UFDC's Peggy Sue in the Fabulous Fifties

Labor Day Weekend.  Could it possibly be the end of summer already?  Back to school?  Not in Peggy Sue's world.  Summer is here for as long as the days are warm and bright.  Or at least until the twenty-first of September.  There are barbeque parties to attend, picnics by the lake, make-up and curler dates with girlfriends, and of course, hanging out at the diner with friends.

Life was...well, different in the 1950's.  There were less cars on the road, children played outdoors.  Neighborhoods were safe.  Jump ropes and hula hoops kept the young set fit and energized.  Rock n Roll blared from hotrods cruising the boulevards, and girls sought to be pretty in an idealized way.

Peggy Sue is just a tween.  Too old for dolls, too young for boys (says her mother).  She spends her time listening to 45's on the record player and reading teen magazines.  She dreams of the day she'll wear a bridal gown and begin a family of her own like her older sister.  These years are special ones where she discovers who good friends really are, and how to behave as a young lady should.  She'll learn to cook and sew, and clean.  Chores won't be difficult, but she wants to learn since Mother does such a wonderful job.  Peggy Sue loves to draw and paint, and read mystery books.  But, mostly, she enjoys being a girl.  Just like the song.

When the UFDC Online Event began, I wasn't so sure I wanted another Little Darling.  I have two and display them in lovely Russian made knitted outfits.  I complained to a friend of mine that  I didn't want a doll in a poodle skirt.  Why do I behave like such a stick in the mud sometimes?  They are cute.  I do love the 50's.  The fashions were elegant and fun and feminine.  Two of my favorite Tonner dolls are Kitty Collier and DeeAnna Denton.  I like Cissy.  But, truth be admitted, I found it difficult to sew for her, even though I loved the fashions she wore in the 1950's.  I like sewing for young girls and tweens.  So as I mentioned in my last blog, after I spotted Alice Leverette's pattern set made for her, I decided to purchase Peggy Sue, Diana Effner's souvenir doll for the UFDC convention that became the Online Event. 

I will also add, that having spent a good deal of time looking at Little Darlings, and owning two painted by Geri Uribe, I think Peggy Sue is the better of the three.  Of course I love the doll best who I'm currently sewing for, usually, but the artists that painted these dolls did a phenomenal job.  And, she is the one Little Darling I have that can stand on her own.  I don't know what it is about the other two, but they are constantly falling over.  I'm so happy I got her, and couldn't wait to begin sewing for her. 

A couple of weeks ago, I cut out every single pattern in Alice's set.  I had quite a bit of Cissy related fabrics on hand, but went ahead and purchased a few more fabric selections.  What I wanted to create was a bright and cheerful wardrobe to take me though the end of summer's sewing.  My favorite historical American Girl right now is MaryEllen, and her wardrobe would, in part, be my inspiration. 

The first dress I made was using the square necked bodice with a full skirt.  I believe this bodice was intended for sleeves, but I created it fully lined, then added the skirt.  The print is a muted pale pink-mauve gingham with red flower pots hosting a daisy each.  I had this red rick rack on hand, and added plenty to trim and decorate the dress.  Somehow it still seemed too plain, so I added two small daisy appliques.  One at the neckline and one on the skirt.  In her hair she's tied a red grosgrain ribbon.

The next outfit would be a sun dress for patio parties, carnivals, and beach days.  I'd bought this salt water taffy stripe originally for Cissy, but its perfect for Peggy Sue.  The sweetheart neckline bodice was intended for both a petticoat and a sun dress.  Instead of simply attaching another full skirt like the dress above, I played with the stripes for more depth and visual appeal.

I sewed a horizontal length above the vertical, and trimmed the hem with a bias stripe.  The shoulder straps are the same stripe patterning.  I love working with stripes and checks since you can cut them so accurately to match.  The bottom of the bodice ends in the large pink stripe, and the horizontal top of the skirt begins with the same pink stripe.  The sun dress is a circus of colors.  A playful parade of candy stripes.  I will note that I had to make the bodice twice.  It was not wide enough to fit around Peggy Sue's torso.  I have a ton of this fabric, so it was no problem.

