Suggestion for Mama's Tribute Dress

This photo collage dress contains mostly images of my mother placed on the bodice, the front and back of the skirt, and the sleeves.

In a message from the designer of my mother's tribute dress, first seen here and shown above, Sara Bunn of Bunn Funn Collection, wrote:

If you come across a second hand tutu, cut off the top and use the skirt portion as a slip for under the dress. Will help to poof it out a bit and allow for others to see the images a bit better.

This was such great advice and I wondered (having been a reluctant childhood petticoat wearer myself), "Why didn't I think of that?"

I had planned to check my local thrift store in search of a toddler's size 2 petticoat or tutu but decided to check eBay and Aliexpress first.  I found the two shown below:

This one was purchased first from eBay. It helped to expand the skirt of the dress some.  I wanted the skirt to be even fuller and decided to order another one that I felt would provide  the desired fullness.

This multilayered petticoat/tutu was purchased next from an Aliexpress seller.  It provides an adequate amount of fullness but not for the entire length of the skirt of the dress.

The second petticoat/tutu was too short to expand the entire length of the skirt of the dress.  So instead of replacing the first petticoat with the second one, Smiling Debbie wears both!  She is shown wearing these in the next photo.

The petticoats fill out the skirt and allow better visualization of the images.

This is a closer look at the skirt of the dress worn with both petticoats (the shorter one is underneath the longer one).

Because the images on the sleeves and the writing above each were not fully visible, I added Poly-Fil inside the sleeves to poof them out as well.  Both sleeves are shown next.

With Poly-Fil stuffed inside the left sleeve, the image of my mother, me, and my sister is seen better.  The phrase above reads, "I don't have any favorites."

With the stuffing, images of Mama and my brothers can be better seen on the right sleeve of the dress.  The phrase above it reads, "All of you came out of me."

The before and after photos, combined below, illustrate that use of the petticoats and sleeve stuffing achieves the desired effect -- the images can be seen better.

Thank you so much, Sara, for the suggestion; it works (but I know you knew it would)!

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for following, commenting, and sharing using the share button below.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Mama's Tribute Dress

Note card received from fashion designer, Sara Bunn of The Bunn Funn Collection illustrates a little girl handwashing clothing.  The back contains a handwritten note that reads, "... Brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things.~"

In 2016, after seeing photographs of Sara Bunn's exquisite fashions with collages or individual images of historic African American greats, I inquired about having a child-size dress (size 2) made for one of my largest dolls.  Seeing a photo of artist Leroy Campbell posed with a little girl modeling a dress that replicates his painting, Still Standing, prompted the inquiry. My idea was for the doll-size dress to be a tribute to my mother that would illustrate images of her dating back to the 1940s to the present.  It would also have several statements my mother has expressed throughout the years.

When the opportune time presented itself to Ms. Bunn, her work on the dress commenced.  Using the photographs, phrases, and doll's measurements, she created the perfect photo collages for the sleeves and skirt of the dress with one image of my mother in the center of the bodice.

Several photographs of the dress to document the unboxing, individual pictures of the front, back, other areas of the dress, and the doll modeling it are included below.

Unboxing

Inside the corrugated cardboard shipping box was the brown-paper-wrapped dress tied with string and a note card from Sara.

A piece of Bunn Funn logo tape was used to seal the brown paper.  I held my breath before breaking the seal...

... and exhaled upon viewing the bodice of the long-awaited dress.

Images of the Dress

Full-length frontal view of the dress

A closer look at the bodice illustrates the velvet Peter Pan collar, a 1940s photo of Mama to which Sara added a faux pearl necklace.  Some of the phrases Mama used when we were growing up and even to this day are on the bodice.  Trust God; Put God first; The Spirit told me...; Our day will come; With God everything is possible; Where there is life there is hope, are some of her routine statements.

A closer look at the skirt of the dress; these images extend to the back of the skirt.

This image and the next two are the expanded center pleat of the skirt of the dress.

Another photo of the center pleat of the skirt.  The seated woman in the top image is my maternal grandmother.

