NOT GILLIAN NASH...

My Gillian Nash knitwear collection is getting bigger all the time and I love every single item in it,  but there are other wonderful Sasha knitwear designers out there and I was lucky enough to secure the outfits you see here being modelled by Natasha, Peter and Imogen. Wotan is hanging around in the hope of a walk. He feels they are dressed warmly enough for the day! After all, the sun IS shining!

 

 

Here is a gorgeous sweater dress and hat outfit by Sacksac. Natasha looks really great in it I think.  The boots are commercially made and very easy to put on even by small hands. Important when you are dressing a Sasha for a child.

 

 

Peter is wearing a sweater and pompom hat made by Fairylaine. I downloaded this pattern once from a Sasha site hoping to have a go myself. I was lost as soon as I read that the sweater is knitted from the neck down!!! So glad to see it on eBay the other day and to be the successful bidder. It is great.

 

 

Imogen’s dress and hat are knitted by Postiesbabe. She is another favourite of mine! She has kitted out my entire cricket team with her wonderful cricket sweaters. Imogen has teamed the dress with Jeggings from Dollydoodles. I love the grey colour on a blonde.  Boots – a little on the large side – from All About Dolls.



A FUN TRIP OUT...

 

 

A Tuesday morning during Half Term

   Toby James has noticed something pinned to the wall. ‘Hey Benjamin, have a look at this!’

 

Benjamin comes running. ‘It’s a leaflet advertising something. Let’s see...’

 

 

Dominic comes to have a look, too. He spells out the words: ‘ it says ‘ In S-earch of Im-mo-rality, I think’. 
 

Raffay who has now joined the group can't believe his ears. 'What? Don't be stupid. Let me see.  It says ‘In Search of Immortality. Tomb Treasures of the HAN Dynasty in China!’

 

 

 

'Oh boy! You know what that means! A trip to the Museum! That's worse than being at school! I knew something was up when we had to change out of our Dollydoodles outfits!

 

 

A PEEP INTO MY CATALOGUE

No. 1 – Vintage Sasha: Button-through Smock, Pants and Shoes, October 2012

 

 

I have decided to keep a record of most of the Sasha clothes and their designers in my collection. I thought I’d start with Vintage Sasha, as this outfit arrived only a few days ago and is the first and only outfit of hers that I have managed to bag for my Sashas so far! I seem to be always too slow off the mark. My model is Molly, who came with a really bad haircut, which has since been transformed into a cute little bob by Gillian’s daughter, Zoe.

 

 

Disaaaaaaaster Darlings!

Erstens kommt es anders, zweitens als man denkt

(Wilhelm Bush – German satirical writer)

In other words...

Don’t think your plans are necessarily going to work out!

 

My Granddaughter, Hanna - the Tiffin Girl

Well, one can want a thing too much, I suppose. I was so looking forward to Judith Easthope’s Sasha Saturday. I was going to meet all those lovely people I have come to know through their blogs and through Ebay (yes!!!). I would meet the person who has brought Dollydoodle street-cred to all those Sasha boys and I would finally meet Gillian who has become a real friend thanks to our daily email correspondence. I had also planned a nice little exhibit entitled ‘HANNA GOES TO TIFFIN GIRLS SCHOOL’! (Hanna is my gorgeous, beautiful and clever Granddaughter who had just recently started at that school). Wonderfully kind and skilled people (we all know who they are) had worked hard to create all the various items of an authentic ‘Tiffin School Uniform’ (I don’t sew or knit for Sasha – we all know perfection is aimed for here!!!) and the results were both accurate and stunning. I had also gathered together all kinds of Sasha sized items to show Hanna’s interests and hobbies outside school hours. In other words, I had put a lot of thought into this and couldn’t wait for Saturday. Alas, it was not to be! First my husband and chauffeur became ill, but not to worry, my son said he would take me. Then he fell ill, and finally I succumbed as well. The disappointment was huge! I had, however, taken some pictures for a display board, and here they are. My Sasha, Hanna, who was supposed to model the uniform suddenly became very limp and wouldn't pose (re-stringing needed), so I have used Imogen to model the various outfits.
 

 

 



Extremely smart Tiffin Girls Uniform, including badge on blazer, perfectly made by

Ruth (Ruthdolls).

 

 

 

 Here she is with her continental satchel. Children should not carry bags heavy with books, other than on their backs!

Now, doesn’t that make sense?

 

 

She has chosen the violin as her preferred instrument
 

 

 



The school jumper – knitted by Gillian Nash

Basketball tracksuit made by Judith Easthope
 

 

 

 Hockey-skirt by Lorraine Tyler, T-shirt by Ruthsdolls, Hockey-stick, Nick Cooper

 

 

Love this Tracksuit made by Ruthsdolls. It is an exact replica of the real thing.  

 

All the Uniform items are extremely well made and as accurate as could be gleaned from photographs. Hanna has not yet seen the Uniform, but I am sure she will be as delighted with it as I am. It will be hers in due course, to remind her of her school days at Tiffin Girls School. Many thanks to the lovely people who have done such an amazing job!

