Grace and Dolly Land and Sea

Winter has been swept away by a very early spring this year.  It's getting harder and harder to stay indoors when the skies are blue and the weather averages between 60 and 70 degrees.  Seriously!  We had several days around 70 then the temperature dropped once again.  But no snow.  Very little rain.  I guess the year is still young and there's always a chance of change.  I just might get to go spring skiing!  Because that's what it will be.  Spring.  I am not complaining.  The lake is filling up and when it's just full enough, out comes my kayak.  Until then, I'm sewing. 

I've also been devouring books at night.  A surprise read is the latest one I'm into called The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis.  

The Flowering Plum trees are in bloom.  It just couldn't be a prettier day, but here I am typing away to share one of the most exciting things that the Virtual Doll Convention has brought 

to us in a long time.  I don't recall how long Rachel Hoffman said this was in the works, but she had Ruby Red Galleria make us some extraordinary costumes for Grace Marie Fitzpatrick, and Ellowyne Wilde.  The collection was called Land and Sea and "sea" was right up my alley.  I love anything nautical in clothing.  I treasured the sailor top my grandmother made me one Easter season.  In fact, she sewed a mother, and two daughters, matching set of outfits.  I don't know about my sister, but I loved these outfits.  And my favorite doll was Skipper.  Barbie would come later, but I loved Skipper's little red and white nautical swimsuit, and her name was surely destined to put her in line for a visit to Gilligan's Island.

So when the Land and Sea collection debuted, I sat at my computer eagerly awaiting the very minute they went on sale.

The costume shown in Diana Vining's illustration above, was designed for Ellowyne, or I might have gotten it, too.  Instead I was thrilled to get the Maritime Muse outfit that came in a beautiful, bright red.  Not thinking clearly, I purchased the must have shoes that were red and white, and later discovered that they were for Ellowyne.  Big sigh.  Oh well. My personal Ellowyne collection is vintage Tonner Wilde Imagination, and I just don't need to go down a new road with these new dolls.  

But I got the Maritime Muse which I was dying for!  Then I went back and got the white sailor dress for Grace, the coveted purse, and upon looking more closely, had to acquire the equestrian costume for Grace as well.  It is one of the most brilliant works of art Ruby Red Galleria has created.  After the ice-skating costume, of course!  Those skates!  Awesomeness. The Land and Sea collection was the kind of costuming I'd always hoped for from the Club Grace subscription.  And naturally, Dolly and maybe Remmie Lou would get to play as well.

The first costume I made was one for Dolly to go with Maritime Muse.  

Dolly's wearing a pair of white linen sailor pants with little button details on the pleated front.

Her jaunty red and white striped sailor top is attached to the trousers at the waist and the sailor collar is a separate piece.  I've done sailor collars on dresses before, but it's been eons since then and I wanted a different look for Dolly.

A red silk ribbon was used for the tie, and loops through two handmade thread loops where the collar meets in the middle.

I just had to make her a sailor hat.  Normally I love making hats, but this was quite the fidgeting of pattern pieces.  I used to make real tiny ones for my 3 1/2" Raggedy Andy dolls, but that was eons ago, too.  

Trying to figure out how the band, or brim worked on this hat took a bit of figuring out, as patterns for people generally include a lining.  So, to make a nice and neat fold-up brim, I had to sew the brim to the crown on the wrong side.  It worked.

It worked so well that I decided to give Remmie Lou a sailor hat, too.  This one was much smaller and not my finest hour, but she doesn't mind.  She's thrilled with her sailor collar that's just like Dolly's.  

One of the problems I was having is that the thin, bright red braid I used on both collars was almost gone.  There wasn't much left of it in my stash, and I know I bought it from a seller that catered to dressing miniature dolls.  It's my practice nowadays to use what I have on hand, if I can.

No sooner did I finish this set, then I started the equestrian costume set for Dolly which took a couple of weeks to make. I rarely do something like this.  Rather I switch between dolls, so I don't get tired of sewing for one.  Dolly is a very difficult doll to dress.  Short chubby legs.  Tubby belly.  And those infernal crooked arms!  But she needed the equestrian outfit Diana Vining drew her in.

