let me introduce you to Doris

Hello everyone!  It’s been a gorgeous sunny Saturday!  My other half has been out digging in his vegetable garden getting ready to plant some raspberry plants) , animals have been sunning themselves

sometimes, just in the veranda, but most of the time outside, enjoying the garden

(you can see raspberry plants in their little pots, just waiting to be taken down to the vegetable garden ^^

I have been doing some secret sewing . . . can’t show you the finished items, but I can show you fabric

AND I’ve also been admiring a new “toy”.  Which is where I say “Let me introduce you to Doris!”

I say new toy, but in fact it’s very vintage.  Belonged to my husband’s maternal grandmother, who everyone called Bonne Maman.  Now, Doris has seen better days.  Bonne Maman was born in 1902 and was a professional seamstress.  This dummy was the model she used when making fitted clothes for all the chic Lyonnaise ladies throughout her entire working life.  Doris lived through WWII and the German occupation of France . . . she helped Bonne Maman (who was a widow) make a decent living and raise her family.  And then, she was put into storage and forgotten about.

She is made of a really thick cardboard, and covered in some sort of wadding which is covered in turn with linen.  In the photo she’s wearing a grubby tight-fitting roll-neck Tshirt that Bonne Maman obviously put on her at one point because the original covering fabric is worn so thin, it has ripped and torn in places. Even looks burned in some areas, so I imagine Bonne Maman actually ironed clothes when they were on the dummy?

I plan on cleaning her up and Doris will then come and join me in my sewing room.  I’ve never tried clothes making before, but am feeling very inspired after seeing what other blogging friends make.  Doris has a rather flat bust, but her  other vital statistics are identical to mine!  She should be an excellent model (especially for my beginner sewing skills).