Waves of Green, on a Sea of Blue

Lettie Lane's Bathing Suit

Detail of the Hat

Stockings and Bloomers

One of my favorite pieces to make in any of these costumes, is the hat.  I have always loved hats, but it wasn't until I began making these that I truly discovered the range and what you could top a mop of hair with!  As with the dresses, these hats are only illustrations and we must decide how to design them, and what they may look like from different angles.  I'll confess that the originals may not have had all the same atributes, but these are my interpretations. 

When I began the first hat, I tried using the same pie wedge pattern I used for Lettie Lane's Patriotic Costume hat, only cutting four to stitch together.  I used a buckram base shaped over the styrofoam ball I used in the pumpkin costume hat last fall.  I cut the shape in half to a bowl and hand-stay-stitched the edges.  Fitting the four pieced crown over the buckram wasn't a problem, but what to do for the turban roll was. 



Detail of the Bathing Slippers

First I had to make the turban roll.  I stitched all the ribbon trim to a length of cloth, then cut a 1.5" rectangle from that and stitched a seam.  I turned it insided out, and iron-steamed it by hovering the iron over the piece.  Then I stuffed it with come kind of batting or stuffing.  I was then dealing with this striped Tootsie Roll I had to attach to the brim.  I thought of stitching it into the sides of one of the pie wedge shapes.  Tried it, didn't like it.  I was still, also, dealing with the idea of a poof hat and what I was attempting didn't give me that effect.

I ended up cutting a circle of cloth, gathering it along the bottom and sewing the edges to the buckram.  I attached the turban roll, then took a hidden ladder stitch to the top and bottm, and edges of it.  The bows were basic doll dress bows attached to the sides.  Naturally, the hat is fully lined.  And, there you have it.  The Bathing Suit costume is done! 

This truly was one of the most difficult costumes I've made for Lettie Lane.  Why do they keep getting harder, instead of simpler?  I can only guess that my tastes run to details and the challenges to create them.  I'll be finishing up the slip set next, and also working on a new outfit for Little Lettie, the Bleuette sized doll.  I just began hosting a Challenge on the Bleuette Sewing Club, and naturally, it is a Lettie Lane Challenge, encouraging seamstresses to try what I've been doing.  Should be fun!

We're in the midst of summer and the days can get pretty hot.  I recommend ice cream!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse



Quite the Bathing Beauty

The 3D's Design, Detail, Determination

Lettie Lane's Bathing Suit in the Works

That dear ol' illustration

I'm seriously trying to recall when I first began this bathing costume, because it feels like a year ago.  Of all the ensembles I've made in the Lettie Lane series, this one has, paws down, been the most difficult.  Several times I nearly gave up, but then I'd walk away and think on it until my little brain hurt.  Eventually I'd come back, and try something different, rip out a few seams, and start over again.



Final Paper Towel Pattern

The suit began in concept as a onesie bloomer with a skirt over it.  Why?  Because some were made this way.  A full paper towel pattern had been designed with this in mind and I'd even cut one out of fabric.  As I began to design the skirt, I realized this couldn't be correct since it could better be interpretted as a belted tunic or bathing dress.  That meant bloomers had to go beneath and it just got more difficult from there.  One of the things that tripped me up was whether or not to have elastic in the bottom of the bloomers, but I settled on the much more detailed design of little cuffs.  The openings would have to be wide enough to go over the doll's calves (which are substantial), and help keep the stockings up at the same time.

Now, do you see bloomers under that tunic?  No.  Neither do I.  But we know they are there because little girls were covered modestly on the beaches.

The other problem area, and this has plagued my designing and sewing from the start, was the neckline, this time dealing with a scoop-neck collar.  I took a piece of silk and used Dharma Acid Dye to dye it to match the double-sided silk ribbon trim.  I cut a length on the bias believing it would stretch and sew nicely to the neckline, but it puckered and stretched the scoop out of shape.  I considered making a lining and turning it under to finish the neckline and stabilize it, but then you'd still have to deal with the green trim, and that silk ribbon doesn't stretch.  It is not on the bias.  Therefore you'd be right back where you started with a strip of green, cut on the bias and having to sew it on the front and turning it under on the inside.  Again, pucker and losing shape.  I tried it. 

