Sewing for American Girl Dolls Felicity. Painting of 1700's Dresses for Little Girls by Artists Albert Raudnitz & Wilhelm Schutze

As a child I loved dolls and dollhouses. Definitely not a tom boy. As an adult my life was busy and there were practical things to invest in. The few toys I held on to were packed away up in my closet. I was not a doll collector. Buying an old house that needed lots of work, working and just busy living took up my time and resources. Then there were some hard and challenging years. Next thing I know my interest in miniatures and dolls comes back. Maybe it was comforting. For about 5-6 years I enjoyed building a dollhouse and bought some dolls. Somehow I came across the Pleasant Co dolls. I could not resist them. They were a new company at the time, way before it was sold and became American Girl. Samantha and Kirsten were my first dolls. Eventually Felicity arrived. Loved looking at their catalogue. Wanting all the accessories and clothing that was of course more than I wanted to spend. Next I bought patterns to sew them clothes. The years have gone by again and everything went into the top shelf of the closet.  

Looking on Wikipedia Commons for paintings to post on my blog I came across this sweet little girl. How cute this would be on Felicity!  I have pulled out my patterns and have been checking out my fabric stash. I will let you know what happens!

Artist - Albert Raudnitz

Artist - Wilhelm Schutze

Artist - Wilhelm Schutze

Rose Bertin ~~Marie-Antoinette's Milliner and Dressmaker~ Gorgeous 1700s Gravees Illustrations of Hats Louis XVI ~ Free Graphics for Journals~ Mixed Media

Hi everyone and welcome! Today I have the most wonderful pictures! Little treasures tucked in an old book about Rose Bertin. She is the woman that influenced the fashions in Louis XVI court. The dressmaker for Marie-Antoinette. So many sumptuous dresses and elaborate hats and hair. After finding these picture I was so curious to know more about the woman who had such an impact on fashion.

Link to book about Rose Bertin.

Link to Rose Bertin Wikipedia page

I hope you find these as charming as I do. 

Be safe,be kind to everyone and much love to all,

Louise

Marie-Antoinette Theater Label. Free Fancy French Labels and Clip Art. ATC, Scrapbooking, and Junk Journals

 Welcome and hello to everyone! Today I have lovely French labels and motifs. The first has bees and a hive so of course it is my favorite! 

The bar with the doves would make the prettiest labels. 

Enjoy and I hope you add them to one of your creations. 

Much love to each and everyone of you!

Madame Pompadour portraits by François Boucher ~ Free Vintage Button Card and Rococo Label Clip Art

Madame Pompadour needs to powder her nose! It was easy to pick paintings to go with this button card.  I love the sumptuous silks, lace, and ribbons in portraits from this time period. 

Madame de Pompadour by  François Boucher, 1758

Madame de Pompadour on Wikipedia

This picture was in my parents bedroom growing up. 

This would make pretty labels. 

Marie Antoinette and Friends in Beautiful18th Century Paintings

 Hi everyone,I am so excited about this post! My search for portraits from Marie Antoinette's time has been a success. Lovely royal ladies in lavish and sumptuous gowns. There is one issue that needs to be addressed. It is those panniers! Really ladies.Imagine a party with all those fancy gowns. Do they bump into each other? Think of how much maneuvering a group of 4 or 5 conversing together would require! Huge Victorian bustles are also a perplexing fashion trend.

Have a happy and creative day!

Love, Louise

I love this one. She looks so serene.

Grand Duchess Marie Fiodorovna

  (large image)

details!

Large image.

 Maria Luisa of Parma,Laurent Pécheux(French,1729–1821)1765

Queen Charlotte by sir Thomas Gainsborough

The two paintings above are large enough for framing. Looks like the same dress.

The two illustrations below came form a book titled "The Well Dressed Woman".

A quick note, there are three new peacock pictures on the 9-26-12 post.

Dancing for Queen Marie Antoinette Antique Theater Costumes

If you were a dancer and Marie Antoinette wanted you to preform, what would you wear?  An appropriate costume for a royal presentation must be carefully considered. These fabulous antique theater costumes would be perfect! Fit for dancing for a queen and finding their way into one of your projects.

Welcome to the many new followers! It feels so good to have something new for everyone.

Much love to you all, Louise

Please enjoy for personal use only.

Catching up with 18th and 19th Century Portraits of Children

Oh my it has been many days since my last post!  I missed Christmas Monday and Thanksgiving Thursday! I have been cleaning out the garage and back patio.  All the stuff/junk has been tossed out or put away. It feels so good to go out there now. In the garage I found more old college textbooks to recycle. College was years ago and I can not imagine why I still had them. Next gardening. Now this finally did me in. Removing 30 year old ivy plants was so rewarding but hard work. And then yesterday was the most wonderful rainy day. Two cups of hot cocoa and lots of warm tea it was so cozy. Both my kitties wanted to sit on my lap all day long(at the same time)

 Now it is Sunday and time to get blogging.  Today is a day for beautiful old portraits. A real variety of children's clothing from different eras.

Thank you for visiting. Stay warm and dry, Louise

Very Victorian

Love this one. How sweet she looks.

Not sure of the date but it looks French 1770ish. Wonder what they really wore to play in.

Portraits from 1700's, 18th century Women in opulant clothing Marie Antoinette time period

Hi everyone! Welcome to new and returning visitors alike.

 So many of you like the 18th century clothing and portraits. It was time to have that as a theme of the day. The wealthy women of Marie Antoinette's time had such amazing clothing. Wealthy being the important part of the equation. The paintings make me want to play dress up! It would be so fun to wear an accurate ensemble of that time.  Once in awhile I have come across blogs that are focused on period costuming. I did not keep track of them so any blogs you might want to suggest are welcome.  These lovely ladies are so feminine. A perfect element to enjoy or use in a creative endeavor.

Your comments have been the best. Thank you for your continued support. 

Much love to each and everyone of you, Louise

This is a favorite one today. She would look so pretty in a gilt frame.