Ava the Hula Dancer and Summer Fling II

From mermaids to beach themes, pirates to hula dancers, I'm in a continuous state of Pacific Island day dreaming.  This isn't unusual for me this time of year, but the upcoming Dolly and Me By the Sea UFDC convention, beginning July 19th, has certainly parted the waters for me.  

First, I was doggedly pursuing the opportunity, and final win, of a Robert Tonner Tia Dalma, from his Pirates of the Caribbean line of dolls.  The offers, the hassles, the waiting and watching became a near obsession.  I get obsessed about dolls.  True collects do!  When I read up on her and discovered she was the earthbound sea goddess Calypso, that tipped the scales for me.  Part gypsy, mystic, earthbound sea goddess...what's not to love?  Plus, she's a gorgeous doll.  I thought winning her would sate my appetite for the summer, then I spotted the 19" Tonner American Model, Hawaii, and went nuts again.  (see below in photos)  Did I even try for her?  No.  Why?  Because I knew I was going to pay a fortune for Tia Dalma if I did win her...and I did. 

I was looking at auctions a bit later and saw Tonner's Ava, and that did the trick.  I'd make my own Hawaiian hula girl!  I don't know Ava's story, but she was nude, the right skin tone, and gorgeous, long black hair.  Hula girl!  The odd thing was that her hair had been up in a pulled back knot for so many years, and I'm still trying to wet it straight.  With the other locks smoothed over the "bumps", it gives her hair a bit more volume.  I can't be too picky!  Can I?

Prior to that, the new Club Grace outfit debuted, and it was called Road Trip.  No Thelma and Louise here, she had a leather jacket and was a biker.  This just didn't sit well with me and I certainly couldn't turn Dolly Dingle into a motorcycle chick, so I did something else with Dolly.  That's Part II of this journaling.  Nothing wrong with ladies who love bikes!  Its not me.  But, before we get into Dolly and Grace, let's go to the tropics.

When we think of Hawaii, often the first thing that comes to mind besides sandy beaches and tropical breezes, are lovely hula dancers wearing grass skirts with fragrant leis circling their necks.  Grass skirts were introduced to Hawaii from the Gilbert Islands around 1870.  Its likely hula dancers began wearing them during vaudeville shows, traditional skirts were made of ti leaves, which were not available on the mainland.  By mid century, dancers were wearing grass skirts in both Hawaii and the mainland.

From the late 19th century through WWII, grass skirts in Polynesia became a powerful symbol of South Seas sexuality.  Sailors would purchase them as souvenirs, and as men returned home from the war, Polynesian culture began to take root in the U.S.  Tiki culture continued and was spurred on by Hawaii's statehood in 1959, and by Elvis Presley's movie Blue Hawaii in 1961.

Although you are most likely to see hula dancers in yellow grass skirts today, green grass skirts were the rave when I was a child.

Who, if you're old enough, wouldn't remember the 1965 Barbie in Hawaii costume set?  Today, in good condition, the prices can be competitive.  It was this very outfit that inspired the one I made for Ava.  Perhaps I should have given her a new name, but Ava is a rather old fashioned name, so suitable for the theme.  

Can you imagine the delight of little girls in the 1960's receiving this gorgeous pink and white striped box with an adorable little grass skirt, lei and anklet, pineapple, and matching top and bottoms?  Even Ken had an attractive Hawaiian costume consisting of a straw hat decked with a flower wreath, a yellow straw lei, a blue manly sarong, sandals and a ukulele.

I did my homework.  I looked up "How to make a grass skirt for a doll", and found mostly how to make grass skirts in general.  Someone had even made one for an infant girl, for a party, and it was adorable.  The mother called it her Teeny Weeny Wahine.  All used raffia straw, and I was lucky to find green on Amazon.  I felt like I was off and running now.

First, I made Ava a bra top that knots in the center and ties around the neck.  She also wears a matching pair of shorts to go under the grass skirt.  This pretty blue retro print was something I think I purchased last summer for Peggy Sue.  Maybe.  But, I had it in my stash, and couldn't find a hibiscus mini print online.  Its also a soft fabric with a gentle hand, so it was nice to work with for Ava.  

There's really not a lot to this outfit, but that's the point!

Tutorials on grass skirts made with raffia would tell you to soak the raffia first to straighten it, as it comes folded several times in a pack.  It was even suggested to soak it in hot water.  I test a few strands in cool water and that seemed to go well, so I dumped the rest in the kitchen sink and added very warm to hot water.  Yes.  You guessed it.  The green dye began to run out of the raffia.  So...don't try it.  In fact, don't soak it at all.  

