Terristouch Blue Civil War Era Dress

And last but not least (for now), another Terristouch dress!

My sister Ellie makes another appearance today but this time in Cassie's place. Cassie is our 1860s girl so she should really be the one modeling this dress, but she was a little tired of the limelight for awhile and took a vacation to another floor of the house.

We really don't see Ellie in enough outfits, so we might as well show her off a little more! Terri used to offer this dress in a green fabric, which we liked but never got around to buying. Then it disappeared- snatched up by other shoppers.

We were almost tempted to ask Terri to possibly make one for us as a custom purchase when this lovely blue version turned up in her Etsy shop like magic! Perfect dress. Wonderful details of the ribbon and buttons. Good fit. Nice full skirt. Just what we wanted!

Terristouch Purple Colonial Dress

Though perhaps not historically accurate (particularly with her bangs), we wanted to show you what Samantha looks like in a colonial era gown.

We still have to get a doll that is specific to that historic time period! Samantha looks so good in this dress maybe we should get a dark-haired doll for the role. Which doll from our huge wish list should get that assignment?! Haha.

This purple gown comes from Etsy seller Terristouch. It looks similar to other dresses we have already bought, but the fabric of this dress has been calling to Penny for awhile. Purple is her favorite color, with blue running in a close second place. And two-toned purple? Well, that's just too good to be true!

Lemieux Rock Star Outfit

Besides the pink sweater dress and leggings seen earlier, we also bought this outfit from Etsy seller Lemieux Doll Boutique for Sundari.

We call it the rock star outfit because it sort of reminds us of something Hannah Montana would wear. The fancy gold skinny scarf, the brown silky tunic top with gold highlights, and the tight skinny jeans definitely say "teen pop star" to me.

Diana, Seamstress of Lemieux was nice enough to include these nice gold flats with our purchase. They match the outfit perfectly and make it complete.

Sundari really likes the look and is posing as a pop star at a concert holding the rose someone has thrown onto the stage. (Okay, it's really one of the roses Derek gave to Penny for Valentine's Day- but don't tell Penny we stole it.)

That Sundari just looks gorgeous in everything!

Terristouch Nightgown and Quilt

Terristouch again? Yes, indeed. If you haven't figured out yet why we keep buying from her- please go visit her Etsy shop. You will be impressed as well.

This is just a basic nightgown made out of really great soft fuzzy flannel material. I couldn't stop petting it when I took it out of the box. It's soooo soft. This style could work well for a lot of different historical periods and even a conservative nightgown for a young modern girl. It's completely versatile. Jess looks so beautiful in it, it's almost as if she is wearing a ball gown!

What else do we have? More photos of the awesome quilt that we also bought from Terristouch and was seen earlier on Cassie's bed. Of course the design is based off the simple approach of the American Girl quilt for Kirsten's bedding. However, I like this one better. Not sure why. Probably the colors AND the fact that Terri made it.

Terristouch Plaid Dress and Apron

Here we have a courtesy post for those you with more interest in the dress that Samantha Parkington is using as her Diana Barry costume, which was purchased from Etsy seller Terristouch.

The white pinafore apron has the most wonderful details and is made of a really soft fabric. The other two photos show you just the dress without the pinafore. While there is no real Diana Barry costume like this one from the Anne of Green Gables movie, she does tend to wear white pinafores over a long-sleeve darker color dress to school.

Dollies' Dressmaker Undergarments

Once upon a time in a faraway catalog called American Girl, there were undergarments. Unfortunately, someone in the kingdom of American Girl decided that dolls don't need to have undergarments anymore. That person or persons would be wrong.

I myself love to wear undies, and many of the outfits we buy require a certain type of undergarment for the proper shape and fit. However, AG undies are going the way of the dodo. The items needed to keep Felicity's dresses in the right 1700s shape are now retired.

This was disappointing to learn and we here in Badger's Wood totally missed the boat on that one (as well as the boats for many other sets of under-thingys).

Fortunately for us, The Dollies' Dressmaker still creates these fantastic items (sans under-bodice). We were able to get a set of panniers and a tie-on pocket to go under the colonial era dresses we own. To be smart, we should probably get another set soon.

In the photos my sister Ellie is showing off her legs in order to reveal the undergarments (the two blue and white bulges next to her legs are the panniers). The last photo shows you how they give the dress the proper shape.

Shape may seem like an unimportant detail in the grand scheme of the entire outfit, but in the end we are trying to learn about history and get the whole picture.

