I have been in love with beautiful little girl dresses my whole life. I have to blame my grandmother "Dee" for this as she used to buy me the most beautiful little girl dresses. They were frilly, flouncy, lacy, filled with tulle underskirt dresses and I just loved them. I could stand and look for hours at my dresses. The dresses I loved - the tulle not so much!
I could just twirl and twirl and twirl in them. Around and around I'd go. Until I got dizzy and fell down and, you guessed it, the dresses would get dirty.
My mother always knew I'd get the dresses dirty and then she'd have to wash and iron them before the special occasion I might be wearing them to so she always said "no."
I never understood then why she'd say "no." I do now, but didn't back then so I'd pout for the rest of the day.
In our family room we had some steps right next to a sofa. When I was wearing one of these dresses I would love to stand on the steps and then jump down into the sofa.As I did my dress would fly up in the air like a parachute and then come landing down on me. I loved it and thought this was a lot of fun!
Of course, everyone could see my frilly underwear, leotards, slip, etc. when I did this - but, only for the briefest of moments.
My Grandmother would "tsk, tsk" and would give me one of those looks of "that's not a lady like thing to do!" I'd just look back at her and smile. I just had to be me.
And, then I'd look over at my Mother and she'd be smiling. She knew I just had to be me, too.
My Grandmother was born in 1896 and she definitely had a closet of beautiful Victorian dresses when she was growing up, like the one shown in the picture to the right. Unfortunately, she passed away in 1975.
While she is not here with me now she left an indelible impression on me, my life, and my creativity. She is largely responsible for my love of Victorian dresses.
When I was knee-high she gave me a very old print of Godey's Fashions for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie (the first female in my family to graduate from college). I was captivated with the dresses and forever hooked. That was the start of my love of Victorian dresses.
When I was designing some of my doll patterns I decided I wanted to design some Victorian dress ornaments. I thought they would be cute and could be hung up as decorations for most of the year.
The first dress ornament I decided to create was a 7" Victorian dress ornament that would hang on a miniature hanger. It had multiple over-skirts, lace trimmed bodice and a ton of decorative lace trims.
The 2nd dress I created was a 7" dress ornament with large gathered sleeves, split front and back over-skirt, lace trimmed bodice, and a ton of decorative lace trims.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to update these e-patterns and to make them available to all of you as free e-patterns. Perhaps I'll encourage you to develop a love of Victorian dress ornaments too. My Grandmother would definitely like that.
To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view our free e-book. Then just download our free .pdf e-book.
To view and download my free e-book please CLICK HERE. You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view our free e-book. Then just download our free .pdf e-book.
For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.
Please respect My Terms of Use: All patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products © 2004-2023 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved. Commercial selling or reselling by any means prohibited without the written consent of Linda Walsh.
Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.
Patterns, e-patterns, printables, e-printables, e-books, graphics, tutorials, how-to's, articles and other e-products are for personal use only. You may not modify, photocopy, download, upload, post, transmit, display, perform, publish, license, reprint, create derivative works from, mass duplicate, re-sell, digitize, and reproduce in any other form (print, digital or electric) or commercially apply, embed, share, Email, or redistribution in any other means. Use of any of the above is prohibited without the written permission of Linda Walsh.
However, you may link to my website(s)/blog(s) and the individual page(s)/blog post(s) (including 1 picture) but do not copy, reprint or duplicate my website(s)/blog(s) or individual page(s)/post(s ) without my permission.
Items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of items made from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns are by permission only.
Please see my Terms and Conditions for additional information.
Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.
No comments:
Post a Comment