Cissy Goes Shopping in Aqua

Wow.  Finally the birdcage veil netting arrived!  Took me all of five minutes to cut a piece, gather and attach it!  I've had this outfit done for two weeks (or so it seems), and was awfully tempted to blow off attaching a veil, but I'm glad I waited.  That doesn't sound like a very patient person does it?  Patience.  Well, I think we all have patience for most things.  Its the little irks we have no control over that make us lose it.

One of Cissy's colors is aqua.  So many beautiful outfits were made for her in this soothing and delightful color.  Its was very popular in the mid to late fifties, too.  And flamingo pink.  No surprise there.

Did I mention that I found that I was able to begin watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime Video?  I am smitten with this show.  For awhile I'd watch one episode a day - cutting into sewing time, but hey! I'm studying the fashions, too!  What an addicting show.  Currently I'm caught up on season two, episode seven.  One more episode and then its on to  season three, then I have to wait like everyone else for more.

I can hardly believe the work of the head designer for this show!  I've been pausing and sketching and making notes, and perusing fabric like nobody's business these days.  I have plans!  My favorite episodes so far were those of Midge's family vacation in the Catskills.  Play clothes!  I adore play and everyday wear for my dolls.  I don't walk around dressed to the nines, and neither should they.

Anyway, with all my fabric hunting, I found this gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn fabric that has stolen my sewing heart.  Thirty-one dollars a yard, but oh the hand!  Its like angel fluff and sews better than silk.  Gathers tight as silk, too, so Cissy's dresses can be even fuller.  Fabric.com is now my favorite place to shop.  The selection and how you select is a shopping dream.  I've actually checked their prices against those on Ebay for some of this fabric, and their prices are best.  That's my shopping tip for the day.

Cissy is wearing the Liberty Tana Lawn "Betsy" fabric in aqua.  It also came in other colors, and I'm so tempted, but I do hate to be boring and repeat fabrics.  I might do it anyway.  Her coat is aqua silk taffeta and is lined in the dress fabric.  This is where sewing gets fun.  Color! and design.  The more I study the fashions of the fifties, the more a fan I am.

Okay, let's get this out of the way.  I did not make the Madame Alexander hat box.  There's a seller on Ebay that makes these reproductions, and does it quite well.  She also has a logo that can be printed on the boxes.  It has left me wondering if MA minds?  Okay, let's not go there.  I asked her very politely if she thought it might be fun to make real shopping bags with the logo on them.  At first she was excited, but two weeks later when I asked about them, she said they were too difficult to make.  uh-huh  Really???  'Scuse me, but they'd sell like hot cakes and you can get free patterns for "bags" of all kinds on the Internet.  Print, cut, fold and glue.  What's so hard about that?  So Cissy is carrying a hat box that might be large enough to hold a fascinator, or a least a sandwich.  But, its cute.  Just venting.  I was pretty disappointed.

With this outfit I was able to play with existing patterns I had.  The coat.  After seeing Mrs. Maisel's coat that she wore to court in the first season, I had to try to make something similar.  So I took one of the simple coat patterns and increased it in the back on the fold and added a wonderful pleat for style and fullness.  I also made my own sleeve for the coat.  This is a three-quarter, puff sleeve, pleated at the elbow then banded.

Cissy's fairy light dress is the same pattern as dress done in salmon with white and black daisies.  To make it different, I included a belt of the same fabric and embellished the neckline with rhinestones.  In my vintage Cissy research, I noticed MA had done this a couple of times, and so did the designer for Mrs. Maisel's wardrobe.  I was concerned that adding jewelry would interrupt the look, or distract, but it doesn't.  These are tiny sew-on rhinestones.  I almost tried the ones with the prong fixtures that go on the underside, but putting that kind of hole in $31 a yard fabric seemed shameful.  The rhinestones for those were also a bit larger.

I bought a couple of purse frames from Catspaw Online and made Cissy a gold leather purse.  These are nice little frames with the kiss locks.  I've never been able to buy them before because I didn't have a doll large enough to use them.  I may buy a few more and play with interesting shapes.  I love purses!  The gloves she is wearing were made by a professional seamstress that an Ebay seller for Cissy had in her shop.  I bought them in every color she had.  The seamstress has passed away since she made these, so knowing that no more would be made, I had to have them.  I admire this kind of work.  I will have to look into making fingered gloves again.  I did make one pair for Louise Godey early on, but with Cissy's larger hands, they might be fun.  Work.  Maybe.

Lastly I had to make the hat.  A pill box hat isn't terribly difficult to make, but my hats, of course, are lined.  The new thing about this was the padding I included in the process.  I have this "baby blanket" sort of padding that I sewed to the buckram and once covered with the silk, it was perfect.  Yes, they really made the hats this way.  There are a ton of Youtubes on making fifties hats.  This was also where I learned how to attach a veil to the hat.  It was in one of the videos that I spied the pleated bow on a pill box hat.  I also added feathers.  The whole nine yards.  I don't usually get this fancy with my work, but such styles seem to require it!  The feather embellishments are "stripped coque feathers" and "dyed goose biots".  How's that for some new terminology?  I have no idea what "coque" and "biot" means, but it may have to do with the birds themselves.  A quick search didn't turn up the meanings.  Anyone know?

And, of course, I had to make her some costume jewelry to match.  A girl simply can't go out on the town without her jewelry.  This outfit was a joy to make.  I can't wait to get started on the next one.

Its already spring here where I live.  We all shake our heads and worry about a drought year, but its hard to argue with beautiful, sunny days.  I think I'll keep Cissy in this outfit for awhile.  She does enjoy shopping.

Love,
Melissa