Basic Sophie Redhead

The Robert Tonner Doll Company issued this precious little doll in 2000 as a "Basic Sophie" with red hair.

She came to my house without clothes, poor thing.  I bought this basic Tonner onesie for her, and added the shoes and the pail.

Here she is dressed in an original Robert Tonner dress designed by Mary Englebreit.  This one has a yellow skirt with tiny flowers edged in lace, a red gingham top, and white collar and cuffs edged in green.  I added the green hat. and the yellow shoes.

I made these coordinating outfits for her from a brown microsuede and a floral cotton print.  The tights were made from white cotton knit. The romper has little red buttons on the front as trim. Isn't she cute?

The coat is lined in the floral cotton print and has picot edging.  The dress has a hem of the brown fabric with red picot trim.

 This dress has a beige fabric with trees and "Let It Snow" on it.  The coordinating maroon fabric has the snow.  I made a pale beige petticoat and knit tights to go with this dress.  She can wear it for the holidays, or anytime it snows! (However, that's only about once every 3-4 years where I live in East Texas.)

This dress could be used for a spring tea, Easter celebrations, or  flower girl duty. She has a basket of flowers and a hair bow with it.

The dress is made of white baby pique and trimmed with hand-embroidery in pink and green.  The crocheted sweater also has hand-embroidered trim.  There are matching white pique panties and a tiny purse, all made by BonBon.

This Sophie has a bunny to sleep with, in her pajamas that I made from a tiny floral fabric with pale blue solid coordinating cotton.  Tiny beads serve as buttons down the front (although it actually closes in the back with snaps).

Here is another Robert Tonner dress designed by Mary Englebreit, although I can't remember the name of the style.  I think it was sold as a separate outfit.

This doll has a blue trunk to hold her things.  The shoes go in a plastic box.

This is my dear husband's favorite of the Ann Estelle/Sophie dolls.  I think she flirts with him when I am not looking.

###

"Stockings Were Hung" Sophie Doll

Robert Tonner Doll Company issued this 10" Ann Estelle friend, Sophie,  "The Stockings Were Hung" in 2006.

This is her original dress by Robert Tonner, a Mary Englebreit design.  The green velvet dress has red and white trim. The shoes have felt flowers that match the flower on the collar. She has a felt decorated stocking with "candy cane" in it. I made a bead bracelet to match.

This is another Mary Englebreit design dress manufactured by Robert Tonner, a cute cherries design for the skirt and red gingham for the bodice, with lace edging at the hem, and a white collar with little cherries for trim.

For this blue cotton dress, I used embroidered ribbon trim and edged the cuffs and neckline by hand with embroidery thread. She has a matching hair band and a tiny flower basket to carry.

Here is Sophie in her pajamas with her teddy bear. I selected a tiny pink and green floral print for the top and white cotton for the long pants, and trimmed them with satin roses and ribbon. I also made some matching slippers.

I made the playsuit from a tiny pique fabric and used red and blue tiny rickrack for the trim.

I bought this sweater, then cut a placket in the back for a snap closure. Worn with the white playsuit, it makes a patriotic outfit, especially nice on the Fourth of July! She has cute red canvas shoes to wear with it.

Another larger doll had an Indian outfit, which I took apart and remade for Sophie. Using the extra fabric, I made a headband and moccasins and trimmed them in tiny beads to match the Indian dress. Fun for "dress-up" play dates for Sophie!

This doll has a wooden trunk lined in pretty yellow print paper.  A plastic box holds her shoes.

###

"Renaissance Garden" Cissy Doll

Madame Alexander issued this beautiful redhead 21" Cissy doll in 2002.

The white satin strapless dress is covered in a layer of sheer knit fabric embroidered in brown designs and trimmed with brown velvet flowers at neckline and waist, with matching flowers on the headband and neck ribbon.  She has brown suede shoes, brown pantyhose, a brown petticoat, and white long gloves.

This doll is special to me because it was a gift from my daughter Deborah.

 

I made this blue strapless gown and sequined coat from a "Perfect Pattern" design.

Cissy wears this gown to a dance with a handsome Marine (Man of Honor WWII Marine doll).

