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Ensemble Eclectica: Racket Ready Fashions

Tennis paper doll coloring page to print with 13 mix and match piece which make up over 30 different cute tennis outfit combinations.
Tennis paper doll printable with 13 mix and match piece which make up over 30 different sporty outfit combinations.

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While I’ve dabbled in “sporty fashion” before as a trend, this is the first time I’ve leaned into a specific sport. So, why not a tennis paper doll? I do I confess that all I know about tennis I learned from the scene in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead where they play Questions and score it like tennis. (You can watch that scene here from the film version of the play which is excellent.) Still, I have connections to tennis… sort of.

My dear friend works a tennis shop, so I hear about tennis through her. I thought, she might like a tennis paper doll. (She has never asked me for one, but is generally supportive of my paper doll drawing habits.) Also, this summer I read in some fashion publications that tennis fashion was making a come back for summer 2024. As I’m not one to ignore a trend and I do like pleats, I thought- I’ll draw some of that! So, despite knowing nearly nothing about tennis, here we are.

Of course, tennis has all sorts of well-moneyed connotations. So, it has unsurprisingly always had a stronghold on fashion. Tennis dresses are all over the place in summer fashion magazines. Even back in the 1880s when women could play very few sports, tennis was on the list of “approved” options. While I saw more than one article proclaiming tenniscore as the trend of summer 2024, I think I’d argue- “When has tennis not been tied to summer fashion?”

Short of golf (which also has all sorts of specific fashion connotations), I can’t think of any sport more fashion contentious than tennis. Tennis has long been associated with the color white. Even today, the Wimbeldon championship has an all white dress code, because traditions matter in tennis. So, I made sure to include an all white outfit option for my paper doll. I almost included more all white options, but there’s a black and white version. so really… you can mix and match that with the color pieces and get all the white tennis clothing your heart might desire.

I drew a tennis racket based on my husband’s racket. He played varsity tennis in high school and is my other connection to tennis. I also drew a pickle-ball racket, which I guess is very popular these days? Pickle-ball is as mysterious to me as tennis is. Maybe more, because I don’t know anyone who plays. Anyway, I thought a few racket based sports might be fun.

If you need too, you can always print out several of these paper dolls. That way you can get enough rackets for a doubles match going. 🙂

Ensemble Eclectica: Vacationing in 1936

A 1930s fashion paper doll with clothing from a 1936 issue of McCall's style news including a six piece mix and match wardrobe to color.
A 1930s fashion paper doll with clothing from a 1936 issue of McCall's style news including a six piece mix and match wardrobe to cut out and play with. She has blond hair and a summer inspired color palette.

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Happy Labor day! I can’t quite believe August is over. Wow. That was an unexpected month off! But life has quieted down a tiny bit (okay, not very much). The least I think I can do is share the last of my 1930s sets, before I potentially disappear again.

(Nothing bad, but I’m teaching this semester for the first time and it’s a lot!)

Out of every 1930s fashion paper doll I’ve created, this one stands out with the most cohesive theme. This paper doll design hopefully captures the essence of a vacation wardrobe in around 1936. She showcases clothing for sports and summer activities. I keep thinking beach vacation, probably because of the swimsuit. (I could have labeled things here, but I’ve delayed in so long in sharing this that I decided to share and move on.)

For my 1930s fashion paper doll, I picked out pieces from the McCall’s Style News magazines of 1936. I really wanted to try to make a cohesive set. So, the mini-wardrobe has a stylish sports dress, ideal for casual daytime activities, with matching jacket. There is also a playful split skirt romper, which I assume you wear while playing tennis or other athletic activities. The trousers with top are there for golf or whatever a girl might do in trousers at the time. I’d say horseback riding, but an actual riding habit would be more for that.

To complement these outfits, I added a straw hat. It can be mix and matched with any of the clothing pieces. I decided on just one hat, though of course, hats were crucial for the era of the 1930s. Feel free to draw more or steal them from other paper doll sets.

This 1936 photo of Carol Lombard inspired this paper doll’s hair. Just in case you were curious about where that came from.

I have an amazing time at the 2024 Paper Doll Convention in Indianapolis. I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I should have, but I will try to put together the small number I have into something. Overwhelmed for a million non-paper doll reasons at the event by other “real life” things that were happening at the same time, I just haven’t managed to quite get my feet back under me.

(Real life should not intrude on paper dolls, darn it! Though I am trying hard to be kind to myself about it, because as one very nice and friendly blog reader reassured me at the convention with something like, “I’ve been following along since the beginning and I know your life has gotten more complicated. Please don’t feel bad about missing posts.” )

As with all my 1930s paper dolls so far, I have a second page I’ll be sharing for my patrons at some point this month.

Patron Exclusive: Expanding the 1932 Autumn Wardrobe

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Ensemble Eclectica: A Fall 1932 Fashion Paper Doll

A printable 1932 fashion paper doll coloring page with a coat and two dresses.
A printable paper doll with clothing from 1932 with a coat and two dresses.

