Sewing for dolls

People ask me how I got started sewing for dolls.

 My first replica - McGuffey Ana's dress

If the question is why dolls NOW? then the answer is something my mother said in 2006. She was describing the doll dresses her mother made for her when she was a little girl. Dresses with smocking, embroidery, and wee little pockets. Something Nana did that I can look to today for inspiration.

 A fantasy dress for Bitty Brynne

If the question is how long have you known how to sew? then the answer is that I learned to sew when I was a little girl. We learned by making doll dresses. Momma would guide us through the myriad instructions for projects with needle and thread, explaining and demonstrating so that we completed tiny garments with a sense of pride and accomplishment. And both grandmothers supported our learning. 

This coat doesn't fit Bluette - must make her a new one!

Both of my grandmothers watch me and guide me. I remember things they said or did. I remember how their houses looked and the way they included me when they were cooking or sewing. I remember them reading and talking to me. 

A tradition of mothers and grandmothers teaching their daughters and granddaughters to cook and to sew. The cooking didn't 'take' with me but the sewing did. And I return to it now with unquenchable passion. To express oneself with fabric and needle and thread.

What a gift.