April 17, 2022 

Happy Easter from Lee & Pearl!

To celebrate the season, we took our American Girl® Nellie doll into the garden for a photo session, dressed in a lovely silk dress, embellished with ribbons and bows. Then we gave her some seasonal props from our FREE tutorial and printable collection (and the craft store floral and spring decor aisles) and sent her off to explore.

Won't you come join Nellie's springtime outing...?

Nellie starts her adventure with a basket full of Easter cards to deliver to all her friends!

We made Nellie's cards using the FREE Vintage Easter Cards for Dolls Printable package that we released just a few days ago. We hope that you've had a chance to download and try out this easy craft yourself. If not — click the link below!

CLICK HERE to download the FREE Vintage Easter Cards for Dolls printable package from Lee & Pearl

We made Nellie's basket using our FREE Easy Woven Easter Basket Printable and Tutorial package — but substituting tawny shades of embroidery floss for the ribbon, and wrapping the handle of the basket in the same floss.

This version of the basket took longer to make than the usual version, but we love its realistic "willow basket" look that suits our more historical dolls and their outfits.

CLICK HERE to download our Easy Woven Easter Basket Printable and Tutorial Package

Now let's talk about that dress!

Pearl made Nellie's charming Edwardian dress using one of the very first 18 inch doll patterns she ever bought — the 1890 Coat and Dress from Med Welch's Etsy shop.

Pearl made a few adaptations to the pattern to show off a wide range of spring silk colors: she cut the front out of two pieces instead of one, seaming them together inside a pleat, and re-drafted the gathered skirt to go all the way around instead of ending at a front panel. She used Celadon lightweight silk shantung for the front panel and gathered skirt and Lemon Cream lightweight silk shantung for the side and back panels and sleeves.

Next, Pearl added a pleated sash and a giant matching back bow, using a Pale Sky Blue gauzy figured silk. Finally, she completed the outfit with an equally grand — and historically accurate — enormous hair bow using Dawn Pink lightweight silk shantung.

If you love making doll clothes out of light-but-crisp silks like these — STAY TUNED to the Fabric & Trim Section of our Etsy shop.

We will begin offering both the lightweight silk shantungs (in over TWENTY colors) and the gauzy figured silks (in over TWELVE colors) in just a few days.

And of course, we'll let Lee & Pearl mailing list subscribers know as soon as these new doll-scale fabrics are available!

But now, let's get back to Nellie's adventures...

On her way home after completing her Easter deliveries, Nellie finds an old garden gate — open just wide enough to slip through into the sunny meadow beyond.

Pushing through the underbrush at the edge of the meadow — look at what our girl has found...

CHIRP! CHIRP! It's a tiny Mama Bird on a downy nest full of speckled brown eggs.

Nellie takes care to back away carefully. She knows to leave Mama Bird in peace with her eggs.

This bird, her tiny nest and the wee speckled eggs all came from the floral decor aisle at Michael's craft store. The downy bits of fluff were gently pulled from feather boas and trim in patternmaker Pearl's workroom collection.

Nellie reaches the other side of the meadow, but there's no gate to be found. Oh well — nobody minds clambering over fences when the weather is this lovely.

Be careful with your new dress, Nellie!

Nellie settles in for a rest at the top of the fence to enjoy the sunshine and the views of pleasant gardens all around.

Then it's time to climb back down and head on home to see what Easter treats she might have in store...

Look! Her friend Samantha left her a beautiful pot of blooming, paperwhite daffodils.

Aren't they lovely? What a wonderful day this has been.

These tiny doll-scale flowers are also from Michael's craft store, and we found them in the spring decor aisle.

Happy Easter, everyone — from Nellie, and from all of us at Lee & Pearl!

Want '80s fashion fun for your dolls? Sign up for the Lee & Pearl mailing list to get our FREE exclusive subscriber Pattern 1984: Retro '80s Romper for 18 Inch Dolls — as well as pattern announcements, tutorials and behind-the-scenes news from Lee & Pearl delivered directly to your inbox.

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