The final image of the expanded center pleat of the skirt

A picture of Mama with me and my sister is on the left sleeve.  Above this image is the phrase, I don't have any favorites.  This is what she would say when one of the two older boys would accuse her of favoring one of us younger three.  She would follow this with the phrase that is on the other sleeve.

Mama and my brothers are on the right sleeve of the dress.  Above their images reads, All of you came out of me.  

The back bodice is black and white paisleyfabric.  The images from the front of the skirt extend to the back.  Two velvet waist ties are not visible in this image.  The sleeves are trimmed with black velvet.

Booklet and Numbered Certificate of Authenticity

Sara created a photo booklet printed on cardstock that has six black and white images of the dress taken from different angles.

The signed and dated certificate of authenticity provides the details of the dress to include the title "Mother's Doll Dress," the medium used, edition (1 of 1), ID number, dimensions, and specifications.

Smiling Debbie Models the Dress

Smiling Debbie by Woelfert-Puppen is the doll the dress was custom made to fit.  She is shown above in a full-length color photograph.

This is the same picture as above in black and white.

Smiling Debbie poses for a close-up photo.

In this final photo, Smiling Debbie poses from the back.  The velvet waist ties create a small bow.

I am very pleased with the dress which will serve as a beautiful, long-lasting, tangible tribute to my mother, who has only seen the photo booklet.  She will see it in person soon.  Greatly pleased with the concept and the dress itself, my mother thanked me profusely for honoring her in this manner.

(Today is my mother's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mama!) 

If interested in having a collage photo dress made for yourself or a doll you own, feel free to visit The BunnFun Collection Facebook page.

dbg

There is always something to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for following, commenting, and sharing using the share button below.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Sunshine, Blue Skies, and PO Box Surprise!

Random "blue sky" photo taken while at a red light during a recent trip to the post office

The weather in my area has been wild since the latter part of April and throughout the entire month of May.  On a near daily basis, we experienced or received weather alerts that conditions were favorable for thunderstorms, flash flooding, and tornadoes.  During this time, I lost my old faithful desktop PC and three cordless phones in an electrical storm.  Another lightning-filled storm is the attributing cause of a $135 replacement part required to restore the cooling function of our central air conditioning unit.

However, we consider ourselves lucky.  While it rained almost daily for the past 45 days, there were no tornadoes in our immediate area and no flooding. Several people are not as fortunate with many areas still drying out even though we have finally enjoyed full days of sunshine since May 31st.

This past Sunday, after the weather cleared, I drove to the PO to mail some letters and to check my PO box, which had not been checked in several days.   Not expecting to retrieve anything from the box except junk mail, I was pleasantly surprised by a colorful padded envelop from dear friend, and fellow doll lover, Betty Ativie.  

Sunshine, in the form of two beautiful dresses made especially for two of my dolls and matching head bands, was my PO surprise.

The package contained a beautiful card with handwritten note wishing me a happy birthday. Carefully and separately wrapped in tissue paper were two beautiful sunny yellow dresses that Betty handmade for two of my dolls, Matoka by Himstedt specifically, and a smaller doll of my choice.  A third, smaller tissue-wrapped package contained matching head bands made of the same sheer yellow fabric.

I chose to dress Ashley Rose by Madame Alexander in the smaller dress as seen in the close-up photo above and in the following photo, where she is seated on the floor with Matoka looking on.

Ashley Rose is 14 inches tall; Matoka (by Annette Himstedt) stands 33-1/2 inches.

Matoka poses alone in the next photo wearing her new dress and matching headband which, in this photo, looks like a halo.

Attached to the enter of the bodice of each dress is a delicate flower with two yellow ribbon streamers.  Matoka, who had been dressed in a red velour dress since Christmas was as delighted to receive her new dress as I was for her to receive it.

Thank you again, Betty for allowing me to be a recipient of the blessing that is you!  Matoka and Smiling Debbie greatly appreciate your sewing talents and your thoughtfulness.

~~~~~~~~~~

While in doll redressing mode, two other dolls that had been dressed in Christmas attire since last December are now dressed for spring/summer.  Smiling Debbie and Emilee are shown below in their matching store-bought dresses.

The need to redress these two had been on my to-do list since February of this year.  Thanks to the recently received gifts of sunshine, that mission has been accomplished.

 dbg