The next thing I wanted to include was a pair of pedal pushers.  Alice did not include a cut line on her pattern for these, so I copied the pattern on my printer and added length to the cuffed shorts line.  I chose red since its such a stand out color.  The pants pattern sewed up like a dream with no adjustments needing to be made.  I was feeling more creative as I went along and the ease of these patterns allowed me to play freely.

But, it was this cherry print cotton that I really wanted to sew with.  Peggy Sue needed a cheery cherry shirt to ride her bike in and do the occasional chores about the house.  Its a good thing that I had plenty of this "Cissy intended" fabric as well.  This shirt pattern was all one piece with only sleeves and collar added.  The problem is that it was not wide enough across the shoulder blade area, and the sleeve holes were too small.  After some careful looking, I noticed the front of the sleeve hole was smaller than the back.  Maybe this works for people???, but it didn't work for this doll.  So I went to bed that night with the intention of making the shirt all over again from scratch. 

The first thing I did was decide not to use the 1/4" recommended seam allowance, and take it down to 1/8", which is what I normally sew for my own designs.  I also copied the blouse pattern on the printer and cut a wider hole in the arm front to match the back.  Now I had a nice fit.  The collar is adorable and was easy to apply to the shirt.  I did not clip the recommended 3/16" along the neck edge to attach the rectangular collar, but attached it the way I normally do, stretching and fitting.  I made sure on the second try to leave a good 1/4" from the edge of the collar where the self facing folds in, to give it a proper shirt collar look.  I added a pocket smaller than the one the patterns provided and tucked a purple gingham handkerchief into it.  Four little buttons go down the front, and one on the pocket flap.  All these outfits are fastened easily with snaps.

Now that I had plenty of pink and red in this wardrobe, I wanted some bright yellow or green.  I had a very small piece of Aunt Grace Scrap Bag yellow with tiny purple roses.  Its such a pretty fabric.  Peggy Sue needed a little garden sun suit that could be worn on vacations and during games of hop scotch, or even backyard badminton games.  Further enjoying myself at this point, I pushed the design concept and trimmed her yellow sun suit with the purple gingham, picking up the purple in the tiny roses.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this one.

Having sewn with both the pants pattern and the sweetheart bodice, I decided to attach them for a onsie and add a skirt she could wear over it.  Credit given where credit is due, MaryEllen has a similar sun suit.  I just made this one a little different.  Very different, but the look is the same.  To get the trim on the bodice, which is actually a fold over look, not sewn at the base, I cut a smaller shape from the bodice following the line by measuring down an inch.  Its a handy little pattern piece that can be used again for an elegant dress.  Both edges are sewn then turned inside out and pressed.  The gingham in attached by machine to the top edge of the bodice only by top stitching.

The shorts which attach to the bodice were shortened by a good inch.  I added the bias cut gingham as a turned up cuff.  Thank goodness I know how to sew some of this stuff.  It helps tremendously when you want to design and play.  The onsie is finished with straps that tie halter style.

I then added the top skirt to the set.  The skirts in this pattern set have a recommended 24" length, and so far its worked beautifully, although the first dress I made is about 28" in width.  The play skirt has a waistband in the bias cut gingham and closes in front with one snap at the center.  As an after thought, I added two little purple buttons to the front of the onsie and five down the center of the skirt.  As an after after thought, I make a bow for her hair. 

The shoes are all provided by Debs Adorables on Ebay.  They are cute and just fine for this classic little wardrobe.  Right now its all about fun and cheery colors and ease of play for me.  Each outfit took two days to make overall.  The next thing I'll do is work on her display trunk, but I've shown how the outfits will look in it.  I want the colors to blend and compliment each other set up in this display.  I also want to begin a school dress or two, a party dress fitting for the holidays, and as there was no pattern for a coat with hat, I'll have to modify some of the patterns to make one.  How many outfits will Peggy Sue have?  Enough to round out the display at least.  She should have something for each season, and already summer covered.

I understand from Rachel Hoffman that the Tonner Grace Marie dolls are in an LA customs house right now, so when she arrives, I can begin her Summer Fling wardrobe.  Fall is going to be here in no time at all, so I'm sewing daily.  My inspiration has returned and it feels wonderful.

