Ready for spring

Vintage Ginny now has a peach colored ensemble--sundress and matching sunhat and panties which I made in one morning. She's all ready for Spring. Her hair has been fluffed. My early strung Muffie is wearing midnight blue taffeta. I'll either make matching panties or possibly use a generic pair I just bought on ebay which were advertised as old store stock.




My Ginny wearing polka dots was purchased yesterday for $1.38 at Goodwill. She had no clothes and was a bit dirty. Her hair was mussy. For dolls which aren't valuable antiques I have had great success using those magical eraser cleaners. One swipe will remove dirt that you might otherwise have to scrub with a stronger cleaner. I also used undiluted fabric softener on the hair. I combed it out and then rinsed thoroughly. Again, this shouldn't be used on a valuable doll without at least testing first--or asking for professional advice. I have read that it can change the hair color on certain old Barbies. But, I have always had outstanding results with it. She now has an outfit I made.
The Ginny in the center is from 1968. She is vinyl and is the most unusual of the little girl dolls of her year and is all complete with her original outfit, socks, and shoes. I purchased her in an antique store for about $7.
Bent knee Ginny again models her new peach outfit.

Dolls from an auction

These are all but two of the dolls I recently bought at auction. It was a disappointing day in many ways because the dolls I most wanted either went for prices out of my reach or I felt they would and stopped bidding. I still need to research whether or not a Lissy faced Alexander doll might be unmarked. The clothing wasn't marked either but the bidding started high and went from there so... I dropped out early since I didn't know exactly what I was bidding on :-). Two Vogue Jill dolls in their case with extra clothes went for over $80. I was amazed at the prices for old Barbie cases and clothes. My mom wasn't much for saving many of my early dolls as moving around with the Army doesn't allow for it. I do have a couple of big baby dolls. A person who had saved a large collection of their first Barbies might be able to turn that into money for a car. LOL.
At this auction I did get a bag of broken dolls for $4, and a little box of baby dolls for the same price. The three dolls leaning on the photo frame and the one sitting in front were in the bag and they've been worked on already!
The one in front is a vintage Vogue Ginny bent knee walker, made from 1957 to 1962. (It isn't from 61 as those were all green eyed with freckles.) She needed arms and a wig, as well as the lower part of the left leg. I felt she should be blond based on a stray hair or two left on her little bald head so I used curly craft doll hair to make her a wig. I later picked the ringlets out into a fuller style. I had a small selection of doll arms to choose from. Someday I hope to get vintage arms, a lower left leg, and a vintage Ginny wig. Stranger things have happened. It probably won't be by buying them on ebay as the parts and wigs for dolls go for almost as much as a vintage doll in nice shape!
The doll leaning on the frame dressed in white with blue stripes and red apples is, I think, a small eyed Ginger. She was missing only her wig and her arm hooks are consistent with what I've seen pictured on old Ginger dolls. I made her wig from mohair roving.
The dolls in blue and red are the same maker but I don't know who the maker is. Their feet are blunt, as though they have molded shoes which are unpainted and unshaped except for a line at the top. The one in red had her own wig. Both needed replacement arms. The doll in blue has a longer mohair wig which I made.
These four dolls are all in dresses which I made.
The doll in yellow is a skinny Ginny. She came in a bag with this dress and some other clothes and shoes, and I mainly wanted the clothes and shoes. Again $4.
I don't really collect baby dolls but I knew one was a Madame Alexander and thought it would be fun to have--and the price was right. The bigger baby doll is a 12" Vogue Ginny baby (which I didn't realize until I got to the car). The Sun Rubber Company doll is also marked with the name Ruth Newton, the designer's name, and is from 1957. The 9" baby is the Madame Alexander Sweet Tears. I made the diapers on the Ginny baby and Sweet Tears, altering a free pattern I got online.
Well, the auction was a learning experience. I learned a few things about doll collecters and finally got an old Ginny. Although she's not all there, who among us is? LOL!

This was the doll I paid the higher price (for me) for at the auction. It's a limited edition Ginny made for the Gigi's dolls and Sherrie's Bears shop in Chicago. It's a 1988-1989 doll. I also have a another of their dolls, a Gigi's favorite Ginny who is dressed in blue with a white apron. She has her teddy bear with her. www.gigisdolls.com if you want to look and wish.