Spring is near. While winter persists in many parts of the country, we missed it entirely this year. And January, which I've always considered well into winter, was my month to tuck into a quiet project and cozy myself away from the cold.
You may recall me occasionally talking about my Sister Bear project. The long-term project that began a couple of years ago with the purchase of another Wendy Lawton, Prim and Proper. This little 11 1/2" doll is my favorite to dress. One was used for Alice Illustrated, and therefore I get to play with this doll from time to time. I knew when I started this project that it would take great patience and perseverance on my part, and it did.
When I first saw this book by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Linda Graves, I knew, I just knew that someday I'd create something from it. The illustrations are beyond gorgeous and the Norse folktale is delightful. Its the story of a young girl named Halva and the polar bear cub she finds one spring, alone in the woods.
"Halva takes the cub home, where they name her Sister Bear. Not only does Sister Bear hunt for the family and protect Halva, but she likes to dance while Halva plays the flute.
Halva decides to show off Sister Bear to the king of Denmark who liked remarkable things. On their journey, they run into trouble with some big, ugly, hungry trolls, and Halva learns just how lucky she is to have a loving friend like Sister Bear."
Along with the sweet story and the lavish illustrations, my love of polar bears was a deciding factor in beginning this journey of my own. And there is no mistaking the comparison of a girl and her dog. Not that I believe for one minute that my own dog would defend me against big, ugly trolls, especially if one gave him a cookie. It would be me protecting him!
The story begins when one spring day while out in the woods, Halva comes upon an abandoned little white cub. When the mother does not return, Halva pulls off her petticoat, wraps the little bear up and takes her home. The idea was met with resistance, but she loved the little cub, and the little cub loved her back "with all of its great heart".
She makes it an embroidered coat, and it sleeps by her bed at night. It runs beside her when she is out in her sleigh. And the bear likes to dance to the music Halva plays on her little wooden flute.
When considering how to represent Halva, I had to choose between featuring her with a young, but large polar bear dressed in embroidered coats or Halva in spring with the baby tucked inside her petticoat. The bear cub won out.
There was also the costume design factor of which outfit to
try and emulate most. Each time Halva is drawn, the costume changes dramatically. It was very confusing, so I took the blouse, vest and gathering sack from the cover, and the skirt, apron and shoes from Halva taking the little cub home. I looked and looked and bought and set aside countless pieces of fabric for the striped skirt as none would do. The ruffled hem had me searching for months as well as I didn't want to commit to such a task as embroidering the design. A ruffle like that would have taken a year to embroider on its own.
The story begins in spring and ends after Christmas when she and Sister Bear, on their journey to see the king, end up minding a cottage abandoned by a family frightened off by trolls. The costuming changes into winter wear for both Halva and Sister Bear, but my point is that this might be considered a story of Christmas. When that idea sunk in, I looked for Christmas prints, and this is where I found a suitable ruffle.
I began two years ago by embroidering the peasant blouse. Frustrated and exhausted with that free hand, detailed effort, Halva sat undressed as I took on other projects. This January, I finally decided to push my doubts and fears aside and just do it. I wanted this doll. No one was going to make it for me, and it wasn't going to make itself. So, I tucked in and worked to completion.
Here's Halva feeding the little cub on a gorgeously embroidered pillow. I do believe this is my favorite illustration in the book.
Let's start with the blouse. I tried to consider how such a blouse would be made without the aid of a sewing machine. Five rough cut simple pieces consisting of two sleeves, two front pieces to help create the opening at the neck and a back. All were stitched or embroidered together with red thread.
The sleeves are elaborately embroidered with little red hearts and a geometric border pattern. This design was from the blouse on the cover illustration.
A lace runs through the collar to cinch if desired.
As I mentioned, Halva sat for a good long time in just the blouse.
When I picked up the project again, I started working on the vest. This may have been in November of last year, only three months ago, but it was significantly difficult enough that I set it aside to work on Christmas gifts and other sewing projects.
The piping or edging is red silk on a bias. It was best cloth to use for this purpose as it's all so tiny in construction. I'm not the world's best embroiderer and it's not my aim to be so. Decorative stitching on this scale and on fine wool takes a great deal of planning and pulling out. While satin stitching was done for the border U, I chose a simpler version for the interior design.
I would learn as I went that a straight pin positioned before you take the next stitch is a good way to "help" create a better, more uniform design. When you pull the thread up, pin the point you're aiming for and stretch the thread to it to see if the line is correct. Make sense? It's still tricky but works better than just eyeballing it.
