Arranbee 14" doll: "Belle"

This is "Belle," the second of the five "sister dolls" to my childhood Arranbee doll. Belle has a medium length brown replacement wig and blue eyes.  Her wardrobe consists of outfits in red, white, and blue.

She is waving "hello" to you, as she is a friendly doll. She has on a red and white gingham shirt that buttons in front, jeans, and a denim cap, all of which I designed and made for her.

I found some cute denim sneakers for her to wear, too.

Belle also looks nice all dressed up.  This pretty long white lace-trimmed dress came on an old Madame Alexander doll that had been in an attic a long time.  The dress was quite dusty, but a gentle washing brought out its beauty.  I added a red velvet sash.

This dress was made of two coordinating fabrics that just begged to be made into a doll dress for Valentine's Day!  Wouldn't you be Belle's valentine if she was wearing this dress? I also made a red net petticoat to go with the dress.

Belle is in the drill team at her school.  This is the outfit I made for her, complete with white boots and
matching panties. I like the diagonal bodice.

This red white and blue tiny print is decorated with baby rickrack and features bell sleeves.  A nice summertime dress that I made for Belle.

This is an outfit that came in a vintage collection with a fixer-upper doll.  I repaired the tears in the blouse, added new elastic to the sleeves, altered both the blouse and skirt to fit, and washed and ironed the outfit. Now Belle has a nice schoolday outfit.

Belle wears soft white cotton gown that I trimmed with hand embroidery on the yoke.

Here is Belle in her trunk.

###

Arranbee 14" doll: "Alice"

I am guessing most doll collectors have a favorite doll (or two or three) that they played with as a child.  My childhood doll was an Arranbee (R&B) Nancy Lee doll (shown in an earlier posting).  She is my favorite.

I have collected several additional Nancy Lee or Nannette dolls, all 14" hard plastic, strung dolls.  None of the dolls I purchased were mint, because the mint dolls are so expensive, and because I enjoy refurbishing old dolls.  This post and four more will feature the five "sister dolls" to my childhood doll. 

As I developed trunk sets for these dolls, I had the trunks labeled  A, B, C, D, and E, just to help keep things organized.  Later I decided to name the dolls by these same letters: Alice, Belle, Caroline, Darcy, and Elise. 

So, here is Alice.

I made the blue cotton dress with a white braid trim.  The white pinafore features ribbon and lace for the straps and edging.

The nightgown below was made from a vintage pattern that my mother used many years ago, when making clothes for my childhood doll.  The gown of blue cotton has embroidery on the sleeves and is edged in tiny lace trim.

My mother made the dress in the two photos below. 

The fabric is blue with white dots, and the trim is blue velvet ribbon with lace. It has an attached lace petticoat.                                                                             

 My mom also made the knitted blue stole with fringe.

I made this dress from a vintage dotted swiss fabric, with baby picot trim in blue.

I crocheted the following outfit using baby-weight blue and white yarn.  I started with a Mary Hoyer pattern, but made some modifications.  It has a row of tiny buttons for the front closure.  There are matching panties and a cap, also.  It was a bit challenging for me, as I am a beginner with crochet, but fun to do.

This is a refurbished white long dress. The dress came on a fixer-upper doll and was dingy and in poor repair. The fabric was not damaged, however. I took the dress apart, altered it to fit, added elastic to the sleeves, and trimmed the dress with white lace. 

Here is Alice in her trunk, which came from The Queen's Treasures.  (See their website or eBay).

###

Redhead Ann Estelle in Sewing Class

This pretty redhead is a 10" Ann Estelle doll by Robert Tonner Doll Company.  I can't remember which model she is.  I think I bought her without any outfit on eBay, so maybe I never have known exactly which Ann Estelle doll she is.  Her long hair can be worn in a flip, or tied in the back.  She has blue eyes.

This Robert Tonner outfit is called Sewing Class.  The A-line sleeveless dress is made of a tiny blue print.  The yellow coat or smock is trimmed in purple with black and white piping.  She has a pin cushion and tape measure.

Here is a close up of this doll, with her hair tied back and her glasses on.  I made the bead necklace to go with her dress.

I made this pink cotton dress with pintucks in the hem and hand embroidery trim on the bodice. She can use it as her nightgown or as a sundress.

A talented eBay seamstress made this cute dress of coordinating fabrics.

Another talented eBay seamstress made this romper with coordinating boucle jacket and hat.  It was made for a 12" doll, which I no longer have, so I altered it to fit Ann Estelle, and added the buttons as trim. 

This dress has a green velvet skirt and a white satin top.  I made it to go with the holiday sweater that has a cute Christmas tree on the front.  I cut the back of the sweater and added binding and snaps for closure, because it was too hard to put on otherwise.  Sometimes she wears the dress with a necklace, instead of the sweater.

This blue organza party dress was part of a trunk set for another doll, but it fit this Ann Estelle just find, and she looks great in this color!

This doll has a vintage blue metal trunk with a pink starburst paper.  There was no drawer, so I made one using a decorative box as a shelf and another box for the drawer.  Not as nice as an original drawer, but serviceable.  She has a plastic box for shoes. I made a petticoat, panties, and tights for her, also.

This is the sixth of six posts about Ann Estelle/Sophie dolls.  You can look through previous posts to find the others, if you like.  I love these little childlike dolls with the "just right" expression.  They are surprisingly easy to sew for (not too small, not too big, just right!) and look equally nice in simple clothes or fancy dresses.

###

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.

###