Antique China-head doll Wardrobe in progress.

[Bernadette]

As requested, here are pictures of my current china-head doll's 1870s wardrobe (still a work in progress). Pictures hosted on imgur for convenience.

http://imgur.com/gallery/O7xGK

So far, the gathered waistbands are the most miserable part. Those petticoats literally started out as big rectangles of cloth! That, and eyelets.  I'm working on the 4th petticoat (out of a total of 6) right now, but I've put it aside in order to focus on my current quilt because I'm so close to being finished (one more row, border, and then time for the "sandwich.") Patterns are taken from The Collector's Book of Dolls' Clothes: Costumes in Miniature 1700-1929. I'm really interested in social history, and dolls' clothes are a great way to see what people wore at different times in history, since dolls were used to teach girls to sew so that one day they could make clothes for themselves and their families. Fascinating! I've got a very apropos "tobacco-colored" silk blouse earmarked for the actual dress. 

[Lynne]

Yeah, gathers are a pain!

I love the little eyelets. Everything is so tiny.

I can't wait to see the fabric you picked for the actual dress.

Beautiful job so far.

[Bernadette]

Yeah, gathers are a pain!

I love the little eyelets. Everything is so tiny.

I can't wait to see the fabric you picked for the actual dress.

Beautiful job so far.

Thankfully, this doll is unusually large. I can't imagine trying to make a wardrobe for a little 8" doll, like the ones shown in the book!