Thompson's Drills and Marches

Fresh air and exercise!

For many of us, the vision of early Physical Education may have been watching Megan Follows, as the youthful Anne of Green Gables, exercising with her classmates in Miss Stacy's school yard.  Yet, Physical Education has long been a part of the thought that strong bodies build strong minds.  Stretching and marching and taking in fresh air was widely used for such a purpose back in the early 20th century.  One such book that promoted this practice with purposeful exercises was Thompson's Drills and Marches.  Now I can't be certain how effective some of these drills were in raising the heartrate, but with titles such as A Christmas Exercise, Doll and Waltz Drill, and Handkerchief Flirtation Drill, they were at best fun and got the girls moving!  This fabulous little volume from 1919, came to me this Valentine's Day from my lovely friend Marie.  It arrived just when I was in design mode for Lettie and Polly's Gym Wear.

What was even more dear is that there was an Imitation Dumb-Bell Exercise in the book, and this inspired me further with Polly's dumb-bells costume from Sheila Young's paper doll book.

Sheila Young's Design

I had so much fun designing these two outfits as for one, they both had fabulous voluminous bloomers, and my favorite, sailor collars!  Lettie's gym wear is lovely piece with what I will call the poet's shirt or perhaps painter's smock.  The top is belted and closed with a covered button and a handmade buttonhole (yes! I finally incorporated one), and she wears a floppy beret or pie hat, as I like to call them.  Lettie seems to be holding what could only be a football in the illustration (she is an American girl), and I was ever so lucky to find a real little one in the form of a keychain.  I had to remove the zipper and stitch the seam back up, but it was just so perfect for her. 

Polly's little uniform is dutifully nautical, or military in theme, with the appropriate sailor collar trimmed in ribbon, and a smart little pocket with a point-ended flap.  This blouse if fully lined and has equally smart little cuffs trimmed in ribbon.  Lettie's smock, however has facings due to the pretty, and a wee bit complicated, construction of design.  There was alot of fiddling and foodling in creating this one, and while I am not posting photos, I can assure you that several mock ups were made in its behalf.  Both blouse collars are then finished with silk ties. 

One surprising thing I did not expect was that I had to make the bloomers for both girls several times until I achieved the right "bloom".  Its amazing how much fabric pulls up when elastic is inserted through the waist seam.  Before the elastic, the pants would look like the ads featuring a slimmed down version of a lady holding up the pants she wore when she was 200 pounds heavier.  I am still not quite used to gauging pattern design, but again, when you're doing something completely different with each new outfit, its hard to refer to your experience.

And, how did I feel about using tans and browns?  Okay, let's be honest.  A country cotton brown, and tan, are pretty basic earthtone colors and don't create alot of pizzazz in theory.  But, make them up into cute little gym outfits from around 1919, and you don't even notice the color!

Lettie, it turns out, has great hand-to-eye coordination, and is mighty competitive in the school yard.  Polly's little dumb-bells make her pretty arms feel long and strong, and in turn give her wonderful ladylike posture.

Once again I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed making these outfits, and always feel that a doll never has enough casual dress or play clothing.  I did make my own Polly one of these gym wear outfits, but I'm not sure I'll make my Lettie this one.  There's a sort of scouting uniform, the same color as Polly's outfit, that I've been thinking about making for her.  I have plenty of both fabrics left, but there was so much hand-stitching to Lettie's!  And, needless to say, Lettie has far more to wear than Polly currently.

Easter is just a week away, and I so wished to make Polly the yellow "Chinese New Year" outfit.  We had a little snowfall in the Sierra a couple of nights ago, and I may just take a day off tomorrow and go snow pawing with my pups.  Each time I think one dress looks so like the other, when I begin designing it, it turns out to be quite another production.  There is no speed when it comes to this kind of work, so I can't promise her an Easter dress, but I may have to try. 

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Cup Girls 1919

Gymnasium 1919

Calisthenic Wands 1874

Polly just got a hat on Sunday!

