Clothkits 1979

I hope this post brings happy memories for some people, I know it will for one of my good friends. Two years ago I bought this vintage clothkit kit from ebay for £2.12. It caught my eye because my mum made me one of these dolls in 1979, I was born in 1973.I planned to make this one for one of my girls but then didn't get around to it. Now that big Sis is nine and shows promise on the sewing machine I thought she might like to make it for herself.

She loved it. First she took great joy in counting how many clothes she could make for the doll from this one piece of material that we worked out was 38 years old! She was fascinated with all the little details.

22nd January

She made the handbag first and then started on the doll. It has taken many months but she has persevered. She stuffed the arms and legs firmly with a chopstick.

26th January

28th January

Machine sewing around the arms and legs was easy for her as well as sewing around the head but even I grappled with trying to keep the stuffing in the body as I attached the legs.

5th February - The dress PART 1

I liked that she anticipated each item of clothing with relish. It has been a collection which she has looked forward to completing. A rare thing these days when children can binge on anything from films, to book box sets to cheap toys. It made me feel quite old fashioned and wholesome to have given her this experience - 'character building' I would call it.

12th Feb - The dress PART 2

I listened to a debate on the radio about how mixed race and ethnic minority families were still finding it hard to get dolls with different coloured skins and hair texture alongside main stream choices in shops rather than making a specialised search online. This radio feature reminded me of my little purchase I had tucked away in my craft stash. It seems astounding to me that this is still a difficult purchase for families in the UK in 2017.

16th March Dungarees
She made the dungarees but the blouse was a fiddle too far. Even I found it hard to manage such small seam allowances under the machine. 

24th April 2017 Blouse and Shorts
She took the doll and the dress (those were the ones she made fully) along with a stick puppet and her crochet teddy to get her Toymaker Brownie badge. She made a little poster of some of these photos with captions about how she made the items. How about that? 

All I have left now are the original instructions and packing invoice with the last piece of fabric from the sheet. I think I will make her a scrapbook page about her experience for her album.

PS. We had to make one tiny modification. It really bothered Big sis that she did not have a nose so I had to draw one on with fabric pen. It was nerve racking I can tell you. Can you imagine if she had made all of that over four months for me to ruin it with a wonky nose!

Any happy childhood memories stirred? 
Did someone ever make you something special?
 Jo xxxx