Mardi Gras with Prague and Piggy

Welcome February!  Just as predicted, January was a quiet month and one where I dug in and worked on Halva for the story Sister Bear.  As I tell people sometimes, "The doll isn't going to make itself, so I'd best make up my mind and get busy!"  That can be difficult when all you're doing each time you sit down is free embroidering intricate little designs on doll clothing.   But guess what?!  She's almost done.  Just a few things left to do including needle felting Sister Bear, the baby polar bear that Halva finds and adopts.

And sometimes you have to set such a project aside and work on something else that's time critical.  And believe me, February is chalk full of fun events, all mid-month.  Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, and Lunar New Year.  I even bought a new Lunar New Year Lego project this morning.  With over 1,000 pieces, I think I'd just make the vase with the plum blossoms!  This year.  These miniature, adult targeted Lego sets are fabulous, but take a very long time to put together. 

But I'm already digressing.  Maybe that's because I just finished Ellowyne's cheongsam for Lunar New Year.  I've been hoping that the VDC will offer in her next subscription box, an appropriate outfit to wear in Chinatown, San Francisco on the 17th.  One can always hope! So, I made the cheongsam just in case. I hate sewing with jacquard.  Miserable stuff!

Before that though, I set Halva aside and made Eloise, Maisie's cousin, a Mardi Gras outfit.  If there was ever a doll that would have a ball at Mardi Gras, its Eloise.  

I was looking for ideas on Pinterest, as I always do, and found these heat transfers for Mardi Gras.  One of them was this great, Throw Me Something Mister one.

That was Eloise!  However, the smallest size would've been appropriate for only a human's shirt pocket.  I kept looking.  Once again I was reminded of artist, Connie Born's, Mardi Gras Mischief dolls.  While "mischief" describes Eloise to a T, there was no way that doll would enjoy wearing such a costume as this.  Minus the coins or doubloons on the face, this would be a great costume for another doll.  I was just looking at these OOAK dolls, and they can sell for $800 on the Internet.  Connie created these unique dolls to celebrate the culture and spirit of Louisiana.  Awesome concept!

So, I continued to poke around for what might suit Eloise.  Then I came upon bambinocheride on Etsy who also sold the DTF Heat Transfers.  When I saw the one saying, "Don't make me go all voodoo on you!", I knew I'd found what I wanted.  I went ahead and orderd the smallest size and when it arrived, I absolutely could NOT use it.  Way too big.  So I wrote to the seller, who would never give me her name.  Or his name?  But that person was a dear and worked with me to get me just the perfect size for these Little Stella dolls.

I sent this person photos of what I did for Eloise for Christmas and told her (let's go with that), that I didn't want a frilly, pretty thing, but a "throw me something mister" look.  She laughed and said she had my back and redid them for free in a 2" size.  I purchased a mini heat setter on Amazon and she led me through how to use the thing.

I meet some of the most incredibly great people while working on projects.  These are my kind of people.  Let's have fun and help each other create things of joy and beauty!  I thanked her profusely and shared photos of the finished product and maybe someday we'll work together again.  Sprinkle star dust where you can and watch it sparkle!

I had this purple and pink striped fabric that's like a thin, light woven linen.  I kept thinking that it can get pretty warm in New Orleans even during mid-February, so I ran with this.  Still learning how to design outside the box for these Connie Lowe dolls, I borrowed from other designers, the pantaloon idea.  One of my next

projects will be circus costuming for both Eloise and Maisie, and working on this project helped point me in the right direction.  Let's face it.  I can't change who I am, but I can work on inserting elements from other designs that are fun to work with.

The most important thing for me with this costume, was to boldly feature and emphasize the Mardi Gras voodoo doll and the silly words.

The arm socks are perfect for cooler weather, and paired with socks of the same stripe, create a fun contrast.  

I love how the pantaloons turned out.  I've seen several ways of making these garments and will try other designs in the future.

Maybe the one thing I did that turned this from an A-type costume to a "getting there Connie Lowe outfit", was ripping strips of silk for the ribbons.  Silk is so expensive and getting hard to come by, but

it needs to be ripped and frayed to get that look.  Crunched, too.  I decorated the top hat with them and with a bit left over, I added crunched ribbons to the sides of the pantaloons.

I had also selected the Mardi Grawr transfer with the dinosaur.  He's awfully cute.  What to do with him?  Make a bag to collect all those treasures thrown from those floats.  Throw me something mister!

Here the bag up close with some beads I added for fun.

But we couldn't stop there.  Let's get Eloise's dog, Prague, and Piggy from the Alice set, dressed up for Mardi Gras, too.

This little pig is the Steiff I use for Alice Illustrated and was the model for Piggy.  

While thinking about what might connect the top hat to the costume besides ribbons, I came up with a wool vest with Mardi Gras pins on it.  It didn't look quite right over the voodoo doll smock, so I made a tube top.  Hey!  There is a large Irish presence in New Orleans.  She does look a little like a leprechaun here.  But it's a variation and just as fun.

I really wanted to make something for Kitty Hudson, but Eloise came first and maybe we can do that next year.  Below are two more illustrations of Deco costuming for parties and Mardi Gras.  I may have to try the house in the first one, or the window in the second.  More ideas for the Dennison's tissue paper costumes?  I love making costumes.  More than anything else, costuming is FUN.

Below I'm resharing past Mardi Gras costumes.  Each very different.  Each unique. I hope Eloise has a great time in New Orleans on the 16th!  

And now it's back to Halva, until the next three pieces of jacquard arrive.  Lacie needs a Chinese New Year outfit.  Cheongsam or pants and tunic?  I'll decide then.  

Happy month of February!