Wednesday's Child

Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe

Having been born on a Wednesday, I was never very pleased with this little poem that suffered my childhood.  Woe?  Why?  Who on earth would designate a child's life by giving them a title like Woe?  What a terrible thing to do. Being the curious little mouse I am, I started researching who the dolt was who wrote this.  All I could come up with was that it was under rhymes and Mother Goose and it ended there.  Perhaps a few Wednesday born adults gave a good clobbering to the author, but we'll never know, will we? 

All that said, when the Wendy Lawton doll collector's group that I belong to, wished to create a Day's of the Week Helper Donation for the UFDC Convention this summer, I grabbed Wednesday so that I could do it a little justice.  Wendy herself is donating the 9" doll, and several of us are sewing, others donating beautiful factory made costuming.



The Mary France First Aid Book

Poor Dolly!  Woe!

My first thought was to design a housekeeping ensemble since hole-in-the-wall-keeping is one of my least favorite things to do.  Woe!  But, as I thought on it further, the idea for a little nurse's uniform came to mind.  Perhaps it was after my Mary Frances First Aid Book arrived.  You know me!  I love to bring illustrations to life.  A navy blue dress, apron, cap and a little bandaged dolly would do the trick.  I'm still up in the air about making a tiny Mary France First Aid Book as they are alot of work, but even if I don't copy pages, I will include a traditional miniature of it (nice cover over wood piece).  The convention's theme is Edwardian, and Mary Frances fits so nicely into this concept.

We Comfort the Wounded

I began by redesigning a Ginny nurse's pattern.  The 9" Lawtons have such tiny bodies that by the time I was done, it was a completely different dress.  You can say I used the pattern as a sloper.  The apron is my own design and the cap was again created by using the Ginny pattern as a sloper.  I was once again able to use my sillouhette technique for the red crosses.  This was a fun costume to make, but it did not come together without a few burps.



The Arm Band Snaps On

The first perfect little dress I made was too short in the sleeves and hem.  Sound familiar?  And, this came after I made two muslin mock-ups.  It would nicely fit a 7" Lawton doll, but I haven't the inclination to make a tinier apron and cap unless someone asks for one.  I'll keep the nice little dress in my hopper basket just in case.

The Back

The apron went through only one do over.  The straps were difficult to get just the right length.  I wanted one end to be finished, and the other tucked in to finish with the hidden ladder stitch.  Just turning the straps and bib inside out was a task!  Of course the dress, and the apron are fully lined with my lovely Swiss Bearissima batiste.  It is so thin, yet sturdy, it makes a perfect lining for a small doll's dress.  The navy dress, however, was lined in a delicate light blue fabric.  Just a little hidden surprise.  One thread loop button closes the waist band on the apron, and two little snaps fix the crossed straps in the back.

The little bandaged dolly is one that I've had for several years now.  It is very difficult to give up nice little dollies, but they need to have nice lives, too, beyond the closed box.

I just received some yellow fabric in the mail from the U.K. and wouldn't you know, I had a yard of this already!  I need to do some serious fabric sorting and storing.  I suppose its like office filing.  Wouldn't we rather be playing than filing reports?  And, yet, its become a necessity.  So we take a deep breath and put our paws to work folding and stacking by color.  Yes, I'm a Type A mouse!

Next, I'm going to begin a new outfit each for Polly and Lettie.  These will be the adorable gym clothes they wear when exercising in the school yard.  Little sailor collars give the rompers charm while the girls hold dumbells and a rugby ball.  So, I'll get a chance to make some accessories, too.