 

 

 



THAT SPECIAL DRESS

NOSTALGIA

 

The 'Dirndl' Dress

 Like everyone else, I want my Sashas to look like modern kids, wearing the sort of clothes that are comfortable and pretty; stylish, with a bit of designer chic for the girls, and street –cred for the boys! Well, and why not! That’s more or less what’s in the ever increasing number of Sasha clothes boxes. But then you remember that you are from Austria (originally) and that you used to wear ‘Dirndl’ dresses as a child. So this notion enters your head, that your Sashas need to reflect this, and you go on a hunt for a ‘Dirndl’ dress.  You are in luck: Ruth  http://www.ruthsdolls.eu/ has a very pretty ‘Bavarian’ outfit which is just the ticket. The fabrics and colours are just perfect (you wouldn’t expect anything else, really). You put it on your favourite Sasha and the job is done – you have recaptured a piece of your childhood!

 

Not quite, it seems! One Dirndl is never enough. You need at least a one more.  Something a little simpler, maybe.  A bit more ‘every day’. You look and look, but you don’t find! Stela (Aletsa) had just come on the scene and was going great guns with her sewing. She comes from Bulgaria. You assume she knows about a ‘Dirndl’ and you contact her. She would be happy to make you one, just as long as you can tell her what a ‘Dirndl’ dress actually is (she is too young to know!!!). You find a picture and you email it to her. She comes up trumps with these lovely outfits:
 

 

Here is a similar one in red

 

 

 

 

Jadzia has long been one of my favourite Sasha clothes designers. I like all her clothes, but some of her dresses have an unmistakable Middle European air about them. One or two of them would only need an apron to make them into a kind of Dirndl Dress (although they are perfect, just as they are)!

And here we have THE special dress designed by Jadzia. A gorgeous ‘Broderie Anglaise’ blouse, with a very full skirt and a corset made of black velvet. It is absolutely stunning. She used a red ribbon to lace up the corset, but I changed it to a simpler black cord, thereby bringing the focus back to the dress.  This is not a Dirndl dress, but the elements are all there: the white blouse, the tight bodice and the full skirt! Brilliant!

 

 

 

 

JUST THINKING...

SASHA DOLL OWNERSHIP

(a short essay)

 

There are good reasons why we love and collect Sasha dolls, so much is obvious. It all starts innocently enough. They are beautiful, enigmatic and totally appealing dolls and you would like to own one.  Why not? So far, so good, but it takes hardly any time at all to be in their thrall. Before you know it, they are multiplying on your sideboard, book shelf or sofa and that is before you even know anything much about them.  Any pretty Sasha that comes to your attention you have to have. They are mostly mid 70’s and early 80’s Trendons and the odd Götz and very nice they are, too! Gradually, as you get to know other Sasha enthusiasts and collectors, and you begin to read around the subject, you begin to realize that there is a lot more to this, than you first imagined. There are the Studio Dolls, the Development dolls, the Early Götz and Trendon Sashas, the NP dolls, the NN dolls, the Slate Eyed girls and boys, the Side Part, the Full Centre Part etc. etc. – you get the picture.  At first glance, you may not even like the look of some of them, but you keep on looking and all of a sudden, you begin to see their beauty and you start putting them on your wish list. Then you realize, with a hint of panic, that you might have to be seriously wealthy to afford some of these beauties! You start to fantasize about owning one of them and you begin to wonder, whether you shouldn’t sell one or two from your initial collection so that may have the funds to acquire just one V.I.P. But to your horror, you discover that you have bonded with them all and that you just can’t part with any of them. It would be like selling one of your children! You are hooked. You are stuck. You continue to torture yourself by looking on blogs and in books and on Shelly’s website! You check through Ebay.co and .com on a daily basis. You join Sasha-mart to seek help and enlightenment. Your husband or partner has found it necessary to ask the question whether 30 Sasha dolls might not be enough!!! You have no idea, but you make an accomplice of your Postman to deliver a certain shaped parcel only when your husband/partner is not at home! You might even have said parcel delivered to a friend – just in case. Suddenly you realize that you have developed an addiction!  YOU ARE OUT OF CONTROL! And there we are! The tables have been turned. We don’t own our Sashas – they own us! Resistance seems useless, so we surrender, continue looking and buying, and hope for the best!

DOMINIC

Dominic is feeling sad

This little boy has just arrived and I think he misses his Mum a bit. She sadly had to give him up for adoption and I was only too pleased to give him a good home. He came with his Teddy Bear who will provide some comfort and I hope that he will soon feel happy here. I think he has the appearance and facial expression of quite a young child. Below school age I would think. He is a very beautiful little boy and I love him already.

Dominic is wearing a sweater from the Gillian Nash collection. I think it suits his young image. The trousers and socks are made by Petrana

He is ‘Michael’, from the Götz Puppenfabrik. He is only the second Götz Sasha I own.

It is lovely to have you in the family, Dominic!