Katherine Hudson's Winter Holiday in St. Moritz

"May is nearly gone and come June, we'll be packing Kitty's European tour trousseaux to take with her, in several trunks, back home. Wardrobes tend to be something we create with planning for the months ahead, and perhaps I should have started her winter togs for skiing when she first arrived.  For the past couple of weeks she's fussed and fidgeted with each fitting, telling me she's hot and itchy, and has sometimes drawn a cool bath after a lengthy one.  However, when I pulled out a hide of soft sheered mink for the jacket's collar, she was more accepting of the fittings.  She does love her fur.

Kitty enoys the snow and was practically "born on skis", so she tells me, so her trip to St. Moritz next winter will be a delightful time for her.   I have been there once myself, as its the oldest winter sporting playground in Europe since 1864.

Young Katherine is getting homesick, I can tell.  There are concerts and exhibits to see, and friends she misses.  She has kept up her studies through a tutor, and wishes to attend a graduation ball with her class.  But, I have one last ensemble to make for her for the London season next summer, and then we must say good-bye.  Sophie and I are planning a dinner party for the night before she leaves, and keeping it a secret has been difficult as Kitty likes to be involved in planning parties.  She knows something is up." - Madame Hoover

The exuberance and carefree attitudes of the young flappers extended well into outdoor activities, and skiing was one of those thrills.  The earliest evidence of skiing, or the act of transporting oneself across snow on wooden bars, dates between 6300-5000 BCE.  Archeologists have discovered ski-like implements in both China and Russia that date back this far.  There is even a rock carving, or pictograph, in Alta, Norway, dating back to 1000 BCE of a hunter with bow and arrow on skis.

Skiing was initially a way of transportation and the person maneuvered themselves by poling with one pole, back and forth, rather like paddling a canoe.  One of the most famous of these skiing pioneers, was Snowshoe Thompson, a Norwegian-American, who resided in the Sierra Nevada, and delivered mail by skis.  He is also known as the father of California skiing.  Being a California native and a cross-country skier, I enjoy this little bit of trivia.

So when it came time to make Kitty's ski ensemble, I got to do a little bit of historical research, but focused primarily on skiing in the 1920's.  I discovered that St. Moritz held the Winter Olympics in 1928.  I also uncovered tons of charming photos of young women on skis having the time of their life, and of course, wonderful winter posters from the Art Deco era.  My original intent, was to sew Kitty a ski costume from the Mandi paper doll, from which I designed her travel coat.  However, I ran into too many snafus in trying to acquire Argyle patterned knits in miniature.  And, no, AG Molly's stockings didn't work.  They were too thick. and finding a sweater to cut up was even more difficult with things shutdown.  However, when I found this adorable photograph of flappers doing a high kick with their skis from the 1920's, I was on it.

After scouring my own drawers and closets for ski worthy doll sweaters, and just about to give up, I found this rose colored sweater I'd purchased at Anthropologie years ago, way in the back of a cabinet.  Part of what makes a doll sweater look appropriate, is where and how wide the banding is.  Another consideration is the stretch of the knit and how narrow and short the patterns must be to accommodate a nice fit.

As it turns out, only this rose sweater had narrow enough bands, and I used only the bottom inches for Kitty's sweater.  One of the biggest challenges, to me, has always been getting the length of the sleeve correct.  With a dress or blouse, all may seem well and good, until you sew the sleeve in and take up a hem at the cuff.  With this sweater, I actually cut the sleeves out of the armholes after the first assembly, and sewed them back in since both the shoulders and the sleeve length needed shortening.  This doll has almost nonexistent shoulders.  So while the sleeves are bit longer, I'm fine with this.  Sweaters stretch, and wrists must be kept warm.  Kitty looks as if she has a bit of a tummy, but that is merely the band of Velcro attached to her stand, around her waist.  No, she hasn't been eating too many almond scones at Madame Hoover's.

The back edge of the sweater has been lined with a pink silk dupioni band, and snaps close it in the back.

