Katherine Hudson Attends the Venice Carnival

"I don't know what Katherine's more excited about these days!  The opportunity to attend an archeological dig in Egypt, or attending the Venice Carnival next Lenten season.  My young ward has been bringing home books on ancient Egypt and discussing the various queens and rulers for hours on end.  Mrs, Hudson was adamant that I create a costume for her daughter to attend the carnival, and when asked what she'd like to go as, she jumped up off the settee, startling me something terrible, and exclaimed, "Cleopatra!".

I'd had the opportunity to see Theda Bara in Cleopatra just a few years ago in 1917,  What a trill that was.  I was fascinated by the Edwardian adaptation of her costuming with its style and bright colors, although the colors were only evident in the film's posters.  So when designing a costume for our young Flapper, I did so with the styles of today, which aren't a far cry from the originals.  Kitty is sure to grab some attention when she takes a gondola ride pretending it to be her royal barge, to the Venice Carnival.  I would love to be there!"  Madame Hoover

And, so it was with this in mind I began researching how I wanted to proceed with this costume, and how I came to find Theda Bara.  Finding vintage Cleopatra or Egyptian queen costuming online was nearly non-existent.  However, when I came upon the images of Theda Bara, I was inspired.  Theda was a tremendously popular silent film star between 1914 and 1926.  Sadly, none of her forty films exist today, as they were destroyed in a fire in 1937.  But, there still exists a great number of images of her both as the sex symbol of her day, as well as stills from her films.  On Pinterest, you can even find Theda Bara paper dolls.

As I'm writing this journal, I have to laugh a little, because the costuming almost made her look like some of the hilarious first attempts at dressing aliens from another planet.  In the paper doll image of her with the Ankh staff, she looks like a grasshopper.  In the film still at the bottom of this posting, you can see the influences of the day in her headdress.  So if you're looking for Kitty dressed as an ancient Egyptian, I'm sorry to disappoint.  She's a Flapper with all the sparkle and jazz of the day.

The request was for a costume with a mask, as masks were the theme of the Venice Carnival.  In Greek and Roman society, there were periods during which people were allowed to take liberties denied them during the rest of the year.  Protected by masks, people were allowed to make fun of the rich without being punished: the Romans used to say "once every year it is legitimate to go crazy", while according to Italian proverb "at Carnival, anything goes!"  This reversal of the rules was an invaluable outlet used by the authorities to keep the populace content.

The masks were generally, and still are, full face coverings, although the half mask is much easier to wear, more comfortable and you can breathe, drink and eat while wearing one.  So this is what I devised for Kitty.  A half mask with an Egyptian painted face.  Images of the ancient paintings were helpful, but the most helpful was a youtube titled Historically Accurate: Ancient Egypt/Cleopatra Make Up Tutorial.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and it had anecdotes of historical information throughout.  This tutorial was the means with which I painted the mask after making it.  Check it out sometime.

In ancient Egypt, both men and women wore eye make up, as well as children.  They wore eyeliner every day and believed it allowed the gods Horus and Ra to keep them from sickness.  The lead salts in the eyeliner prevented the eyes against infections. They also wore green eyeliner or shadow made from crushed malachite stone, a copper ore.  They added water or animal fat to the powder to make a paste applied with a bone, ivory or wood stick.  The substance repelled flies and protected the eyes from intense sun conditions.  This information in short form, was included in the tutorial, so I chose to paint the eye lids shades of green with blendings of blue and highlights of gold.  The illustration you see with a profile of an Egyptian queen with a fabulous headdress became the basis for much of what I did.

I later added earrings to the mask with beads of coral and turquoise, ending with a gold hammered image disc.  The mask was originally a pure flesh tone, but I was incented to darken it a golden brown to reflect the skin tone of an Egyptian.  The mask was made by covering the doll's wigless head with Saran Wrap, then moistening buckram and forming it over the face for a perfect fit.  Layer upon layer of paint and sealer were added to smooth the texture and form a sturdy mask.  It took me about three days to make just the mask.  Sometimes I like to know how long it took someone to do something, so there you go.  The mask is tied in back with brown silk ribbons, but elastic can take its place if Kitty would rather.  Making the mask stay on her head, any doll's head, is a challenge.  I tied the ribbon high and pushed a sewing pin through the knot into the tissue paper her head cavity is temporarily stuffed with.  Heather will pate and re-wig her at some point.