Love,
Melissa

The Gift of Loulotte

There is nothing like a surprise package in the mail.  And, this is what happened on July 9th.  Going about my day, never minding my own business, I went to check the mail and found a box from my friend, Heather.  I thought to myself, "What did she do now?", and excitedly sat down on the floor to carefully open the box and pull out its contents.

Inside was a letter of introduction from Kitty's mother, telling the story of how they'd come upon this little waif in Paris, who just happened to be handy and quick with a needle and thread, and bought her a ticket to the U.S. to assist me with my couture business.  I opened the box and the most adorable little doll looked up at me, and I cried.  It was a Loulotte from Bravot of France.  I could hardly believe how this little doll, and gesture, touched my heart. 

Earlier in the year I'd been asking Heather about the Loulotte dolls and she gave me a brief history on the doll, which I promptly filed away for future use and lost.  So when this little charmer showed up on my doorstep, I was swept away with curiosity once again.  Its not that I hadn't worked with the idea of Loulotte before, but at the time, there was no such doll to dress and play with.  A comic book had been published in France called La Petite Princesse, which was a Becassine story of Loulotte.  Loulotte being a charge of Becassine's, as Becassine was a nanny. 

Back then I was making the miniature marionette theaters, and I can't tell you what year this was, but it was before I had a photo tent to photograph my work in, and must have been when I first got a digital camera or these photos would not be on my computer.  Either way, I did "Loulotte" for a time.  Today I rather wish I hadn't sold the Loulotte theater.  It was inspired by the artwork in the Gaultier-Langereau books of Becassine, and the relationship between Loulotte and her nanny.  I do believe I included the book with the miniature theater, and was grateful that I'd had the presence of mind to copy the pages on my scanner for future reference.  This was all during the time I was still collecting for, and playing with Bleuette. 

So who is Loulotte?  She was the daughter of the publisher of the books of Becassine.  A real child.  In the photo of sepia tones, you can see her wearing a Scottish inspired outfit.  Heather had given me minute, but richer history of the child and a couple more photos like these, but I'll be darned if my Yahoo mail will cough them up.  What I do recall is that the parents were terribly strict with the child and never spared the rod.  How she grew up and who she became later in life would be interesting to learn.  But, today we have her as a doll to play with.

Although many little 6 1/2" dolls have been called "Loulotte", there is only one true one, and you can purchase one from Sylvie Bravot.  Sylvie paid for licensing rights to produce both Becassine and the Loulotte doll.  And, a fine job she did!

You may recall me telling you, I had a dry spell of creativity for awhile, and it was when Loulotte showed up.  And, to be honest, I didn't know what to do with her, how to dress her.  There were so many things I could have done with her.  Heather told me she looked like a mini Kitty.  And, she does!  So one of the ideas was to make her into the child Kitty would have been.  But, in reality she would have needed to be dressed like Lettie Lane, in Edwardian style dress.  Nope.  I wanted to dress her in the styles of the 1920's.  I couldn't keep the idea of her being a penniless orphan coming to work for Madame Hoover, because I don't like "poor" dolls.  I don't want to feel sorry for them.  It was suggested that she could be a cousin or little sister of Kitty's.  Didn't want to do that either.  But, I was certain that I wanted to dress her in the American child styles from that wonderful green book.  So she is simply Loulotte in the Roaring Twenties.  If you recall, Huguette Clark was born in France, then raised in New York.  So goes the story of my Loulotte.

July 9th might not seem a long time ago to some, but to me it  does.  So much has happened since then and all under the cloud of a deadly virus, and changing lifestyles.  Thank goodness for dollies to dress and Virtual Doll Conventions!  I even registered for the NIADA VDC just to have peek.  I do enjoy the surreal and whimsy in art dolls.

I will have to also add in here that I'd purchased maybe half a dozen patterns for this doll from Stephanie Ehmen.   However, they bothered me.  Something was just not right about them.  I was told that many were simply reduced sized Bleuette patterns, but not a single one of them shouted 1920s! to me.  So I bagged that idea, and started from scratch.  Back to the green book I went.  Again, this book is called Flapper Era Fashions From the Roaring 20's, by Tina Skinner and Lindy McCord.  Its fabulous.  Several pages were dedicated to children's fashions, which is where I found my inspiration.  The pages I used are shown below this journaling. 

