Special series of Heirloom doll dresses

 I have been adding to a series started this year of one of a kind (OOAK) Heirloom sewn doll dresses. These fit the Little Darling doll by Dianna Effner. Some of them featuring French hand sewing by machine, vintage lace, embroidery and smocking.

#1

#2

This dress has the Madeira Appliqué hem accented with embroidery. The curly ribbon for the hair bow is easily done in a warm oven. Lots of tutorials online.

Fabric gift card bags

These little gift bags make giving a gift card even more special. 

Sewn from muslin and feature an original pen and ink drawing also accented with hand embroidery and bead work. 

Eco-friendly and reusable. . . . . after the gift is given the special little bag can hold treasures. It's like two gifts in one!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MonicaMinto

Little Darling Doll dresses for 2021 by Monica

 My blog has been sadly neglected during these many past months of the COVID-19 crisis. I made numerous smocked dresses for my Little Darling doll to sell on my Etsy shop in the time since my last post. Here are a few:

ACEOS in watercolor and pen & ink

Hummingbird nestlings

and a little cat. . .

and hummingbirds. . . . .

Mini Fabric Gift Card Bags

Sometimes a gift card is the best present for that special person. But it's kinda boring and having a nice holder makes a simple gift even more special!

These fabric gift bags are sewn from muslin and feature an original pen and ink drawing of sweet little hummingbirds and are accented with hand embroidery and bead work. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MonicaMinto

Smocked doll dresses for Christmas

Here is my version of the dress Clara from the Nutcracker wore in two sizes, an 18" American doll and 13" Little Darling doll size. These dress ensembles feature dress, slip, pettipants, hair bow, and nutcracker doll all lovingly smocked, embroidered and handcrafted by Monica.

All sold in my Etsy shop.

Doll comparison observations

I was recently gifted a Little Darling doll named Suzanne, by Dianna Effner. She was painted by doll artist Geri Uribe! I'm really excited to have her!  I've had quite a journey up to this point in my collector doll dress business. . .

Thirty years ago my husband was serving an internship in Mississippi. While there I was introduced to english smocking, a common craft in the southern states.  I acquired a small pleating machine that makes the little folds in fabric that functions as a base for smocked creations. Over the next few years I made dresses for my two daughters learning heirloom sewing techniques in the process. Fast forward to about 2012 I began making some english smocked clothes for my granddaughters.

Transitioning to smocked clothes for dolls was not too hard just very much smaller. Two years ago I made my first smocked dress for a Hearts 4 Heart doll and also for the American Girl dolls 18" and 14" Wellie Wisher. These were for children to play with. One of my customers wrote a kind note suggesting I consider crafting collector doll clothes using the heirloom sewing i had learned so many years ago. This was my first exposure to the world of "big girl dolls" :)!

Having a model for my dresses is really important to me as I wanted the fit to be everything my customers would desire. After going on a waiting list for my own Little Darling doll by Dianna Effner, I purchased a Mini Maru doll to use in the meantime. She is also designed by Dianna Effner but a less expensive doll and is slightly larger in a few areas. I was given the gift of a Little Darling Dress Form "an exact replica of the Little Darling torso and height from the shoulder to the bottom of the base" handmade torso by LD artist Nelly Valentino.
This was a great help in making sure my dresses would fit the Little Darling collector doll.

This week I received an early Christmas gift of my own Little Darling Doll. Now the guesswork is over in fitting these little dresses! Yeah!

Here's a comparison picture of the Mini Maru - Hannah Grace and the Little Darling doll:

Here I am listing the measurements for these two doll as a further comparison:

                                  

                                              Mini Maru Doll                               Little Darling Doll

Height:                                              13"                                                 13"      

Chest:                                                  7"                                                    6 7/8"

Waist:                                                  6 1/2"                                              6"

Hips:                                                   7 1/8"                                               6 7/8"

Length from back 

of neck to waist:                                 2 1/2"                                              2"

Under arm to wrist:                            3 3/4"                                             2 7/8"

You can see by these comparison measurements the Mini Maru doll is slightly larger around the chest, waist and significantly larger around the hips and the arm length.

Mini Maru in a smocked winter PJ set with hand quilted miniature quilt
available in my Etsy Shop

Little Darling doll in same winter PJ set with hand quilted miniature
quilt available in the Etsy shop

Mini Maru in a smocked heirloom cream dress

Smocked dress hanging on the Little Darling dress form
mentioned earlier - a great help in achieving the proper fit.

Little Darling doll in same size and style smocked heirloom cream colored dress

Dress on Little Darling dress form. these dresses also
available  in my Etsy shop.