Summer Clubbing with Grace Marie

Mid-August and we're in the midst of a heat wave.  Last week kept us indoors during the daylight hours, and this week is even worse.  Just taking my poor dog out to potty is stressing.  I get up at 5:30 in the morning, with the alarm clock, just so I can have a cup of tea, then get Brighton out for a hike before it gets too hot.

I've been teaching him to swim these mornings.  He's a Lab.  Labradors are supposed to be swimmers.  Well, the problem is that he would run away when off the leash, not come back when called, and invariably eat something that would make him sick or cause medical problems.  I have an $8,000 bill to prove it from three years ago when he swallowed a rubber fishing lure.  Anyway, we are doing this slowly, with a bag of cookies to come back to, and so far, he wants to chase the ball into the water and do it again. I'm so proud of him!

That's what the hot summer mornings are like. The afternoons

are spent reading or sewing or doing something with a needle, and that's just fine with me.  

I enjoy subscribing to Rachel Hoffman's Club Grace with the Virtual Doll Convention.  It's my treat every month.  A surprise.  And no.  I don't like every surprise, but I try to be open minded because I really want to play and sewing something for Dolly to go with Grace Marie's outfit of the month, is FUN.  

I didn't post a journaling from July's Club Grace because I didn't feel like I put out a sufficient amount of effort on Dolly's costume.  What I wanted was to change the girls out of what they'd been wearing and gave it a whirl.

Grace's gown is pretty.  The concept of Grace Marie being a violinist or making an effort to do something and succeeding is a wonderful thing for women of today.  I'd like to think Grace Marie is symbolic of Rachel's efforts and dreams.  My problem with many of the 

outfits, is that they have a distinct 80's flare to them.  For instance, the Tarzan look.  That one shouldered Tarzan look.  It's not me.  It keeps showing up, so its somebody's favorite look.

What I love are Diana Vining's illustrations; her artwork which turns Grace Marie into a virtual girl of the 21rst century.  We can live vicariously through her. Forever young and beautiful.  Forever having exciting adventures.  We like dolls with stories.  They come to life for us this way.  Can a doll inspire?  Of course!  Wherever your imagination finds joy, is inspirational.

The inspiration for me with July's Club Grace was wanting very much to change what Dolly and Grace were wearing.  I wanted to play.  Many of the subscribers will sew Tamara Casey's monthly pattern for Club Grace and it's so much fun to see what they come up with.  Some of the photography with special, realistic backgrounds is fabulous.  Rachel's idea for a Club Grace subscription was genius.  

July's subscription was "She believed she could, so she did.".  I'm not sure exactly when the insides of the boxes began to feature Diana's artwork, but this is another brilliant idea.  I keep the opened box in my studio all month if I'm enjoy that month's offering.  Its art.

This box contained a small, plastic violin for Grace, but I knew where to find musical miniatures like violins, from my Bleuette days.  Believe it or not, Amazon carried them in three sizes.  The two smallest were perfect for Grace and Dolly's duet. 

In August, as I was purchasing a few extras for the box, I noticed the little t-shirts that Rachel has been having made up with Diana's artwork.  There was an interesting one with the music theme, so I bought it to include in the box - and a violet-colored handbag.  Rachel calls these "add-ons".  Fun stuff.

So, I made a costume for Dolly.  The first summer I sewed for Grace was after the first Virtual Doll Convention I attended online.  Diana had knocked herself out with a beach themed paper doll of Grace with several outfits, and I was in love.  One of the dresses I made up from the paper doll one, had small purple flowers on it.  I had just enough fabric left over to make Dolly a dress out of it, to coordinate with Grace Marie's one shouldered gown.

The real fun in this was with Dolly's shoes.  Grace Marie got a pair of shoes in the box that had die-cut flowers on them, and I "replicated" them for Dolly.

The girls were playing a duet on my shelf for most of July and some of August.  Then the Club Grace for August arrived.

This one was in my favorite beach theme!  But with a Tarzan bathing suit for Grace Marie.  "Get used to it, Melissa."  The one shoulder look is Grace's signature.  

Diana Vining's artwork knocked my socks off, and I was dreaming of the sand and the sea and once again, missing the coast so very much.  I think this woman, this artist, could illustrate a charming book.  I wonder if she's ever thought of it.  I'd love to see her illustrate a story book of Grace Marie Fitzpatrick on some holiday somewhere.  Do one once a year.  It doesn't have to be more than ten pages (five back and front).  Just a lovely story, short and sweet with her fabulous artwork.  I think they'd sell like hot cakes, and I would definitely sew everything Grace wore in the story.

In this beautiful little box of beach themed items was a swimsuit, a monogrammed beach towel, and a sarape cover-up, done by Ruby Red Galleria.  They'd trimmed everything in a tiny pink pom-pom trim.  I couldn't find the exact trim, but that's okay.  Diana drew a romper for the paper doll, and I was going to make that.  And something for Dolly,  

of course.

