Miranda’s Protea Sundress Outfit Honors Ann Chandler at 2025 Sasha Doll Festival

A red sundress, a bold protea print and a wide-brimmed hat give this Sasha doll outfit its character. Made for the raffle doll honoring Ann Chandler at the 2025 Sasha Doll Festival in the USA, the set brings together several of the approaches requested by organizer Marti: a pattern from Ann’s book, reused fabric, a traditional look and some hand sewing.

Miranda in the protea sundress for the Ann Chandler raffle doll

A tribute shaped by the maker’s brief

The maker won’t be attending the festival after taking an overseas trip earlier in the year, but chose to contribute an outfit to the raffle doll. Marti’s invitation welcomed donations that met at least one of four criteria: use one of Ann’s patterns, incorporate recycled or used fabric, follow a very traditional style such as that seen on a studio doll, or be sewn by hand. Knitters were invited to choose freely, since Ann didn’t knit much.

The outfit answers several parts of that brief at once. Its main dress follows a pattern in Sasha Dolls Clothing and Patterns, credited to Ann Louise Chandler, Susanna E. Lewis and Anne Votaw. The maker also reused a remnant from her fabric stash and completed some of the sewing by hand, though most of the work was done by machine.

That combination makes the contribution personal as well as practical. The maker had met Ann at earlier festivals and remembers her as knowledgeable and kind. The pattern connects the outfit directly to Ann’s published work, while the reused cloth carries its own history from an earlier sewing project.

Three fabrics bring the dress together

The base design is the Sasha sundress with brettels, listed on page 87 of the pattern book. The plain red fabric came from an unidentified remnant the maker had previously used in a more elaborate dress for her younger daughter when the child was 10. The remaining piece was large enough for the solid section of the doll’s sundress.

Two shweshwe fabrics from Coral Tree Fabrics in South Africa provide the contrasting prints. One features the protea, South Africa’s national flower; the other has a much smaller floral leaf motif, with the plant species unidentified. Both were selected to sit alongside the red fabric, which the maker describes as having an almost denim-like washed look.

The scale of a print matters in a small garment because a large motif can dominate a narrow panel. Here, the fabric choice also influenced the accessories: the maker gave the sunhat a particularly wide brim so the larger print would have room to read clearly. It’s a small design decision, but one that links the hat’s proportions to the fabric rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Matching pieces complete the set

The dress is accompanied by underpants taken from the same pattern book and a broad-brimmed sunhat. The set’s details extend beyond the outer surfaces: the smaller-print shweshwe appears as the dress lining, creating a quiet contrast with the protea fabric. The photos show the dress from the front and back, the hat’s patterned fabric, the lining, and the outfit together.

Back view of the protea sundress

Patterned view of the protea sunhat

Inside lining of the protea sundress using the small print shweshwe fabric

Back view of protea sundress, underpants and inside hat

The protea sundress set for the Ann Chandler raffle doll

For collectors who appreciate the making as much as the finished miniature, the set offers several details to look for: the book-patterned sundress, the contrast between the two shweshwe prints, the reused red remnant and the coordinating hat and underpants. The maker hopes the raffle winner enjoys the doll and its outfits, which together will form a tribute to Ann Chandler.