What I ended up doing to make it snug and get the shape back, was put a little gathering stitch along the edge, hidden under the silk and gently pulled it to shape.  It worked and I had to be satisfied with the results or toss the project.  Then there was the hem. 

I had to measure up from the turn up length of the hem to sew the green ribbon stripes along the bottom of the tunic dress.  By the way. the sleeves were fairly straightforward, but this was another exercise in patience and determination.  After several attempts at trying to come to a solution on how to attach it, I settled into measuring with a ruler and pinning the ribbon on the top row first.  I'd sew the top edge on, then the bottom edge, once again measure for the second stripe, then repeat the process.  Anyone reading this blog has to understand that I'm teaching myself how to make these costumes as I go along.  So with every detail I have to figure out what to do.  And, since each costume I create is unique, this study occurs each time.

Bloomers...check!  Tunic...check!  Now for the stockings, slippers and belt. 



Close up of back of slippers and thread loops in stockings.

The stockings were fairly straightforward, thank you very much, but I added a little thread loop half way up the back of the calf to thread the silk ribbons through so they'd stay up.  hee-hee  A proud design moment in Mouseland.  The slippers were fairly straightforward and made from thin Italian lambskin direct from Italy.  Two little thread loops were sewn into the front of the slippers, by hand, so the laces could be threaded through them.  This way, when you put the doll's stockinged foot into the slipper, you can pull the laces up in front to give a little more wiggle room.  If the laces had been sewed in, they'd be a tighter fit and a struggle to put on.  I'm pretty sure that, when studying the illustration, the laces were threaded through loops on the edges of the slippers anyway.  Detailed photos of these slippers will come later when the costume is complete.

Today, I made the belts.  Black lambskin leather with vintage belt buckles.  I chose the metal ones over mother of pearl although the vintage mop buckles were a bit more to scale.  I considered trying to dye the mop buckles, but no one could guarantee the shell would dye black - I didn't wish to ruin them.  Many, many of Lettie Lane's costumes have incredibly large belt buckles.  I will always be on the alert for antique buckle lots due to this.    

Next?  Well of course we need the hat!  Is it a  turban?  Is it a mob cap?  Is it a scarf?  No!  Its Super Hat!  We'll see how much fur this little mouse pulls out of her noggen over this one.

Love,
Miss E Mouse






"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave!"



Lettie Lane's 4th of July Patriotic Costume

Its hotter than the 4th of July!  Indeed, and at 100 degrees outdoors this mid June weekend, this little mouse is staying indoors!

Lettie Lane is practicing her parade march and is thrilled to be in the city's celebration plans.  And, while she marches her cute little Mary Janes up and down the kitchen floor, waving her flag, I thought best to sit down and try to recall this latest adventure in sewing.

I'm not even sure I want to call myself a seamstress, but more a designer.  A costumer designer would even be more appropriate for each outfit I make these days is designed from the ground up.  And, I had a ball creating this little 4th of July parade costume.  If I step back in time for a few minutes, I can recall the areas that plagued me the most.


A Meticulous Mouse

The actual drawing of these patterns is not an issue, but rather exciting since they come so easily now.  One would have thought that the vest with its middle point and feminine flair would have given me the jitters, but it was actually the COLLAR, once again, that sent me into a tail spin.  It was not to be gathered, although some may have approached it this way, but if you look carefully at the illustration, we are once again adding little pleats.  This was done to both the front and the back of the neckline to create the look, and after a few tears and second tries, also to the lining.  This particular frock is completely lined from the sleeve edges to the hem, and where the sleeves set into the bodice.  Its tricky.  No doubt about it, but that great little hidden ladder stitch does the trick every time!


