JoAnn Roberts Victoria doll

I bought this doll kit from JoAnn Roberts four years ago and it sat in my closet the entire time until I went to St. Louis for NAME National convention. I figured I would work on the doll during off times and if I ran into trouble, I could call up Jo for help.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it was really EASY to dress the doll. Jo had done all the hard stuff, so I just had to glue everything in place.

The doll was already wigged. The hat was done (by Deb Moran). The parasol was done (by Deb Moran). The skirt and train was all cut and glued in place by Jo.

All I had to do was glue the bodice, sleeves and skirt embellishments into place. Even the sleeves and bodice pattern had already been cut for me.

 And here she is--Victoria, la belle femme.

I had trouble following written directions for the pouf at the back, so Jo demonstrated what she meant when I took my class on the lady in ball gown.

  Deb Moran makes BEAUTIFUL hats, full of lace, ruffles, silk ribbon roses and fluffy bows, lush ostrich feather plumes, and silk bows all over.

Here's the beautiful parasol that was included with the doll and kit.

It looks complicated, but Jo says this is the EASIEST kit to dress a doll that she carries.

However, I would recommend taking at least one class with Jo before you order this kind of kit because the written instructions have hand-drawn sketches, but no step-by-step photos so you have to be familiar with her techniques and verbiage for the instructions to make sense, unless you already have experience dressing dolls to begin with.

If you ever experience problems or have questions with any kit you buy from Jo, just call her on the phone and she's more than happy to talk you through it. Worst case, you can send the doll to her to fix any mistakes you made and she will send back to you as good as if she had made it herself.

Jo guarantees all her dolls.