Kitty's ski pants are fine gray wool.  The wool is a tight weave, but also thin enough to have a lovely drape and respond well to a few darts at the waistline.  They are knickers.  As I studied the photo of the flappers' attire for this costume, I wondered to myself if their pants were actually men's trousers, or if they made ski pants specifically for women.  I won't know.  But, the proof is in the pudding, as most women dressed like this for skiing in the 1920's.  Unless their attire came from Nordic knitters.  Which I am not.  (No, I never picked up the knitting needles again.)  The pants have little buttons at the sides of the cuffs at the knee, and two little buttons tacking down the pleats in the front, which you cannot see because her sweater is covering them (along with that nuisance Velcro waist band on the stand).

Kitty's jacket was another opportunity for me to work with a shawl collared coat.  You would think that a few tweaks to the coat's pattern would have done the trick, but that wasn't the case.  First of all, the collar on the coat is longer and a slightly different shape.  A jacket is shorter and the sleeves needed width for the sweater beneath, and the front needed to be designed to close like a jacket with a fur collar. New pattern.

If you'll notice in the photo of the flappers, not all the girls had luxurious fur collars, but Kitty definitely needed one.  The jacket is made from a similar wool of the pants, although a bit thinner with a tendency to lose threads on the cut edges.  So it was bit more difficult to work with on this scale.  Without the photograph being in color, I had to guess at what I assumed were earth tones in their outfits.  Obviously, the outfits they wore then, are not the high tech fibers used in ski clothing of today.  I do wonder if these girls stayed warm enough.  Wool usually did the trick and I doubt they were made up in anything else.  I can't wear wool.  I break out in itchy hives.  Its a wonder I can sew doll clothing with it!  But, I digress.  Back to the jacket.

The jacket is lined with a poly lining.  Most likely these jackets were lined in cotton, but to get the sleeves of the jacket over the sweater, I needed the "slip".  The collar is a standard shawl collar and was topped with a shawl of sheered brown mink.  I had to piece together two small pieces of this fur to get the length and curved of the collar.  The fur piece was then lined, turned right-side-out, then stitched to the jacket's collar.  No matter how I fuss about making collars, the clothing I like to create seem to all have collars of some sort.  The jacket is belted, and three buttons decorate the front, closing in snaps beneath.  A photo of the coat's lining is provided further down.


Time for ski boots.  When Heather asked for a pair of boots, I truly believed I could make just one pair, and they would be used for both her Egypt excavation, and the ski ensemble.  Nope.  No can do.  Ski boots are ski boots.  It took me a couple of days and some mock ups to get a good ski boot pattern, and a little ingenuity for lacing them.  One thing I was pleased about, was that I could finally use this eggplant colored leather she'd purchased for me early on.  I was going to use black, which was probably what most of them were made from, but the eggplant lent bit of elegance to a sports shoe.

The problem, of course, was getting a flat boot made for a high heeled foot.  I did study what contemporary doll makers have done, but if you look past the name like Tonner and Odom, and really look at the boot, they're kind of Frankenstein-y.  Basically what they do is take a high heeled foot bed used on Gene and Tyler's high heels, and just drape the faux leather to a flat bottom base, the sole.  I wanted a little better than that.  And, I was getting hung up on trying to make something like what they did.  So I pushed outside my Type A box.

Once I got a good boot pattern, I had to figure out what to do about lacing up the boots.  After a few think throughs, I chose the eyes of hook and eyes for the laces.  I know this is done on corsets for dolls quite a bit, but I wanted to employ it for the boots.  Fiddling with four eyes was ridiculously tedious, so I used a little fringe (hat) glue to tack them to the black cotton tab that would glue inside the edge of the boot.  That stuff is so good to work with!  Then I sewed the eyes onto the tabs, then glued them in.  This resulted in a nice way to lace up the boots.  On a larger doll, I may have used the hooks themselves, and I do have bronze ones from Dollspart.  Another doll, another time.