I designed  and made this dress from coordinating pieces of silk taffeta in blue and gold.The sheath dress has a lined bolero.

Using the same "Perfect Pattern" as in the blue strapless gown above, I made this one from a bronze dupioni silk.  I added a brooch and a gold mesh stole.

I designed an overdress to wear over the bronze silk. It is made from a heavily embroidered silk fabric.

Here is the nightgown I made for her.  The lace top is trimmed with tiny blue beads.

This purple lace onesie, purple mesh stockings, and print nylon negligee were made by Jane Perilloux, a talented doll seamstress.



Here she wears a pretty floral print dress with ribbon belt, that I designed and made.



I found this pretty cable knit sweater with brown button trim at the neckline.  It may have been intended for an American Girl doll originally, but I made a placket in the back for snaps and removed the excess bulk at side seams, and the refitted sweater looks nice on this Cissy, along with brown slacks that I made for her. 

The gold jersey knit blouse is lined in self fabric.  The brown knit skirt and the leopard print jacket are also lined in the same fabric.  She happened to have leopard knit shoes that match, and I found a coordinating ribbon for her hair.

Renaissance Garden Cissy and Royal Reception Cissy (in alternate wig) enjoy a little "girl time" together.

Here is Renaissance Garden Cissy with her trunk set.

Now I have posted all nine of my Cissy dolls with their trunk sets.  The trunk sets for each doll include outfits by Madame Alexander, by talented eBay seamstresses (especially Jane Perilloux), and by me.  In total, I have made 45 outfits for Cissy dolls (so far).  The trunks were bought new from Queen's Treasures.

All of my Cissy dolls have been dressed, redressed, posed, photographed, and displayed. In my humble opinion, dolls are meant to be played with and to be treasured.

###

"Dana Buchman" Cissy Doll

Madame Alexander introduced this 21" Cissy doll in 1999. She has short red hair and green eyes.

The original outfit for the doll was designed by Dana Buchman; it consisted of a mid-calf length green sheath dress with matching coat and hat. 

I bought my doll without the original outfit.  I made her outfit, a sleeveless green sheath dress and 3/4 sleeve jacket, both made of dupioni silk lined in white satin.

Here is the dress without the jacket.  Cissy relaxes for a few moments in a big comfy chair with a Dr. Pepper

This doll does have one original Madame Alexander outfit, however, which came with Black and White Ball Cissy. (This time, I bought the outfit without the doll.)

 This long black velvet dress has a full white satin flounce and is decorated with flowers at the edge of the flounce and the shoulder.



 Cissy at her dressing table, preparing for her evening out.

Her handsome Marine escort (Man of Honor WWII Marine doll) thinks she looks stunning.

 Cissy thinks he looks pretty good too.

 I made a mix-and-match outfit from a tissue-weight taffeta in green and blue. This layout shows all the pieces: hat, stole with beaded fringe, overskirt in green lined in blue, straight green skirt, jacket, blue strapless top, green purse, jewelry. Cissy models the straight skirt with overskirt, with strapless top and stole.

This dress is made of a soft maroon velvet fabric trimmed in gold braid.  The dress has a halter top and has a matching stole.

The cute plaid fabric was salvaged from an ugly porcelain doll that came with a trunk I wanted.  I gave the doll away, but used the fabric, making a dress with a red blouse and plaid skirt, with matching vest.

For casual wear, I made Cissy some tan twill slacks and a top of aqua knit trimmed in tan picot braid.

These pajamas for Cissy are made of coordinating lightweight cotton prints in pale blue solid and  blue and white print.  The top fastens in front; it has pockets, collar, and cuffs to match the pants.

Here is the same doll in two different wigs, the short red one, and a long brunette one.  Changing a wig makes such a difference in the appearance.

The dress is made of green velvet and a gold silk taffeta embellished with a criss-cross pattern of tiny pearls. It is trimmed with a tiny white ruffle at neckline, cuffs, and hem. This dress was my own design and presented several challenges in contruction, but turned out nicely.

One of the things I like about this Cissy is that the eyebrows are painted in a feathered fashion instead of a single paint line.  Such a pretty doll!

###