A nice little rain storm came through last night, and this morning a bit of hail fell.  Its the perfect day for tucking in and getting lots of work done.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Heidi Picking Wildflowers

9" Lawton as Heidi Picking Wildflowers

Original Copy of the Book

My first recollection of Heidi was through Shirley Temple's portrayal of the young orphan taken by her guardian, Aunt Dete, to be raised in the Swiss Alps by her grandfather.  Having never read the book, I decided to do an engine search on the story by Swiss author, Johanna Spyri, in 1880.  Of course, I had no idea it was written so long ago, and likewise, had no idea Heidi didn't teach Clara to walk while spending the year at the Sesemann home.  Hollywood!  Perhaps it would have been too harsh a scene to film when the movie was made (starring Shirley Temple), to watch Peter shove Clara's wheelchair down a hill forcing her to learn to walk.  Besides, Shirley always had to play a herione to some degree.  That said, I think I'll have to pick up a copy of the original story and sit down and read it.

 

1950's Heidi Paper Dolls

When my friend asked me to make her new Wendy Lawton Heidi doll a special outfit, I was still quite hesitant to try designing such small costuming.  However, the idea of making something for a Heidi, provided the impetus to take that leap.  And, I'm so glad I did.  I'd been wanting to create for these 9" wood-bodied dolls since I began designing and sewing not so long ago.  Is it easier?  Not on your life!  I do suppose there are seamstresses who opt for less detail in small garments, but that is just not me.  So I approached this costume with the same set of practices I use with the much larger dolls.

A Side View

The first thing was to select a design.  And, where did I look?  To the illustrations in books.  There were many lovely costumes, but most looked very similar with red or brown as the choice of color.  Her Heidi came dressed this way, so I wanted to find something quite different.  When I found this illustration (probably from the 1950's), in yellow, one of my favorite colors, I hoped the choice would be accepted, and it was.  And, wouldn't you know, it was the illustration of a paper doll! 

The Back and the Hat

Little did I know that finding a yellow with black pin dots, much less green!, would be so difficult.  Naturally after purchasing a fabric I thought would work, I still hesistated because it just wasn't quite right.  The dots were spaced too far apart.  After just about giving up, a pin dot yellow with just the right spacing showed up on Ebay as a remnant and I purchased it.  Everything about designing this outfit was a hesitation. 

Other seamstresses may often wonder why it takes me so long to make something, but this is because they select a fabric, cut out a chosen pattern and stitch it up.  I design from the beginning with a pencil, then continue to design each step of the way carefully considering options and trying many before I actually get the look I wish to create.  One of the considerations was that my friend wished the sleeves to be long.  Many Lawton collectors do not like the wooden arms of their dolls to show.  So with this in mind, I had to create a sleeve that would compliment the dress.  Long puffy sleeves in this fabric overwhelmed the tiny doll, so I chose to use the white Swiss Bearissima bastiste.  I would use this to line the dress, as well as make the apron and knickers. 

Hand-sewn Eyelet with 2mm Silk Ribbon

If you recall, I was anticipating trying hand-sewn buttonholes.  My first thought was to make eyelets with the same technique, for lacing the ribbon through the edge of the neckline.  While this would work on a much larger doll, as delicate as the one threaded buttonholes could be, they would have crowded the neckline.

Swiss Edge Lace Knickers

Another issue was the girdle.  At first I thought to make it like Polly's little French witch costume with the apron replacing the paniers, attached to the lower edge of the girdle (sewn between the layers).  For one, the gathering stitch of the apron's edge was too thick to fit nicely and hidden this way.  The second is that the girdle was really quite tiny.  So I opted to sew the apron to the skirt of the dress and only stitch the front lower edges of the girdle to the apron.  By doing this, the outfit is created all in one piece making the dressing of the doll very easy.  This also allows the dress to be displayed nicely since there are no adjustments to be made.

Perhaps this may become a signature, but I could hardly just sell her a dress, when as I designed it, I envisioned an entire ensemble.  This meant the inclusion of a hat, and then the knickers.  The wildflower bouquet was a given, but these two other pieces, I felt, would turn a pretty Swiss frock into a beautiful chapter in Heidi's story.