Kitty was also made a pair of brown knit stockings to wear beneath the pants and inside the boots.  You'd be amazed at how much larger you have to make a shoe to accommodate such stockings.  It matters.  The final fitting of the boots was done with Kitty wearing the "thick" stockings.  And, again, I left the laces long for Heather to trim as she sees fit.

So what did I do about the high heeled feet?  I made stacked leather heels, in thick black leather, for the sole and the heels.  A bit like hiking boots.  When your own nose in down to the level of making something like this, it is often difficult to discern whether what you're doing will "work", and what will be acceptable. I think it worked.  The overall look is what we're after.

Finally we made her a hat.  Those flappers in the photo had adorable newsboys caps on in a variety of fabrics.  I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was knitted.  So I chose an oatmeal wool and lined it with striped ticking.  I've made similar caps before, but this one alluded me for some reason.  I actually looked up a YouTube for the pattern piece.  Its not a triangle times six.  It could be if you were going to gather the edge for a band, but this needed to fit her head on its own.  If you don't know this trick, here is it.  Measure the head and divide by six, then draw a line.  Take a tape measure and loosely form it over the doll's head for how wide you want the puff to be.  Measure up for the drop of the puff, then angle that edge to an almost point.  That length should be measured from the center of the doll's head to a bit of overhang from her forehead.  Hope I'm making sense.  What that pattern piece will look like, is a Grecian or Roman vessel.  At least it did to me.  You know I love hats.  They complete the costume.

Kitty's skis and poles are Gene's from her own St. Moritz adventure.  Was it hard thinking "snow" when summer is just around the corner?  Not really.  Its all in one's frame of mind.  As with anything I do, I focus and immerse myself in what's before me.

Yes, sadly, Kitty will be going home soon, but not before I make her the last ensemble.  One for the London season.

"Its a bright, late spring day, and summer is upon us in every way except in name.  Bees are humming in the flowers and birds are chirping on every branch, in every tree.  Kitty is with friends this morning, and they're off to a lovely exhibit located in Central Park.  Its been a busy morning cleaning up my studio from remnants of wool, and a glorious silk awaits some attention.  But, not today.  The garden patio is calling, and a book awaits with tea." Madame Hoover

Love,
Melissa

 

The Duchess of Argyle in St. Moritz in the 1920's

A few of Kitty's friends.

A fun photo captured in St. Moritz, 1920's

Kitty in the Age of Tutankhamen

 "The days are getting warmer and there's a full moon tonight.  I felt this would be a wonderful time to gather a few friends to my salon this evening for a bit of a catch-up and later some moon gazing.  Kitty is very much looking forward to seeing Charles again and further discussing her interest in Egyptian archeology of which he is well studied in.  This evening he will present her with a book on the subject, which I'm certain will be dog-eared by the time her boots hit the sands of The Valley of the Kings.  My young ward will be thrilled to learn that Charles will be present on the specified dig site, and if I'm not correct, I think there is a romance of some sort blooming, although young Katherine has much life to live and places to explore before thoughts of rings and lace enter her mind.  Perhaps they will do some of this together?

In the meantime, I was instructed to create an ensemble for Kitty for this thrilling occasion.  Her mother insisted on boots although many a young woman wore T-strap sandals as they were cooling on the feet.  Knowing Kitty, she'll be climbing rocks and sitting astride mules, so boots are the correct coverings for her constant on-the-go feet." Madame Hoover

The 1920's was an era of new and fascinating discoveries.  And, this was no exception when it came to the magic Howard Carter emblazoned the world with.  On November 4, 1922, British archeologist Howard Carter uncovered the first of sixteen stone steps that led down into the tomb of Tutankhamen.  Although almost all the tombs in Egypt's Valley of the Kings had long ago been plundered of funerary artifacts and treasures, one still remained intact.  Upon entering the tomb, its artifacts, while in a disarray, were clearly present. It is thought that the initial robbers were caught in the act, and while being dealt with, the contents of the tomb hastily tossed back in, and the tomb once again sealed so as not to incur the wrath of the gods.  And, thus it remained for 3000 years, the tomb site forgotten.  Howard Carter had been looking for it since 1907 having pieced together the mystery of its whereabouts from various contextual clues.

