A Doll A Week 6/52: Nicole Patrice

This is Nicole Patrice.  Her middle name is for the wonderful lady who made her head for me (Pat N.).  Nicole Patrice came to live here on June 22, 2005.  Pat used the Seeley Gold mold, and I purchased a Janice Naibert body and Marie Ann dark blond human hair wig for her.  

When I discovered Bleuette, I was thrilled to discover a doll who had so many years of clothing patterns published for children to make for their dollies.   Patterns were published in La Semaine De Suzette between 1905 and 1957, generating more than 1,000 patterns!  Nicole Patrice was selected for a February doll of the week appearance because the first issue of LSDS was published in February 1905.  My first bleuette was actually a wooden Bobette by Robert Raikes, whom I pre-ordered at a Gaithersburg doll show and waited for several months to arrive.  I enjoyed her a lot, but she never had the posability of Nicole Patrice, so she has moved on to a new home.

Dear, sweet Nicole is always a cheerful girl.  She is fluent in French, but since no one else here speaks French, her English has greatly improved since she came here.  She loves everything that reminds her of France, but is partial to the country rather than city life.  When I suggested that she put on a pretty spring dress for this week's picture, she selected this dress that I made for her a long time ago.  She thought it was a sweet acknowledgement of the upcoming holiday and she is hoping for an early Spring.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that the weather forecast is for another foot of snow!    She also hinted that she would be very happy, if only I would do a few more things for her - she would like a new dress for every month of the year, and would like to invite another bleuette to come and live here, too, because she does miss her friend, Bobette. Ah, to dream...

Bonne Nuit!