Topsy Turvy Does it

When I was a child I had a doll that I absolutely loved. She was given to me by someone that I care for very much. And I dearly wish that I still had her. But I don't. And this has been playing on my mind for a while now. Until I bought a vintage craft book about a month ago.
The pattern for this doll has been brewing in my mind for a few months, but I didn't really have the confidence to get started on it. Then I saw a 'suggestion' of how to make a similar doll in this vintage craft book and thought, what the hell, lets give it a go. I hinted at it in this post and gave you a sneak peak, but didn't actually finish her until today.

This is Julianna. Her dress is made from one of my favourite Paul Smith fabrics and has a collar that ties at the shoulder. I designed the dress based on a real full size pattern of a 1970's dress (minus the shoulder tie) that I was given a while ago. I have no experiance of dressmaking other than the dress I made for my Princess and the Pea doll. But I really enjoyed making this one and I feel that I'm really building in confidence.

She stands 17" (43cm) tall, so she's quite a statuesque young lady. Her hair is made from brown wool and is worn in a jaunty bob, pulled in at the nape of her neck. Her features are embroidered.

Oh and she has a best friend called Sophia.

Sophia is also 17" tall, but wears her hair in a slightly more traditional plait made from the same brown wool as Julianna's.

Sophia wears a green leafy/floral abstract printed dress. It's obviously the same pattern as Julianna's dress but I altered the collar to suit the more traditional look of her dress.

Julianna and Sophia are the best of friends. They love to do everything together. In fact you could say that they're joined at the hip.

Because they actually are joined at the hip!

You see the doll that I had when I was younger was a topsy turvy doll. One end of her wore a beautiful dress and had her hair all done up, whilst the other end wore a night dress and was asleep. And I loved that so much.

I did intend to try and do a more exact copy, but eventually decided to make the doll as two seperate dolls, purely because it was more fun that way.

It's taken me so long to finish Julianna/Sophia because I've struggled with each new step. Amongst other things, I haven't tried to sew 'real'  hair before (the Princesses is embroidered), so I left her sitting on my table for a while whilst I worked up the courage to try it.  And then she had to sit around faceless whilst I worked out how on earth I was going to embroider their faces - most of my toys are asleep for a reason!

Anyway I'm  really pleased with her now that she's finally finished and more than that, I'm really pleased that I got to grips with some new techniques - none of which were nearly as hard as I thought they would be.

Oh and just as a very strange coincidence, if you look over on Whip Up today, you'll see some more Topsy Turvy dolls made by Megan Hanson-Knarhoi.

Julianna/Sophia is now in the shop .

 

Comments

[Ali]

WOW! Now I'm not really a dolly girl, but Julianna/Sophia is something special.

Have you seen the call for Morphe II entries? http://neststudio.typepad.com/moopy_me/2006/05/its_on_again.html
Just a thought....

[capello]

You should have heard my laughter when I realized what a topsy-turvy doll -- she (they?) is (are?) so cute!

[Sarah]

How wonderful! I had one of these when I was a little girl. I adore the fabric choices :)

[sadira]

OH...How wonderful to be reminded of my topsy-turvy doll I had as a child (now, I need to remember where she's gotten off to?)...I also had one that was little red riding hood, and the wolf dressesd as grandma!

[Julie]

J/S are beautiful! Wow..im so impressed!
Loved the fashion show!!!

[Mijk]

I have one like that in my pausedprojectsbasket. She will one day be cinderella. Princess one one side, kitchenmaid the other. I need to finish them. Yours look lovely..

[Lucia]

OH, this kind of doll is fantastic. I have one on process also. Well, I have many other projects ongoing as well. Now I think I should finish it, after looking at yours :D

They both look fantastic. :)

[Chris Howard]

I had a topsy-turvy doll too when I was little! One side was Little Red Riding Hood, complete with her red cape and basket, and the other side was the wolf dressed as grandma with grey hair and glasses.
Your dollies look wonderful and I ESPECIALLY love the hair! Julianna has a fashionable "flip" just like a movie star and Sophia wears a cute braid like a homespun girl.

Good job! I can't wait to see what you do next. :)

[molly]

i gasped when I saw this post, because just this weekend when I was home my girls picked up my topsy turvy doll from when I was little. It was goldilocks, and the three bears on the other side. I thought, this would be so hard to make! and today, you did! you are so talented. I think that "the girls" look fantastic! what an amazing job you did!!!!

[Mirre]

What a wonderful doll (dolls?)!!
I like the dresses especially... they're beautiful!

[Heather]

How adorable! I love their faces. So sweet. I have a doll my mother made my older sister that I just cherish, and it is sitting on a shelf waiting for me to disect and figure out. What a lovely way to honor your past.

[ann wood]

Manda, It's AMAZING! I had one when I was little as well and I love yours in a nostalgic way but also just as a beautiful thing.
It's so expressive and really original.

[joanna]

ooooh! You are good! That doll is wonderful.

[mary]

Wow, they are darling. I love the mature look they have.

Nice job on the pattern and the dresses!

[Toni]

So clever, so talented, so cute!! I'm partial to that hair-do of Sophia's.

[craftfetish]

We had a topsy-turvy doll that was awake and asleep too! Yours is so much cuter, though. I'm a little jealous of Julianna's cute hair.

[weirdbunny]

she's a classy kinda doll, her friend too!

[heather]

that is a great doll (great dolls? which do they prefer?) the dresses are very pretty.

i'm sure everyone was getting suspicious when they realized they had never actually *seen* the both of them in the room at the same time. (!)

i really want to make one now. :)

[Erin]

I'd forgotten all about those topsy turvy dolls. My neighbor friend had the red ridinghood/wolf and I was sooo jealous. Your dolls are lovely. Wonderful fabrics for their pretty dresses.

[Patch Me]

Ooohhh aaahh, I love the looks you've given them.

[Tonya]

I am so delighed that some one actually remembers these dolls.I also loved mine and have been lookijng for a long time for this link. I have a great ideaa for one of rmy daughter. If any one still makes these please e-mail me so we can talk about my idea.

[Kelly]

This was very clever of you to come up with the idea and pattern on your own. I have just started making soft toys over the last few months but was fortunate in that I had patterns available to me to give me a kickstart (which my Mum cut out of a woman's lifestyle magazine when I was small but never made up). I am just now taking the brave step of coming up with my own creations so full credit to you.

[snapdragonjane]

I had a few of these types of doll as a child (my Mum made them for a local toy shop, I suspect I got the ones that didn't sell or went wrong) - there was a one with an awake doll and an asleep doll and a cinderella who transformed from skivvy in artfully patched rags into a glamorour creature in her ball dress (turquoise lurex)and beautifully coiffured hair. I think the patterns were Jean Greenhowe from Women's weekly,
I love the Paul Smith fabric,
J
x

[snapdragonjane]

I had a few of these types of doll as a child (my Mum made them for a local toy shop, I suspect I got the ones that didn't sell or went wrong) - there was a one with an awake doll and an asleep doll and a cinderella who transformed from skivvy in artfully patched rags into a glamorour creature in her ball dress (turquoise lurex)and beautifully coiffured hair. I think the patterns were Jean Greenhowe from Women's weekly,
I love the Paul Smith fabric,
J
x

[ann]

I really enjoyed your dolls! What a clever way to enjoy two for the price of one. Do you know the history of this doll and where it got started?