It's so rare that Diana draws for Dolly any longer, and Remmie Lou gets a nod once or twice a year.  Sewing for these two VDC mascots is what has made the Club Grace subscription a joy for me.  But things are changing.  We see less of them, and while I used to enjoy making Diana's illustrations come to life, I find myself in the creative trenches designing for them myself.

However, even if it wasn't a darling black and white houndstooth costume, the hobby horse had to get made.

I'm exhausted.  This entire costume was one of the most difficult I've ever made.  Primarily because I was dressing Dolly and her funny little body!  The challenge to make her outfits look wonderful on her is something I work hard at.

It's funny, but recently there was a slight nudge from Rachel towards getting doll collectors to learn the technology of YouTubing and photoshopping.  I like watching TV but I

don't wish to become a film maker.  I'm far too self-conscious (I won't even Zoom), and I haven't a clue as to what software to purchase, much less how to make it work, to put dolls in natural photo settings.  I work hard enough at what I do that I haven't the energy, time, or desire to expand.  It's all about the costuming to me and always has been.  I'm tempted to ask a clever photoshop expert to put my dolls in settings for me.  Of course, then I'd have to compensate them or pay them.  Well, I'll stick to what I know.  This is what "they" always tell you.  Find the one thing you're good at and do it great.  For me it's bringing 2D to 3D with illustrations and my dolls.  And I'll forever be trying to do it better. 

Dolly's equestrian outfit has the long slope-tailed jacket and pants that pouf out at the sides for ease of riding. The formal name for these pants is breeches.  I managed to figure out how to get the suede knee patches in the inseam, too.  They're no bigger than a one-inch oval, cut in half and sewn to the edge of the breeches 

where the seam goes.  Studying the construction of Grace's breeches helped tremendously in this effort.  

Here's as close a close-up of the suede patches in Dolly's breeches.

Two little buttons close the jacket in front over her tubby tummy.

Dolly wears a tall pair of black riding boots.

I made her little hat out of wool felt.  By this time, I was ready to be done and making a standard, lined riding hat for this costume, and in this size felt insurmountable.  If I ever feel bored and need something to do, I may make it again and fiddle with professional hat making in miniature.  It would take two days to do this.  Sometimes I have to remember that she's just a doll!

And I couldn't wait to get to Dolly's hobby horse!  How adorable and brilliant was Diana's vision and her illustration!  The hobby horse was the very thing that inspired me to create the costume set for Dolly in the first place.

While working on the equestrian costume, I had plenty of time to think about how I was going to do this.  A couple of years ago, I made a reindeer toy for a doll costume set at Christmas.  Having had that experience behind me gave me the confidence I could do this.  

It occurred to me that the hobby horse head could have been needle felted, but the mane of the horse head would have been tricky to do with needle felting.  That is, to resemble Diana's illustration.  I considered using lambskin to make it as well.  In the end I chose wool felt to make him.  I love working with wool felt on doll toys.  It's so forgiving, so nice to work with.  It took a few pattern tries to get his shape and sizing correct, but once that was done, the rest went fairly smoothly.  There is also embroidery work that goes into toys like the hobby horse.  The reins and nose bit are made of aqua lambskin.  His little neck skirt is red silk.

Remmie is much happier running alongside a trotting horse without a lot of frou-frous on her.  So, she is just her sweet little self for the equestrian set.

March turns out to be another tri-celebration month with St. Patrick's Day on the 17th, the First Day of Spring on the 19th, and Easter is early this year, landing on March 31rst.  I've been promising Cissy a green St. Patrick's Day dress, but I just learned that Grace will receive something called Shimmering Shamrock that debuts on March 11th.

Esme needs a new spring costume, and as violets are so often seen in illustrations for Easter, I've considered making her a violet petal costume.  I love violets.  They do not grow wild in California, but the fragrance and beauty of them have always been a favorite of mine.  Given all of this, and anything else that tugs my heartstrings to create, March will be just as busy a time as February was.  Perhaps I'll need to pick and choose.  If I get busy tomorrow, I just may finish a dress for Cissy in a week's time.

The Land and Sea collection was extraordinary.  I seldom get this excited about doll costuming, but these outfits were works of art.  Each one of them an effort in love and inspiration.

Let's keep playing dolls!  Melissa