Do you ever feel that sense of giddy excitement when you know a project is coming to a close? You've worked so hard, were not in a hurry, and the process seemed endless. Then the moment comes when you're almost done. You get this feeling of anticipation, then you realize that there is still so much to do! This is the way I felt while working on the hats for these costumes. And, even thinking ahead as to how I'd share them with you.
Its no secret to those of you who've followed my creative process, to know that I adore the Polichinelle. The
French Polichinelle, to be exact, but I also enjoy the English Punch, of Punch and Judy, and the Puchinella of Italy. So who are these characters, and how did they come about?
Pulchinella is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century, and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. The star of southern Italy, he is described as "the voice of the people". Pulchinella's worldwide popularity for his versitality, has captivated audiences since his introduction in 1620.
Regional variants developed as the character was introduced across Europe. Europeans identified with the tired, witty "everyman" that Pulcinella represented. His body shape of the humped back, large belly, hooked nose, and wide mouth, was said to be a mix of family traits. In Russia, a ballet had been written for Puchinella and Petrushka. In other adaptations, Puchinella was introduced as a puppet as they commedia dell'are style was not necessarily popular across the continent.
Most famously, was his evolution into Mr. Punch in England. The key half of Punch and Judy, he is recognized as one of the most important British icons in history. The marionette, Punchinello, gave his first recorded performance in 1662. The British Punch is far more childlike, and violent (menacing with his cudgel), but also providing slapstick comedy.
In the French theater, he is known as Polichinelle, and first appeared in the late 16th century performances given at fairs. Polichinelle was popular with the public and became on of the favorite heroes of the puppet theater. The expression "Polichinelle's secret" refers to something that
everyone knows. I don't know when France started dressing dolls as Polichinelle, but I would imagine the glorious costuming made them popular as Etrennes sold at the New Year in the late 19th century. Automatons of Polichinelle, as well as marionettes were treasured, just as the dressed dolls were. Today they are much sought after antiques.
While trying to decide what next to do for Lawrence Godey (Louise's brother), since introducing him in his purple velveteen suit over the holiday season, I knew I wanted to create complimentary outfits for the two of them. I'd already decided what to do for them for the
next holiday season, and the idea to create matching Polichinelle costumes came from that idea. After spending time in pastel pinks and greens, I needed the visual stimulation of the bright primary colors, red and blue. I had also never worked with metallic gold trims.
And, I was having difficulty deciding which direction to take Louise's wardrobe. After studying countless Civil War era costuming for boys and girls, I just didn't see a way to create "boy-girl" matching outfits.
What it comes down to sometimes, is what I want to see on my shelf, and what will be fun to make to get there. Sometimes the inspiration can be in a trim, as it is for some seamstresses with fabric. I don't think a fabric has ever inspired me, but the trims I used surely did! Vintage French gold metallic trim. The loveliest stuff to work with imaginable!
There are several components standard to a Polichinelle costume, and while the actual character is male, the dolls and automatons have often been female. Perhaps this comes from the Russian idea of Petrushka. The Napolean hat is one of them, and sometimes it has a stove pipe crown nestled between the shapes. A lace collar, two tones of color alternating throughout the costume, and glorious gold trimming are a few of the earmarks. Also the shoes, usually French Court shoes with elaborate bows on them. As I studied the various ways to combine these elements and decide on how to do the trims, as normal, typical me, I was conservative in my approach. You will often see two different colored shoes on the feet to correspond with the alternating colors of the outfit, but I did this with the pink and white costume I made for Mignonette. Let's try something else!
Louise's costume was done after Lawrence's. With hers, I created a center pointed top that is pointed in front and back. Here sleeves are three-quarter in length, and have gathered lace falling from the elbows. The skirt is paneled silk. Ten panels of alternating blue and red were sewn together, then tiny gold bells were sewn to the centers at the hem. Her Napolean hat has two rosettes down the front of it, over the gold trim. All the gold trim on both costumes (all three, let's not forget her doll), were hand sewn on. Louise's sleeve have the gold trim and topped with a rosette. Five little gold bells top the runner of gold trim down the front of her bodice. Her court shoes are red leather with blue rosettes.
Lawrence's costume took a bit more time, which is why I made it first. It was were I figured out the look of the two costumes. His pant legs have three rows of gold trim, and the jacket is more elaborately designed. Vintage gold piping trim was used at the shoulder where the sleeve attaches, is at the waist, and also at the wrist where the sleeve blousons. If the sleeves had been straight, as I originally planned, they would have had three rows of trim like the pants. As I did them, it gave me the chance to work with the piping which was attached to a ribbon that easily frayed. I didn't do this with Louise's costume, although I had just enough to, because I wanted a completely different and more feminine look. The trim on his jacket emulates the round belly of the Polichinelle, but it was not done for this purpose. Its an observation of the finished jacket. Lawrence's hat boasts the rosettes on the ends. His shoes are blue leather with red rosettes. I might mention, too, that the beads at the center of all of these rosettes are 24k gold plated.
To close the backs of both costumes, I used three tiny gold buttons. This can't be seen on Louise's dress due to her long hair. Both jackets were also designed on the dolls to annoyingly accommodate the doll stands. Lawrence's jacket has three tiny gold bells going down the front over the trim.
