The Harvest Pageant



Lettie's Grape Harvest Pageant Costume

All Dressed Up

At the turn of the 20th century, half the population in the U.S.  was still agrarian - living and sustaining life off agriculture.  As family life depended on farming, the harvest season was an exciting and serious time. 

Children who lived on farms left studies behind to help with the harvest, and in some cases, schools would simply close for the season.  The hard work and long hours would then be celebrated through the harvest festival.  Entire towns would have a fair, a celebration, and often schools would hold pageants for the children.  Even though through the years, better farm equipment would tip the scales towards life in the city, harvest pageants were still quite popular and a fun way for children to share and learn about agriculture.  No better example of this is remembered in present day, than young Scout dressing up as a ham in the beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  Still long ago, young girls like Lettie would cross the stage in a fabulous costume and give a short speech on the product she represented.

From Betty Bonnet's Halloween Party

Lettie's Grape Harvest Pageant costume has been a year in the making.  Well, there certainly was a long gap between October and August, but I'd fully intended to make this costume last fall.  I'd had the little owls needlefelted by Patty Kascsak, and had purchased the foliage to make the grape clusters and a yard each of two colors of microsuede.  So when it came to making the costume for the harvest season, I had just about everything I needed to get started.

The pattern for the dress was a relatively simple one: A-line, short sleeves.  The question was how to attach the leaves.  At first I thought I might make this an empire dress with the longer leaves sewn in between the bodice and skirt.  Yet, after cutting a few leaves and holding them up to the mock up dress, I realized the best approach was to make this as a costume should be, and sewed the leaf ends into a waistband creating a skirt to be worn over the dress.  Another question was in the color of the underdress.  I began by using a caramel cotton, the same color as the leaves, but the leaves faded into the dress, and even resembled Daisy's indian costume!  So I chose a soft cocoa brown linen as the background for the leaf "painting".  

Chalking Out the Patterns



Patty Kascsack's Needlefelt Owl

The leaves, as I mentioned, are made from microsuede.  After drawing the six patterns I would use as leaf stencils, I decided to try chalk as a way to outline the edges for cutting.  One might think I'd have used dressmaker's chalk, but I used what I had handy, and that was chalkboard chalk.  It does remove with a cloth rubbing.  Each leaf was then machine stitched down the center to create a faux stem.  Using a thread of the same color, it blends, but gives the leaf distinction.  The bodice leaves were sewn into the neckline, then two epaulet leaves were sewn to the shoulder top to drape down the sleeve.

The grapes were painted a bright, autumn blue to best represent Sheila's illustration.  I used foliage berries for the grapes.  It was quite a task to cut the berry groupings to resemble little grape clusters, and this costume you see had the best of them.  The second costume I made for my own doll - well, the grape clusters are not quite as "delicate".  The clusters are strung from heavy silk embroidery cording.

 

Jester Booties and Brown Stockings

And, then we have the hat, or what I am calling a crown.  This is a buckram base crown of two half moons sewn together.  It is covered with the soft cocoa linen.  The leaves and clusters then sewn on, and lined with a gold crinkle tissue silk to finish it off, and protect Lettie's pretty mohair wig.

Then under this all, last but not least, are the jester booties.  Just when I thought I had this all done and put together, I noticed the jester boots in the illustration!  What to do, what to do?!  I began with trying them as a gaitor  that she could wear over her shoes, but the mock up in the darker bark colored microsuede didn't quite please me.  It wasn't a bad choice, but it wasn't the best I could do.  So I decided to try them as a real pull-on bootie.

The pattern is a side view pattern with the front and back edges sewn.  Then I made a foot bed or sole, and pinned this to the column of the bootie.  I actually machine stitched these two pieces together, then turned them inside out.  I mean, what's the point in sewing unless your going to learn something new each time you do it?!  Six single booties later, I had it down and made two pair.  Dark brown stockings finish the costume.  I've a feeling some other little doll in the future is going to benefit from the jester boot pattern, but these will be made from fabric, not dense microsuede, and I'll be able to hand sew the sole to the top.

 

I've also been working on Katy Curls.  She is simply adorable.  I will blog on her progress in a day or two.  What?  I know I said I wouldn't, but once I began playing with her, I fell in love and have now decided to keep her.