So the next thing to do was design a gown.  I had originally intended the main color to be a deeper eggplant, but after draping the silk fabric we'd purchased, I realized that the purple charmeuse I had on hand would be better.  The gown is in two pieces.  A purple bodice attached to a green charmeuse skirt, and a wrap skirt over it, hooking in the front.

I don't know if many of you have worked with this slippery fabric, but it doesn't play nicely.  The silk originally intended would have given me the form fitting bodice, but again, it wouldn't drape the way charmeuse does.  On a petite narrow doll, it drapes even less.  But, this is what I as going to use.  I'd been looking at a number of gowns illustrated in the Dover Publications book, French Fashion Plates in Full Color From the Gazette du Bon Ton (1912-1925), and fashioned Kitty's gown from a variety of their attributes.  Its a simple design, but that's a good thing considering the fabric chosen.

The complication in design came when I was trying to figure out the over skirt.  It should have been sewn into the slippery bodice along with the green under skirt that wraps in front.  I goofed.  I do that sometimes.  But, I hardened my resolve and pushed ahead.  I mean, if the gown looked awful after I was done, I'd do it over.  No question.  But, I wanted to see what I could do with this.  So I made a pattern with a giant U shape, gently gathered the bodice edges in front with a deep pleat in the back, and sewed it to the gold lame pigskin leather I I'd purchased for shoes and jewelry.  I'd also acquired a couple of Egyptian symbol charms and wished to do something with at least one of them.  The two ends of the charm curled up and looked like hooks to me, so I made loops on the edges for the gold belt and used this piece as a medallion hook.  heh-heh-heh  I do have good ideas sometimes!  I'd also sewn into the loop at the top, a turquoise bead so that it was jeweled.

Forgive me for not taking a photo of just the gold collar.  Its shown so many times with the dress, that I didn't think about it at the time I was setting this page up.  Its a pretty one.  I designed it after the one in the illustration I mentioned earlier.  I would use that illustration several  times.  The collar, the eyes and skin tone for the mask, and the headdress.  When I don't know what I'm doing, I play with ideas.  Sometimes they come out good the first time, and other times, its "three time's a charm".  It took a couple stabs to get the collar right.

I began with a piece of metallic gold leather that was of a heavier grade.  I glued the same shape in the lame gold onto it, then started trying to bead the darn thing.  Can you guess what happened?  In the original collars, the stones were either set into the gold, or the entire collar was beaded on threads.  So with this first shot, the beads sat up on the flat collar.  Big disappointment.  I snip-snip-snipped and pulled it all out.  What was I going to do for stones?  Those lovely craft hole punches and leather.  First of all, the leather has to be kind of stiff, almost latigo leather.  If you don't use this, the dots stick in the punch and the underside is a mess of fuzzy hide.  But, I had some existing leathers and punched wee circles to make "inset" stones and glued them on.  There are varying sizes of the lame leather in rings on top and in-between the stones to give it a pieced together look.  Finally, I cut slats that are laid next to each other to further demonstrate a pieced look.  The collar hooks in the back

Next were the shoes.  Again I'd done a little research on shoes, and many were sandals that had strange ways of being hooked on, while some were laced up with ties.  Since I was making a pair of shoes for our young Flapper to wear to the Venice Carnival, I selected a style of royal gold hammered sandals, which is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Since Kitty doesn't have individual toes for thongs like this, I made heeled mules.  I have to tell you that after four pairs of heels for Kitty, I'm getting better at this.  And, the paper thin gold lame pigskin was perfect for this as well.  Note:  When sewing with leather, use a jeans needle in your sewing machine.  When making shoes with thin leather like this, top stitch the edges to keep the leather from stretching.  This is so important, but I'll get to that in a bit.

Because these were sandals to emulate gold thongs, I covered the insole of the slides with the gold leather as well.  It took me a day to make the shoes.  And, now to a little bit of jewelry.  Egyptian queens wore a lot of make up and a lot of jewelry.