The shoes took a couple of days to make. I couldn't figure out why they weren't coming out the way I wanted, until I realized the soles had to be the shape of the narrow square toe court shoe. Although they are not visible behind the rosettes, the shoes also have a flap up the instep.
I chose leather for two reasons. Durability, I actually had colors to match!, (okay three) - and they were easier than silk shoes. I've made ballet slippers, but I'm never quite content with the fit around the top of the foot and its strength. You can line the silk, but if the silk isn't a heavy one, they are rather thin and flimsy.
I chose not to give them a shoe of each color, for in this case, I thought less was more. And, I like girls in red shoes. I can also give them one of each shoe later if I get bored with the look. Or switch hats. Or switch tops! Their bodies are the same shapes.
While making these costumes and spending the necessary fiddly time hand stitching all the trims on, I wanted an accessory for Louise. I had this 3 1/2" doll, a reproduction mignonette, that Barbara DeVilbiss made for me some twenty years ago. I was delighted by the photo of the large Kestner (?) in the photo below, with all her Polichinelle dolls. My guess is that the Kestner (?) is probably about 24". And, I also wanted a little Polichinelle paper theater for Louise and Lawrence to enjoy.
The little mignonette is dressed in the same colors and basic design concept as her two 14" admirers. However, I needed to make his tiny costume as unique to him, as theirs are to them. I was pretty "done" with the project when I started working on wigging and dressing him, but I also felt that this was good practice since I've not done a miniature outfit in awhile. I wanted him to stand out as a little jewel in the display, so paid extra attention to decorating his hat, and added two beads each to his sleeves (faux bells), as well as three down his front to sparkle him up. The outfit is sewn up the back as I don't believe I'll ever wish to remove it. However it is made well enough to unstitch it and preserve it should I change my mind...but, I won't.
I'd asked my friend, Jean, if she could send me a copy of her little Punch theater to go with this set because it was done in reds and blues, but after I found the French Polichinelle paper cut out on Etsy, I thought best to keep it all French. The little Punch theater can be used for another project, and will be. I enjoy cutting out these paper toys, as its a very soothing, calming play-time thing to do. I chose the Polichinelle puppets for it from another antique French publication. It was not a sharp print, but has a pleasing appearance. Not all people scan and share on the Internet thinking someone will want to play with it in the future. Then, of course, I had to assemble it. In another time, I would have adhered the paper to thin basswood and cut it out on my miniature table saw, but those days are pretty much over. Maybe someday I'll do things like this again, when the sewing bug isn't so appealing any longer.
And, finally, I had cut out three tiny images of Punch and Judy with the baby thinking they might make good puppets for the theater. They were too large. Judy and the baby were fine to dangle behind the curtain, but Punch didn't fit. The puppets for these theaters varied from marionettes to hand puppets shown from the waist up. I attached the "jumping jacks" to sticks, and gave Lawrence and Louise one each for a final photo.
I think these outfits were worth the month I spent on them, and I'm ready to change direction and work on another Alice project. We simply had no winter here in California this year, yet now Spring has arrived in all its green drapery. Time flies and each day is precious. Live each well, and play often! Enjoy some of my favorite Polichinelle images below.
Love,
Miss E. Mouse
I was in the midst of creating the recent Polichinelle costumes for Louise and Lawrence, and delighting in their bold colors, and gilding of gold trims. Keeping an open mind, I asked her to go ahead and send it on and I'd "have a look". I'd recently gifted another friend of mine, a $50 hunk of antique fabric that I'd purchased at convention last summer, and wasn't looking forward to handling another piece of antique fabric. All those little stains and moth holes give me the jitters, and cutting into something when there is no more takes a bold pair of hands and a sharp pair of scissors.
However, I've come to realize over my baby steps, and stumbles into sewing for dolls, that if you don't take a deep breath and plunge in, you don't know what you might be capable of. Cutting into my first piece of silk was equally daunting, but once I got the hang of it, I wouldn't sew with anything else for awhile. One of the reasons I sometimes, like with the last project, make the outfits, then miniatures, then accessories, is just to prove to myself that I still can - or at least refresh skills I used to own. I am never, ever confident with any new project I start. Ever. Its only when I allow the materials to talk to me that I begin to understand them and start curiously discovering what can be done. So it was with this christening gown, stains and holes a-plenty.
Oh, I thought of and tried all this. And let's not forget to cut only the "good" parts that haven't any holes or stains. In the end, I cut up the whole dress for the best pieces and learned that you have to cut at least an 1/8" above the lace so that you can sew it to the other pieces (sigh!). I also studied how the gown was made, and since it was not lined, I noticed that the seams were finished with a zig-zag stitch. That helped so much. My thoughts were on how to shrink the gown into doll size exactly.
It wasn't until I was completely finished with the dress that I properly breathed. In fact, all the while I was making it, I considered what I would do out of new fabric and laces to make such a dress if I failed in this attempt. Lastly, I soaked the dress in Oxyclean (a Robert Tonner trick for restoring vintage doll dresses), to brighten and refresh the fabric. I have a travel steamer I use for removing wrinkles, but the lace did need a bit of iron pressing. 
