Chinese New Year Dresses for 18inch Dolls

I paid 10 cents for each of these novelty wine bottle covers at a garage sale.
They were wrapped and in like new condition. I kept them for 10 years,
thinking I might dress a doll with them some day.

With just a few snaps and some ribbon, I recycled these
two Chinese silk dresses.

       It is the custom of many Chinese Americans to celebrate the Chinese New Year by dressing up, lighting lanterns and exchanging cash gifts wrapped in red envelopes.

        Because American Girl Doll, Ivy Ling, has a dress made from a brilliant red silk that she wears during this holiday, I thought that our twin 18inch dolls, Aliesha and Nowelle, could come to her party dressed in a similar fashion.

       As you can see, on the right, all I needed to do in order to transform these bottle covers, was to cut a six inch opening in the back of each dress. 

       Then, I folded a yellow, silk ribbon in half and attached it to the raw edge of the red dress, using a whip stitch on both the front and back sides. I alternatively attached a gold lame ribbon to the navy silk gown. And then I sewed on metal snaps to act as closures to each finished dress.

• Read more about Chinese New Year's celebrations
• Teaching about growing up Chinese American in San Francisco...
• Celebrating the Lunar New Year
• American Girl Doll - Chinese New Year Fashions

Why dress a wine bottle, when you can dress a doll instead? Our BFC dolls, Aliesha and Nowelle,
 have small enough bodies to wear these recycled gowns to their friend's party.

The yellow silk details on each dress are exquisite!