Bathing and Dressing Gillyflower

Mucky

Our new little girl finally has a name: Gilly – short for Gillyflower, a pretty flower in the dianthus family. She was carved by me from a Judy Brown blank, and finished in January 2016.

While I was sewing earlier today Gilly ended up on the windowsill poking around in the plant pots. This resulted in a mucky little individual…

Onesie Off

…and because Perdita has a particular loathing for “streaked gillyvors” she insisted on a bath before Gilly could put on her new dress.

Drying

Carrot Soup was happy to help to dry off her new little sister…

Help with the Buttons

…and helped with the fiddly buttons.

Dress

Gilly was very excited to see that her new dress was Pink and Lacy! We don’t generally run to pink in the Hitty cupboard, but then we haven’t had a small person in the dianthus family in the Quimper Hitty family before…

Dressed

Gilly is clean and pretty…

Pretty

…and ready to take another look at the Hyacinths on the windowsill.

No Streaks

The new porcelain sink was recently acquired at an antique shop…sadly there is no drain in it so the water has to be bailed, but Perdita doesn’t like streaked kitchen/bathroom fixtures either, so she is happy to wipe it down.

Gilly’s Dress

This is the basic pattern for Gilly’s dress, however I didn’t take photos during the process of sewing so there isn’t a tutorial this time. The pattern is based on the pink viyella dress worn by a bunny rabbit owned by my mother-in-law when she was a child in the 1930’s. She gave me the dress a few years ago, and I’ve always been fascinated by the pattern as it is so amazingly simple. The actual dress is currently being worn by a Bye-Lo baby who lives in another cupboard.

Tags: doll, Hitty, Quimper Hitty, wooden doll

17 thoughts on “Bathing and Dressing Gillyflower”

Becky on January 10, 2016 at 4:44 am said:

Oh wow! I love the name Gillyflower/Gilly…it seems so appropriate for this little bright-eyed doll that has come alive in your hands and resides in the QH cupboard. Everything in this posting just sparkles!

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 6:46 am said:
  
  Thanks! We had a lot of trouble deciding on the name but this one stuck!
  
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Becca on January 10, 2016 at 5:38 am said:

Amazing photography!

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 6:49 am said:
  
  I was finishing off the wee dress when the beautiful afternoon light suddenly presented itself. I had to stop sewing and take photographs before it faded back to a dull winter afternoon!
  
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Mad for the Farthing Crowd on January 10, 2016 at 6:33 am said:

Another feast for devotees of the Quimper Hittys! “Gillyflowers, I’d say. Nothing like a nice bowl of gillies…” Mrs. Lovett would love it!

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 6:46 am said:
  
  People wielding extra sharp knives around here are in the process of preparing Hittys, not icky pies I am happy to report!
  
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tottietalkscrafts on January 10, 2016 at 6:42 am said:

Gilly is adorable, and I am looking forward to more adventures with her. The wee dress pattern is intriguing, and I would love to give it a try. Is it 4 inches wide or 3 1/2 inches?

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 7:05 am said:
  
  The pattern is four inches wide. The process I used was: make a yoke and hem the bottom edge of the yoke. Sew it to neck opening; then finish the back opening; then sleeve hems; then side seams. Sew about half an inch of sleeve seam leaving a quarter inch or so, then snip seam allowance up to last stitch in the sleeve seam. Gather the skirt, stitch to the bit leftover after sewing sleeves between the seam allowance snip and the corner. You end up with funny sideways darts, but then gather/smock the width across front, the funny darts disappear into the gathering. Sew down the bottom edge of the yoke. Another time I might make the dress a bit longer, and leave off the bottom lace.
  
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  - tottietalkscrafts on January 12, 2016 at 8:01 am said:
    
    Thank you so much…. the possibilities with this pattern are really endless, aren’t they?
Ann Stroupe on January 10, 2016 at 9:30 am said:

Gilly is just darling! Such a sweet face! Could a Hitty who looks like that EVER get into trouble???

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 12:29 pm said:
  
  Perhaps very small, good-natured kinds of trouble!
  
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onesmallstitch on January 10, 2016 at 10:27 am said:

looks like Carrot Soup and Gilly are going to be inseparable, Perdita will be busy keeping them in order. Gilly looks beautiful – and clean in her lacy pink dress

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 12:32 pm said:
  
  I think Gilly will probably get along with everyone – but I agree that she and Carrot Soup seem very attached to each other. Perdita hopes they stay clean…though for some reason, the most fun always seems to involve messes.
  
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Lorraine on January 10, 2016 at 3:45 pm said:

This is an absolutely delightful post. A perfect name for such a wonderful little girl who does look so pretty in her lovely new dress.

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 7:18 pm said:
  
  Thank you! We are happy that you like Gilly’s name – it does seem to suit her 🙂
  
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Sherry S. on January 10, 2016 at 6:29 pm said:

I love every photo in this story. I am completely charmed by your new little one and her attendants. Also really like that old fashioned sink. Great photography, great story and wonderful Quimper Cupboard inhabitants.

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- Quimper Hitty on January 10, 2016 at 7:21 pm said:
  
  Well, Gilly is busy wrapping everyone in the Hitty cupboard around her finger, so you are not the only one! We Love the sink!! It was serendipitous to find it in the 50% off bin in the antique store! Now the Hittys can wash clothes, dishes and little girls!
  
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