One of the special treats during these few shopping excursions, was taking the elevator to the third floor where there would be a diner, and we'd sit and order a cup of coffee for her and a soda for me. We'd sit on tiny chairs at tiny round tables, and I'd watch the people behind
the counter bring out wonderful plates of delicious food to customers.Once in awhile, a stylish woman would enter on high heels with her skirts swirling about her, a charming handbag swinging from her wrist, and she sit, alone, at a table and order something like a BLT. Oh, how I wanted to be her, and have that BLT grown up style. I was one of those children that observes everything around them, and sometimes, I'm sure, to the point of staring. (This was also when I learned that a "nice" sandwich should be cut diagonally.) But, it was their life and a fantasy of what I imagined it to be that enthralled me. Most likely the young woman worked at the store and was simply taking her break, but to me she was a gracious and elegant woman with freedoms and shiny high heels that clacked when she walked, and the ability to order a diagonally sliced BLT and never drop a crumb. Now, I'll admit that this was in the very early 1960's, but not much had really changed from the late 1950's...yet. It was still the age of June Cleaver in her pearls and heels, doing housework throughout the day with never a hair out of place, and perfectly applied lipstick. It was something to aspire to! Who wouldn't want a kind and handsome man coming home in the evenings wearing a finely pressed suit, for whom I could fix a cocktail.
Shortly prior to finishing my last project of the year, I'd been on Ebay looking for something. I can't even recall what, but the Cissy's European Vacation trunk set was up for bid. And, I wanted it. I once had both Yardley Cissys from the 1990's and the two trunk sets that were sold in those years. I did not have the dolls long because I didn't feel they fit into my collection, and off to another collector everything went. And, for some reason, I now just had to have a Cissy and do it all over again. Only this time I would sew for her myself. I was seeing this doll as if for the first time, and in a new brand new light. Moreover, she was a stunning "20 - 21 inch" doll. She would require dresses sewn with darts and yards of fabric for those gorgeous swirling skirts.
Tempting fate, I bought patterns for her. These would be reproductions of original Simplicity patterns for Cissy and similar sized dolls. They'd be printed on large sheets of paper at a copy center and would have some patterns copied out onto several sheets of paper that you'd have to piece together. Ugh. But, seeing as how this was new territory for me, I gave it try. What I wanted for my Cis
sy was "Casual Elegance". I wanted a coat for winter and a lovely cocktail dress that could also be worn to dinners or to the theater. I had this lovely olive silk dupioni with "few slubs" and built the outfit around this.My first attempt at the dress was a disaster. As you know, reading directions is not my forte, and this proved to be my downfall with the first dress. I wasn't sure that 72" of fabric was really needed for these skirts, and how could all that gathering fit onto that small bodice? So I took the circle skirt from one pattern and attached it to this bodice and the affect was awful. Not only that, but the bands in front of the bodice were in the wrong spot. The pattern indicated to place them between the dots and sew them into the darts. It took me an hour to figure this out and when I was done attaching the skirt, I shook my head and hung it up for the day. Its that sinking feeling of failure, and knowing you'll hav
e to start all over again. But, I did. And, when I did, I made the dress in one day.I'd purchased a couple of dresses for my doll off Ebay from Cissy seamstresses, to have a look at their construction. You might laugh, but I measured those skirts seven times to verify the width of them. 72" by 8". That's a lot of gathering. And as I line my dresses, that's also a lot of Swiss Pima Batiste! Worth it all though.
I'm actually going backwards here, as I made the coat first, but let's talk about the dress's accessories first. I wanted to make a matching purse to go with this, and shoe bobs. Remember those? The counter tops of shoe stores would carry a box or bas
ket with these clip-on decorations for shoes. Since I haven't found out where to acquire the Cissy shoe bases yet (Ebay sellers are keeping this a closed secret), I had to find a way to make the shoes go with the outfit. Shoe bobs. But, it was the purse I made first. I haven't made a purse like this in eons so it took me all day to figure it out. It is an elegant little bag, is hand sewn at the gussets, snaps to close under the flap, and of course, is lined. The shoe bobs were rounds of buckram covered in silk. Then I beaded gold beads around the edges. I glued this to a black wool felt backing, then attached a tiny black hook from a hook and eye set. As I worked with this, it occurred to me that you could use decorated buckles this way as well. I have some tiny mother of pearl ones...
The coat. The coat was created from the same pattern set as the dress. This coat was meant to be a fur coat, but until I can get a Walking Foot for my sewing machine, I'll stick to other fabrics. This little swing coat is made with a beautiful oatmeal colored fine wool , and is lined in light mocha taffeta. I had some issues with this pattern, too.I got the sleeves attached incorrectly thinking, "Oh no problem! I've made coats before!" And, out all the stitches came. Back to the instructions. Its also a good idea when making other people's patterns to mark the carrots by either cutting out the little triangles or marking the fabric with chalk. I have no idea what I did to get the sleeve in wrong, but I got it all sorted out and was able to use that marvelous Magalie Dawson "lining a dress or coat" method.
What I did do that was a little bit of "me", was make two hats. The large brimmed hat was a pattern for a summer hat to be fashioned from cotton with a bow tied in the middle. The bandeau was created from studying the work of other Cissy milliners.
The nice thing about these swing coats is that they accommodate all that skirt fabric beautifully. What a novel idea! Was this why they were designed in the first place? Seems likely. I've owned swing coats in my adulthood, and they never go out of fashion. To me.
One of things that's new for me, too, is adding bling. Cissy seems to have lovely hats and accessories decorated with little rhinestones. Rhinestones and lots of tulle. I've been studying the fashions in the book Cissy! Reference, Rarities, Restoration, by Kiley Ruwe Shaw. This is a marvelous volume with gorgeous dolls, featuring every outfit that was ever produced for Cissy by Madame Al
exander from the 1950's. It does not include the contempory Cissy fashions or dolls from the last twenty years. Apparently Cissy went out of fashion when a smaller model came on the scene. Barbie. However, this book is perfect for the study of the fashions, the hats, the shoes, and also the wig styles. Well, it has everything. Thank you, Ms. Ruwe Shaw!I've been focusing on Cissy since the start of the new year and expect to sew for her throughout the year. I do have other projects in the hopper, but this is fun. Different can be good. I love this doll's size, and she has a wonderful personality. I do not see myself purchasing a vintage Cissy's since their hair is usually a disaster. Even though this book details the restoration and restyling of the wigs, there isn't enough information. There may be Youtubes on this, but I'd rather simply sew and create accessories for this contemporary Cissy that I bought. She has the "kiss" face, which was what the original Cissy's had. If any of you are Cissy fans and wish to share some information, I'd be so grateful.
In the meantime, while I tried to carefully photograph this doll, she does have red stains under her arms from the gown she came in. Research suggests acne cream will take care of this. Its the Benzoyle Peroxide in the cream that bleaches out the stain. However, Kiley suggests that if you don't have to treat the doll, don't bother. I will. I will try this in a tiny spot to see how her vinyl reacts. I do wish to make her sleeveless dresses and possibly one of those sun suits or "cabana outfits". And, heck! If the acne cream works, I have Tonner dolls that could use a little stain clean up.
I already have Cissy's next outfit planned, and the one after that. A very nice seller on Ebay who makes these fabulous reproduction shoes, gave me a warning. "Cissy is addicting!" And, she is.
Love,
Melissa
(P.s. Check out her earrings. I made those, too. Now I get to make jewelry to match all these outfits, as well. Pearls are next!)
