Sewing for 20th Century Dolls: 100 Plus Projects

Rating:
Summary: Valuable Resource for Doll Collectors
Review: If you sew for dolls, you need Johanna Gast Anderton's Sewing for 20th Century Dolls Vol. 2.The patterns are meticulously researched and produced.Nowhere else will you find patterns that came from careful measurement of existing vintage doll clothingform the 1900s through 1990s.

I bought the book for the patterns for dolls of the Sixties and Seventies: Cher, the Crissy Family, Littlechaps, Miss Seventeen. Following JGA's advice, I resized and used patterns from every era to redress an assortment of orphan dolls.

Most commerical patterns give you a style somewhat resembling the original clothes dolls came in. This book gives you the real thing. For most collectors, anything less is just not worth the time and trouble.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Resource
Review: If you want to see your collectable dolls dressed authentically, but don't want to see the poor dears wearing stained and faded vintage clothing, then this book is for you!

Anderton has included patterns for wardrobes, including undergarments and shoes, for popular collectable dolls from the 1900's to the 1990's. 1900-1910 includes period wardrobes for 18" antique Bisque-head girl dolls and 15" lady dolls. 1920's includes patterns for Dolly Rosebud, Baby Peggy and Patsyette. 1930s includes wardrobes for 7 1/2" Madame Alexander's Dionne Quints, Effanbee's 12" Patsy and 14" Patricia, and 13" Shirly Temple and other composition dolls. 1950 features wardrobes for 14-24" hard plastic dolls featuring a pattern for Miss Revlon's original dress and the original outfit for Madame Alexander's Cissy.

The 1960's has the complete original wardrobe for Miss Seventeen Beauty Queen including the pageant bathing suit with crown and sash. The Chatty family, my favorite, includes Charmin Chatty's sailor outfit with patterns for the saddle shoes and glasses! - but no socks. Also for Charmin are the party dress, the Foreign Lands coat, the Cinderella costume (but not the ball gown). Patterns for Chatty Cathy include the Peppermint Striped dress, The pajamas and the Sunny Day outfit (only with shorts instead of peddle pushers) including a pattern for the seal applique and the hat. Also included are original outfit patterns for Chatty baby, tiny chatty baby, and Singing Chatty. The 60's also include wardrobes for the Littlechap Famlily and the Whimsy dolls. 1970's, 80's and 90's include *many* patterns for fashion dolls like Barbie and include celebrity costumes like Sonny & Cher, Laurie Partridge and Dorothy Hamil. There are also patterns for male fashion and action dolls. There are 5 outfits for Ideal's Crissy and movie costumes for their 12'Shirly Temple including the costumes from "Stowaway", "Heidi", "The Littlest Rebel" and others.

I think a "beginning" sewer could use this book, but doll lovers with no previous sewing experience will need to learn a few basics first.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to find doll fashion in one easy place!
Review: This book has lots of hard-to-find doll patterns! The patterns are easily traced and there are so many of them. I bought it for the Littlechap doll patterns and found some for Penny Brite, as well! Lots more! The instructions are a little to be desired and the reason for four star rating instead of five star, by me, but the experienced and unexperienced seamstress should be able to follow them.