What did colonial girls have to wear, either seen or unseen? They certainly would not have been walking around without any undergarments on!

Terristouch Blue Kit Dress

So I told you Penny cannot stop buying stuff from Etsy seller Terristouch. The next several posts will prove that to you quite readily.

Here in Badger's Wood we have a plan to eventually get Kit and probably Ruthie for our "little" doll family.

However, have you noticed Kit's clothing line from American Girl? Orange. Pink. Yellow. Lime Green. Baby Blue. Weird color combinations. Big flowers everywhere. Strange, ugly fabric choices. That is more than half of her wardrobe.

Mind you, I did not live in the 1930s and the clothing is probably accurate to the time. But for some reason I cannot warm up to her meet outfit, her scooter outfit, her school outfit, her yellow floral dress or her outside play outfit. Her feed sack dress is about 50% like 50% dislike. And Ruthie's meet dress is just hideous in my opinion. Out of the 16 or so Kit and Ruthie outfits currently available from AG - I would buy/own 5 of them.

But where do you find simple dresses appropriate for Kit's wardrobe? She certainly would not be able to afford all of these fancy Ruthie dresses Penny has bought from Keepers!

Luckily, Terristouch had something to fit the bill. Simple design. Lovely fabric choice. Wonderful details. Perfect lines. And it looks like it came right out of the 1930s. Jess was very pleased she got to model this fantastic dress.

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry

While browsing the Etsy storefront of Terristouch I found a brown dress with a blue apron over it designed for AG's Nellie when she is still a servant. I passed it over because Nellie is not here in Badger's Wood and it wasn't speaking to me as an outfit.

Then I saw it again and immediately thought: "Anne of Green Gables"!!!

It is very close to the outfit Anne Shirley is wearing the day she comes into town (in the movie). Penny purchased it right away so I could pretend to be Anne Shirley. At the same time Penny found another Terristouch outfit similar to the type worn by Diana Barry (again, in the movie- if you haven't seen it, rent it!).

So for the pictures, I am pretending to be Anne of Green Gables and Samantha Parkington is posing as my "kindred spirit" Diana Barry. Best friends forever, as they would say nowadays.

Are the outfits convincing? Good enough for me! Let's go dye my hair green by accident! Oh wait, scratch that idea....

Terristouch Pioneer Dress

What's next?

Well for some reason Penny cannot stop buying items from Etsy seller Terristouch. Again, some of this buying frenzy is due to the new lead laws discussed previously. But it is also partly because Terri always has fantastic stuff to buy!

Cassie wanted some more aprons and bonnets, so we found this beautiful pioneer-style dress just for her. The blue color is really wonderful and looks great with her big brown eyes and blond hair. The quilt on Cassie's bed also comes from Terristouch (as you can tell from the inclusion of the matching blue fabric). Perhaps I will do a later post featuring this item, because quilts are fabulous!!!

Lemieux Doll Boutique Pink Sweater Dress

Meet Sundari! Oh wait, we just did that....what I am doing again?

Right, so along the lines of needing chic outfits for Sundari we placed an order with Etsy seller Lemieux Doll Boutique.

One of the outfits Penny purchased for her was this pink sweater dress that came with these fly long gray leggings. Ok, so fly is not really a currently hip word- but I like it so I will use it. Though Sundari would probably not approve....

The combo looks fantastic, comfy and warm. Penny knew it would look great with Sundari's skin tone and the pink dress almost perfectly matches her lip color!

Meet Sundari (aka Sonali)

OMG a new doll!!!! Ok, ok. I really dislike this chat/text-talk of abbreviating everything into non-nonsensical acronyms. I know I am young and hip, but I just can't stand it. So let's try that again...

Oh My God a new doll!!!!

Yes, Sonali arrived at our house in Badger's Wood last month. Here is a picture of her straight out of the box and looking disheveled, dazed and confused. The outfit is of course her American Girl meet outfit (and not homemade). It is pretty awesome. Her hair is very beautiful, but with the curls it is slightly difficult to manage. The trip in the box did not help with that.

Here at Badger's Wood we rarely let dolls keep their former identities. For instance, Julie from the 1970s is now Cassie from the 1860s. So we couldn't really be non-creative and keep the name Sonali. In order to make it easier to remember her new name we went with Sundari because it also begins with S and sort of rhymes with Sonali.

Sundari has an interesting and mysterious past, but she doesn't want her life-story published in a blog. For now, let's just say she came from India!