Satisfied with the vest, I started working on the gathering bag that ties to her waist. I love making purses and bags. Accessories are everything to me. This was also a way to get working on black out of the way and done with. Black is very difficult to work on.
In the midst of all this, I began to run out of the red thread and couldn't find a match anywhere. Another lesson learned. Keep the number of the color with the thread.
I sewed a cording of my own making around the edges as everything else was too thick and not the right color. The beaded tassels were fun. The jeweled latch is a jewelry finding I found on Etsy that I embellished with crystals. Real stones for this jeweled piece would have been cabochons, or uncut stones. We make do with what we have and what works best.
The apron is a small piece of Swiss Batiste that I embroidered with an azure blue thread and a persimmon pink. This made-up design was as close as I could get to one Linda Graves drew. It took quite a lot of math to accurately get a perfect number of diamonds with connectors for accurate spacing. Somehow, along with the border embroidery design, it worked out. I'm pickier than the eye is.
What was occurring during this time was that Halva's waist was getting pretty thick. Between the doubled skirt with waistband and the apron waistband with ties, and the blouse!, it all still fit nicely under the vest. phew!
So, let's talk about the skirt. Once again there was the dilemma of illustrator vs seamstress/designer. In the spring illustration this all looks like one skirt. The ruffle falling from the piped or banded edge of the stripes. On this scale it wasn't going to happen. I fiddled and agonized over this for days. Finally, and once I had the Mary Engelbreit fabric for the ruffle, I made a batiste under skirt to add the ruffle to. Both stripe and batiste are sewn into the waistband.
As far as the stripe goes, you won't find this fabric. I made it. It's a green and white stripe that I embroidered red stripes through. I'm laughing as I write this because only I'd be crazy enough to do such a thing. Do it on a machine? Yeah. Tried. No stitch available gave me the look I wanted. So, when I say I embroidered the entire costume, it's pretty much close to the truth.
Detail of the back.
And Halva's clogs were last. These are sturdy leather clogs or work shoes with tole painted flowers on them. Thin red trim was painted on them as well. Took three or four coats of acrylic paint to get the color to show up, and I love doing this kind of work.
Please remember that you can click on any of these photos to see them enlarged. Then just click back.
Oh yes. Well Halva did carry the baby bear home in her petticoat. So, I had to make a petticoat. I was tempted to just to make a square edged in lace like a tablecloth, which is what the illustration looked like (with fringe?), but what's the fun in that? No. We've gone this far, so keep doing it right.
Lucky me that I had this Swiss lace that made up a quick little petticoat. I ran a tie through the turned over waistband for cinching. Would it fit under the dress? Do you really have to ask that?
I don't like or use elastic for projects like this. Elastic disintegrates over time. And speaking of rotting rubber, I had to remove a yellowed and crumbling elastic band from the wig that held the braid in place and use needle and thread to secure it.
Finally, the star of the show. The character of the title of the book. Just a wee polar bear cub.
Was making Sister Bear any easier? Of course, not. I must have used at least five photos to make her. Everyone seems to make polar bears differently. And what I wanted most of all was look of the baby bear taking a spoon of porridge. That happy little open mouth.
He is a tiny little thing but had to be for Halva to carry home.
When Sister Bear is in the petticoat, all of this is pinned in place for the look, as well as making sure it stays in the doll's arms. The last two photos, as well as the very first one, show Halva carrying the little bear.
Go ahead and ask. Will I make a larger Sister Bear dressed in an embroidered coat? The more I've thought about it, the more I think that I'd like to. Halva will need the winter travel costume as well. This might be a good project to have done for next Christmas. In the meantime, as spring slowly emerges, let's enjoy Sister Bear's first months as a baby with Halva.
If you love folktales and children's books, Sister Bear is not to be missed. Below are more illustrations from the book that I found online with captions from the story.
Until the next time, Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Lunar New Year!
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| Impressed by the bear's helpfulness, mother names her Sister Bear. |
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| Sister Bear loves to dance to Halva's wooden flute. |
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| The journey to see the king. |
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| Halva and Sister Bear are invited back to the Gusterson's cottage after chasing off the trolls. |
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| Halva and Sister Bear run into the troll and scare them off with a warning. |
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| Detail of the journey image. |
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| A Christmas visit with the Gustersons. |
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| So, she sat for so long. |
