Freebie Friday - a Really Good Vintage

My doll club, Rainbow Dolls has decided to take on a challenge.  We are going with the theme 'A Really Good Vintage', incorporating vintage materials and/or styles into our dolls.  While doing some research for my doll I found some pretty great vintage free stuff - tutorials, ageing recipes and patterns. 

There are really so many directions that you could go in for this theme.  I started thinking about the history of dolls and found this nice little article with some great pictures, click here to check it out.

I also found this great article on historical doll clothes.  It has some great tips and and a fantastic chart that shows the fabric and pattern types used during different periods. Click here to see this great reference.

Besides the commercially produced dolls of the past you could also consider more traditional doll forms.  the rag doll for instance, click here to see a free pattern.

Other doll forms like the apple head dolls traditionally made in North America are another option.  Click here to visit the Apple Dolls site.  It has free tutorials on carving heads, making bodies and clothes, plus 4 videos to watch for free.

Primitives are another style option for this type of theme.  Prim Mart has a whole page of tutorials on everything from how to sculpt a nose to how to make pantaloons.  Click here to take your pick.  If you'd rather have a prim pattern, they've got those too, click here to see what they've got for free.  Also, check out my previous post on prim Patterns for free by clicking here.

If you wanted something a bit different why not turn to the 1940's.  Here's a great pattern for a doll and her clothes.

Travelling further back in time, here is a great vintage knitting pattern for a doll sweater from 1904.

If you don't have access to actual vintage materials but you want your fabrics to have that vintage feel you could age them.  The technique you use depends on the look you are after.  If you want a grungy look you could try coffee dying.  A lot of primitive doll makers swear by coffee dying, here is an article that explains the process in some detail.  Coffee gives the fabric an umber hue.  Tea dying will often give an orange hue to the fabric, although different teas will give you slightly different colours.  The Country Cupboard has a good little article on ageing fabric with tea as well as several links to other websites with similar articles, click here to see it.  If you want your fabric to look yellowed then try dying with onions, here is an article to tell you how to do it from Inkin' and Thinkin' .  If you are looking for a more faded, well worn look then bleaching the fabric is best, Martha Stewart shares how to achieve that vintage look here.

One of the the club members pointed out that 'vintage' can be a pretty broad term now a days.  What is vintage we wondered?  I saw a girl not long ago wearing what I use to wear in the 80's and when I exclaimed at this, she informed me it was 'vintage'. Already????  My mum warned me this would happen.  I'm really sorry I bought polyester shirts Mum.  And I can't tell you how sorry I am for those bell bottoms I wore in university.   

Comments

[Kitty Babcock]

Ha. You don't know vintage until your daughter takes your trouseau so carefully chosen in 1969, to school as a history project. Seeing you wearing the polyester was just plan FUN. Thanks for being you!! Love, Mum

[Yvette]

I love your vintage and primitive links lots of great info!

It made me laugh when you mentioned the "80's" clothing. When I was shopping with my daughter I couldn't help but think that they dug up all that old polyester from the 80's. I didn't like it then and i still don't LOL