Lavenderlore Green Crochet Items

Penny promised us that she would eventually get another crocheted set of items from Etsy seller Lavenderlore and here it is!

The green colors of this poncho, hat, mittens and purse are just amazingly brilliant. It is a lovely set being modeled by our family's newest addition==== Sundari. She was adopted by Penny and Derek in January and is quickly becoming close friends with Stella (they are both in high school).

In order to supply Sundari with some new, trendy clothing Penny sliced up her old torn Tommy Hilfiger sweater and made a sweater dress out of one of the sleeves. Underneath the fab poncho, you will see this inventive dress. Mind you, it is not nearly as awesome as the stuff we buy from professionals, but it is a small accomplishment of doll-sized-greatness.

Keepers Overalls and Shirt

Ok, so Penny tried to break her addiction to Keepers Dolly Duds on ebay. It did not work. She says she has not been buying as many outfits as before (ie December) but I'm not sure how accurate this information is...should we trust her?

Evidence against Penny's statements include these fantastic overalls and plaid shirt from Keepers designed for Molly and/or Emily and being modeled by my younger sister Maggie.

We have Molly's after-school outfit of blue cords and a plaid shirt, so we figured if we ever get Emily she should have an after-school outfit as well. The nifty beret comes from the American Girl "Scarlet and Snow" outfit (and hence was made in China, not the US of A.) Despite being born overseas, the beret looks very neat with this outfit. Seeing that Molly's meet outfit comes with a beret, I didn't think it was out-of-line for 1940s fashion.

Dollies' Dressmaker Kit Dress and Apron

More from The Dollies' Dressmaker!

I could not stop taking pictures of this outfit. First of all, we have a copper colander from Williams-Sonoma to brag about. This item comes from the Christmas tree ornament set that I talked about in an earlier post (Again these are not toys! Do not try to chew on them! Do not try and cook real food in them!).

Secondly, there are two parts to this new outfit! We have an awesome blue plaid dress being modeling by Jess with a muslin apron over it. I wanted to show this outfit with and without the apron. The dress is really pretty on its own.

Are there too many pictures? Possibly, but Jess just looks too adorable not to include them all!

Dollies' Dressmaker Pink Addy Dress

After writing a novel in the last post, I will try to keep my chatting to a minimum! Sorry for the blather!

Here we have Cassie showing off a new purchase from The Dollies' Dressmaker- a pink taffeta dress designed for Addy.

So the dress design dates to the 1860s (it is similar to Addy's Cape Island Dress, Kite-Flying Dress and Flower-Picking Dress)- however whenever I look at it I see something for Molly and/or Emily. I just can't see Addy wearing this because of the fabric. That is why I paired it with the black Mary-Janes. So I guess it isn't really a "historically accurate" combination with those shoes.

Cassie has not quite bonded to the pinkness of this dress, so I think it may be re-gifted to Molly at some point... (cough cough, wink wink). No matter what time period it ends up in, it is still gorgeous!

Lemieux Doll Boutique Asian Dresses

Hello again! Sorry it has been so long since I last posted- OVER 20 DAYS!

What have I been doing? God only knows, I just get way too caught up in things. Mostly I was procrastinating from doing my schoolwork. I have watched a lot movies and television...but that is not really productive at all. Have I written any of the essay questions I have to answer for school? No....

Well, to get into the writing mood I have decided to post some shtuff onto Blogger. First of all we have some dresses from Etsy seller Lemieux Doll Boutique. They are being modeled by Josefina and Stella. The red dress did not come with the belt and leggings- that was my addition in order to make it look a little different from the purple dress.

Both of the dresses are made from butterfly-patterned Asian-style silk and finished with gold lame around the sleeves and neckline. I have been looking for dresses like this for awhile, and have not been thoroughly satisfied by the similar choices from American Girl. They need to use cool butterfly fabric too.

Lemieux is run by Diana- who recently hit the same bump in the road as many other seamstresses- the new CPSIA lead laws. Or CSPIA or CIPSA..or however those letters go together. This new law would require anyone selling anything appealing to children under 12 to test their products for "bad" substances such as lead.

Obviously a normal at-home seamstress cannot afford to test every doll outfit she makes- so the law was/is endangering these types of home-run businesses. The law has been "postponed" for a year (perhaps with revision in mind???).

So Diana is back to sewing after a break due to the scary new law. SO BUY your homemade goods NOW while you can!!!!

Who knows if in a year I will have anything new to post on the Doll Wardrobe??? Maybe there won't be anything more to buy??? Depressing thoughts....