I

Yes, they are completely lined!

The sash was also a thorn in my paw.  Okay, so I looked up prom sashes and shoulder sashes, but these are all just elongated rectangles.  Again, look closely at the illustration and see how is drapes triangularly.  Some may say, "well it ties at the bottom creating that look", but try this on a doll, and nope!, it does not.  So I finally angled it and finished the edges with some ruching, closing them with a shiny gold button and red thread loop.



The Illustration

Making the Hat

Then came the hat.  What was this wierd looking little cap all about?  It had some kind of cloth emblem shape...that's about the only way I can describe it, and little stars around the band.  Trust me!  During the entire time I was creating this costume, I contemplated the construction of this cap. 

After several yards of paper towels, and a few whacks at a roll of buckram, I decided it had to be a cloth cap.  But, how?!  I tried two half pieces sewn together to get that pointy look at the top, but was it supposed to be pointy, or was that just the way it was drawn?  Was I taking things too literally here?  Meticulous Mouse never cuts corners.  So I studied sailor hats.  Some were made with four pieces, but I'd not seen one made with three, like a tricorne.  This actually gave you the pointy crown I was after, but even so, it was softened by the silk, and that's OKAY.



"For the land of the Free!"

I had to make four of them, so that's twelve pieces to sew together, since the two hats needed to be lined.  I found that if I stuck a pin up the center of the lining, and up the center of the top cap, you could spin the lining until it fit neatly under the cap.  After I'd gotten one lined and stitched together at the bottom, I realized that I'd forgotton about that silly emblem shape.  So out came the stitches and back to the paper towel drawing board.  This piece itself had to be lined, so I cut two, stitched the bottom edges, then stitched the top edges to the cap third, finally sewing all of that to the other two thirds. 

You may be asking why I'm going on and on about this cap, but if you ever have to make one like this, you'll appreciate what I'm sharing.  Back in October when I was going to do a second Halloween costume with witches on the border, I'd purchased some of this double-sided iron on paper for fabric appliques.  I never used it, but had it on hand, and used it to place the stars equally around the cap.  That was final step in creating this costume.  Pressing on tiny 1/2" stars.  It was kind of exciting to see it finally come together. 


Back View

Yes, this blog is long, and if you've stayed with me so far, I thank you.  Its become necessary for me to create these costumes without interruption, so I took a few photos during the process for providence.

Lastly, I found two small 48 star parade flags for the costumes.  I was much too chicken to remove them from their poles and try to wash them, so they are in their original state.  I anticipated that the colors may run, for one of them (the one I'll keep) looked as if it had gotten wet and ran with the blue.  What I loved most about these flags were the golden finials at the top that often get lost over time, or completely ommitted.

My next costume will be a fancy slip, and I'm only making the one on commission.  Then I must decide on the bathing suit or the violin concert dress. 

Wishing you a most happy 4th of July, and two weeks of summer bliss until then.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse 
  




"And the home of the brave!"

The Yellow Rose of Havanna



Little Lettie's Yellow Rose of Havanna

Once upon a time there lived a little mouse who painted pictures in the quiet of her little hole in the wall.  Through her brush she was able to step inside the canvas and dwell in the stories she'd create.  She loved beautifully illustrated story books and paper dolls, miniatures and lovely dolls - especially dolls.  One day she grew tired of oil and canvas and began to work with miniature dolls by outfitting them in the hand-painted miniature trunks she'd build, thereby bringing the stories to life.  Time passed, and she began making only accessories for larger dolls.  Accessories she couldn't find in any store, but longed for to give her dolls something to hold, something to bring their own stories to life.  And, then she began to sew...


High top button boots by Fran's Heirlooms and matching parasol

I normally like to photograph the steps it takes to create a costume, but sometimes I can't put the project down long enough, or even wish to stop the process, to take these photos.  This was the case with Little Lettie's Yellow Rose of Havanna ensemble.  The sheer puzzle of creating this kept my mind and nibble paws snipping and stitching straight through for two weeks.  Now that is it complete, I'm not sure where to begin. 



