older. When did they?"
Yes, when I was thinking how long I'd had Betsy, I was astounded to realized it had been over *sixty* years!! How old do you think we were? Around eight?
DeleteI think eight is a good guess. I enjoyed my Betsy -- and so did everyone else! She is the worse for wear, but I still love her. I remember that you were wiser. You said you weren't going to play with yours. What discipline! I bought a Tonner Tiny Betsy McCall to replace my old one and discovered that she irreplaceable in my heart.
DeleteRegardless -- time takes its toll on plastics and textiles.
I must have played with her some because that's the only pair of shoes that are still intact, and some of the clothes are quite worn/frayed. Her knees are glued because the lower legs broke off at the bendable knee. She is in quite good shape otherwise, but the rubber band attaching her arms came off when I was putting on her jammy top and I then I ruined it when I tried to use it again, so we're making do with a too-big band for now. As you say, time takes its toll on plastic and textiles. (And I agree, the Tonner Tiny Betsy just doesn't compare--or hold the memories.)
DeleteI might have told you this, but I read a while back that this knee problem was typical -- a design flaw. You can hardly find a Betsy of that generation with knees intact.
DeleteI just went through my box of diminutive doll clothes. Yes -- frayed, yellowed, dingy, but still precious. Those dolls helped me through some difficult times, and though it's not the same today, of course, it's still a wonderful journey.
I just love your posts. The pajama party is looking wonderful ! What fun it must have been to make the gowns.
ReplyDeleteJust noticed your comment! Sorry to take so long to answer. I did have a lot of fun making those jammies! I began my sewing "career" sewing for my dolls many years ago, and I still love it!
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