It took years to excavate the tomb fully and catalogue the fabulous artifacts found inside.  The most dramatic discovery occurred in October 1925 when Carter opened Tutankhamen's mummy case, exposing the solid gold death mask, one of the most priceless treasures ever found in the history of archeology.  The affect this had on the world was exciting and inspired everything from the way women wore make up and the fashions they wore, to what drinks were called in bars, and the subject matter of films and songs.  This was Tutmania at its finest.

I was fortunate to have gotten to attend the first Tut tour at the De Young Museum in San Francisco thirty years ago.  Has it really been that long ago?

So naturally, when an outfit for Kitty to visit a dig site and participate to some degree in either an excavation or help with the careful cleaning of pottery shards was suggested, I didn't hesitate to agree.  She would have been traveling in Europe for several months, and over a winter, and the trip to Egypt would take place in the spring before the summer months became unbearable under the heat of the hot, white sun.  This would be her last major site to tour before returning to London for the Season and her eventual Royal Presentation to the queen as a debutante in social standing.

After doing my typical research, which for this purpose was on what women would wear to an excavation in Egypt, circa 1920, I found quite a few charming photos and began light reading on some of the women archeologists of the day.  One in particular grabbed my attention.  Dorothy Garrod.  I knew when I saw this photograph that this was the dress I'd make Kitty.  A far cry from the finery of earlier trousseaux pieces, it was a linen sack with big pockets.  Roomy and cool for the blazing temperatures, but fashionable in a way that only the 1920's would afford.

Dorothy Garrod was an archeologist of the Paleolithic Age (and no, that's not a diet).  After concluding her studies from 1922 - 1924 with the French prehistorian Abbe Breuil at the Instite de Paleontologie Humaine in Paris, she went on to excavate at Gibraltar.  Following a recommendation from Breuil, she investigated the Devil's Tower Cave near Forbes' Quarry where a Neanderthal skull had been found earlier.  Garrod discovered, in this cave in 1925, a second important Neanderthal skull now known as Gibraltar 2.  It seemed fitting that Kitty have a dress designed after the one Dorothy Garrod wore in this famous photograph of her.

The dress came together all too quickly for me.  I rather thought it would be more of a challenge, yet in a way, I'm grateful that it wasn't.  Of course I had to deal with a collar.

Kitty's Valley of the Kings dress is an oatmeal linen with long sleeves to keep her arms protected from the sun's rays.  It is shapeless, but not without details.  There are two long sewn flat pintucks, the length of the dress.  Around hip length is another sewn flat pintuck that serves as a faux belt.  Beneath this "belt" are two very large patch pockets for tucking maps and books and bits in.  A jaunty sailor collar cheers the dress up, and a yellow knotted scarf is sewn to the center of the collar.

The back is closed with five little vintage bone or ivory or celluloid buttons.  I've had these vintage buttons for years and never found a purpose for them until this dress came along.  They're rounded on both sides like an M & M.  I'd really like to know what they're made of, but that's unlikely to happen.  Still, I'm happy to have had on hand, buttons that would work.  I've been using what I have on hand for quite awhile now.  While shopping online is second nature to me, I just haven't felt like it much since the shut downs occurred.  More importantly, I have way too much in the way of sewing notions and fabrics, that its prudent to look through my stash before dashing off to the computer to literally hunt and peck for hours on end.

Kitty needed a hat to shade her delicate complexion.  First of all, it can get very confusing, the hats of Safaris vs. simple shade hats when you're dealing with adventure couture.  Africa, being a very large continent, has varying degrees of complexity in its landscapes.  What a girl would wear on Safari would be a pith helmet.  Why?  Who knows?  I don't feel like looking it up, but these were helmets with hard bases covered in linen.  To an excavation site?  I felt a shade hat in straw would be best.  Below, in the vintage photo series, you'll see a woman (Kitty!) standing in center of a line of men.  This was the hat that inspired me.  I chose to make it in olive green straw because the outfit needed a pop of subtle color, inasmuch as the inclusion of the lemon yellow scarf.  The hat is simple and unadorned.  This is a working hat.

