Sunday, February 7, 2010

Remembering Daisy Kingdom


When DD was eight, she got Victoria, an American Girl doll, not one of the historic ones, although she admired them greatly and read the books about them, but one with olive skin and long dark hair made especially to look like her. My mother gave her several wonderful fabric panels with American Girl-sized doll dresses printed on them from a company called Daisy Kingdom. They were rich in detail, those Daisy Kingdom panels; the outfits had pleats, tucks, contrasting trim, and accessories to match.

DD loved those doll panels and sewed them up like crazy. As a matter of fact, Victoria had a much nicer wardrobe than my daughter, who preferred to wear leggings, t-shirts and the same fleece pullover to school every day. DD became such a good seamstress that she started designing her own doll clothes, and made over $100 selling them at her school's Christmas sale the year she was in fifth grade. Even after she and her friends didn't play with the dolls anymore, we both still loved to discover a new Daisy Kingdom doll panel, and I bought a couple on eBay when my mother's favorite source, Wal-mart, stopped carrying them. Eventually, though, they became impossible to find even on eBay. Evidently the Daisy Kingdom company doesn't exist any more, which is a real loss to budding seamstresses and their American Girl dolls, if you ask me.

I thought all of our doll panels were gone until a few weeks ago. Digging through my fabric boxes looking for inspiration, I found this one and sewed it up right away, then was frustrated in my search for Victoria. Because of the constant construction in this house, boxes get moved from one place to another frequently, and I finally gave up on locating the one that held the doll. Until today, when she showed up under a bunch of old quilt blocks. This outfit includes a hair scrunchie and a little purse. What do you think--isn't she cute?

1 comment:

  1. How interesting about this Daisy Kingdom panel which I was not aware of. My granddaughters have 2 AGD's that my cousin gave me after her DG's were done playing with them. I love this little dress. I use to sell Barbie clothes I made and people loved them.
    I know how frustrating it is to look for something and can't find it. My garage is set up with shelves and one storage area and this is where I keep everything instead of in the house. I get so frustrated when I start bring out plastic buckets and still can't find what I'm looking for. But it is like the story in the Bible when something was lost and then found and they call their neighbors so they can rejoice when something is found. Right now I'm looking for a picture of my dear best friend who died at 95 years old in 1999. I want to blog on her with her picture. I'll keep looking! :)

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