There will be more outfits made for these 9" dolls.  There is one I promised to make for a Helper Room donation, and I also have some lovely silk dupioni for two others.  Will there be more beyond those?  Let's wait and see.  In the meantime let's celebrate Johanna's timeless classic and envision Heidi's first experience picking wildflowers in the stunning Swiss Alps!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse
 

With Thread Spool For Size

I love this illustration!  Maybe I'll do this next with edelweiss embroidery on the bib.

 

Polly Pratt Had a Valentine

Polly Pratt Had a Valentine

Hey! I snuck one in here. I could not resist making Polly's little Valentine's Day dress for her! Boy did I have to work fast to get this one done in time! Polly and I both wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day.

Sheila Young's Illustration



The Back



Four Heart Sillouhettes

Handmade little basket of cards.

Skip To My Lou!

Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Around 1844, the frontier was in full swing, and a fun little song called Skip To My Lou was written.  A fiddle dance that made gay of changing partners, then returning to your true Lou, or love again.  This sweet little song would carry through the generations as children delighted in singing and dancing to the happy tune.  Sometimes the title of an ensemble will inspire me to create it, and other times, it doesn't come to me until I am finished.  When I dressed Polly in this debut page ensemble, I could envision her skipping happily down a sunny sidewalk singing "Skip, skip, skip to my lou!"  And, so we dress Polly in her first baby doll dress.

Not only do I really enjoy sewing for the 16" dolls, but Polly's beautiful, childlike features, simply enchant me and I adore sewing for her.  With the completion of her green flower basket dress, I have a perfect sloper for all the other dresses on her Good Housekeeping debut paper doll page. 

Sweet Polly Pratt

This one, like all the other Sheila Young costuming I've done, was intriguing in design with an interesting collar, those miserable cuffs, and a bit of smocking.  This one also would demand a bit of embroidery and an overlay, which took a good deal of time to consider in construction.  Most of us would think that this over-dress would be separate, like a smock, but close inspection tells us it was part, and sewn into the under dress.  One of the challenges was in lining this dress nicely, then developing a new way of hemming that wouldn't involve little gathers or pleats as you turn up a circular hem. The dress, in my opinion, never lays as nicely with a hem done this way.

Sheila's Illustration

First I had to tackle the overlay and how best to attach it to the under dress, and when to embroider three tiny baskets of flowers.  If you commence to do the embroidery first, and the pattern isn't right, you've wasted days of intricate work, and need to do it over again.  There was also a  matter of the basket or bucket cuffs as drawn by Sheila Young.  The very first thing I designed was a new cuff and sleeve.  Just about all the 3/4 length sleeves have this cuff, so I felt best to master that first.  The way I resolved this issue to force them to sit out, once turned up, was to give them a good curve.  While hard to see in the photos, if you pull the cuffs out from the puffed sleeve, they will produce a bucket or basket effect.  Again, what is so easy to portray in a watercolor, is most difficult, and often impossible, to design into a 3D costume.

The embroidered overlay.

The collar?  I'm getting pretty good at these now.  There was a bit of curvature at the shoulder turning into the neckline, and while I drew this in, the three thicknesses of fabric softened it quite a bit.  There is the overlay, the dress, then the lining.  I did consider simple facings, but when I also considered the new way of doing the hem, a full lining in the body of the dress seemed the best approach.

New cuff design and mock up.

One of the difficulties in designing the overlay was in the very soft smocking and the fullness it would require, that would not line up with the dress basic below.  The way I overcame this was to give the overlay a gentle gather of smocking, embroider the flower baskets, then cut away the wider edges to match up with the dress.  The baskets were embroidered with green silk floss in a satin stitch that replicated a basket woven.  The flowers are tiny, two-thread French Knots, and they were the devil to do!  For one thing, they are embroidered on vintage, light weave Dotted Swiss so they kept pulling through the loose weave!  I just worked and worked at them until the design was done. 