I made a couple of arm bands that closed with tiny snaps.  I'd been on Etsy looking for something when I spotted an ad for ultra tiny snaps, shipping from China.  I was intrigued by how small they might be.  But, don't be fooled.  They are just the smallest size of normal snaps.  Phooey.  However, what I wanted to point out with this leather while making the arm bands, is that it began to stretch immediately after I painstakingly sewed those silly snaps on the ends.  This really pissed me off.  What I'm probably going to do, is line the backs of the arm bands with a different and stable thin leather.  This will keep the pigskin from stretching any further, and make them fit tighter on the upper arms.  A gold cuff like this would be thicker than the weight of this leather anyhow.

But, I also wanted to have some fun.  I wanted to make a gold serpent arm band, a piece of jewelry often worn by a pharaoh as a symbol of protection.  Cleopatra's little asp.  Hey, guess what?  While doing some research on cobras, science tells that she was most likely bitten by a cobra instead of an asp.  The Smithsonian National Zoo speculates that Cleopatra's asp was actually a cobra, a useful weapon for a relatively quick, dignified suicide or fratricide (the killing of one's brother or sister).

To make this, I took a piece of thin fabric covered wire (I have plenty of this for needle felting), and wrapped it with the gold lame pigskin.  For the snake's head, I made two little heads with long necks, glued the edges together, stuffed the center with some felting wool, and stuck that on the wire as I was wrapping the length, gluing along.  The tail end is tapered.  This way, to remove or put the arm band on, you just untwist the wire.  If I can't play with something, it can't be played with by anyone else.  So I make everything as durable as possible and playable.  The eyes are itty bitty Swarovski crystals.

Phew!  I'm getting tired of writing.  Are you getting tired of reading?  Hold on.  One more piece.  The headdress.  As I mentioned, I would use that illustration, in the end, to make the headdress for Kitty.  But, I first looked at quite a few trying to figure out what would be best for her.   Men's and women's headdresses were different, but when they were created, they were elaborate. The different types of crowns of Egypt represented status, power and authority of the both the Egyptian royals and the gods.  Sounds right up Kitty's alley!

Examples of the crowns and headdresses can be found in tombs, temples and manuscripts of the ancient Egyptians.  How they were designed was symbolic and always associated with one god or another. The Royal Vulture Crown, which is shown on this carved stele, consisted of a falcon feather headdress with is wings spread round a woman's head in the act of protection.  Often they were adorned with a Uraeus. The Uraeus was the rearing cobra emblem and symbol of the pharaohs of Lower Egypt.  A perfect example of this is shown in that very illustration, and became Kitty's headdress.


The vulture has its own symbolic meaning in ancient Egypt.  The ancient Egyptians depicted deities wearing headdresses, which often can be used to identify gods and goddesses. The headdress appears to have signified qualities or powers belonging to the specific deity.  Vultures are among the most common symbols featured in Egyptian headdresses.  A number of vulture species lived in ancient Egypt so the bird was a recognizable image.  In Egyptian mythology, vultures were not just scavenging birds, but symbols of femininity and maternal protection.  When the goddess Nekhebet of Upper Egypt became associated with the vulture headdress, the bird evolved into a heraldic symbol for all Upper Egypt.

I began this headdress with a buckram base.  No surprise there.  Fitting it to Kitty's head took a bit of work.  Its basically an almond shape sewn at the  top as seams curving down to make a nice fit.  I covered this with the gold pigskin and began embellishing it from there.  At first I tried punching out a bunch of circles with my handy little craft puncher.  I started gluing them along the brim at her bangs, and didn't like the look.  What could I do to emulated the feathers and do it quickly.  Ah!  I had three pairs of scallop scissors!  Two in two sizes of rounded scallops and one in the zigzag.  Pinking sheers.  If I could cut long lengths of pinked leather, I could snip it down into pieces and lay one strip over the other to create the look of feathers.  (Don't forget when I'm telling you how to do this, that doing it is another matter altogether!)  Having an illustration made things a whole lot easier.

When I got midway to the back of the vulture, I used those dots I punched out earlier.  The wing flaps that cover her head for symbolic protection, are just that.  Winged flaps.  I cut an extra wing, then cut it into platelets and glued those close together for a piecing effect.  The tail was made pretty much the same way, but I had to design a pattern that would fold in half, but also fit snuggly onto the headdress.  Oh, and if you try this, darts cut out, and from the wing then snugged together make the wings lay flat draped on the head.  That's what darts are for.  To fit around shapes.  In dresses they'd be sewn and invisible from beneath.  In a piece like this, you cut the dart out to the leather lays smooth and flat.  Make sense?

