Well Hello, Dolly

Many thanks to Sue Freer and her lovely Etsy treasury for the inspiration and the title for this post.
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NDQ4ODMyMTV8MjcyNjMxNzcyMg/well-hello-dolly

As a child, I always loved my dolls. There was first of all my baby doll, Caroline. She had a cloth body and plastic head, arms and legs. Caroline also had platinum blond hair which turned very fuzzy and was not improved by the haircut I gave her. My nana knitted her a lovely layette, which I still have, although my daughters' "love" sent Caroline to the doll cemetery.

Caroline's ensemble, minus the ribbons

Then there was my beautiful bride doll, Cheryl. My mother made a gorgeous bridal outfit for her from an Enid Gilchrist pattern, which I have since acquired. Cheryl had beautiful blue eyes and fashionably short early '60s hair, and I thought she was almost as beautiful as my mother. The bridal outfit has long since fallen apart and Cheryl herself also fell victim to my daughters' love, although I still have the lovely little knickers that my mother made.

Cheryl's knickers

My third notable doll was Su-ella, named after my favourite cousin. She alone still exists, along with my dolls' pram, though she is sorely in need of a refurbish. (And the pram is sorely in need of a scrub!) Su-ella is a celluloid headed doll with noisy closing eyes. I always referred to her as a "big doll". My nana also made her now very grubby pink layette, which includes knickers, vest and bonnet.
Thankfully, my daughters didn't like her, which is why she survives.

Su-ella - I fear age has left her blind in one eye

My baby and her pram

Here I am with my doll and pram  in about 1967-68

 
I have written lovingly of my Barbie and her wardrobe in an earlier post.
http://vintageknitpatterns.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/barbie-mirror-of-fashion-1960s.html

I learned to knit by making the dolls' clothes in these lovely old books that belonged to my mother and my grandmother:

As I mentioned before, my mother and grandmother made  beautiful dolls' clothes for my sister and me. My grandmother did the knitting and my mother did the sewing. I think my mother made the outfit for my bride doll, Cheryl, from this book. She certainly made this fairy doll for my sister. She would sit up late at night after we were asleep for weeks before our birthdays secretly sewing us a special outfit for a special doll.

 I have collected quite a few vintage dolls' clothes patterns over the last couple of years since the collecting bug bit me. I found these old Patons books from the 1940s to go with my mother's from the 1960s. Many of the outfits are the same, just modelled on "updated" dolls.

I have also come across some old sewing patterns:

I am not much of a sewer and I have sold most of these. However, I couldn't part with this last one. I thought I might make them for my (future) grand daughter in my retirement, (maybe).

One of my favourite books is this Little Girls' Sewing Book by Flora Klickmann, from 1915, also mentioned in an earlier post:
http://vintageknitpatterns.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/flora-klickmann-domestic-doyenne-and.html




















I have since also been lucky enough to find The Little Girls' Knitting and Crochet Book and The Little Girls' Fancy Work.

These books contain supposedly simple projects to be worked by children:
Delightful dolls' clothes:

Dolly's chemise, knickers, flounced petticoat and flannel petticoat

The stitches you must use, and how to do your French seam

A doll's muff in loop stitch

These books also show how to make a complete set of bedding for your doll, including embroidered coverlet, and how to make a chintz covered cradle.

And how I do so wish that I could send away for these patterns:

Well, I guess I could still send away, but how I wish they would arrive in the mail from 1915, as if it were simply a place on the other side of the world!

Barbie - The Mirror of Fashion - 1960s

I was cleaning out a cupboard recently when I came across my old Barbie and her wardrobe shoved in a bag. I was given her in the mid 1960s. She must have been one of the earliest Barbies on the market. Here she is:

I could never bear to part with her and in time I handed her down to my daughters. They never really liked her. They thought she was ugly with her short red hair and preferred '90s Barbies with long blonde locks. She is starting to look a bit worse for wear. Her eye make-up is definitely in need of a touch up. I remember trying to do this with Texta, but it just rubbed off the rubbery eyelashes.






 My sister had Midge, Barbie's cousin. Here she is:
Her hair was much easier to style. However, I think my sister was
jealous of my Barbie's more glamourous looks.

One Christmas my sister and I received a wardrobe of beautiful hand made Barbie clothes from Father Christmas. They were all expertly made, and the garments were all lined and finished with attention to detail. The little Chanel suit was decoratively top-stitched. Even the stovepipe pants were fully lined.

The red lurex evening ensemble was always my pride and joy. I couldn't imagine a more glamorous gown, and with a matching evening coat! I do think the red clashes with her hair, but before it started shedding sparkly bits this was a very special outfit.

This fur coat was also very glamourous, and of course fully lined. There was once a pillbox hat to match, but sadly it's lost. I was always frustrated trying to get hats on over her boofy hair. Mum showed me how to use a pearl ended sewing pin as a hatpin, but more often that not I skewered her head. This tended to detract from the glamour a little.

We also had this corduroy number. I think this was Midge's coat because the hat actually went on her head, not like Barbie's jaunty side angled '40s look.

Another little jacket. Once we had a matching skirt.

We also had quite a few knitted clothes. I think my mother and grandmother made these, whereas Mum had bought the flash ones at a fete or somewhere. Even a knitted evening dress!

A casual number

We had a lot more of these but I gave some to my sister to keep  for her Midge, in case she had daughters. She is an anti-hoarder, so I doubt whether she still has them, but I must check with her. I'll bet her daughters thought her Midge was ugly too.

A hoodie

We even had a few store bought clothes, but these weren't as well made and tended to fall apart.

Store bought leopard skin coat and hat

A store bought party dress

My Barbie also had a special interchangeable head for wearing wigs. We had three wigs, but only the ugly red one survived. The blonde and the brunette were loved to death.

Wig head and red wig with a bald spot!

This wig looks more like a hat

The wig head is responsible for the unfortunate split in my Barbie's neck - taking those heads off and on all the time. Due to her neck injury, Barbie no longer changes her head.


I recently told a friend about how much I loved my dolls as a child, and she commented that she hadn't been much interested in hers. Weeks before our birthdays and Christmas our mother sat up late at night while my sister and I were asleep making clothes for our dolls - my sister got a fairy doll and I had a bride doll, as well as my beloved baby doll, and of course our Barbies. My friend commented that no wonder I loved them, she probably would have too if she'd had those.

I washed, ironed and mended all of the old Barbie clothes. Today, my husband caught me dressing Barbie and photographing her, and looked at me quizzically. I even bought some little Barbie hangers so that I can store them safely for future grand children to play with. They'll probably think my vintage Barbie is ugly too, but I like her much more than the modern blonde Barbies without style or personality. I look forward to playing vintage dress ups with some young ladies over the next few years.