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In my continuing series of 1930s creations, I made this 1932 fashion paper doll celebrating autumn styles. I love the color blocking that is trendy in the early 1930s. I also love the big soft sleeves. They don’t yet have the stiff shoulders of the later part of the decade. There’s also a lot of asymmetry in 1930s clothing. The complicated caped coat on the bottom shows some of that off (and I had both fun and cursing while drawing it.)

All of these dresses are from McCall’s Style News from September 1932. I linked a few free scans from the publication. I paid for a full scan from this Etsy seller. Like most fashion magazines of the period, it was printed in only one or two colors. So, the details are a little hard to be certain of.

For colors, I looked at fabric reproductions. I ended up with an acid green, a coral pink, and a soft navy shade with warm brown and cream as the neutrals. Her shoes and hats are based on references from my own fashion book resources. I wasn’t always sure what was happening in the hats in some of the drawings in the source magazine.

As with my last 1938 paper doll, I ended up with more clothing than I had space, so I have a second page of clothing for my paying patrons that I’ll be posting later this week for them to enjoy.

Are you enjoying this little trip to the 1930s? I sure am!

Patron Exclusive: Extra Clothing From 1938!

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Ensemble Electica: A 1938 Paper Doll

A fashionable lady 1938 paper doll with a four piece wardrobe to color and play with.
A fashionable black lady 1938 paper doll with a four piece wardrobe to print.

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Today’s creation is a 1938 paper doll with dresses from that year. I did a preview of these 1930s paper dolls a while ago. So, here we are, debuting the first member of that collection. I am super happy with how she came out.

In the late 1930s is the time, you begin to see some hints of what will come in the 1940s. Particularly, the strong shoulders that will be the big trend in the next decade. Skirts are also a bit shorter. It’s a fun time period, though the sleeves aren’t quite as wacky as they were earlier in the decade.

One new to me thing I tried out with these paper dolls was this jacket technique I’ve seen other do. Where the jacket can be a layering piece with the top of the dress as one piece. I’ve not really done that before. One thing I noticed when going through 1930s fashion magazines, was a lot of shrugs and jackets designed to match dresses. Bare arms were either a super casual or super formal- it’s like ballgown or tennis dress, but not afternoon shopping. Social rules are weird.

Most of the fashions in this paper doll were copied from Fashion Service Magazine‘s Summer 1938 Issue. This was the magazine of the Woman’s Institute. I picked up a digital version from Mrs. Depew. This magazines helped a home sewists create the latest fashions for herself or as a home business. I don’t know how popular it was, but it seems less trendy than some of others I have seen. I did use a few books from my own collection for hats and shoes, because the magazine was mostly about things people sew. Shoes not being known for being homemade, even in the 1930s.

Because planning projects fully isn’t really my jam (to the surprise of none of my long time readers), I had a few extra pieces that wouldn’t fit on this page for all my 1930s sets. So, those’ll be a paid patron exclusive while I post this series. My thank you for those folks who help support this little corner of the internet. I’ll probably post it on Friday, if I can (this is never a certainty.)

Ensemble Eclectica: Specs & Posies

Cute printable paper doll with glasses and several different mix and match pieces. This fun coloring page for kids. She has thirteen mix and match pieces.
Cute printable paper doll with glasses and several different mix and match pieces. She has thirteen mix and match pieces with a modern colorful theme.

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I don’t often create printable paper doll with glasses, but I wear glasses (blind as a bat without them) and therefore I thought, I should make more paper dolls with glasses. Glasses are cute and fun.

So, I’ll be honest- I am still learning to use Procreate a year after starting. Because I’m still getting used to the tools, I’ve been a little conservative about what I’ve attempted. I did a lot of playing around last year, but this year I’m trying to give myself space to get comfortable.

As part of that process, I’ve been revisiting older paper dolls that I liked. Sometimes, I stick close to the original like I did with Rose, Coffee, And Mint Redux and Coffee Strawberry and Cream, but other times I end up heading off on my own little side trek as I did with Bright Boho from Wings and Petals. This time, I think it is somewhere in the middle.

Marisole Monday & Friends: Late Summer Flowers inspired this new printable paper doll with glasses. I kept the glasses, changed up the hair, and kept the color scheme, though used it in a different way. My two favorite pieces from the original (the shoes with flowers on them and the shorts) I redrew. The pattern on the shorts was a great learning experience about how to manipulate lines in Procreate.

Chic Contrasts: Fun Color Blocking Paper Doll

Printable modern Asian paper doll coloring page with a 14 piece mix and match wardrobe.
Colorful printable modern Asian paper doll with a mix and match wardrobe.

