Sunday, November 8, 2009

1940s Vintage Handcrafted Passed On Family Goodness

Oh yikes!! A little over a month ago, I promised you vintage, 1940's, handmade, little girl, hand sewn, delightful, creative family goodness passed on. Apologies all around for my delay! Here she is!

My mother in law sewed this with her grandmother when she was a little girl, around the mid-'40s. Her grandmother was from Russia and sewing was what she did in her country throughout most of her life. And apparently, she continued sewing and shared her craft with her granddaughter, Hubby's Mom. I've always known that my mother in law did a lot of sewing as an adult, but I did not realize just how early she learned to combine needle, thread, and cloth. I hope you will be as delighted as I am at the wonderful handcrafted goodness this is!

From tip to toe, she is sewn. With every detail paid attention to, she comes to life. Her face is colorfully embroidered and you would not believe how many layers are under her dress! Even I was amazed as I was not aware of all of the layers, until I began photographing her and kept finding more!

Just look at those sweet socks!! And her felt black shoes, finished off with a blanket stitch and perfectly adorned with a simple little black bead (you may need to click on the pic, enlarge it, to see the detail).

A dainty little white button hides the snaps that close the dress in the back. Snaps. Actual snaps, hand sewn in. All of my daughter's dolls' clothes close with Velcro. She wasn't even sure what those little silver things were!

And oh my! What a delightful surprise when you open her dress! Darling eyelet lace with a soft blue satin ribbon weaved through it, tied off in a petite little bow in the front. Sigh.

Under her dress, a little petticoat, trimmed in lace. Look at those sewn fingers! Sigh.

And her full slip, topped with that oh so precious eyelet, threaded with sweet satin ribbon. Still sighing here........ You?

And lastly, bloomers finished in matching lace. Oh yes, multiple sighs for each and every hand crafted, hand loved layer.

When I see our daughter gingerly examining her doll that her grandmother and great-great grandmother hand made, I get those wonderful warm tingles in my heart. It is mighty sweet. And what is even better? She gets it. When she saw me putting these pics on my computer, she tenderly picked up her doll and said, "Mama, this is my first real doll." Now she has her Cabbage Patch doll (aka Dolly), her Fisher Price doll (aka Sally), her D.W. doll, and her Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that she gives rides in her doll stroller, sings songs to, and changes their clothes over and over again. But, she knew that this doll was different and somehow more special, making her, her 'first real doll.' What a treasure, both my Princess and her doll. Sigh.

17 comments:

  1. What an incredible doll with such history. Love all those details...I was sighing along with you. :-)

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  2. Ohhhhh my! THe socks, the shoes, the FINGERS, the layers and layers of clothes. I love it. WHat a treasure to have to share with your little princess. This is utterly amazing.

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  3. Oh, my goodness, KAREN! That's a treasure! Golly, golly, golly gosh - she's fabulous! I love the way you lovingly photoed her and shared your beautiful experience! You're a delight!

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  4. Wow, I love this doll. I really love the story behind it. What a blessing to still have this around.
    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  5. That is so cool. And you are so right about the detail... so pretty.

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  6. beautiful doll...the attention to detail is amazing! love it

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  7. OH MY!!! what a delightful treasure indeed! you are so lucky to inherit it!

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  8. Wow, she is fabulous!
    The time and dedication makes her so special!

    I wish I could sew on something other than paper. LOL!

    Love your blog.
    Dedra

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  9. Not only is that super cool, but the pictures are BEAUTIFUL!

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  10. She is lovely!!! Thank you for the well wishes you left me the other day...it is a nasty flu but I am slowly winning the battle. Hope your in laws are doing better as well.

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  11. What a special treasure to have this lovely doll. She's in amazing condition, a sign that she has been loved and treasured for all of these years.

    One of the reasons I love vintage is the care and attention to detail that everything was given. True craftsmanship that you don't see today!

    Your mother in law was a talented sewer and I love all of the detail and it warms my heart to know that she will be loved by yet another generation!

    P.S. Thank you so much for your amazing comment! I adore you sweet friend!

    Love and hugs,
    Karyn

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  12. She's beautiful, you can tell she was crafted in love. How wonderful that she gets to be shared through the generations.

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  13. Even though the doll is beautiful, it is not as beautiful as the story you told and the memories you shared. You are very blessed and I feel blessed to call you my friend!

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  14. Wow, this is a real family treasure! You can even see from all of the sewn details that it was lovingly handmade *sigh* How sweet that i will be loved by your DD and hopefully many generations to come. Thanks for sharing!

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  15. What a wonderflu story, and how wonderful that your daughter can appreciate such a beautifully crafted doll.
    It is amazing,
    Love Sarita xx

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  16. The anticipation of each reveal left me sigh-ing for more, the story you told was very sweet and the photography was exceptional. Your right .. tip to toe she is a real treasure!

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