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O.L.D. No. 74 is finally up – for a second time. Her name is Glory, and I briefly had her listed a few weeks ago. But she was so far from being ready that I almost immediately took her down again. It wasn’t fair to her! She’s finally ready, and you can see her adoption page HERE. This is how her description begins…

“Guess what?” I excitedly said to my sister the moment she answered the phone.

“What?” she patiently asked.

“The next O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) is number 74!!” I squealed. There was silence.

“And…?”

“7-4!! As in JULY 4th! The 4th of July! Just around the corner! AND I DIDN’T EVEN PLAN IT THAT WAY.”

It’s all fun and games until the dog gets ahold of your hand. I rebuilt her four fingers using an epoxy from our local hardware store right here in town!

It takes very little to excite me.

When we searched for an inspiration outfit and both sent the exact same image to each other at the exact same time (see picture), I knew I’d found my muse. Fast forward a few weeks.

“That better be one spectacular jacket!” the peanut gallery, aka my sister Julie, said.

“It is! It IS,” I promised. By now I’d missed the 4th of July. By a LOT. 

The inspiration image.

But never mind that. The important thing is that it IS still July, and it’s always a good time to love one’s country, and to celebrate it. So without further adieu…

Glory’s face mold might look familiar to you. She’s an Effanbee Anne Shirley. I’ve used this particular mold several times before. One of my favorites!

I sewed tiny glass beads over the flowers on the stomacher.

Usually, no one besides me ever sees one of my girls until she’s sent off to her new home. This time however, I was in a quandary as to length of skirt. After having spent a lot of time piecing the strips of red and tea-dyed white linen together, and then top-stitching every seam, I didn’t want to cut the length of it and then regret it, wishing it was longer. If I’ve learned it once, I’ve learned it a thousand times: you can’t uncut fabric.

ISN’T THIS THE MOST EXCITING THING YOU EVER SAW?!! No? Just me….? Oh.

I took the almost finished Glory over to Julie’s house for a second opinion. Our conclusion? BOTH. I had recently purchased a plethora of wonderful hooks and eyes at an auction and decided I would sew the hooks around the bottom of the hem inside the skirt, and the eyes near the waistband. And, voila!

Our decision made, Julie, who despite her good heart is not really a fan of dolls, said, “This jacket is beautiful. You need to really show it in pictures.”

Reader, this made my day. Yes, she’s my sister, but sometimes I work in a vacuum! In my little sewing room, spending days – DAYS! – trying to find that lot of hooks and eyes I recently got at that auction months ago, because all the hooks and eyes need to be vintage, and they need to MATCH.

I swear, my absolute best treasure I ever got is my sister Julie.

Speaking of Julie and second chances, the time has FINALLY COME. I originally wrote about it months ago HERE. For the second time in her life, Julie will get to hold the little boy she gave up for adoption over thirty years ago. This time when she holds him, she’ll be able to allow her heart fall in love. I’m so happy for her, and can’t wait to meet our Andy.

O.L.D. No. 73 and 73 1/2, Lulu and Emmie, were adopted by Hillary P. of New York, New York! We’ve heard of her before! Thank you Hillary!

And with that, on this boiling but beautiful afternoon, I leave you! Happy summer! Happy family! You’re my favorite.

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