The Paper Doll Illustration

I know I began with the blouse.  I'd seen a costume made by a doll company that I admired, where the blouse was actually sewn into the waistband of the skirt creating the illusion of a jumper and blouse, but was truly a dress.  After studying the illustration for this outfit, I felt it best to approach the construction with this in mind.  The blouse is made from heirloom batiste and has four tiny pintucks running from the collar to hem.  The sleeves are embellished with four rows of 1/2" ruched lace.  The sleeves reminded me so much of the frilly shirts Ricky Ricardo wore that I called this the Havanna dress.  The skirted portion is hung by bretelles (French for shoulder straps).  They are pleated, lined and attached at angles to form that off the shoulder look.  The skirt is fully lined as well, thereby taking care of a hem that would alter the look.



A side view of the hat

I think the hardest piece of this ensemble was the hat.  Without seeing one of these in person, I had to fiddle with a design until I figured out the ruffles and how they were part of the brim.  With a buckram base, I eventually covered the piece in silk and finally make two gathered ruffles, hand-stitching them in place on the brim.  While this may not sound like a great feat, it took me two days to figure this all out.



A big bow

Secondly, we were dealing with baby ostrich feathers that needed to be dyed.  This was my first experience with Dharma's Acid Dye.  The acid dyes are used for natural and organic fibers, but placing hard to come by little feathers in a semi-simmering pot of yellow dye and vinegar was a bit unnerving.  They dyed up perfectly however! 

It think its important to comprehend how feathered hats were made, like this, in the past.  Layers of ostrich feathers were sewn together through the individual ribs of the feathers to create the density you see in the illustrations.  This is more than I can do right now, so we have two skinny little feathers on Lettie's fancy hat.



The Parasol

Finally, we came to trying to find a perfect, matching yellow silk for the recovering of the parasol and creating the sash with a big bow.  After a week of not receiving a silk I'd purchased from a store five hours from my little hole in the wall, I took matters into my own paws.  I drew another bath of the Dharma yellow I'd dyed the feathers in, and took another huge leap of faith and tried dying a piece of white silk myself.  How liberating this can be!!  It worked, the pieces matched the feathers, and what more could I have asked for?


The ribs

The parasol is all hand-sewn and is edged in a matching French cotton lace - the same, only wider than the sleeves are made with.  The result is a bit of sunshine on a fine June day!  I love yellow no matter what color it is!

I intend, fully, to enjoy this summer and spend June doing the outdoor things I love.  Especially reading on the patio swing with my two dogs.  But, July will come racing up on me if I don't plan well, and the next outfits I make will be 4th of July costumes for Big Lettie.  Is this getting any easier?  Not really.  Each ensemble I create is completely different from the prior and the next.  But, that is what keeps me interested.  The challenge!

June 20th is Summer Solstice.  Don't forget to plan a picnic in the shade of a grand old tree!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse
 



Pintucks, high collar and Havanna sleeves

Down the Garden Path



Lettie Lane's Gardening Frock

Light Pink Roses

Pinning the dotted lace on.  Look closely to see the pulled thread.

Pinned and Tucked

Is it just me, or has May seemed like the longest month of the year so far?  And, even on the 25th, we still have six days left!  While the days fly past, the month lingers on.  How can that be?  How do we mark our time?  I think for me its been from project to project - from start to completion.  And, with the 18" Lettie Lane's Gardening Outfit, completion has come. 



Close-up of Floral Lace Sleeve

Hand-painted Roses, Square-knotted Sash

You may recall that the first dress like this was made for the 10.5" Bleuette-sized Lettie with the blonde curls.  Using the existing pattern I had, I increased the size to 145%, and took it from there.  Having made one for the smaller doll almost now, felt like the sampler.  I know that there is a huge number of seamstresses who insist that Bleuette is the greatest doll to sew for, but I truly love sewing for the 18" reproduction antique.  There is just so much more detail I can accomplish.