Earlier I had purchased this gorgeous viscose in green with small wildflowers, blackberries and raspberries.  It is so soft and drapes beautifully.  I wanted to create an outfit that would work for summer as well as fall, so purchased a second yard in the corresponding burgundy color of the same print.  I love working with fabrics this way.  I did this with France's beach outfit in aqua and yellow.

Loulotte's little play dress comes with knee length bloomers and a decorative short dress over it.  You can see in the pages of the green book that this was a popular style for children.  One dress stood out among the other images and was made up in navy with a printed border on the hem and neckline.  See below.  I wanted this look, and achieved something similar by piecing the fabrics together.  The high bodice was done in the green print, and the body of the dress was done in the burgundy.  I copied out a scallop design and sewed a scallop border to attach at the hem to further create the look.  The bloomers are green as well as the sleeve cuffs, and the sleeves pick up the burgundy of the body of the dress.

The scallops were very well done, if I say so myself, and I could have left it there, but I decided to play with covered medallions and topped each point of the scallops with one.  Each has its own little flower in the center.  This idea could have also been done with buttons, but I was fussing with fiddly detail work.  I also made the medallions work as buttons on the back of the dress and to close the shorts in back.  I flipped the colors so the green button closes the dress on the burgundy and the opposite for the top back of the dress.  Just fun stuff.

I made her a pair of red t-strap shoes, and a cloche hat in felted wool.  There was so many darling hat styles to chose from, but I fell in love with the wildflower embroidery on the green hat shown in the image. I didn't have an exact matching wool felt in green, but this shade worked well after all.  With the added embroidery, it ties nicely in with the play dress.

I like my dolls to hold something, have an accessory, so I quickly put together a book of Grimm's fairytales for her this morning.  I used the McLoughlin Bros. front plate from 1890, so this book could have been passed down to her, as books like this should be.  My mother had carried to California my grandmother's Red Book of Fairytales, and Blue Book of Fairytales.  My sister has them now,  but the illustrations were in the style of Arthur Rackham.  Lovely!

Loulotte is now dressed and sitting in her tree house reading her Grimm's book of fairytales to a variety of stuffed animals and dolls.  Thank you for this precious doll, Heather!

Next, I'll be working on a wardrobe for Peggy Sue, and creating the interior of her display case.  Something bright and pleasant to do as summer carries on. There are too many not so pleasant things going on beyond my doorstep, so I'll stay indoors and play dolls and read to my heart's content.  I hope you find the perfect way to enjoy the rest of this sunny season.

Love,
Melissa

Playsets

My inspiration

Hat and Coats

I can fly!

Summer's UFDC Online Event and The Virtual Doll Convention, Summer Fling

What a wild and fabulous month July was!  Okay.  So I went into a creative dive for awhile, but there were other things to fill my time and keep me busy.  Books mainly.  I read them like eating popcorn.  And, I've started becoming a little more creative in the kitchen.  Instead of continuing to make the same meals at the same speed as I usually do, I've been trying new recipes and simply taking my time.  Why not?  The continuing pandemic has certainly clipped my wings, but I still scratch and peck plenty in my cage.

July would normally be the time when doll collectors from all over the world would be flying out to a U.S. location, checking into their hotel rooms, greeting friends they haven't seen in a year, and preparing for a super week of nothing but dolls, dolls, dolls at the UFDC convention.  Not this year.  But!  The UFDC pulled off an Online Event that lasted a week, which was primarily shopping both what they would have offered at convention, and a host of online doll shops.  This was all done through Ruby Lane, and after a few glitches, seemed to work pretty well.  They also provided Youtube presentations, that I didn't watch, as they were on scheduled times.  What I found out later, was that each of the scheduled workshop and event presenters were asked if they wanted to make Youtubes of their presentations and classes, and no one wanted to do this!   This is so sad, because it would have made this Online Event spectacular.  So I mainly shopped. 

