States War Ball Gown for American Girl

Here are a few pics of the States War ball gown for American Girl dolls. It could also fit other 18 inch dolls, or most of anyway.
Here is the back of the bodice. I made small teeny weeny buttonholes of five each on either side of the back bodice, and strung it with a purple ribbon. Just like the real ball gowns!!

And here is a full view of the dress with off white lace trim around the neckline and sleeve cuffs. The fabric is a excellent quality taffeta in lavender with white polka dots. Very sweet indeed and is still available in my etsy shop.

War Between the States Ball Gown....

I've been contemplating creating a ball gown for the American Girl doll. It seemed like the thing to do, to compliment my States War line I've got going.
Two Christmas' ago, I crafted a sweet cloth dolly called the Lady's Godey Book doll for my daughter. She came out rather well! And she also came complete with patterns for different outfits. Which I really admired!! One being a ball gown that actually laces up the back like period correct gowns do.
So I adapted my capped sleeve day dress into a ball gown. Decreasing the neckline to make it wider. I also kept the "caps" as the short sleeves and did not place in the bishop sleeves. I then lengthened the skirt.
The gown itself is made from a heavier weight taffeta in lavender with white polka dots. I then trimmed the gown off in a pretty off white lace with ribbon weaving and an off white lace in the sleeves.
Check it out on my esty shop; www.katandthefiddle.etsy.com

2nd Place Winner at the Fair.....

Okay folks, I said I would post a pic. And here it is!! Not included in the picture is the pantaletts and chemise that went with it. The dress was a capped sleeve day dress, and I switched the sleeves around to have a split in the top. The 1850's bonnet is below the dress and went well with the dress!!
My painting took 4th place in the Professional Art division. And now Im looking forward to next year's fair, with hopefully with me entering more than two items.

Tennessee Valley Fair

Well our Fair is in full swing now, and this year I finally managed to submit entries to it. Last year I think I had just missed the deadline getting them in. I also was a little concerned finding my way all the way up to Knoxville. LOL....it really wasn't that hard to do!
Anyway, this year I submitted one of my paintings into the Professional Art Division. I painted a two foot by two and a half foot acrylic on canvas titled "Paragon Drive In." It is a 50's themed painting with several vintage cars. I have to say it was one of my favorites pieces, and considering Im not a car buff, and never have painted cars before. I did a tremendous job on it. I ended up only placing 4th in the class. But still a good placing.
My other entry was a complete doll outfit. For this I sewed a beautiful capped sleeve day dress out of the green plaid homespun that I had got several yards of it. I can't tell you enough how lovey a fabric it is!!I've made several doll dresses out of it already, and each one has been snapped up!!
Now, for the capped sleeves I changed them a bit. And applied a pretty off white soutache braid to the capped sleeves. Along with the dress, I submitted a pair of doll pantaletts and doll chemise, and of course I added my 1850's doll bonnet that I had made. It was made with a gold watermark taffeta, and it complimented the dress well. My doll outfit took 2nd place in the Doll Show!!
I'll be picking my entries up on monday, and I will post some pics of the doll outfit. Sorry, I forgot to take some pics of it before I brought my entries to the fair!!

September Musings...................

My I can't believe its already September!! Although some back home have just started school, here in the south, school has already been in session for a month! I don't know if I'll ever actually get use to that or not. Although my daughter does enjoy getting out for summer break in May. And I admit, I do too!
So, what have I been up to? Well, our fair is coming up. The Tennessee Valley Fair will be opening up in the next two weeks, and this year I have finally got my act together and submitted two entries. One being a painting into the professional art division. For those who may not know, I am also an artist beside being a dolly dressmaker and doll maker. You can visit my art website at www.freewebs.com/kathleengormanwermuth. The painting Im entering is on my homepage. But a better view of it is also in my gallery link.
Since our fair also has a doll show I felt that this would be a good opportunity for me to enter in some of my doll clothes. This year for a complete outfit I made up a very sweet capped sleeve day dress in my favorite green plaid homespun. However, I switched the capped sleeves around a bit and instead of seaming them up on the short side. Which is the side underneath the sleeve and matches up to the side seam. I instead, cut the cap out and created the seam on the long side. And then, instead of sewing the seam up I left that open and sewed the fabric and lining together by starting at one side, going down, across the bottom straight edge of the cap, and back up the other seam side. I clipped corners, turned inside out and pressed, and then sewed the cap sleeve into the armsyce so that the cap has a split going up the top of the cap. It was a creative idea, and came out rather nice!! I then handsewn onto the cap a pretty off white soutache braid with ribbon in it.
Along with the dress, I am entering my 1850's doll bonnet and a set of underpinnings. Overall, it makes a lovely outfit!!

1972-73 Baby Crissy Doll.............

Okay, I said I was going to post a picture of the Baby Crissy doll I got. She's a sweetie fer sure!! I had one just like her as a little girl. And when I went to retrieve her from the attic of our old family house, which is currently owned by my brother. Only to sadly discover that she was thrown out!!

She is made by the Ideal Company, who made many dolls. This Baby Crissy is marked 1972 on her body, and 1973 on her head. I don't know if that is common or what.

Unlike the doll I had, this one has the soft vinyl body. Her left arm is a little lighter than the right arm. Which you could probably see in the photo. One leg as well was lighter. She had a mark on the back of her right arm, which strangly resembles a bruise mark. Of course, the ebay listing didn't mention this at all. So it was a complete surprise. But its not that bad.

She had some funky baby boy clothes on her and her hair was a snarly mess. So the first thing I did was to wash her entire body with Ivory soap, and shampoo and condition her hair. Which I brushed out afterwards. The ends of her pony tail, which still works well, are frizzy. But otherwise parts of her hair look new. I think she cleaned up very well. I also touched up her eyes and lips. But yet to put a gloss on them.

Her outfit was a pattern of 1950's style baby doll clothes I purchased. The pattern showed the dress in the same fabric colors, but instead of long pants I made bloomers for her instead. I thought it was much cuter that way. I wash up the red socks that came with her and put those back on. I plan on getting a pair of black patent maryjane's baby shoes for her. Or perhaps try to make a pair of them for her. As well, I want to get a red and white polka dot ribbon to make a bow for her hair.

Etsy, the fashionable place to be!!

Etsy is a new venture for me, and I will be honest and say I love it!! Unlike the ebay thing, Etsy is geared towards those who seek quality handcrafted and vintage items. No more fussing through pages of "stuff" that you don't want to even contend with. Anyone who seeks handcrafted items, is going to feel like a kid in a candy store when they visit Etsy. So, I am going to compile "My Favorites" here, and highly recommend you go on over and check them out!! It will be worth your time!!
I create quality handcrafted doll clothes for American Girl dolls, and started outfitting some Ideal dolls. I also am a freelance artist. My shop is www.katandthefiddle.etsy.com or click on the thumbnails to the left and you'll see some of my items.
Also visit my Cousin's shop www.pinky98.etsy.com for some fabulous stainglass work!! Also all handcrafted!