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Relationship of playing with them and current garment sewing (Moderated by Deepika, EleanorSews)
Posted on: 1/22/25 8:41 PM ET
Poll: did you play with paper dolls?
Are you more of a garment sewer now than other types of sewing?
Did your mother assist you or was involved in some way?
Do you know of any little girls who play with them these days?
Hopefully, this will be a fun topic. I'm curious as to whether or not there is a connection.
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Are you more of a garment sewer now than other types of sewing?
Did your mother assist you or was involved in some way?
Do you know of any little girls who play with them these days?
Hopefully, this will be a fun topic. I'm curious as to whether or not there is a connection.
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Oops, forgot what I was going to put here.
Posted on: 1/22/25 8:45 PM ET
In reply to GlButterfly
Yes, but I played with barbies even more, and I am more of a garment sewer. Incidentally, I read somewhere that Ruth Handler meant for Barbie to be a 3 dimensional paper doll.
-- Edited on 1/22/25 at 8:53 PM ET --
-- Edited on 1/22/25 at 8:53 PM ET --
Posted on: 1/22/25 8:46 PM ET
I definitely made paper dolls and their clothing. I am a garment sewer. My mother did not assist. I don't know of any girls that play with them today.
Posted on: 1/22/25 8:51 PM ET
In reply to GlButterfly
Yes, I played with paper dolls and had quite the collection.
My mom showed us how to trace the paper doll’s body to create more clothes for them.
My sister lost interest but I became a garment sewer in my early teens.
My DGD played with paper dolls when she was younger (4-6) but it wasn’t something that lasted long. She was never very interested in dolls either.
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My mom showed us how to trace the paper doll’s body to create more clothes for them.
My sister lost interest but I became a garment sewer in my early teens.
My DGD played with paper dolls when she was younger (4-6) but it wasn’t something that lasted long. She was never very interested in dolls either.
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"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin
"Attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal." unknown
“Be curious, not judgmental.” Ted Lasso
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin
"Attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal." unknown
“Be curious, not judgmental.” Ted Lasso
Posted on: 1/22/25 8:52 PM ET
I found paper dolls to be so lame: only 2-D and you couldn't reposition them. So I started sewing for my dolls.
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"All things are difficult before they are easy."
--Thomas Fuller
--Thomas Fuller
Posted on: 1/22/25 9:56 PM ET
I loved to draw so that's why I had fun making paper dolls and their clothes. However, I did sew a bunch of Barbie doll clothes. Very tedious because so small. That's the first thing I learned to sew. I was 9 years old.
Posted on: 1/22/25 10:08 PM ET
When I was little they still had small books with paper dolls in them. They were perforated and you punched them out or you actually cut them out. That was the fun part. I didn't think of them as dolls or toys even though my older relatives used fake enthusiasm to get me to like them. My brother got a truck or boat and I got.....paper. Lame.
I never knew any girls my age who liked paper dolls. Colorforms were better. Me and every kid I've ever met has liked Colorforms at some point.
I mostly make garments and repair garments. Sometimes I'll make or repair household items.
No one taught me. I learned from books.
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I never knew any girls my age who liked paper dolls. Colorforms were better. Me and every kid I've ever met has liked Colorforms at some point.
I mostly make garments and repair garments. Sometimes I'll make or repair household items.
No one taught me. I learned from books.
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Ana, the ripper
Posted on: 1/22/25 11:33 PM ET
I vaguely remember having a set of paper doll with outfits. I would trace over the doll to create new outfits for her. I also did this with Milly the Model comic books. Foreshadowing for all the pattern tracing I do now!
My mother sewed home dec and outfits for her daughters, but she stopped doing it after we were grown. When I went off to college, she gave me her machine, which was already 25 years old by then, and didn't get a new one for herself. I don't think it was a hobby she particularly enjoyed, it was just something all women (of the WWII generation) were expected to do.
My mother sewed home dec and outfits for her daughters, but she stopped doing it after we were grown. When I went off to college, she gave me her machine, which was already 25 years old by then, and didn't get a new one for herself. I don't think it was a hobby she particularly enjoyed, it was just something all women (of the WWII generation) were expected to do.
Posted on: 1/22/25 11:34 PM ET
In reply to GlButterfly
I played with some when I was a kid, but not much. I preferred my little dump truck and plush toys. But I sort of play with paper dolls now, by using interesting outfit images from Pinterest and putting my head on top of them to see what might work well for me in real life. Like this pic:

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Happy sewing!
My new blog is at joyfulwardrobe.com
My new blog is at joyfulwardrobe.com
Posted on: 1/23/25 0:04 AM ET
I did play with paper dolls in that I cut their outfits and the dolls, but I don’t recall making them talk or anything like that. I only had one pad and I think the pages repeated… I think it was becoming less popular.
My mom didn’t teach me how to sew- I just kind of would see what she did and one day I just tried.
I distinctly remember buying a pattern for Barbies with her. I sewed some clothes for my dolls. Relatives sewed clothes for my Barbies: mostly my great grandmother and my godmother crocheted for them some outfits. All my older relatives knitted or crocheted.
I remember sewing a blouse when I was 11 or 12: followed the pattern and all by myself. I was fearless! It was white cotton with pink strawberries. I even put a label on the pocket!!!: it was just a folded paper, although I don’t recall what I wrote. It must have been pretty decent as I did wear it and my friend and her mom were very impressed. I also made back then a bag with leftovers from a shirt my mom made for herself to carry my brush and other beauty things on trips, with no pattern and a hand sewed zipper. I still have that bag and still use it for our trips! A few years back I had to replace the zipper, but other than that, it’s in perfect shape.
I sew garment clothing for the most!
I don’t know any girls who play with paper dolls. You really can’t find that stuff easily nowadays. Couldn’t find them for my daughter. We did have a game we played with my daughter with colorforms, where you took turns dressing your doll, and we’d goof off and dress them silly and say, “ I’m ready to go out“ when they weren’t, and she’d laugh and laugh. I did teach her to sew, and she has made some things (a couple of costumes), but that’s not her art- hers are crosstitching and drawing.
-- Edited on 1/23/25 at 0:08 AM ET --
-- Edited on 1/23/25 at 0:09 AM ET --
My mom didn’t teach me how to sew- I just kind of would see what she did and one day I just tried.
I distinctly remember buying a pattern for Barbies with her. I sewed some clothes for my dolls. Relatives sewed clothes for my Barbies: mostly my great grandmother and my godmother crocheted for them some outfits. All my older relatives knitted or crocheted.
I remember sewing a blouse when I was 11 or 12: followed the pattern and all by myself. I was fearless! It was white cotton with pink strawberries. I even put a label on the pocket!!!: it was just a folded paper, although I don’t recall what I wrote. It must have been pretty decent as I did wear it and my friend and her mom were very impressed. I also made back then a bag with leftovers from a shirt my mom made for herself to carry my brush and other beauty things on trips, with no pattern and a hand sewed zipper. I still have that bag and still use it for our trips! A few years back I had to replace the zipper, but other than that, it’s in perfect shape.
I sew garment clothing for the most!
I don’t know any girls who play with paper dolls. You really can’t find that stuff easily nowadays. Couldn’t find them for my daughter. We did have a game we played with my daughter with colorforms, where you took turns dressing your doll, and we’d goof off and dress them silly and say, “ I’m ready to go out“ when they weren’t, and she’d laugh and laugh. I did teach her to sew, and she has made some things (a couple of costumes), but that’s not her art- hers are crosstitching and drawing.
-- Edited on 1/23/25 at 0:08 AM ET --
-- Edited on 1/23/25 at 0:09 AM ET --
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