Sasha sundresses and a touch of South Africa

Doll Mum's blog · 12 months ago · 112 views

Today, before I posted my donation to the Ann Chandler Raffle doll for the 2025 Sasha Doll Festival, I took some photos of 3 versions I've made of the traditional sundress with brettels from the Sasha Doll Clothes and Patterns book.This gave me a good reason to dress Trudi in her summer outfit, new to her, though actually made back in 2017 as a prototype test of the enlarged pattern before I made the sundress for Dorisanne's Emmalee Rosie in 2017. Earlier this year the prototype dress and hat returned to me from Laura who had sold her studio doll Sela who had tried out the prototype for me.Melanie (my Cora) has a shweshwe dress using the same fabric colour and pattern combination I used for Emmalee Rose. I dressed Miranda (blonde Green dress girl) in the Ann Chandler raffle donation outfit.Miranda in the shweshwe protea dress for the Ann Chandler doll, Trudi in her sundress (fabric from a skirt I once made for myself) and Melanie in her shweshwe dressTwo entirely different colourways of shweshwe sundresses on Miranda and MelanieIn April our family spent just over 2 weeks in South Africa for my niece's wedding, which was a long road trip from Cape Town, in the heart of the Karoo (I made a handfasting stole they used and the dress I wore for the wedding). While we were staying in the tiny hamlet of Nieu-Bethesda over the Easter weekend where the wedding took place in the autumnal forest on a beautiful day, I commissioned a tote bag made by the Bethesda Arts Centre sewing co-operative based at the Bushman Heritage Museum. They had made incredible fabric collage wall hangings depicting different Bushman stories and folklore, and every guest bedroom at the Bathesda Tower Bed and Breakfast had gorgeous fabric collage cushions, they had some for sale along with some tote bags, but none of the tote bags had the panel I really liked with the ostriches. When I was a toddler and we visited an Ostrich farm at Oudtshoorn, I apparently called them 'ostrips'! So Yvonne, one of the creative fabric artists, who also served us our breakfast every morning, showed me a selection of panels she had already sewn but not yet turned into cushions or tote bags and I was able to choose my ostriches! The panel is actually also an outside pocket for the tote bag. It is almost too wonderful to use but I did use it while we were travelling about in South Africa. Now it hangs on a door in our home waiting for me to use it again. So I did use it for the photo shoot involving the Sasha dolls in their sundresses. Melanie's dress in particular matches the colours on the tote bag very well.Miranda, Trudi and Melanie pose in front of the tote bag (hanging on a picture)Shweshwe sundresses with the ostriches on the tote bagMy pair of ostriches (ostrips) on my Nieu-Bethesda tote bag by fabric artist Yvonne MerringtonNieu-Bethesda is known for The Owl House (curiously haunting sculptures by Helen Martins, Athol Fugard's play The Road to Mecca was inspired by it) and its Camino hiking trails in the Compassberg mountains. We did visit The Owl House on Easter Day just before a thundery rain storm, but I didn't photograph my 8 inch dolls there as I had intended, they stayed in my camera bag.

Today, before I posted my donation to the Ann Chandler Raffle doll for the 2025 Sasha Doll Festival, I took some photos of 3 versions I've made of the traditional sundress with brettels from the Sasha Doll Clothes and Patterns book.

This gave me a good reason to dress Trudi in her summer outfit, new to her, though actually made back in 2017 as a prototype test of the enlarged pattern before I made the sundress for Dorisanne's Emmalee Rosie in 2017. Earlier this year the prototype dress and hat returned to me from Laura who had sold her studio doll Sela who had tried out the prototype for me.

Melanie (my Cora) has a shweshwe dress using the same fabric colour and pattern combination I used for Emmalee Rose. I dressed Miranda (blonde Green dress girl) in the Ann Chandler raffle donation outfit.

Miranda in the shweshwe protea dress for the Ann Chandler doll, Trudi in her sundress (fabric from a skirt I once made for myself) and Melanie in her shweshwe dress

Two entirely different colourways of shweshwe sundresses on Miranda and Melanie

In April our family spent just over 2 weeks in South Africa for my niece's wedding, which was a long road trip from Cape Town, in the heart of the Karoo (I made a handfasting stole they used and the dress I wore for the wedding). 

While we were staying in the tiny hamlet of Nieu-Bethesda over the Easter weekend where the wedding took place in the autumnal forest on a beautiful day, I commissioned a tote bag made by the Bethesda Arts Centre sewing co-operative based at the Bushman Heritage Museum. They had made incredible fabric collage wall hangings depicting different Bushman stories and folklore, and every guest bedroom at the Bathesda Tower Bed and Breakfast had gorgeous fabric collage cushions, they had some for sale along with some tote bags, but none of the tote bags had the panel I really liked with the ostriches. When I was a toddler and we visited an Ostrich farm at Oudtshoorn, I apparently called them 'ostrips'! So Yvonne, one of the creative fabric artists, who also served us our breakfast every morning, showed me a selection of panels she had already sewn but not yet turned into cushions or tote bags and I was able to choose my ostriches! The panel is actually also an outside pocket for the tote bag. It is almost too wonderful to use but I did use it while we were travelling about in South Africa. Now it hangs on a door in our home waiting for me to use it again. So I did use it for the photo shoot involving the Sasha dolls in their sundresses. Melanie's dress in particular matches the colours on the tote bag very well.

Miranda, Trudi and Melanie pose in front of the tote bag (hanging on a picture)

Shweshwe sundresses with the ostriches on the tote bag

My pair of ostriches (ostrips) on my Nieu-Bethesda tote bag by fabric artist Yvonne Merrington

Nieu-Bethesda is known for The Owl House (curiously haunting sculptures by Helen Martins, Athol Fugard's play The Road to Mecca was inspired by it) and its Camino hiking trails in the Compassberg mountains. We did visit The Owl House on Easter Day just before a thundery rain storm, but I didn't photograph my 8 inch dolls there as I had intended, they stayed in my camera bag.