Lining and Hem

Let's talk about the hem.  Conventional hems will require you to turn the fabric up, and anyone who has sewn a hem in a circular skirt knows about those little pleats you have to make that thicken the hemming in places.  Because I've done so much full dress lining, I approached this hem the same way.  I took my pattern and recut just the hemline about 2 inches and lay it on the bias.  This then was sewn to the edge of the dress's hem.  The dress lining from collar to hem "inner cuff"was sewn to the hem lining in a hidden ladder stitch.  The overlay on top of the dress was given the same treatment, only it sits higher so the dress is evenly layered. 

I tried a couple of different ways to cover the buttons.  On one dress, I used a tinier Dotted Swiss, and on the other (the one I kept), I used the same overlay fabric.  In essence, this continues to make the dresses one-of-a-kind. 

Tinier Dotted Swiss Buttons

And, then to the hat!  How I do love millinery!  Sadly, emerald green Swiss braid is no longer made.  So I phoned up the fabulous Nelly Valentino of PNB Hat Molds and asked her what to do.  Spray paint.  Yes.  Spray paint.  I had a little can of Short Cuts in Leaf Green and tried it out on a tiny hat that I'd done for a sample piece.  It worked!  It better than worked, and I was amazed at the results.  Why not dye the braid.  Ask Nelly.  For one thing, dying braid this color would take an enormous amount of dye and time, and in my experience, never dyes thoroughly.  And, with the 15 yards of braid it takes to make this hat, you'd have fifteen yards of wet, green spaghetti dripping and curling all over the place.  Spray paint!  Thank you, Nelly!

The Hat

The tiny flowers are vintage flocked forget-me-nots, and I'll be darned if I can find tiny daisies anywhere.  I had the most difficult time finding them during Daisy's 100th anniversary (never did!), and two years later, there are still no proper sized daisies in mulberry paper or otherwise.  Dollspart Supply and PNB Hat Molds sells the best hat making glue around, and it was instrumental in affixing the flowers.  Sew them on?  No.  You'd have a briar patch of stems and would lose the delicate look you are after.  What I did do was twist two paper covered wire stems together and sew them onto the hat.  Then I glued the flowers to that.  The glue is safe, clear, doesn't degrade in moisture, and leaves no trace.  I did try a hot glue gun on a sample wire, and its just too thick, and dries too quickly. 

Next?  I'm committed to sewing for the Lawton Doll Company 9"ers now.  For one, I offered to make an outfit depicting the day Wednesday for a Days of the Week collection that will be a Helper Donation (for the UFDC National summer convention) given with a 9"er offered by Wendy herself.  I also have been asked to make a couple of dresses for the 9" Heidi doll.  I've been putting this off for far too long, just as I had put off actual sewing, so its time to flex my paws and get busy.  Who knows?  I may just enjoy it!

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Never find another one prettier than you!

 

The Rackety Rumble of Deep Thought

Rene Cloke's Alice in Wonderland

A Mouse's Tail, ill. Julia Greene

There are so many ways and words to describe inspiration.  From the spark that lights your heart afire, to the awakening that occurs when one small image creates an entire new world for you.  Our most beloved illustrators have taken our childhood dreams into netherworlds that found us waving a scarf from the castle's tower balcony, to flashing a sword to swift a dragon.  Paper doll illustrators have given us wardrobes to delight our fantasies.  A true story teller can sail us to the high seas, or sit us in a cafe conversing with our favorite historical figure.  These are but a few of the things that create that whim, that brilliance of light, that inspiration!

While visiting with a dear friend of mine today, I spoke of a recent acquisition.  A little book titled The Mouse's Tail, illustrated by none other than Julia Greene, the illustrator of the Mary Frances books.  Having stepped not-so-lightly (more like slipping down the rabbit hole) into this new world, I couldn't help but be enchanted by the countless, endearing little illustrations she drew to bring Jane's stories to life.  This got me thinking over the past two days about what inspires me, and where it all comes from.

A Mouse's Tail, ill. Julia Greene

Susan B. Pearse

I had only to look as far back as my little mousehood to recall that my mother loved fanciful illustrations, and though the books we received were few, they were filled with fabulous illustrations.  Eulalie and Maraja were but two of the artists, and these will forever remain favorites.

