From My Little Hole in the Wall: Esme's Christmas Holly

Welcome Winter Solstice! The shortest day of the year brings with it the promise of Light and Spring. And, the use of holly to decorate a home was as symbolic in centuries past, as it is today to celebrate the Christmas season.

To the Druids, the plant was sacred. Celtic civilizations used and valued this evergreen leaf as a symbol of protection and good luck. It was believed that the holly leaf protected the fairies from winter, as it was observed that small insects sought shelter in the spikey, leathery leaves during winter storms.

The hearty evergreen leaves, and bright red berries of the female plants, bring warmth and cheer to a barren winter landscape. Could the colors of red and green to symbolize Christmas have come from the holly?

Winter Solstice is my favorite marker of time. Just four days before Christmas Day, the steadily darkening days take a turn back to longer days of sunlight. It is often one of the coldest times of the year due to the lack of sunlight, but with that comes snowfall, and it's no secret how much I love the snow. But, beyond that, the celebration of Winter Solstice tugs at my heart for the hope it brings. As a lover of nature, there is no more perfect way to celebrate the day that a hike in woods, or a ski on the winter pack. In the absence of fog, the night sky is sparkling at its best with tiny spots of light. And, it is out of this love of Winter Solstice and the magical charm of sweet holly, that I chose to make Esme's Leaf Umbrella, a 5 1/2" Maggie Iacono doll, a holly outfit.

My dearest and most generous friend, Betsy, bought her for me as a Christmas gift. We were having one of our weekly phone visits since she lives in Ohio, and myself in California, and we were looking at Gail Wilson auctions for two tiny dolls not already in her collection. The seller of the two dolls of interest, had also listed

Esme', and I went nuts. I knew the doll would sell, but I couldn't afford to buy her at the time. Then my Christmas box from Betsy arrived, and she begged me to open it then, so I could enjoy the contents in November - still very much our golden autumn. I just about flipped, and she told me Esme was "a must have for a little girl born in September". Bless that beautiful woman's heart! And, she knew I'd play with her. Make her something for Christmas. In fact, Esme could have a spring and summer costume, too, and she will.

To be truthful, it wasn't too far a stretch to undress the little doll, turn her gorgeous little costume inside out, and draft a pattern from it. Esme even has little wool felt undies beneath the dress. I am no Maggie Iacono. I don't even try to be - to recreate the glorious wool felt costuming she's done for her dolls. I have neither her skills, tools, or creative vision, but I can play with her dolls and make similar outfits to display the dolls in. Treva, at 10", was designed from Jan Brett's Christmas Trolls book, whereas Esme is a botanical sprite and should remain so.

I tried to "cheat". I thought I had this all down pat! I purchased a set of thirty-six small felt holly leaves from an Etsy seller in Oregon, and planned on just making the underpants, smock and boots. I'd be free to decorate the smock with the die cut leaves. Hah! What was I thinking? There simply weren't enough leaves in each size and color to create this vision. I muttered and fussed and tried several ways to create this little outfit with them, then gave up.

I ended up using two of the leaves as patterns and hand-cut 30 or so of my own from my heavier wool felt. That was a bonus in itself. The heavier felt. Easier to manipulate.

Even though, and I'm sharing them below, illustrations for inspiration, including Cicely Mary Barker's Holly Fairy, I wanted something Iacono-esque. I considered making Esme a holly arbor and calling the costume Esme's Holly Arbor, but the fact that her leaf umbrella is cumbersome for her to hold, I chose to give her a holly hat.

After cutting all those leaves and fussing with machine stitching at the centers of the upper most leaves, I wasn't about to let any go to waste. This is where I came up with the back spray of holly with berries. The pom poms on the dress are only 3mm in size. The three on the center of her holly hat are the half inch size - or perhaps smaller? I had a bag of multiple colored pom poms in the "larger" size. I was lucky I found it!

Just try to find pom poms this time of year! Especially this year. If you think the grocery store shelves look barren, go into a Michael's. There wasn't but one small aisle left of Christmas decorations in ours as of three days ago. The entire store looked dead and empty. There will be no after Christmas sale there.

I enjoyed making this tiny costume. Perhaps my favorite part of designing it came with the boots. Some of you may recall the Holly Sprite outfit I made for Lettie Lane eight or nine years ago. The boots were awesome!

So I made tiny Esme similar ones. It was a bit of a struggle to turn them inside out, and I did not affix a leather sole to their bottoms as Maggie would have, but Esme is a tiny doll and I don't think the costume lacks from the omission of soles on the shoes.

It occurred to me as I was photographing Esme in her Christmas Holly that I spent a good deal of time over the last two months cutting holly leaves. Earlier, I had made Betsy a Christmas dress for her Maggie Iacono "play doll", and used holly leaves to decorate the hem (see below). Then there was Little Miss Christmas, who takes the cake for the amount of leaves I had to cut for the costume. And, of course, there was Lettie's from long ago, a costume I sold to a customer. Wish I had it now!

This blog posting is a celebration of Christmas Holly and Winter Solstice. In that, I am sharing some wonderfully delightful holly illustrations from years past. I'm filling this page with glorious shades of green and sweet images to brighten this day for you.

This season has been a prolific one for me and I still feel inspired to keep going. I just may tackle that gingerbread costume for Dolly Dingle. After Christmas, the plan is to make Cissy a New Year's gown. But, for just today, I'm putting my feet up and maybe finishing Donna Ashcroft's The Christmas Countdown, watching a couple of Christmas movies, and taking note of all that has past, and what I wish for tomorrow.

I hope you've enjoyed Esme's Christmas Holly costume, and will find delight in the images below, as I have.

Love and Christmas hugs, Melissa