Sewing for 20th Century Dolls: 100 Plus Projects, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

~ Johana Gast-Anderton (Author) "As work progressed in preparation of an earlier book, the seeds of this book began to germinate..." (more)
Key Phrases: bisque head, attach lace, run elastic, Shirley Temple, Terri Lee, Cut Four (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

115 doll clothes projects. Full-size patterns based on clothes found on original dolls, plus fashion sketches by decade from 1900-1971, along with background material. Make classic, authentic fashions for your dolls-with complete patterns. Thousands of illustrations. 264 pages.

About the Author

Johana Gast Anderton began writing and drawing at an early age. As a first-grader, she sent poems and drawings to the children's page of the Kansas City Journal Post. Johana's first efforts for collectors was a pioneer work on what is commonly known today as "Depression Glass." Before going out of print, The Glass Rainbow, the Story of Depression Glass went through eight printings and is now considered a collector's item in itself. The author is well-known in the doll and paper doll worlds for her Twentieth Century Dolls series of reference books, hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and dozens of black-and-white and full-color paper doll sets published in collector magazines and as convention souvenirs.

She is a founding member of the Original Paper Doll Artists Guild (OPDAG), a member of the executive board of the Modern Doll Convention (MDC), a member-at-large of the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC), and a charter member of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Paper Doll Collectors Club of Florida. She has created souvenir paper dolls for MDC since 1984, with the exception of 1986 and acted as MDC Souvenir Book editor for several years. Her specially commissioned full-color paper dolls have been given as souvenirs for UFDC regional conferences across the country. She is also a doll designer; her pattern book, Sewing the Last Christmas Doll, first in series, is now in its fifth printing. Also in the works is a series of dolls she hopes to have produced by a mold company. In her spare time she works on a book of fairy tales for children and two novels she hopes to publish "some day".

Her activities have included teaching oil painting, instructing YWCA craft classes, personal appearances on television, radio, and at antiques and doll shows and conventions throughout the country. Her experience in planning and directing conventions has made her, she says, much more appreciative of such functions. She also teaches occasional workshops and does some lecturing, an activity that is necessarily limited by her full schedule.

In 1972 she founded her own publishing company, Athena, and produced books on a variety of subjects in the collectibles field written by well-known authors. The Athena books were sold to American Broadcasting Company in 1976 and were subsequently published by Wallace-Homestead Book Company and Chilton Books.

After living in Florida for thirteen years, Johana and her husband, Harold returned to the Kansas City area in 1995. There she has a spacious studio in which to work and her first major project has been completion of this second volume of authentic doll clothes patterns for Hobby House Press. She looks forward to completing several more doll books and paper doll designs in the coming years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Hobby House Press (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875884679
• ISBN-13: 978-0875884677
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #787,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Resource, April 15, 2000

By	Clarice Marchman-Jones (South Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sewing for 20th Century Dolls: 100 Plus Projects, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

If you want to see your collectable dolls dressed authentically, but don't want to see the poor dears wearing stained and faded vintage clothing, then this book is for you!

Anderton has included patterns for wardrobes, including undergarments and shoes, for popular collectable dolls from the 1900's to the 1990's. 1900-1910 includes period wardrobes for 18" antique Bisque-head girl dolls and 15" lady dolls. 1920's includes patterns for Dolly Rosebud, Baby Peggy and Patsyette. 1930s includes wardrobes for 7 1/2" Madame Alexander's Dionne Quints, Effanbee's 12" Patsy and 14" Patricia, and 13" Shirly Temple and other composition dolls. 1950 features wardrobes for 14-24" hard plastic dolls featuring a pattern for Miss Revlon's original dress and the original outfit for Madame Alexander's Cissy.

The 1960's has the complete original wardrobe for Miss Seventeen Beauty Queen including the pageant bathing suit with crown and sash. The Chatty family, my favorite, includes Charmin Chatty's sailor outfit with patterns for the saddle shoes and glasses! - but no socks. Also for Charmin are the party dress, the Foreign Lands coat, the Cinderella costume (but not the ball gown). Patterns for Chatty Cathy include the Peppermint Striped dress, The pajamas and the Sunny Day outfit (only with shorts instead of peddle pushers) including a pattern for the seal applique and the hat. Also included are original outfit patterns for Chatty baby, tiny chatty baby, and Singing Chatty. The 60's also include wardrobes for the Littlechap Famlily and the Whimsy dolls. 1970's, 80's and 90's include *many* patterns for fashion dolls like Barbie and include celebrity costumes like Sonny & Cher, Laurie Partridge and Dorothy Hamil. There are also patterns for male fashion and action dolls. There are 5 outfits for Ideal's Crissy and movie costumes for their 12'Shirly Temple including the costumes from "Stowaway", "Heidi", "The Littlest Rebel" and others.

I think a "beginning" sewer could use this book, but doll lovers with no previous sewing experience will need to learn a few basics first.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Resource for Doll Collectors, January 8, 2002

By	sews4dolls (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sewing for 20th Century Dolls: 100 Plus Projects, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

If you sew for dolls, you need Johanna Gast Anderton's Sewing for 20th Century Dolls Vol. 2.The patterns are meticulously researched and produced.Nowhere else will you find patterns that came from careful measurement of existing vintage doll clothingform the 1900s through 1990s.

I bought the book for the patterns for dolls of the Sixties and Seventies: Cher, the Crissy Family, Littlechaps, Miss Seventeen. Following JGA's advice, I resized and used patterns from every era to redress an assortment of orphan dolls.

Most commerical patterns give you a style somewhat resembling the original clothes dolls came in. This book gives you the real thing. For most collectors, anything less is just not worth the time and trouble.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to find doll fashion in one easy place!, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This book has lots of hard-to-find doll patterns! The patterns are easily traced and there are so many of them. I bought it for the Littlechap doll patterns and found some for Penny Brite, as well! Lots more! The instructions are a little to be desired and the reason for four star rating instead of five star, by me, but the experienced and unexperienced seamstress should be able to follow them.