A is for Eiffel - Anne Fitzpatrick

Hotter than noon on the 4th of July!  We've been in a serious heatwave for the past four or five days, and this weekend is when the temperatures will peak.  

Today is the 4th of July.  I've had to enjoy sharing my personal celebration of the holiday on Facebook only.  It's just too doggone hot outdoors for comfort.  Sure.  There are crazy people out frying in the sun, boating on the lake, standing over barbeque grills in parks and backyards, but with temperatures in the triple digits, I prefer to spend the holiday in the comfort of my well air-conditioned home.  And this is what I've been doing for the past few days.

I'm never bored.  Never!  Dolls keep me busy.  Reading keeps me busy.  My dog, Brighton, keeps me busy, and of course, the day to day of living fills the hours of the day.  Then there's sewing!

I couldn't wait to begin Anne's second outfit, which I'm calling 

A is for Eiffel.  Of the paper doll outfits for Anne that Diana Vining illustrated, I purchased fabric for only two.  I'm watching what I spend with the UFDC convention coming up on the 22nd.  And with fifty-thousand pounds of fabric stuffed into my cabinets, I really do try to use what I have in my stash first, before purchasing more.

I was charmed and intrigued by this printed dress with a large, floppy red beret, and adorable red t-strap shoes.  There is so very much to this outfit, so many details, and yet deciphering it to begin planning to create it, was quite a puzzle. I've looked under a magnifying lamp at the print, and I'm pretty sure Diana drew hundreds of little "A's" all over the dress.  And yet!  And yet, with the beret, it looks very French, and those symbols could be artistically conceived Eiffel Towers.

Then again, you have the A's on the knee socks, so the dress must be printed with the letter A for Anne.

But such a fabric does not exist.  If I can't find it, it doesn't exist.  I've been sewing paper doll outfits for twelve years now and finding fabrics to match the illustrations is second nature to me now.  It's like going on a treasure hunt. Instinctively, I knew I wouldn't find anything close to Diana's vision, but it was fun going for a spin around the internet just to see.

In the past, I've actually created my own fabric before.  Whether it was painting on silk, running an image through the printer on printer fabric, which is horrible, worse than Kona cotton, or creating iron-on appliques.  The most important thing for me in this creation, was to make something charming and inspired, and create it in a way that would make Anne feel pretty and Oh-so-French!

This dress is one of the more challenging I've done, if only in the design of the collar.  I have a love-hate relationship with collars.  I know how to make them, but it usually takes a few whacks at it to get them designed to lay properly and nicely on the neck edge.

This dress was also drawn with elements of off-white, or light beige, and white.  Digging through my stash to see if I could come up with the correct knit for stockings, white for the inset in the bodice and again, color tint for the collar took some time.  I have silks.  Tons of silks, but this dress required cottons as the print I chose was cotton. Where I could go wild, if I ever do, was with the trim.

I chose a lightly ribbed white shirting cotton for the inset, a light cream cotton for the collar, off-white-cream for the knee highs, and thin red cotton velveteen for the trim.  My thought was, what would a little girl find in a French couture shop to wear on a visit to the Louvre?  What would she delight in, spin around in, visiting The Jardin de Tuileries in Paris?

This print has tiny Eiffel towers on it.  Little A shaped Eiffel towers.  It's a simply quilting cotton, not my favorite doll dress fabric, but it worked for my inspiration.  I worried constantly that it would not come together in a pleasing way.  I'm such a stickler for authenticity, exactness.  Its what I do.

The red velveteen makes the dress elegant.  I remember loving the feel of wearing velveteen as a child.  I used to pet it.  It was soft.  Felt like a kitten.  So the cuffs, hem trim and beret are made from the lipstick red cotton velveteen I had in my stash.  It came from the U.K. and I will have to try and purchase more in the future since the two-yard order I purchased has been used for so many other costumes, and Red Riding Hood capes. 

The buttons are pearly set in brass and were purchased from a French Fashion seller. The white sold out quickly, so using all six of the ten I had was a special gift to Anne.

But the real fun was in trying to make the knee socks and t-strap shoes.  

I didn't want to let Diana down.  I know in the past she's enjoyed seeing her illustrations come to life, and I did my best to do this.  She really spent some time drawing all those A's, and this I could only attempt to replicated with Eiffel Towers.  On the other hand, I could do the accessories.

I spent a great deal of time in May embroidering silk slippers for the gift my friend and I are presenting during a UFDC event.  Eight pairs of tiny silk slippers if my memory serves.

So embroidering A's on the socks wouldn't be too long a leap.  Or would it?  Embroidering on stretch knit is a whole other thing though.  I make no excuses if the two A's aren't exactly alike.  I did my best (LOL).  Not an easy, no brainer task.  But gosh, they turned out nice.  Hence, so many photos attached!

And of course, those precious red t-straps with the tiny bows.  What child would not fall in love with shoes like this?!

These photos just show the shoes and knee socks from different angles.  I truly enjoyed the creative process in both these accessories.

The large, floppy beret was made from the same red velveteen as the cuffs and hem trim.  Oversized, but fun and playful.  That's our Anne.  Playful!

Now Anne has TWO of her paper doll outfits by Diana Vining.  Diana's artwork inspires me daily.  It truly has that voie d e vivre, and what could be better for a little French outfit?  

Below, I show her with a large red bow-ribboned ponytail.  This was how I imagined her looking.  

I hope you've enjoyed both this outfit and the journaling of the creative process.  Thank you for joining me on these dolly endeavors!

Love, Melissa