Sewing for Tressy.

Today I sorted through my Fashion Doll sewing patterns - I had more than I realised so should have some fun choosing what to make!

and lastly, my vintage Tressy pattern which I used today.

I made the dress - View 1 (red dress) today.

I am hoping the cardigan I bought recently that should arrive tomorrow will match this dress nicely.

Another item of clothing that I made several years ago is shown below on my blonde, first issue Tressy.

I am enjoying 'rediscovering' Tressy and hope to make her a few more clothes.

My Childhood Dolls - Part Two

Along with Barbie and Skipper another teenage fashion doll I had as a child was 'Tressy'.  I must have been younger than six years old when I got her as I remember getting her when I was still living in England which we left when I was six years old.   She was a brunette second issue/edition Tressy with eyes that looked straight ahead.  No one had one in New Zealand at the time, although eventually I met one friend who had a blonde Tressy.  I had mine right through until I was 16 years of age when we moved home.  When we arrived to our new home - we moved ourselves, packing all our furnture, boxes etc...on the back of an open deck work truck of my Dad's  I discovered that one of my boxes was missing.  It included my favourite dressing gown, and Tressy.  I can't remember what other items it contained, but these two remain firmly entrenched in my memory.  I am pretty sure my Dad back tracked to see if he could find the missing box but we never did find it.  I am not sure if any other things were lost along the way.  Anyway I still had her key and her Fairie Glen Wedding dress.

Fast forward many years and I was back living in England and home educating my oldest son.  I had just bought a book for him off Ebay and discovered the seller also had Tressy dolls and a website and yahoo group - which I promptly joined.   I made some great friends on that group and we had a fun time - and yes I ended up collecting Tressy dolls in my quest to find my 'childhood' doll.  I never achieved this goal and several years ago sold most of my collection.  I have very recently sold all but one of the Tressy dolls I kept.  While searching up prices I found 'my' doll.   Sure I had bought ones very similar to her in the past, but when I went through them while selling them a few years ago none were 'quite right'.  Anyway, I discovered the seller was one of the friends I had made on the group all those years ago.  I bought the doll and now have a replacement for 'MY' childhood doll.  She is so similar in every way, that despite my thoughts a while ago about not being able to replace special childhood toys, which I still believe, there is a certain satisfaction in discovering one VERY similar. I will keep the one other Tressy I have for now - she is a blonde first edition and reminds me a little of my friend Beverly's doll.   It is almost like 'two friends' being reunited.  They will have each others company.  

Her 'arrival' photo.

I spent sometime going through my collection of Tressy clothing today - I need to decide what to keep and what to sell on.  I am thinking I will sell the mint in box/package clothing and keep the rest.  

I dressed her in an outfit I made years ago.  It was fun and I think I am going to enjoy rediscovering 'my' doll.

I think she is lovely!

Below is a photo of the 1st Issue blonde Palitoy Tressy that I have decided to keep for now.  She is all I have left of my rather larger Tressy collection.

I need to find the poor girl some shoes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh and some good news, I have found some new arms for Skipper!

Can you replace a childhood toy/memory?

Quite a few years back, pre music degree and everything else I collected Tressy dolls.  It started when I came across someone selling them when I bought a book for my son from her on Ebay.  She had a website about these dolls.   I had a brunette second edition Tressy when I was a child that I used to play with a lot.  I remember playing with her with a friend called Beverley when we lived in Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand and was so surprised that someone else had one as they were not common in NZ.  We had taken mine over with us when we emigrated there in 1973.  Sadly on one of our many moves she went missing.  Whether she was lost in a box of other things that went missing - I seem to recall a dressing gown going missing during that move, or whether my mother gave her away (she did that with several of my dolls without asking me) I don't really know.  All I know is I went on a quest to replace that childhood doll and ended up with rather a collection.  I sold most of that collection just over a year ago and keep three, plus three Toots.  I discovered in this quest that you can't really replace these childhood dolls/toys.  There is something missing from them...perhaps some essence or the like.  It is difficult to explain.  But they are just not 'the same'.  One of the ones I kept back is very much like my brunette childhood Tressy and I put the dress I still had on her, but it still hasn't made her 'mine' even though I must have had her for over 15 years now, which in fact is probably longer than I actually had my childhood doll for as I think I got her when I was between the ages of 4 and 6 and she got lost when I was about 16.  So it isn't how long you have a doll for either it seems.  So these remaining six dolls are soon to move on to new homes.

This is not my photo, but an image from Google.  

(My Jacko was dressed the same way and I miss him so much!)

I am often tempted to replace 'Jacko' my monkey who sadly got eaten by rats when Mum moved him and some of my other bears and dolls from the protection of inside a wardrobe in the house, to a box in an old dilapidated shed in the grove.  Why she did this I still do not understand to this day as it was just asking for trouble...Yes, rats ate him :- (  I was devastated and if the truth be told I still feel very upset about this.  Several very precious to me bears and dolls were destroyed.  I should be able to 'let this go' but I do find it difficult to do so.  Why is it even as a 'mature' adult I find this upsetting?  I remember when I discovered what had happened.  I had planned to bring these remaining childhood toys back to England with me when we were in New Zealand visiting my family.  I went to get them and they were no longer stored where I had left them...in their place were my brother in law's father's exercise bike and things...  items that COULD have been stored in a shed without fear of damage from rats!  Where were my dolls I asked?  In the shed in the grove.  I went out to get them and was horrified what I found.  My special pyjama case teddy that my Dad had brought home with him one day after work had been eaten.  Jacko had really been damaged beyond repair....I tried washing him in their washing machine - apparently my poor Dad was still finding bits of foam in the drum for months afterwards!  My doll had her thumb chewed off...and various other things.  But these are the three I remember the most as they were the three most precious to me.  Three toys that had travelled to New Zealand with me as a six year old.  I remember I had had to part with several bears and dolls before we left England for New Zealand and can only think that this is why these three were just so much more special as they were the ones I could keep.  I still feel this loss.  

Anyway, despite my temptations to replace Jacko, I remind myself of previous attempts to 'replace childhood dolls/toys' and realise that even if I did, it wouldn't be MY Jacko.   

So not sure why I am writing this really. Just trying to work through various things that seem to be jumbling around in my mind at the moment, and perhaps it is part of working through the process of cutting back on various possessions I have and working out why I have some of these items. Sometimes we just need to let go.  I am not very good at it.

Dolls for Sale

I am selling some of my dolls, some that have been in storage for a while, some that have been out on display and some that I don't really want to part with but need to.

If anyone is interested in anything please feel free to get in contact with me, whether it is to make an offer, suggestion etc...

I have rather a large number of Tressy dolls available and have still to work out prices but will post the photos here.  I also have some 18 inch dolls, some vintage dolls and will even have some Sasha dolls available.

V Leg Tressy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Palitoy Mary Make Up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tressy Mary Make Up with issues

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tressy Mary Make Up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tressy Mary Make Up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Palitoy Second Edition Platinum blonde Tressy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regal Tressy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brunette Tressy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blonde Sindy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~