![\"4](\"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/bittybabydoll24.jpg\")
<\/a>4 1\/2″ baby doll<\/p><\/div>\n
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For Christmas, one of 11 month old Vivian Rose’s gifts was this porcelain baby doll.\u00c2\u00a0 Nestled in a tiny wicker Moses-in-the-bulrushes style basket, the Dream Baby doll antique reproduction was tucked in looking like a classic heirloom clothed infant.<\/p>\n
Just 4 1\/2″ long, she seemed to be just the right start for our grandbaby’s doll collection.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, it will be some time before she is allowed to handle this tiny treasure.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not too early to begin collecting.<\/p>\n
Both the doll and her clothes were made many years before Vivian’s birth.\u00c2\u00a0 But they have lain in wait to go home with a little girl who will grow up to love dolls, especially those made by her maternal great-grandmother.<\/p>\n
A\u00c2\u00a0 good many similar tiny dolls are waiting for a loving home, though all are unclothed.\u00c2\u00a0 Several have been put aside for granddaughters Laurel and Vivian Rose, but the others need to move on.\u00c2\u00a0 Each is undressed.\u00c2\u00a0 Each is a treasure.\u00c2\u00a0 If\u00c2\u00a0 there is any interest, I will post them for sale soon.<\/p>\n
The following is a re-run post.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope long-time readers won’t mind and new readers will enjoy.<\/p>\n
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n Itty Bitty Baby Doll<\/strong><\/p>\n Many years ago, while fantasizing about having grandchildren, I made this Swiss batiste dress for the 4 1\/2″ itty bitty porcelain baby doll my mother had made.\u00c2\u00a0 In my stash there was a small amount of tatted baby edging and 10″ of matching insertion.\u00c2\u00a0 This doll dress seemed to be the perfect project for those scant amounts.<\/p>\n Special features of the dress include the center panel of insertion, bracketed by 1.6 twin needle\u00c2\u00a0 scallops and a hem\u00c2\u00a0 that echoes that technique.\u00c2\u00a0 NOTE:\u00c2\u00a0 The backdrop of the photo above is white linen.\u00c2\u00a0 I had a really difficult time getting the detail to show up, so it was edited for clarity.\u00c2\u00a0 But the actual color was lost.\u00c2\u00a0 The pale mint green color in the picture below, without the doll, is more accurate.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n gown length 4″<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n The gown, sleeves and bonnet were all smocked with a single strand of Madeira silk floss. As is my habit, the smocking at the front and back are both deeper than at the shoulders, which on this doll are almost non-existent. A slip was cut using the front and back pattern pieces, but with the armscyes cut lower. It was dropped into the gown before the neck binding was attached and joined to the dress in that manner. The slip hemline is finished with more baby tatted edging.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The smocked bonnet fits a head the size of a small cherry tomato.\u00c2\u00a0 It was made with the simplest design– a straight fabric piece with edging on the front and a casing at the back. That casing was gathered slightly before the tatted edging was joined to the stitching line of the casing. Otherwise, the tatting would have bunched up too much and become bulky.<\/p>\n One eighth inch silk ribbon was threaded through the casing and sewn to the front for ties. A tiny pink silk ribbon French knot and green straight stitch embroidered where the ties joined the bonnet side were suggestive of flowers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n slip and booties with 1\/2″ sole<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The almost microscopic hand crocheted booties are a treasure.\u00c2\u00a0 At a doll show many, many years ago, I met a lady who was selling crocheted doll clothes.\u00c2\u00a0 I showed her this bitty baby and asked if she could make a pair of booties for her.\u00c2\u00a0 She made several pair, but then I was unable to reach her to ask for more.\u00c2\u00a0 I wish I had a few other pairs because\u00c2\u00a0 1) I have several other tiny dolls to dress and 2) I think it’s likely that one or both will be lost when the doll is entrusted to a child.<\/p>\n Nine year-old Laurel already has several of her great grandmother’s porcelain dolls<\/a> in her collection.\u00c2\u00a0 But she wants more!\u00c2\u00a0 And I expect Vivian Rose will be of the same persuasion.<\/p>\n It warms my heart to see my mother’s dolls move out of my grandmother’s hope chest and into my granddaughters’ lives.<\/p>\n NOTE:\u00c2\u00a0 An article about my mother and her dolls was written by Lezette Thomason and published in Sew Beautiful<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 magazine, July, 1995 issue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Christmas, one of 11 month old Vivian Rose’s gifts was this porcelain baby doll.\u00c2\u00a0 Nestled in a tiny wicker Moses-in-the-bulrushes style basket, the Dream Baby doll antique reproduction was tucked in looking like a classic heirloom clothed … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>