Many books, both contemporary and antiquarian fill my shelves today, sitting alongside my beautiful dolls.  When I purchase one, it stays by my side and I pour over it for days, than tuck it away amongst the others.  All these celebrated artists with their joyful expression of color, light, childhood, and pattern have influenced me over time.  With my recent journey into Mary Marie's wardrobe, it is little wonder I choose such color and patterns to bring her own story to life.  I decided to share some samples of the darling illustrations that over time have shaped the way I create.  From the delightful charm of Pearse and Greene, to the loving sweetness of Johnny Gruelle, to the contemporary fantasy of Dean Morrissey, I hope they inspire you, too!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Marcella's Dolls and Fairies

Dean Morrissey - A Dreamers Trunk - Notice the shoes and the wee little mouse at the trunk's tiny door!

And Mother Goose

Lucinda Marguerite's Apron

With Lucinda Marguerite

Its a crispy warm afternoon at my little hole in the wall.  The sun is low in the sky as the afternoon stretches into early evening, the light, a warmth through the windows.  My tail is curled around my chair, and my little nose is happily twitching.  Mary Marie has been playing among the doll people these past few days and couldn't be spending happier times with her treasures.

With the Doll People

Mary Marie's Paper Doll Dress

Earlier last week I was pulling books from my shelves and found The Mary Frances Housekeeper, Adventures Among the Doll People, and was delightfully surprised, to find anew, the little paper dolls and paper toy furniture within.  They were just the perfect size for Mary Marie to play with.  I hastily purchased a second copy of the Lacis book, and began cutting out the tiny dolls, dresses, and paper toy furnishings.  I have to admit that the furniture was not too easy to put together.  You had to score the blank, white backs of the cardstock pieces, often guessing where to do so, then fold them all up into doll house furniture.  While I did not make all the pieces, I chose a few to play with, the piano being my favorite, but again, very difficult to fold together.  The piano, alone, stands only 2.5" high!  Almost as tall as myself.

A Side View

And, why did these appeal to me so much?  Well, I had this lovely "Johnny Gruelle" floral lawn to do something with, and this mock orange and buttercup checkerboard fabric I wished to pair with it.  I knew I wanted to make the Morning Dress for my 16" Mary Marie, and of course she needed the pinafore to go with it.  It took me several days, while sewing the dress with the creamsickle orange and white bands, to come up with the idea to sew Lucinda Marguerite's apron instead.  I went so far as to cut out the full pinafore in the checkerboard, but even I could see that it would be overwhelming.

Covered Buttons

I recall an art teacher once telling me upon reviewing a drawing I'd done similar to the another, that what worked with the first, simply didn't translate as well in the second.  I recall being very sad about this since the second was a composite portrait of my father's life, the first telling a tale of arctic explorers.  At any rate, I didn't wish to go down this sorry path again, and we do learn from the past, if we allow ourselves to.  So, I pursued making Mary Marie her own Lucinda Marguerite apron!

The details of the covered buttons came last, and there is even one closing the dress in the back at the top of the placket.  I'm getting much better at making these plackets, but working with the lawn, this delicate fabric, was like sewing with tissue paper.  Anytime you stick a needle and thread into a delicate fabric like this, it loses some of its stability.  So I worked the hand-stitching, of which there was plenty, very carefully.

In the book, "Housekeeper", Mary Frances builds her own doll house and learns how to carry out the important household chores she will need to know when she becomes a young lady.  Most of the drawings are in sillouhette, yet colored plates of the dolls and furniture are throughout the book, the back holding a set in cardstock for you to cut out.  So even if you don't go the route of purchasing a second copy to keep mint, you can still retain the book in its lovely original format.  By the end of the story, Mary Frances even learns a tune and song to sing while doing her chores!  Would that I could read music, I might put that tiny piano to use.

The Days fo the Week

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Lucinda Marguerite, Hazel and Kitty

"Now you really must dress and practice the piano!"