2000-2004- My friend garde-robe : the day dresses

While living in Canada, I met  my best friend Anne, through the 15"dolls gathering/meeting.
she was (and still is)quite passionate about fashion dolls, she is mainly responsible, I should admit, for introducing me to the "Big girls".
I was, from our first meeting, fascinated by Gene Marshal (M. Odom) then later by Tyler Wentworth (R.Tonner) and Anne encouraged me to have at least one of them. Today some 10 years later I have more than 30 of those and keep counting (this is "My Gang")
I bought some of them in second hand (from Anne mostly) she offered me my first Brenda Starr (Effanbee) for my birthday (she became my Gang first character under the name Petunia Greenwood who is freelance journalist)

As Anne's collection of Gene dolls amplified, she asked me to make some outfits for her ladies.
She told me what she had in mind, and we roughly sketched her ideas. I remember  how we went through the big patterns catalog, I got from the fabric store (you know, those "after season" huge books we go through to choose our patterns)
She wanted me to use fabrics from dresses she had,  that just reminded her of found memories, or because she still loved, after all the years, the nice patterns that scaled well with a doll this size, and she bought brand new fabric from the store as well.

The outfits are presented here by Gene Marshal (Mel Odom) both the brunet and the blond are Simply Gene

After all those years in my photos album, I thought it would be nice to share this with you.

Here are the day dresses

Time period: Calgary Ab. 1999-2007.

1999, Oct 09, back in Red Deer

Back to Red Deer, for another doll show. Its still fun and I am always pleased to meet with new friends and dolls collectors, but at home I am more and more playing with my "big Girl"

Time period: Calgary Ab. 1999-2007

1999 May 08, Red Deer doll show was always a must

I had so many friends coming in the Red Deer Doll show, that being there was not only for sale, but instead for sharing chat and coffee. Pansy, the doll club president and the show's organizer was as sweet as she was efficient.

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 Time period: Edmonton 1995-99

1999, Apr 25, Spring time in Calgary Ab.

I learn more about the passion of collecting during each show and I had the opportunity to met wonderful people and soon friends, not only customers. It was not difficult to go back in front of my sewing machine to be ready for the next show, at this time of course I stopped since long recycling fabric from old clothes, I used only new fabric from the stores. Silk, satin, cotton, even some vinyl and fine velvet. Of course all the beads and sequins were  hand-sewn. Most of the ribbons and trims came from France as my mother was quite interested at my little craziness.
This day I met for the first time Carol. She was the president of the Barbie Collectors Club of Alberta.and asked me if I could be present at the first mini convention organized by the club the following Sept 10th of the same year. Of course I would!!

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Time Period: Edmonton Ab,1995-99