The romper was a lot harder to make than it looks.  Much of this had to do with the lycra/knit fabric I bought on Etsy.  Without a decent fabric store to shop at, I'm at the mercy of what I can find on Etsy, and hope the color is close, the fabric nice to work on.  

I wanted to make this a onsie in pattern design, but because of the pom-pom trim and how it needs to be sewn into the waist, it had to be designed as a bodice and shorts to then be assembled.  It took a couple of tries, but I figured out how to make it with a drawstring waist.  

I purchased the hat as an add-on and discovered that Ruby Red Galleria had made those, too!  I edged it with the pink pom-pom trim I purchased and its adorable that way.  

This is a back view.

Dolly got a two-piece swimsuit with pink pom-poms trimming the edge of the top.  

After struggling with Grace Marie's romper, turning the edges under and machine stitching them down, I decided to sew Dolly's swimsuit by hand.  This also allowed the fabric to maintain a stretch to it.

Dolly got a pair of beige strappy sandals to match Grace's, but hers are on a cork base.

I printed a smaller version of Diana's Dolly as a mermaid paper toy and made that up as an accessory.  Then needle felted two ice cream cones.  Pink peppermint on top of chocolate mint chip on a cone.

Diana Vining did the most incredibly beautiful artwork for Club Grace this month.  She's an impressive artist.  I hope you'll enjoy seeing a few of the pieces below.  

Rachel gave her subscribers a special treat this month with her marvelous beach theme.  It was a perfect way to round out summer.  A summer where I continue to staycation, read, and play dolls.  And teach my dog to be comfortable in deep water.

Oh!  I figured out what will be September's theme this year.  I've already started on some of it.  How far I get, how much I do, is yet to be determined.  But the theme is Symbols of September.  This is a "big" birthday for me this year.  I'm turning 65.  Better yet, I get to celebrate "virtually" with Ruby Ho.  Her birthday is September 9th.  Things just keep getting better.  Keep the sun shining in your corner of the world!

Love, Melissa

 

Cabana Cissy II, and off we go!

August.  Hot August Nights.  In the moderately modest town I live in, every August brings Hot August Nights.  They close half of "Old Town" down and all the people who have restored classic cars, parade them through town.  I'm partial to the 57' Tbird convertible with the hard top sporting porthole windows, but if you dangled the '52 Porsche 356 convertible in front of me, I'd take it.  In a heartbeat.  

But August is the hot month, and if July was just warming up for the hottest summer on record, it's here.  I get up very early each morning just to take my dog for a hike, or take my little kayak out, however you must be in by 9am or you'll roast.  It's doesn't even cool off at night anymore.  So, we have two options.  Stay indoors with the air conditioning or head to some resort where the lake water is pure, and the breezes cool the evenings.  Since I live by a lake and there is no resort to go to, I've been staying in the air conditioning, and preparing the rest of Cissy's wardrobe for HER trip to the resort.

And now I'm done.  Well, I could add a pair of white clam diggers, and I just may do that because I have had way too much fun sewing these clothes.  Doreen, and other fans of The Marvelous Mrs, Maisel will appreciate these photos I nabbed off the Internet from the show.  I do not think there was one of us who didn't wish she could be in that rowboat looking smashing in that striped wrap sun dress with shorts beneath.  How lovely to be able to have a cold drink on that covered porch, over-

looking the lake.  And while it's been some time since I watched these episodes, the feelings of an ideal summer holiday pop right back when I see the stills.  The rest of Cissy's wardrobe was born of these feelings.

There are four more outfits, and the first one I'm sharing was the second I made.  A friend of mine on Facebook titled this a "mint princess".

I love stripes.  And I love this minty green color for summer dresses.  I fell in love with stripes as a child, loving them in awnings over shop windows, and watching them graze the high heeled ankles of women wearing full skirts.  

I happened to get lucky that the piece of Michael Miller green stripe that I bought was long enough to make a horizontal striped skirt from.  I know skirts were made this way.  I remember them.  I had to add pockets for more fun and cut them vertical so they would be a prominent feature.

The simple, lined blouse is cooling in tropical leaves or fronds.  A pretty portrait hat in white, with white "Cissy" heels completes the look.  Mint Julep anyone?

Just another look.

Third outfit in second set, is a Swiss dot affair inspired by an actual Madame Alexander Cissy outfit called Bermuda Beachwear 1956.  This photograph from Kiley Ruwe Shaw's book with the blue background, says it was a "Boxed Extra" of "bandeau top, shorts, and over-shirt with mandarin collar.  Inspiring.  I did not have black cotton fabric, but I did have black Swiss dot.  I took it from there.

The first thing I made was the pair of shorts.  I already had the pattern from the pink and off-white striped shorts I made from the first set of resort wear.  

