Dolls in photo (from left to right):
-Samantha Parkington
-Kaya
I am so embarrassed by these outfits, that I am shocked I held onto them for so many years. The first time I'd seen Kaya and Sam wear these in years, Colleen and I burst out laughing. It's evident that I did not know how to sew, nor did I make flattering choices. I can't help but wonder what was 12/13 year old me thinking?!! I always wanted to make doll clothes as a kid, but I didn't have any one to show me, nor did we have the internet at home. So using the basic knowledge I had from home economics class in middle school, I hand sewed different "patterns" I came up with. Samantha's dress on the left was the first one I ever completed. It's only comprised of two pieces--a front and back that were sewn together. I did not realize that the sleeves should be separate. Closures where?!!! That's right, you have to pull this ugly honking dress over Sam's head. So wonderful...she not only looks wretched in the outfit, but she also ends up with messy tresses. I still vividly recall going to Walmart and picking out the supplies to make the outfits. I made Samantha's sometime during the summer of 2004, and Kaya's in the spring of 2005. Back then, we didn't have a super Walmart location, but the tiny store in the neighboring town had a huge sewing section. Dad helped me pick out the fabric, and he also sewed the lace onto Sam's dress (he thought it would be difficult for me). He usually got involved in whatever project I was working on, doll related or otherwise. I remember the time he let me order two stuffed animal sewing kits for home economics class, and sewed me an Orca whale! His abilities were better than mine, but Dad wasn't an expert sewer either. There is some puckering along the collar, which makes it hard to lay flat. The buttons were from my mom's button jar. They must have been extras that came with a tacky outfit of hers, or they were found somewhere. To top off the bad choice, the buttons are also sewn on crooked.
If you thought Samantha's blue dress was scary, Kaya's is straight from a horror film! I actually still have the leftover white material I used to make her dress. I did pick a decent fabric--it reminds me of something she'd wear (but without the faux leather issues). But the embellishments I chose to put on this dress are even more hideous than those on Sam's. PONY BEADS?!! They aren't even sewn on...I tied them to strings and glued the strings down. I feel like banging my head on the wall...what was I thinking? I recall with perfect clarity picking these out at Walmart and feeling excited to use them. I guess one thing has stayed the same...I have gaudy taste (although 31 year old me would never make these two outfits). I'm also not much better at sewing, although I have figured out how to make up slightly better patterns (if I do make doll clothes these days, they aren't just a front and back). I am wondering why I didn't cut fringe into the hemline of Kaya's outfit...that seems like it would have been a natural choice. It also would have saved me the painstaking effort of hemming everything. But I think this fabric might have frayed too much...I feel like this was my second attempt at the dress (the first didn't work out if I recall).
I know I'm tearing apart younger me's work, but I do think it's cute that I wanted to make my girls something special. Craft Shelly always made appearances for her American Girl dolls.
I created various things like glittery napkins, decorated shoe boxes to store their clothes in, hair accessories, etc. There were other ensembles I attempted to create, but I scrapped them. Sometimes it was because the fabric was so cheap it fell apart, and other times it was because my perfectionistic ways got the better of me. I have to pat myself on the back for actually "finishing" these two get ups. I used to feel so defeated and had such low self esteem that I'd constantly get stuck in the cycle of starting over, but never completing a project. I still struggle with those tendencies, but I've learned to live with the "ugly" phase of a creation/project. Maybe that's why I held onto these dresses all of these years...it's certainly not because I plan to force my girls to wear them (that would be cruel).