The ends of the tail were pinked with the zigzag sheers.  Then I cut strips in-between each point and glued them on a second tail.  Remember.  These are feathers, and not just a poured mold of gold.

The head of the vulture was a bit more difficult.  But, again I took wire and covered it with the leather after I'd designed and cut out a head pattern.  The eyes of the vulture are itty bitty blue Swarovski crystals.  The head and neck were glued on and pinked strips overlay and secure the head.  To get the look of the lapis lazuli stones, I made more blue dots from the same leather I used for the "stones" on the collar.  Only this time I used the large rounded edge pinking sheers and made little almond shapes, then glued them on.

I felt done.  But, I pushed further.  The headdress really needed the Uraeus bowl for extra protection.  I made a pattern for the hooded cobra heads, which looked like a double headed spoon.  Two heads with a length between them.  I cut out four of these so that both sides would be gold, and glued some of the lovely aluminum sheeting between them so that I could bend them.  heh-heh-heh  Feeling very clever here.  I nested them in the gold rim bowl that I glued to the top the headdress and finished it by making the heads even.  Sure.  I could have embellished the heck out of the cobra heads, but that is real fiddly work.  The headdress is pretty doggone elaborate as it is.

And this is Katherine Louise Hudson's Venice Carnival costume circa 1922ish.  Only when she wears the mask, does she have dangling earrings.  As I designed this entire outfit as I went along, this is how it turned out.  Maybe I should have had the earrings suspended from the headdress, but if she took the headdress off for some reason - it could get hot under all that gold! - she'd have the earrings.

I love ancient Egyptian history and archeology.  I've been mesmerized by it since my first readings in National Geographic magazines as a child.  I hope you enjoyed learning some of my findings.

"Young Kitty has just returned from a day in the park with a few friends.  I've asked Sophie to make tea for all of us with some cucumber sandwiches and sweets.  Kitty is generous with her friends, and we all gather together wherever we can sit, and they share their adventures and discoveries with me.  I shall miss this young woman when she finally departs for home."  Madame Hoover

Enjoy spring, and be patient and ever careful.

Love,
Melissa

Theda Bara, 1917 

Costume at a Venice Carnival

Kitty Hudson: A Suitable Ensemble For Travel

"The days fly by as I continue to design and labor on the ever  growing trousseaux Mrs. Hudson has commissioned me to get her daughter, Katherine, ready for their European tour this fall.  I suppose I could have chosen lovely warm autumn colors for the Atlantic crossing, but spring caught a hold of me, so I selected a breath of mint and new leaf for Kitty's travel ensemble.  I think she's delighted with the choice, but she's especially enamored of the sheered mink collar and cuffs on the coat.  I know that this young woman will have a ball as she travels in style."  Madame Hoover

The 1920's saw many people on the move.  No longer was travel just for the wealthy, although they would continue to travel in finer style with the best compartments on trains, and state rooms on Atlantic steam ships.  Ocean liners continued to transport the wealthy on business trips and European tours, but passage for everyone was becoming more affordable and comfortable.  Trains were still a popular mode of transportation, but this was also the age of the automobile.  When a young woman like Katherine Hudson traveled, she was accompanied by a companion or her parents.  As Katherine's parents were well-to-do, only the finest rooms would be booked on the transatlantic crossing, and she would travel by boat and train once their feet landed on Europe's soil.  Luggage was required and steamer trunks were filled with clothing and every day needs for the long tours their owners would take.  Travel of this nature was still a status symbol, and Kitty would do it in the latest styles.

When I was approached to make this trousseaux, the travel outfit was the first ensemble I conjured up.  I had a vision, and I knew what I wanted to create.  I'd made luggage for dolls before, but they were always covered in cloth, usually silk or fine cotton plaids.  Those days seem an eternity ago, and for Kitty, I wanted only leather.  Heather was keen enough to find the softest, maybe not the thinnest, but thin, fine quality leather offered from a dealer on Etsy.  She bought a few pieces for me to work with, and when I saw the quality, I bought a piece in every color offered.  But, the color I most fell in love with was "banana".  I would create banana colored luggage for Kitty.  Maybe it was due in part to the name, as I was an almost weekly shopper at Banana Republic back in the early 80's.  Sometimes I'd just go in there and look and dream of Africa.  I loved that store.  It was like going on a shopping safari.