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As I mentioned a while ago, learning to use Procreate (which I am now using for my paper dolls) has been a learning curve. One of the things I dislike about it is that it is not easy to draw a perfectly straight line between two points as I would like. Either way, I am coming around to it slowly.

When I first started using Procreate last year, I decided that learning to use the program was a large enough ask without adding “create totally original art every time” with it. So, I set about drawing paper dolls inspired by pervious paper dolls I’d created.

This set was inspired by Seagulls & Seaside, a set I first drew a decade ago. I still think that paper doll feels pretty modern, though color blocking is not as strong of a trend as it was at the time. I kind of think color blocking is never not in style. The original set’s color scheme was inspired by signal flag colors for ships. I really loved that inspiration. I hadn’t planned on matching the color scheme so closely, but I realized that it looked really good. So, I kept it.

I really do love nautical and ocean themed things. It’s probably because I grew up commercial fishing.

Enchanted Elegance: A Fantasy Paper Doll

A printable medieval princess paper doll coloring page with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has braided hair and two fantasy gowns, along with other accessories.
A printable medieval princess paper doll with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has long blond hair and two fantasy gowns.

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I don’t know why this paper doll looks Russian to me. I have no explanation for that one, but something about the hair just screamed “slavic fairytale” to me. Once I decided that, than she needed to be blond, because if I was going to go slavic fairy tale, I might as well lean into all the stereotypes.

For some reason, and I don’t know why, I’ve found that working digitally means I am less drawn to doing fantasy as I was in pencil. Again, I’m not sure why. I suppose I’ll figure it out.

Actually, I’ve been frightfully unproductive over the last few weeks/months. I mean, I’ve been very productive, but not paper doll related. I’ve been working on a million other things. I have some work to get done for the convention and so that’ll get me motivated I hope.

Meanwhile I do have lots of thing “in-progress”, but I am struggling quite a lot to get those things over the finish line. We’ll see where it all ends up, I suppose.

Retro Refinement: A Vintage Fashion Inspired Paper Doll for my Patrons

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A Purim Paper Doll for 2024!

A paper doll coloring page for purim kids activities!
A printable paper doll for purim kids activities!

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Today’s paper doll is a Purim themed paper doll. So, I historically have saved holiday paper dolls for the actual day of the holiday, which for Purim this year is March 24th. However, this year, I decided that if people were going to print these off and use them for any sort of Purim kids activities, posting them early made sense. So, I’m trying this out to see how it feels.

My niece loves purple. She inspired this color scheme. I had a much more sedate color scheme in mind and then I thought, “What would my niece like?”

And this where I ended up. A lot more bright and colorful than I tend to go under normal circumstances, but still a lot of fun.

I won’t recap the entire story of Esther here (because you can find that elsewhere). Our paper doll has most of the things I think you need to celebrate the holiday. There’s an Esther scroll. The Book of Esther is not in the Torah, so it is held on a separate scroll. There’s a grogger for making noise and a big plate of hamantaschen. Plus, an Esther costume for dressing up (which is traditional). Technically, you can dress up in any costume that suits you, but when I was kid the person everyone wanted to dress up as was Esther. So, there you go.

I’ll be dusting off my hamantaschen baking skills this week to make up some for work, because I love making them and the recipe I have from my grandmother makes a huge amount. Personally, I like poppy seed ones, but most people I know prefer apricot. I had such a hard time finding poppy seed filling last year, that I ordered extra from Amazon. It’s been quietly waiting since last year, so it’s time for it to get used.

St. Patrick’s Day Paper Doll for 2024

A black and white printable paper doll celebrating St. Patrick's Day!
A colorful printable paper doll celebrating St. Patrick's Day!

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I usually save Holiday paper dolls for the actual date of the holiday. The Saint’s Day for St. Patrick is March 17th, which is a few days from now. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that folks might want these paper dolls early. That way they can print them and actually give them kids on St. Patrick’s Day. So, it makes more sense to post it early, I think.

Plus, I can post on social media on the day of the actual holiday, because that’s how social media works. (I’m still learning how social media works.)

St. Patrick’s Day is the feast day for St. Patrick, patron Saint of Ireland. From what I’ve seen it is mostly celebrated in the United States by parades, dying the Chicago river green, and drinking green dyed beer. Now, you might be wondering why I like drawing St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls when I am neither Irish nor Catholic, and don’t drink beer (green or otherwise). The thing is I studied in Illinois and became friends with many very Irish-Catholic people and I started drawing St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls.

And then I got requests for more of them when I missed a few years, so there you have it.

Since I don’t know enough (read: anything) about the actual traditions of St. Patrick’s Day from a religious perspective, I keep my St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls strictly secular. I chose rainbows and clovers as the primary motifs.

By the way, my favorite St. Patrick’s Day paper doll ever was this one, where I drew clothing from historical eras that connected to the holiday. I should really re-draw that one… I think I’d have fun with it. Well, there’s always next year.