And speaking of working couture, Kitty needed those boots.  I've made lots of uniquely styled boots over the short span of time I've been dressing dolls, but these were my undoing.  Maybe it was her tiny, long feet, or the high heeled shape of them.  The boots worn by women back then were different than their Victorian predecessors.  The Victorian/Edwardian boots had little shaped heels, and the boots of the 1920's had flatter, wider heels, more practical for a variety of activities.  I used the "green book" for finding a pair to design a pattern after.  In the book these boots are called Reliable Juliets. "Cap toed, plain toed, or with patent leather trim.  Guaranteed to be blissfully comfortable."

ha-ha  Really have to laugh at some of the descriptions given.

I chose a burgundy leather to make them up in.  Without inundating this journal post with so many photos, I'll describe the heels as above, wide and low.  There's a photo of the boots' illustration below.  I also made them over little olive colored socks.  I chose to dress Kitty in white nylons for this outfit and without the socks, which really are appropriate, the stockings would have gotten stained by the dye in the leather.  The boot pattern was designed with a long tongue as part of the lower tops of the shoe.  Top stitching was done before the pieces cut out, as always.  I left the laces long because someone else has to dress her and I'll leave it up to Heather to cut the laces to her liking.  No.  I haven't gone daft.  Not yet at least.  I will admit that making tiny bows in thin laces on tiny shoes isn't as easy as it once was.  Another way to get around long laces on boots is to wrap them around the ankles once or twice, then knot them in a bow.

Lastly, Kitty needed a shoulder sack.  I originally intended to make her a knap sack, but there we go again differentiating between Safari attire and archeological dig site couture.  I do not want someone looking at this and telling me they like the "Safari" outfit I made.  It will happen, but I've done my best to avoid it.  Given all that sensitive ego hogwash, I made her a shoulder sack of olive linen to coordinate with the practical shade hat.  Let's face it, a dig site is filthy!  There is no getting around it, so its practical and "rinse at night" all the way.

The shoulder sack has an adjustable strap in the case Kitty wants to use it at handbag length.  It is attached to the sack with leather ends sewn onto the linen gusset.  The cute thing I did here was give the bag a leather button wrap closure.  You see this on some journals, but its also practical for bags such as this.  Along with the dress's huge patch pockets, Kitty can carry her essentials easily.  I made two 1920's maps of Egypt.  One a bit more detailed.  She has the book Charles gave her, which is a miniature version I bought on Ebay that is "readable" with full color illustrations.  Her tools are American Girl.  A tad larger in scale, but super cute and appropriate.  She has a magnifying glass and a brush to carefully clean those artifacts and pottery shards.  The brush is the make up brush from Rebecca's make up box.  Its perfect.  You do know that I adore the historical American Girls, and have a wonderful collection of them and their items. Right?  Right.

I'm awaiting some lovely lawn I just purchased to make Kitty a dinner dress for those Egyptian nights.  Every which way I turn, I keep thinking of more that I need to do for her, but truly, this is the only addition to the original request in her trousseau.  I just can't imagine her wanting to sit on a veranda at the hotel in a dusty, sweaty linen dress in those balmy Egyptian nights.  So there will be a dress.  Next!

And, it is the night of the full moon.  Somewhere on Facebook, I read that this will be a "Milk Moon".  Given that it is spring, maybe we can imagine Kitty staring out into the starry Egyptian night skies and seeing her own Milk Moon, side by side with Charles and a few friends.

Love,
Melissa

Kitty with a few friends.

Kitty gets escorted to the dig site.

A couple of gals Kitty meets at the dig site.

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium in the 1920's

Kitty's book on Egyptian Archeology

Inspiration for Kitty's boots.