I chose spring green for Kitty's travel outfit.  Finding the right green fabric to match the green wool I'd chosen for the coat was going to be a problem.  But, not for long.  Heather set out for one of her favorite fabric stores and not only found a perfect match, but also had a beautiful leather for the shoes in the same hue.  I'd already planned on the trim being a light beige or off white, and the fur for the coat would be light in color.

After the peach and red day dress I'd just completed, I wanted to try a pleated skirt, which I assumed would be much easier to assemble.  Instead of referring to the "green book", I selected a dress from a Pinterest page of 1920's dresses.  I'm guessing these were patterns from the illustrations at the bottom of the color plates.  Down at the bottom of this post, you can see the dress in green with a leaf pattern that I worked from.  (I don't mess with photos too much when writing this blog, because they've caused me word wrap problems in the past.  So I just added it.)  While the original was most likely made up in georgette, Kitty's dress would be a sensible cotton since it needed to stand up to long days on the go.

I chose a tiny cream colored windowpane cotton for the trim.  Instead of plain cream cotton, the windowpane adds elegance and interest whereas otherwise, you'd be looking at a color block dress more in line with the fashions from the 1960's.  Shorten this dress to three or four inches above the knee, and it would fit right in with that decade.  As I designed this ensemble. I saw variations in other pieces that were brought back in the 60's.  A cloche hat for example, is very similar to the patent leather caps, some with front brims, that the girls wore.  

This fashionable little dress comprises of a bodice, a hip band, and a pleated skirt.  The trim at the neckline is enhanced with a faux tie or placket.  Two tiny mother of pearl buttons were sewn to the neckline where the placket meets the neck band.  This was a feature of the 1920's dress shown in the plate at the end of this post.  The trim at the top and bottom of the hip band is sewn into the bodice edge on top, then ladder stitched to the blouson, and the bottom band is part of the seam attaching skirt and hip band, then ladder stitched at the top edge into the hip band.  This really took me some time to figure out, but came out nicely.  The back closes in mother of pearl shank buttons and thread loops.

The next thing Kitty needed was a coat for chilly days and strolls aboard the deck of the cruise liner.  Again, I looked to a source other than the "green book" for the coat.  Seen to the left is a paper doll page that is simply adorable.  I fell in love with the simplicity of the coat below.  Simplicity in style, but elegant with the addition of a fur collar and cuffs.

I worked hard on designing the pattern for this one.  Frustrated after a couple of attempts, I pulled out my Tonner Deja Vu Emma Jean collection, to see how he handled the design of her coats.  I found one very similar in the basic shape of the coat, but it had a square velveteen collar similar to a sailor collar.  So I worked off his design for the shape of the coat and made two mock ups from wool I felt I could spare, to get the design in the paper doll page.  When the final mock up was made, the beautiful curved shape of the inside of the coat could be seen.  I knew I was on target, and with a few more design edits, I was able to get the coat I wanted.  Thank you, Robert Tonner.

The most challenging though was the addition of the fur collar and cuffs.  I had a box of scraps that Stacy (dimitha on Ebay)  had sent me many years ago.  I chose the white sheered mink for Kitty's coat.  Please let me note that I would normally use faux fur on modern and contemporary doll garments, but when it comes to dressing an antique, real fur is best.  Here is what I discovered.  Line the fur first.  As you go about pinning the lining to the fur, tuck the fur in and towards the center.  When cutting fur, turn it over and snip carefully through the hide to enable the fur to remain long on the edges.  Once the lining is sewn to the fur, turn it inside out, and stitch (I always use the hidden ladder stitch) the lining to the coat.  For the ends, carefully stitch them together.

I lined both the coat and the fur with a low slub quality white silk dupioni.  In the photo to the right, you can see the shape of the curve at the top of the coat that creates the look so prevalent on coats in the 1920's.  I'll be using this pattern again.  It may not be for Kitty.  It may be for a larger doll, but it was hard won and a treasure to me.