When I laid all this nice, wet raffia on a towel and took it outdoors to dry, it curled up into long strands of "twig grass".  I knew this didn't look right, but I had to try at least one skirt with the raffia like this.  It was tight and difficult to loop knot over the string that would tie the skirt around the waist/hips.  So I purchased another package of green raffia and used it straight out of the bag.

It was easier to work with and I like the look much better.  Its fuller.  The skirt was not made the way Barbie's was, but since I didn't have one, and I knew elastic was involved, I made it the 

easiest way I could.  Most likely, this one is made more traditionally or authentically.  

One of the coolest things about studying Barbie's vintage set, was that I noticed that the lei and anklet were made from Forget-Me-Knot vintage hat flowers.  Well, I had plenty, so I removed their stamens and stems and strung them on two strands of brown embroidery thread, tying the ends together.  I made Ava a lei, a head wreath, one anklet and two wrist garlands.

I had no idea what to do for her feet since hula dancers traditionally went bare foot.  A girl after my own heart!  Anyone who owns a Tonner fashion doll knows that the doll will wobble on her stand shoeless (a hula dance?), before toppling over, so I added sand colored wool felt, in layers beneath the feet, to the stand's base.  I also purchased her a pair of Gene-style sandals from DebsAdorables on Ebay, but whether or not they'll fit remains to be seen until they arrive.  I like her barefoot.

And, now we come to Summer Fling II, or Summer Fling Revisted.  What a happy and productive time that was for me in sewing for Grace.  Well, Diana Vining had drawn Dolly Dingle in at least one Summer Fling outfit, and that was a red and white polka-dot, two piece, ruffle skirted swimsuit.  Since I wasn't going to be making a leather jacket for Dolly Dingle, I thought and thought about what I could do.  Given my seaside stream of thought, I recalled the jointed paper toy doll she made for the Summer Fling Virtual Doll Convention.  Grace already had a red and white polka-dot swimsuit and Dolly could have a matching one.

This swimsuit was something I made earlier on, prior to Ava's hula girl costume.  It wasn't easy.  That funny little, chubby body of hers provides design challenges, especially when it comes to fitted pieces like a two-piece swimsuit.  Still, determined as ever, I forged ahead.

What happened to Alice in white?  I need color right now.  Sewing with color is making me feel good, so that's where I'm going.  I will make her.

What's kind of neat, is that Diana drew Dolly Dingle in all these amazing little outfits, so when I'm stumped for something to do, I can turn back to those.  Yet, since I display the two dolls together, its nice when you can make Dolly one to match Grace's.

This little top is lined.  And, somehow I hand-sewed in the butterfly sleeves.  The bottoms are lined as well.  Adding the ruffled skirt to the raw edges of the waist of both the lining and swimsuit bottoms was done with a very narrow band of bias cut from the fabric to finish it.

Not a lot to this costume either.  Another pair of red leather sandals.  These were meant to be flip flops with bows at the toe junction, but since Dolly doesn't have separate toes, its just a band over the top with the bow positioned for the look.

Here's the darling Jointed Dolly Dingle from the 2020 Summer Fling VDC.  Wish I could have found her a pair of red heart sunglasses, and I almost made a pair from cardboard, but.

In one of the stickers Diana drew of Dolly in the swimsuit, she had a bandeau with a bow in her hair of the same fabric.  I made a headband to give her the look and called it a day.

I feel good that I was able to do something fun with the two of them this month.  Its likely they'll be dressed this way until I return from Baltimore and I'm happy with that.  

I was looking for pineapples for Ava, to maybe have one to hold when she's not dancing, and remembered the pineapple bags I made for Grace earlier this year.  I made one for Rachel, and one to keep.  I need to go find it and drape it over her shoulder.

Convention isn't until the 19th of July, but for the next couple of weeks I intend on just doing small things like I've done with Ava and Dolly.  Summer, for me, is a time to hang out.  If I can't hang out on a beach under a palm tree, I'm going to disappear into my books.  I just picked up a copy of the classic Treasure Island.  I've never read it.  It is a classic, even if it was intended for boys, but after watching Dead Man's Chest - Pirates of the Caribbean, to see the actress portray Tia Dalma, I'm interested in pirate adventures.  I'll give it a try.

Below, I have some lovely Hawaii inspired images.  I hope the sexuality, nudity doesn't offend anyone.  I think the artist, Phil Roberts, painted such beautiful, colorful, tropical exotic images.

I wish you a lovely end to the first days of summer and a wonderful July to come.  In my next post, I'll be sharing the events of Dolly and Me By the Sea.  Until then, have some fun in the sun!

Love, Melissa   

Tonner's 19" Hawaiian Girl