There was an "album" strictly offering dolls and workshop kits from the UFDC identified by the symbol of the Unity doll.  There was also an album dedicated to Ruby Red Galleria and this was the one I spent the first hour of online shopping in.  I'd been looking forward to shopping with them since I'd learned of their new introductions.  One of the items I picked up in the Unity album was a Bleuette workshop kit by Boneka.  Memories of sitting in the presence of my favorite seamstress and designer pulled at my heart and purse strings.  I learned to sew studying Rosemarie Ionker's work.  And I would learn some new things when this kit arrived.  Let's explore this first.

Memories of the First Year of School is an adorable collection of fall clothing that easily takes a child through the classroom to the cold snaps sure to come.  The kit contained a wool felt cape with a hood, a smocked red dress with puffed sleeves, and a striped jumper with white blouse beneath and a Peter Pan collar.  Much of these pieces were 85% sewn, and the workshop had you hem the dresses, finish the linings, make a ton of thread loops, sew on buttons, learn to make a frog closure and finish the end of a belt.  All the little details.  This is all the fiddly hand sewing that takes hours, and can be started in a class setting.  Were I at the convention, I would have done this in my room at night or when I needed quiet time.

The frog closure was the neat thing I learned.  Rosemarie made it by sewing three daisy petal embroidered stitches, then making a crocheted chain for the loop.  I don't crochet, so I did this by making a thread loop.  In the future, I can see myself making wee thread loops, then fastening them with one stitch at the tip of the petal to secure them, followed by the button loop.  It would be "braided", have substance then, instead of just looking decorative and functional.

I also learned something new with the pleated jumper.  Starting at the waist and down about and inch, stitches were made to the pleat folds.  This produced an almost blouson appearance to the bodice area of the jumper and a skirt to the length.  I loved this detail.  It cinched the waist and prepared it for the belt that buttoned around the jumper.  There are three buttons on the belt.  About 1 3/8" from the end, two buttons are sewn back to back so that the thread loops on the ends secure the belt as it laps over.  Thread loops at the sides of the waist keep the belt on.  I do this anyway, but it was fun to see described.  I was also amazed at the pattern of the cape and will refer to it in the future for dressing other dolls, as long as I'm using wool felt.  And, now Bernie has some bright, new school garments!

But, the real reason I waited by my computer for the minute the shopping hour began, was to purchase one of the new Girls Of the Orient by Ruby Red Galleria.  I bought two.  They didn't offer any extra outfits this year, so I'll probably try to sell the doll (nude) that was dressed in white and yellow.  The one I wanted was the girl dressed in pink.  I was certain she'd sell out in seconds.  She didn't, but I got her!  Earlier this summer, I'd put in an order for little Sophie (seen in the upper right).  She's an American cousin to Ten Ping and is precious.  You could buy a separate outfit for her, and I did that, too, when I placed my order.

But the girl in this lavish, frothy pink confection is gorgeous!  I can't wait to get her.

Of course I perused the offerings of the antique and vintage doll dealers, but nothing caught my attention.  Not one whisper of anything vintage Barbie, either.  That was a disappointment, seeing as how I've been enjoying the Dream House I put together.  I even found a near mint Patio Swing the other day, and when that arrived I put it together to sit on the side of the house.  I've really enjoyed playing vintage Barbie this summer.

Then I spotted R. John Wright's Space Man.  It was selling for $550, and I said, "No way."  I just don't drop that kind of money on dolls.  But, I did.  This adorable little fellow stands 6 1/2" tall.  I wish he'd been larger, but he is sweet.  I grew up loving The Jetsons, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and all the Twilight Zones episodes that dealt with astronauts.  I had to have him.  Sadly, the workmanship was not stellar, but I can forgive this because I don't want to deal with disappointment.  Primarily, the bronze paint around the helmet is tacky, sticky.  Did they rush the process?  Did it deteriorate in the hot summer shipping houses?  Who knows?  And, the helmet doesn't sit square on his shoulders.  Also there's a bit of scratches near the inside bottom of the helmet on one side.  For $550. I do get to be a critic, thank you very much.  He now resides with my Tonner Martian family.