Several things occurred while making these two outfits for the 18" doll.  One was that I learned a little trick from a friend on the east coast who told me about finding a little thread to pull in the edge lace that would help form it around a neckline.  It was so brilliant that I wanted to share this with you.  I was concerned that it would appear gathered, but once on the neckline, it acheived the look I was after.  Much better than cutting up and piecing the lace together as I did with Little Lettie's dress.

The other was that I perfected the ladder stitch, and discovered a hidden stitch for dresses that I was using on the hats.  Instead of doing a standard slip-stitch, I did it in reverse, hiding the threads under the edges, between the layers. 

Two bodices had been originally constructed using the dotted French cotton lace since I had two sizes of it.  I wasn't sure my customer would enjoy this as much as I, although it was a thicker, softer lace.  So in the midst of being almost done, I purchased the two sizes of floral lace and made a third bodice.  At this stage I was getting axious.  This particular project seemed to be lasting longer than I intended, so I mixed things up a little and used lighter roses on the hat and in the basket for the dotted lace dress, which I kept.  I also sashed the dotted lace dress with a shorter tie, fastening it in a square-knot.  The other outfit is most like the original Little Lettie outfit with a huge bow, and darker roses.

Part of the struggle, once again, in making this outfit was finding the right fabric.  Although I'd convinced myself that some of the fabric I'd purchased early would work, I found this vintage fabric by accident on ebay one night, and two fulls yards of it at that!  Every blue floral print I'd found previously had been on a cream or ivory background, and I really wanted white.  Pure white.  Why be so picky?  Lace.  The lace needed to match the white shade of the dress and no amount of test dying would produce the shade I needed of cream or ivory.  Lace is as different as the clouds in the sky.  The range of whites is astonishing!

Once again I was able to experiment with painting the roses on the hat's streamer.  After four more pallettes of roses, I'm still not convinced that there was a better way to do this.  Painting this kind of detail on silk would not be my first choice, but the effect is always the main consideration.  Fabric is not the easiest medium to apply wet paint to!

The Fancy Slip

Next?  I've been asked to make a fancy slip, and I'll only be making one this time.  I have a great need to create with color, and have a yellow floral dress project in the works for Little Lettie, which I had to put aside to make these Gardening Frocks.

I'm also going to take a couple of days to put my studio/workroom back in order, and also take an inventory of what I have to work with.  One of the nicest compliments to come out of all this work was when a friend on one of the yahoogroups asked me when I'll be making patterns.  Imagine!  I don't know if this is something I wish to look into, but its certainly something to think about down the garden path.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse 

One Last Look

A Picnic in May

Let's go on a picnic!

The Hat

May is the perfect time for a picnic on the lake.  "Let's pack a wholesome and delicious lunch, and take the canoe out across the lake - right over to that shady spot where the grass is nice and soft!"


A Little Close-Up

Finally, the hat straw arrived and I was, then, able to make one of the hats.  I used the Dusty Rose and Black Swiss straw to build the hat, and decorated it with double-faced silk ribbon in a brown to match the smocking and lace-ups on the blouse, topping it with vintage millinery flowers.


The Illustration One More Time

Its often interesting to see how something you've envisioned from an illustration, turn out in 3-D.  An illustrator can do so many things a seamstress cannot.  And, for me, the fun is in the challenge to bring something like this to life.  When I've completed a project like this, I feel like an era has gone by!  So much effort, thought and energy goes into the process, and then its done.  The best way to counter the finale is to be working on something else even before its photographed.


Detail of the Collar From Behind

Right now I have two Little Lettie outfits on the table, and of course, I'm making two of the blue floral outfits for Big Lettie.  For Little Lettie, there's a shepperdess costume and a yellow floral dress with four overlapping, lace ruffle layers on each sleeve.

