Cinderella rags for a doll means a lot of dyeing and washing

Part 1. Cinderella's shift.

Princesses in rags have always holded a special place in my heart. The queen of rags is of course Cinderella (Snow White holds the second place). About thirty years I have been thinking of sewing Cinderella rags for a doll.  And now, after all that thinking, I'm finally sewing them. And it's fun!

You must always use every opportunity to draw Cinderella with rags. That is a rule. So it would have been illegal to begin to sew this oufit without drawing it first. (I may have drawn more rags than ball gowns!)

After drawing I chose the fabrics and made a test dyeing with tea.

Then I coloured my Cinderella drawing. (This is a detail from a scrapbook spread. Here you can see the whole picture which includes some cats and an other Cinderella figure.) After colouring the drawing, some viruses and bacteria decided that after 30 years of planning I'm progressing too fast. So I had a three weeks break from the project. Instead of sewing I used my time coughing and blowing.

After viruses had said goodbye, I begin to dye the fabric for Cinderella's shift. After dyeing I washed it properly (three times!), because I don't want to take any risk that the fabric would let some colour out so that a doll would get ruined.

 At this point I made some extra stains.

And then washing again. It was fun! I wish all laundering  could be that nice.

Because of all the proper laundering, the extra spots washed away almost totally. But all the washing (and sandpapering and filing) made the fabric look quite worn, and that is the most important thing. As you can see, the shift really looks worn when you compare it to that white batiste, which is the material of the shirt.

And here you can see also that the contrast between white batiste and dyed batiste is quite clear.

And here you can see the finished shirt.

 Cinderella's shift really looks worn! When I asked my husband what he thinks about this shift, he cried out (yes, he really cried out): "Poor Cinderella! Is this fair at all?" I remined him that it's only a temporay situation, that the fairy godmother is on her way already. He was reliefed :)

My precious! Hand painted Helen Kish Doll. And it's all mine!

The day when she arrived was a beautiful (...and cold) winter day, so my walk to a post office and back was like a part of celebrating the happy family event.

Back home I was really really excited about this view. I don't often receive packages from overseas. Actually I could say that I never receive packages from overseas.

At this point I was super excited.

At this point I was like multiple-super-extra-double excited.

At this point I was more than overjoyed.

At this point I was in love.

We all were very tired after all those emotions, so we took a nap together.

After a proper rest it was time to intorduce her to the girls. I was really proud of them all. The girls gave her a warm welcome, and the newcomer was outgoing and cheery despite her long travel!

Doll's snowy spring walk

Somehow she seems to be ok with snow.

A lovely hat and a beautiful scarf are crocheted by my sister.

It looks and feels like spring! (She shares my opinion.)

Watch out there! You are not Heidi! (And these are not the Alps, answers she. What a cheeky girl.)