The next thing I focused on were the accessories.  The shoes and the purse.  You might recall me mentioning the Life magazine celebrating the 1920's.  In it was the photo (at the beginning of this post) with a woman and Dalmation standing in front of a luxury car.  It wasn't the car I was interested in.  Her coat is similar to Kitty's, although the collar is larger and it lacks the cuffs.  It was her shoes that caught my attention.  I had to bring this photograph under my magnifying lamp to have a really close look, and they're incredible.  I had to make them for Kitty's ensemble.

As I mentioned earlier, Heather had provided me with a nice piece of leather that matched exactly, the color of the outfit.  I wanted to try the shoes with this green, paired with a light beige.  Again, this would be a "two toned" pair of shoes for Kitty, yet this design is completely different than her red and tangerine t-straps.

I recall when I first started making my own shoes for dolls, thinking that the top stitching I saw on doll shoes was actually one piece of leather sewn to the other.  Sometimes it might be, depending on the size of the shoes, but with little shoes like this, the leather is stitched before being cut, then glued to the shoe base.  I keep reminding myself that I'd like to do a high heeled shoe tutorial, and when I do, it will be for a much simpler pair of shoes.  I'm running out of little buckles, too.  I have a ton of miniature metal buckles, but only a few shapes are nice for such shoes.  And, I also believe that a doll's garments should be able to be played with, so super tiny buckles just won't do. If the doll's foot would have been larger, I would have chosen to do a button closure with a slit in the strap to button them with.  The button would of course be a bead.  However the strap is too narrow to do this with.  For

me.  Other people may be able to do this, but I know my limits.  I'd also like to point out that the shoes can be wiggled onto the foot due to the softness of the leather.

So with the shoes made, Kitty needed a purse to match.  I'd already made the valise out of leather (we'll get to that in a minute), and I wanted to try a leather purse with gussets similar to the valise. This little purse took an awfully long time to make because the gussets were hand sewn in.  That involves taking a very thin and fine John James needle and using a pair of jewelry pliers to help push the needle through the two layers, then pull it through the other side.  Gluing the leather together for "basting" or even fastening, doesn't work.  The top sides of the leather won't stick together as you curve the bottom edge of the gusset.

I have the patterns for both the envelope purse I made for the peach and red day dress, and this one.  But they are only the patterns for length.  I simply measure the height of the front of the bag and the bottom width and cut a gusset from those measurements.  A rectangle with curved edges at the bottom.  I have not had luck trying to sew something this tiny on a machine. There's a lined cardboard base glued to the bottom of the purse so it can sit on a surface, and it gives it shape.  The handle is top
stitched and attached to the purse with jewelry findings.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the hat.  The cloche hat is made from the same wool as the coat.  It is in four pattern pieces that are sewn together, then a brim sewn on.  The brim on this hat is top stitched so the wool doesn't stretch.  Its very narrow in the back with just a whisper of eye shading in the front. A pleated silk band from the same silk I used to line the coat, is sewn to the hat's crown, top and bottom.  I had these lovely vintage white sprigs that I found at a doll show and used a few of those to decorate the hat on one side.

Finally, we come to the luggage.  Which in truth are the first pieces I made for this ensemble.  I think I as waiting for fabric to arrive, or I just needed a break from sewing.  Or maybe I just wanted to play with that beautiful banana colored leather.

I started with the suitcase.  I was pretty sure that I remembered how I used to make suitcases, but wasn't quite prepared for covering it with leather.  I'd just purchased some packs of chip board, which is study cardboard for crafting.  I bought it in two densities.  The lighter one is good for use in making the inner soles of dolls shoes, but the thicker one was purchased to make the luggage.  I used to make my doll luggage from basswood covered with fabric.  Why?  Because you could use hardware on it.  I'd drill holes and use real screws and nails, which is what wood is perfect for.  But, with using cardboard, that all went out the window.  So I had to find a way to close the luggage without miniature hardware.  By the way, metal doesn't glue to leather very well.  I tried.  I'm not in the habit of gumming up delicate pieces with epoxy glues like the kind that need to be mixed.  You also use a lot of leather in covering the luggage, and I didn't have extra for mistakes.

Go back up to the top of this post and take a closer look at the poster of the young flapper with her travel luggage.  This illustration was my inspiration for the valise and hat box.  I love this poster!  I found so many darling travel posters from the early twentieth century, but the ones from the 20's were ingenue, sexy, and sometimes just inspiring.  These posters were advertisements made for day dreamers and people who loved to, and had the means to travel.