What's a convention without a souvenir doll?  First of all, I have two Little Darlings.  I really didn't need a third and thought the price was a bit steep for Peggy Sue.  Its amazing how our minds can convince us we "need" a new doll.  Alice Leverette had created a pattern set for Peggy Sue.  That did it for me.  I bought the pattern set and a week later, the Peggy Sue after she showed up in the UFDC shop.  Why not?  This will be a perfect fall project to keep me busy sewing.  Alice had made the outfits and a display trunk for the doll, and auctioned as a Helper on Ebay.  The thing sold for $800.  I wasn't too keen on the fabric colors and choices she made, but I loved the idea.  So I searched online and bought Peggy Sue a display case for me to decorate and create as a place to hold her outfits once sewn.  Its deep enough that she can fit in it at an angle.  I loved the pink and aqua 50's color.  So far, as of this journaling, I have all the stuff I need to decorate and finish the display trunk.  And, I had a few fabrics that I was going to use for Cissy, that will work, and ordered some others.  All bright and cheery.

Right on the heels of the UFDC Online Event, came The Virtual Doll Convention hosted by Rachel Hoffman and Michael Canadas and David Robinson of the Carmel Doll Shop and Grovian Doll Museum.  They had an earlier VDC that I didn't pay too much attention to, but this one was fabulous!

The theme was Summer Fling and it just got better and better each day.  Diana Vining, a paper doll artist that I've loved for years, illustrated so many fun and lovely things that you could print out from pdf files, and they were all FREE!  The first was a Dolly Dingle, who seems to be their mascot for these VDC's.  I printed her out, cut her out and assembled her with mini brads.  The idea was that they provided you plenty to play with as the days went along.

There was a door hanger just like the kind you'd find on your hotel door.  Coloring books and pages, kites to cut out, shopping bags to cut out and assemble, paper dolls to play with!  I dutifully printed out everything and have a binder I will put this all in as a souvenir of the event.  Diana Vining's talent and generosity could not have been more appreciated, and the VDC wouldn't have been half as much fun without these special toys.  Examples of some of these things are below.

Tonner introduced his new Grace Marie Fitzpatrick, on the RTB101 body for the VDC.  I fell in love with her.  Artists made outfits for the doll that you could buy.  Marcia Friend had shoes made for her, and other accessories.  Another artist made luggage for her.  Well, I had to have her, too.  It was the paper dolls that Diana drew of her that prompted the purchase more than anything, and I intend to make my Grace the wardrobe Diana illustrated for her.  Diana even made a paper doll of Rachel, so you can imagine how much fun she was having.  To satisfy the French Fashion crowd, she drew a maze puzzle of a Huret to while the hours away with.

Each day there were Youtubes to watch and these were archived so that you could watch them anytime in the future.  Daily email updates were made by Rachel, so you'd never miss a thing.  There was a luncheon created by David Robinson and recipes were provided. They took you on doll tours and spectacularly entertained us for a week.  These folks put more than untold hours into this, they put their hearts into it.  I'm eternally grateful to them.  All for the cost of $25.  You sign up through Facebook.  I hope you'll think about joining in on the fun come the holiday season.  There's my plug.  It wasn't meant to be one, but I had so much fun with this, and hope you'll give it a try.  All from the comfort of your favorite chair in front of your computer.

The best news of all, after the VDC was over, was that they intend to do it again for Christmas!  I cannot wait!

Now, I'm going to share something with you that causes me concern.  My blog site is "upgrading".  Why can't they leave well enough alone?  Don't fix what's not broken!  When I went to write this, the new program came up and I spent two hours trying to make it work and was frustrated beyond imagining.  This old format is going away come September and I'm going to spend some time trying to learn how to make it work for me, for us.  As it was, I had to completely start over fives times, then discovered that just for August I could revert back to the good old format before the change.  I hope we can continue to share this journey of creating together, but it may take awhile to learn the new programming.  So the blogs may look weird or be really short for awhile.  I'm not sure.  I'll try.  And, there is a helpline, so I'll be using it. 

And, I just wanted to say that I love hearing from you.  It helps me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing and sharing, and I love hearing what you're doing for your dolls, too.  Let's enjoy the rest of summer together.  I'm doing my best to slow time down, but the seasons have a mind of their own.  Sending my best wishes to you all!

Love,
Melissa