Sometimes we need to dig really deep into a challenging project, and this was one of them. What better way is there to spend the long, chilly days of January, than to exercise some of that brain in front of an array of beautiful fabrics and a pair of scissors? Its during this time of year when my creativity feels like the tender green shoots of narcissus bulbs pushing through the hardened, cold earth. I want to burrow. I want to read or lose myself in episodes of Victoria or Outlander. But, then the sun comes out and my restless spirit wants to grow and surface, and shine again.
It is no secret that I love the Ruby Red Galleria dolls. The Ten Ping family line is one of the most remarkable doll offerings out there right now. Years ago when I was collecting only Asian dolls, Ruby Red Galleria came out with their first doll, the Senson. There were three and I'd bought one of them. However, when I began to go in another line of doll collecting, she was the first to go. Why? Well, one of the reasons was that she didn't have a good offering of extra outfits...and I wasn't sewing at the time. However, when I began collecting the Ten Ping family of dolls, I once again desired to own one of the Senson dolls. Their articulation is incredible, and she is a pretty doll. So my friend, Jenny, sent me one for Christmas...nude. She was the Ping Li doll.
The first thing to go was her wig. I kept it, but if Ping Li was to be a friend to my other dolls, she needed to have their look, which would include a beautiful black mohair wig. These are extremely hard to come by now, and I could only find one in a size that was slightly smaller than needed. It had the elastic band around the crown, so I clipped it and glued the wig on to fit Ping Li perfectly. Now it was time to dress her.
For winter, I had my Mia, friend of Ten Ping, dressed in a gorgeous little Ruby Red Galleria costume that consisted of a pair of pants, a Chinese wrap top, a split-side pinafore, and cloth shoes. I thought, Why not try a larger outfit like this one? A lot of people would have gone for the Cheongsam dress look, but I love the way this doll sits, so pants seemed more logical.
Its a good thing I have a great stash of fabrics. Ruby Red Galleria only uses cotton, and often poly-cotton blends. If it works for them, it will work for me. I chose a khaki linen for the loose leg pants. If she was going to be able to sit comfortably, cross-legged (indian style), she needed to be able to move freely.
It was kind of fun sorting through all the cottons I had, to come up with a pleasing combination to somewhat replicate this outfit from an 8" doll to a 12" one. I spent a great deal of time studying the construction of Mia's costume in an effort to design the patterns for Ping Li's winter costume.
I know so very little about authentic Chinese costuming, so it was important to me to get this correct. I noticed that piping was used only along the collar of the wrap jacket. And, it closed exactly at the side seam when fastened. Ruby Red Galleria used snaps to do this, although frogs can often close such jackets. They may not have done this since a pinafore went over the jacket. But, the most amazing thing to me was the design of the front piece that lays under the wrap. It was designed with a curve, exposing the waist, where if full, would bunch up when you sit. With this curve, you have a cleaner line to the jacket, more slimming.
I suppose I could have designed it the easy way since "who's going to see anyway" with the pinafore over it? Can't do that. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right. That's how I learn.
I chose a burgundy fabric with pink roses on it for the jacket, and lined it with a muted yellow cotton with a tiny pink rose pattern. Making a longer sleeve, then lining the whole thing, allows you turn up the hem of the sleeve for the cuff-look. The jacket can also be worn alone without the pinafore over it, and I might display her this way at some time in the future, with perhaps, a different pair of pants or a skirt.
I wasn't looking forward to making the pinafore. LOL I studied and studied Mia's little pinafore and had the most difficult time trying to figure out what the heck they did! When a piece of garment like this is completely lined, sometimes the only thing you can do is take it apart to see how it was put together, and I wasn't going to do that.
The pinafore consists of 15 pieces. There are three little lined apron pieces that hang below the top pinafore piece. It was my goal to see how it could be done. With splits up the side, and completely lined. It took me a week to figure this all out, but that's the kind of persistence and patience it takes sometimes.
What I discovered, was that the lining is in pieces with the lined apron nestled between the seam lines. I took a photo of this to share how its done. But, also to archive the process in case I want to do it again.
You have the front and back pieces of the pinafore (3). The lining is two front pieces, and four back pieces (6). The hanging apron pieces including the lining (6). Then I had to put this together on the machine. I'm laughing as I write this because it took me two days just to figure out how to sew it all together. The incredible thing is that I only had to do a half mock up to see what was going on.
When it came to sewing the lining on, You have to sew the bottom edges and sides up to where the hanging apron begins and this allows you to have the lined side splits.
All of this then has to be pulled through the shoulder seam between the armhole and the neckline, to turn it inside out. I attached a photo of the completed (lined) pinafore to share how it compares to Mia's in an earlier photo. Completing this was a proud moment. But, there was still more to do.
Mia's little pinafore has faux frogs on the shoulders for decoration. I went to Michael's and bought two skeins for Patons Grace, 100% mercerized cotton yarn. This is what was used for Mia's faux "frogging". But, I couldn't figure out how they tied the knot and made them, so I went back to the way they've done their frogs on other garments. Forgive me for not recalling the name of this stuff, but its a narrow twill tape. Ruby Red Galleria dyes theirs for the garments, and I had a length of dyed twill tape left over from when I did the Yu Ping outfits two Christmases ago. I considered sewing two of them to the front of the pinafore, but in the end chose to put them on the shoulders like Mia's. Now we needed shoes.
I didn't want to make the shoes. Although I'd made ballet slippers for Tara Tree-tops, cloth shoes are much more difficult to make than leather ones. Leather stretches. Which means that your pattern has to fit the foot perfectly in order for a clean look with no gaps. I got lucky. I guess I've made enough shoe patterns that it only took a half hour to get a good start to the shoes.
I was going to use a tiny plaid wool, but instead selected a completely different color than the rose theme. Primarily because this fabric was a coarse cotton and a shoe needed stability. The Ten Ping shoes all have white soles. It looked to me like they used a white linen for this, so I dug through my fabric stash knowing I had some left over from a long ago project. I chose a corrugated cardboard to cover for the soles, so that there would be a thickness to it. With a good basic shoe pattern like this, you can add straps, embroider the fronts,, etc., which are various ways Ruby Red Galleria has done their Ten Ping shoes.
I wasn't done yet, though. I stayed up until 10:30 last night making her socks, and then a floral headband to set the whole outfit off nicely.
After finishing that pinafore, I swore up and down that I'd never make another and that this was Ping Li's one and only outfit. But, today, I feel differently. She will need at least two others. And, I may have to go through figuring out another complicated Chinese garment, but at least I know that I can do this.
The only thing I regret, is not knowing what kinds of accessories I can make for Ping Li. She's too old for dolls (don't say it!). She lives in a rural and poorer country setting, like Ten Ping, so I guess a little research is in order. They did house chores, cooked, sewed, took care of the little ones, but what did they do for amusement?
Chinese New Year is on the horizon, and now Ping Li is dressed and ready to join her young friends to hear the large bells ring from the temple in the center of town on New Year's Eve.
Love,
Miss E. Mouse
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| Original Ping Li |
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| Pattern pieces from paper towels |