The suitcase is lined with a plaid silk.  The lining is separate pieces of chip board covered in silk, then glued into the halves of each side of the suitcase.  All the trim was double top stitched.  I have this beautiful thin cognac leather that I've used for straps before, but never on this scale.  I spent a day, it seems, sewing top stitched lengths of leather.  That's a lot of trim on one suitcase.  The handles?  Too hard to describe how I made them, but they are glued on at the ends to the top of the suitcases.  The straps on the suitcase that keep it closed are loose.  They are not glued to the suitcase at the bottom or top.  I decided to make them this way since it just seemed right after studying vintage luggage.  The hinges are made from leather, too, then glued on.  Real buckles were used for the straps.  I don't think this design, using leather and cardboard rather than wood and hardware, detracts in any way from the overall look or functionality.

Then I tackled this darling valise.  I love the look of old doctor's bags.  I once had Diana Wieler make me one to go with my Bleuette nurse's disguisement.  She was a genius.

I started with covering the chip board pieces with a striped silk to coordinate with the suitcase interior.  I glued these pieces to the length of the leather to define the shape and functionality of the piece.  Big mistake.  I should have sewn the gusset pieces in first, which I could have done since the size of this would have permitted me to do so (larger than the purse).  You cannot machine sew the gussets in once the chip board liners are in, so once again, I had to hand sew the gussets to the bag.  It was a nightmare to turn inside out, but the shape was good.  If I ever make one again, I'll do it differently, but I'm happy with the results.  I'm wondering how sewing without a foot, and just the needle, would work?  I may have to try this.

Delicate leather straps were added and this time, glued to the base of the bag.  With bits of cognac leather sitting about the table. I tried to make luggage tags.  I wasn't taking this very seriously.  I think Heather has luggage tags she may want to use, but I made a couple of "cute" ones and tucked in a slip of paper with Kitty's initials inside.  The luggage tags are one piece with the loop in the center.  You top stitch the edges, cut out the piece, cut out the center of one, fold it over and glue the two "flaps" together.

I was also very attracted to the hat box in this poster, so I attempted to make one.  Normally I cover them with fabric, but this time I used scrapbooking paper.  I had to order it online since crafting stores are closed at this time.  Scrapbooking paper is just too fancy these days.  I wanted just a plain black and plain white gloss, but it seems these are hard to find, or simply out of stock.  So I used Tiffany Blue.

The best way to do this using chip board is to mist it, moisten it, then curve it around a can or bottle, and secure that with rubber bands until its dry.  I connect the edges with a piece of muslin and lots of glue.  Its more permanent that way.

One of things I forgot, I do forget, about making  things like covered hat boxes, is that you have to account for the minimal thickness of what you're covering the pieces with.  For instance, you need to make proper allowance for the top to fit over the base.  Because I didn't plan properly and wanted to move on, I was not able to line the top.  And, I really didn't like the thickness of the paper I used to cover the pieces.  It was not pliable like cloth, and was miserable to cover the chip board with.  The fact remains, that I seldom do something twice so even though this was a practice, it probably won't get perfected in the future.  Its a cardboard hat box.  Its large enough to hold one of Kitty's hats.  Task accomplished.  And, it looks cute for a display.  The umbrella was one that was purchased for Bleuettes when Joe (can't recall his last name), the vintage Barbie guy, had made in China for us.  These lovely little umbrellas are completely functional.

Heather had provided me with these lovely mini travel stickers to decorate the luggage with.  However, after all the work I put into the luggage, I didn't have the heart to cover that beautiful banana leather with sticky paper pieces.  They'll look darling on the luggage once selected, but I'll let her do this.  This way she can play with it once she gets it.

This has been a terribly long post, and I thank you for reading it to the end.

If Kitty were my doll, she'd be displayed in the outfit with her luggage for a year.  I had such an enjoyable time creating the travel ensemble, and it came out exactly as I had envisioned.  Can't you see her waving good-bye to America as she boards the cruise liner for Europe?

During this time of quietude, play dolls.  Create something wonderful each day.  Stay safe and enjoy the beauty of spring.

Love,
Melissa