Enid Gilchrist, another collection obsession...

Along with my collection of dolls and miniature seeing machines, I LOVE old sewing magazines! Or more specifically, magazines by Enid Gilchrist.

Enid Beatrice Gilchrist was a fashion designer who revolutionised the way Australian women made clothes from the 50's to the 70's. She developed a drafting system that allowed the home seamstress to create styles of the day with ease.

Originally, Enid wrote articles for New Idea, and later created a series of magazines with designs from babies to adults. It is these that I collect, although any old sewing books interest me.

I love the hand drawn illustrations, the designs - even the browning paper they are printed on! That smell is so distinct!!

Although I have quite a few, it is nowhere near a complete collection. Many are duplicates of the same magazine with different pricing, or even a complete cover change! Many have damaged or missing covers and I'm always on the lookout for replacements. But having a damaged one is better than none at all!!

List of titles I have complete :
Clothes for your Baby
Baby Book
Girls Gear
Boy and Girls Clothes
Undies, Beach and Sleepwear
Women and Teenagers
Play Clothes
Little Coats and Dresses
70's Styles
Under 5
Sixes and Sevens
Three to Six
Six to Nine
Nine to Eleven
Sleepwear and Undies
Fancy Dress
Pinnies 'n' Things
Dolls Clothes

Maternity Wear
Betweens (no cover)
Preschool Clothes (no cover)
Toddlers Clothes (no cover)

Looking for :
Teen Dolls
Kindergarten Set
Ten to Teens
Teenagers and Small Women
Casual Clothes

Not sure how many more there are!

These are titles listed on the backs of the magazines that I don't have. I will try and do a better matchup of older and newer covers at a later date, maybe even a chart! Time pending, of course!!

Angel baby...

I started this project MANY years ago after I bought the doll from an Op Shop. I thought he had the most angelic look about him, so of course he had to become one.

I had already completed his shoes and gown out of really soft fabric, and the wings were already purchased. All he needed was some underthings and the wings attached. The problem was that his arms turn outward so any clothes need to have enormous armholes! Not such a problem for the gown, but the underthings were a little more difficult.

I hunted through my books to find a solution, and the Doll Dressmaker was full of ideas. I thought a onesie would work best, but how do I reduce the bulk at the back and shoulders, while allowing for the arms?? Make it like an overall, with a bib and brace style front. Worked a treat!! With some careful planning I managed to hide all the Velcro stitching into the lining and even put a little lace on the hems! Took the best part of this afternoon, but worth it, I think.

Since I made an extra special effort in my neatness, he will go in for judging at this years Canning Show.....

Tree is finished..

My little tree is done! Pretty good effort, if I do say so myself.

Got me thinking about Christmas, and how I can translate this design to a type of Family Tree. Should I use photos, signatures, handprints?? Maybe some other method?? Oh, the choices!!!

Apples...

After re-doing the apples twice, I'm still not happy with them. Even though they all started the same size, they appear to be so different! I think the difference in fabric is to blame, but I already had them on hand so I can live with it!

So far I've followed the instructions pretty closely, which means its turning out pretty well. Not sure about binding yet.... Striped, checked, patterned?? My colours are all darker than the original, so maybe even a plain will work best? Like a window frame, perhaps??

Family Tree...

Got Bernie back from the service centre and she's running like a dream, so got back to the appliqué tree.

Found some sky fabric and a brushed cotton for the grass. Cheap, too! Fat quarters were only $2, and the sky fabric was on the cheaper end of the scale, so very little spent on this so far.

The original design had the tree hand blanket stitched in all the same green, but since I used a couple of autumn greens, I decided to use matching thread. And I don't hand stitch!! Bernie has a really nice "fake" blanket stitch which will do just fine!! Couldn't find a matching thread for the spot, though, so looks like a trip to the markets tomorrow to see what they've got.

Happy with it do far. If it turns out ok, I may do a Family Tree style quilt for my grandmother for Christmas and get all the family to sign one branch each. Still in the thinking stages so far - maybe I could photo print them??? That could work.... Hmmmmm......