Its a beautiful morning here.  Yesterday I spotted a very large bumble bee in the azaleas.  The other day, late blossoms on one of the apple trees.  Is there truly any season more enchanting than spring?

Love,
Miss E. Mouse 



One Final Look

Flowers For Mother's Day

Two days ago the world experienced an incredible phenomenon.  This was the perigee moon, that the media referred to as Super Moon.  The term, gently translated, addresses an unusual orbit of the moon in close proximity to the earth; brighter, larger in appearance.  I'm a star gazer and the phases of the moon are always a special feature to me in the night's sky.  Large or small, beauty transcends.

The Paper Doll Illustration

This weekend, another small miracle happened.  I finished my very first outfit for the Bleuette doll body.  In my last post, I introduced Little Lettie, and now she has her first paper doll dress.

This particular illustration comes from Lettie Lane Comes Home for Christmas, but it is just perfect for the first days of summer.  I was preparing to make this particular outfit for my 18" Lettie Lane when I came upon a small remnant of cloth that begged me to make up this outfit for the 10 1/2" doll.  I knew I'd have to be very careful, and not make any serious mistakes, since there simply was no extra fabric.  Of course I started with a mock up, and derived this from an original Bleuette pattern redrawing the neckline and shortening the length for the top portion of the drop waist dress. 



The Quick Mock Up

One of the most tedious and difficult areas of constructing the dress was making a true lace collar.  Collars will continue to haunt me, and every single dress I wish to make has one.  Each is different!  Since lace is made on a ribbon line, even if its scalloped, there is no scallop that actually matches the curves of a collar.  Then you have the size of the pattern to deal with.  What I ended up doing after ruining a foot of expensive English cotton lace, was cut four of the scallops off and piece them together around the neckline, finally hand-stitching the edges together.  The long bodice of this dress is fully lined the Magalie Dawson method with interior tuck stitching to the actual three-tiered skirted bottom.



Half Done

Added Belt, Working on Hat

The second trial was in making the belt.  Since we cannot see what is actually going on behind the illustration, I decided upon making a bow attached to the belt to compliment the tiny row of blue bows marching down the front of the bodice.  After fiddling with a detachable bow, and many attempts to make it lay flat in the back, I slipped the belt through the back loop of the bow and that seemed to do the trick.  This is something I'm certain to repeat in the future.

Of course, then, we needed a hat.  I had one Bleuette sized hat mold and I formed the sticky, wet buckram over the mold, then hit it with a hair dryer.  The over fabric is that lovely silk and the hat is lined in an heirloom muslin.  The tails or ribbon of the hat gave me another chance to scratch my little head in wonder.  My first attempt was to embroider these flowers, but even with one thread, it was not a clean look.  Hand-painted silk has long been a lovely accessory for women, so I took the opportunity and did just that using Jacquard's fabric paint.  While I'd painted the bands of the indian dress for Daisy last fall, painting on fabric is whole new ball game.  All those tiny fibers sit up when dabbed with wet paint, so extra precaution must be paid to get the detail.  I don't know if there'll be another opportunity to do this, but I have a full pallette of colors to work with now. 



Hand Painted Flowers

Finally we add a pair of socks and shoes.  Shoes are not my specialty, if I have a specialty at all.  But, I did have to design a little pattern for these Mary Janes so they could be cut in one piece.  I first tried top-stitching one shoe and the stitching overwhelmed the look, so I cut out another one and made them up with tiny white shank buttons. 

Adding lastly, a basket of roses to complete the costuming, the outfit was finally done.  Now I won't say I'll do this every time, but designing a new pattern on a small doll is alot quicker since there is less to work with.  Now I have both a pattern and practice behind me to create two for the 18" Lettie Lane.

Each day I take the time to find a little sunny corner and enjoy what nature is blooming forth.  A little time to read or reflect nourishes and inspires.  Enjoy this re-energizing time of year!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse



A Final Look