The bandeau top you're seeing is the second one I made.  I had a finer weave of black dot on white, and the dots were much smaller.  I'm trying very hard to use what fabrics I have, but in the end, I bought this cotton because it was the perfect complement to the shorts.  Both fabrics by Michael Miller.  

Kiley Ruwe Shaw's photo of original boxed Cissy clothing.

To make the cropped top fit a little more snug, I added darts to the back.  The top is lined and was very easy to make once the pattern was drafted.  Take any shirt bodice, shorten it and draw in a length for ties. 

The black Cissy heels you see are by an Ebay seller named Sandee.  If you're a Cissy fan, I'm sure you've seen her work.  I don't know where she gets the heel bases, but the shoes are not that involved and would be fun to make.  Most likely she dyes the elastic, but maybe not.  If not, she has some miraculous source for the colors she uses.  This pair has a rhinestone heart threaded onto the elastic.  I instantly loved them.  And because they were "fancy", I made a wrap skirt to go with this set.

It's the same wrap skirt style as the yellow polka-dot sun suit from the first set.  It's difficult to see the ties since the skirt is black.

The hat is not mine, but a Richard's Originals.  I just fell in love with it and knew it would look glorious with this outfit.  A dress in black and white stripes would look stunning with this hat.  Someday.

The back.

And this was the first outfit I made in this second set of cabana wear.  The stripe is reminiscent of the stripe in Mrs. Maisel's rowboat outfit.  I wanted very badly to make a halter top, but for some reason, drafting a pattern for one alluded me.  

Let me be honest here.  I tried a Cissy halter top by Tamara Casey and the pattern was so difficult in fit and construction that by the third try, I gave up.  Running out of fabric, I made something easy by taking a dress bodice and adding straps to it that tie behind the neck.  Somehow, I doubt this was Tamara's fault.  I am lousy at making other people's patterns.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.

This is another cotton fabric set by Michael Miller called Portofino.  How lovely for resort wear!  Lots of full skirts back in the '50s had city prints, or tropical scenes on them.  My mother had one and I used to watch her swish around in it while cleaning house.  That's where the inspiration came for for this one.

I felt the outfit needed more, so I made a little matching jacket with a sailor collar on it.  

Still feeling it needed more, I added a bright orange leather belt.  Cissy can have a seafood lunch on the pier in this charming outfit.

The back.

The last outfit for this resort set is a bright dress of large marigolds.  It can be worn to dinner, in town for shopping, or just about anywhere that deserves dressing up a bit for.

This fabric ties in beautifully with all the other colors I chose for Cissy's trousseau.  This was the second time I made a dress in this style.  The bodice is in two pieces.  The top is gathered beneath the bustline, then sewn to the band that finishes the length.  

I added two bows to dress it up, made in the same fabric.  One sits center at the bustline and there's one beneath it at the waist.

This is "sort of" the hat I commissioned Richard to make.  He really didn't understand what I wanted, and by the third try, I just said "brilliant, finish it and I'll pay for it".  I took the grosgrain ribbon and millinery fruit off of it the minute I opened the box.  Then sewed the fruit back on.  It was glued on.  I love the little purse I asked him to make, which is simply a round of the straw, folded in half with handles glued in.  

Hat and purse look marvelous with this dress.  The hat I used in the first set of this trousseau will still be a part of it.  It's a completely different hat in style and materials.

Back view.

Sandee's double-banded green heels are reproductions of Madame Alexander originals for Cissy.

I've really enjoyed sewing this cabana-style trousseau.  Some pieces took a couple of tries, but that's how I learn.  All of these outfits were basics as summer really calls for play clothing and easy styles.  I know that fall will bring me back to sewing for Cissy again as she takes to the woods for a hike in autumn leaves.  

For the rest of the month, the only plan I have is staying indoors.  Esme might want a late summer flower costume.  It might be time to sew my 1470 the travel outfit that will be her display costume.  Do I need to think about Halloween yet?  American Girl just came out with their new Halloween costume offerings.  Whatever I choose to do, it will be something involved.  

This is the week that the UFDC is holding their convention in St. Louis, Missouri.  I have friends attending who are having a great time shopping the gorgeous doll booths on the sales floor, enjoying seminars, visiting display and showrooms, and taking wonderfully fun workshops.  I can feel the excitement across the miles.  But I'm enjoying my summer here, at home, just the same.

August, for me, is that last month of summer.  Summer may last well into September, but I feel the changes even though the sun still bakes the earth.  Each day takes its turn becoming one more day to make the most of the season.  I hope you'll do just that!  

Below are a few more stills from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel showing the fabulous styles from the 1950s.  And a few of my favorites from Roger Wilkerson's Suburban Legend, Pinterest.  

Love, Melissa

 

Fashions from The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel.

The cottage they rented.

The rowboat ride.

Inspiration for the shorts set with scarf.

Stylish mother and daughter.