 

And, next will be Polly's new Halloween costume.  I'm having so much fun right now with autumn and Halloween.  I do know that summer is still officially with us until the 21rst, but there is no time like the present to prepare costumes for our girls when its time for parties.  Please enjoy the few vintage photos I found.

 

Bless you all for your loving support.  I am deeply touched.

 

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

 

On Stage

A Hula of Leaves

A Side View



Could have been Lettie!




Coquette



Purely Victorian

Happy Autumn From Lettie!

Illustrated in Black and White

Lettie Lane's Golf Outfit

 

How very long ago it seems that I began this small journey in the realm of designing and costuming dolls.  And, yet, it has truly only been two years almost to the date.  Designing for Lettie and Polly (and a few other little ladies), has brought me great joy.  Being able to bring beautiful images to life has been an ultimate reward that continues to inspire me.

When I learned that I was going to attend this year's UFDC convention, I knew I wanted to share something with the attendees, but what?  My intent was to display a blonde, blue-eyed Polly Pratt dressed in something from Lettie Lane Comes Home for Christmas.  However, when I began to work on the last in the series of sports costumes, the golf outfit from Betty Bonnet's College Sister struck me as something so unique and joyful, that I decided to bring this along instead.  The unique construction of the skirt was something I had not seen before, and perhaps this alone was the base piece that motivated me.



My mind is like a museum of galleries and for each piece, whether it be an accessory, a storybook trunk set, or costuming, resides a bank vault with an intricate locking mechanism that only I have the combination to.  Some galleries belong to the world and are open to the public, while others may inaudibly close with a small whoosh, and will remain closed.  Lettie's Golf Outfit is one of them. 

With proper hair styling.

While I will continue to state that mine is not a competitive spirit, when you share your innermost heart and soul with the world, no matter how naïve or innocent your intention, you take the risk of being overstepped like a rainbow puddle after the rain...and, sometimes a little door closes.  For many artists and designers, their world revolves around the acknowledgement and recognition that comes only with a ribbon. And, they seek this time and again until it loses its meaning. That brief moment in time when their work receives the laurel wreath.  I have found these moments temporary and fleeting (and often embarrassing), for they truly only mean something to the person that receives them.  I can humbly say that there are countless designers far above my qualities and talents, and there always will be.   However, what I attempt to bring to the world is innovation and inspiration combined with a sense of joy and whimsy.  If I succeed only in this, I die a happy mouse.

Betty Bonnet's College Sister

It was strange that there were people who felt the need to give unsolicited feedback into why sweet Lettie was overlooked, and this baffles me.  For every person in this category, each comment was uniquely different, but no one felt the necessity to acknowledge my achievement, or even let me know if they enjoyed what I did.  However, and there must always be one, feedback from the people who matter most to me (those seamstresses I hold in high esteem), I came away with a sense of warmth and purpose.  I had to chuckle a bit at the question of would I, should I do this again.  The answer is no.  Not for the reasons they may think, but because it isn't necessary.  That world belongs to others, not me. 

Intellectually, after compiling the various critiques and statements of "perhaps it was this", only two comments stick with me in their opposing forms.  One was that it could have been the golf clubs - and I'm giggling as I write this.  The other had to do with modern sewing techniques vs. those the Edwardian's would have used, making this outfit a "true Edwardian" outfit.  As you know, I am self taught in my costuming and know zip about French Fashion sewing or any other era.  It is the design of creating the impression of what I see to be my goal.

 

What interests me more is that I am planning on commissioning a 16" French Fashion doll.  In viewing a little outfit one of the writers of The French Fashion Review had made, her construction was modern, simple, and the jacket lined.  I asked her about this (in context), and she said that their aim was to have fun with sewing for these dolls.  Let's never forget that sewing and designing should be fun!  The advice from my mentor suggested I had no business entering Lettie's costume into competition if I wasn't willing to spend a few years learning "Edwardian sewing techniques and construction".  What I wanted to do was share the costuming, and there was no other way to do it.

Sweet Little Gloves

As mentioned earlier, Lettie's Golf Outfit is the last (I believe) in the sporting costumes.  We have done canoeing, gym, tennis and golf outfits.  While there are scouting, camping and bathing costumes, should I create these, they will hold a category all their own.

 

Lettie's black and white houndstooth suiting is made from 100% wool, and her blouse and undergarments are of cotton laces and heirloom batistes.  Her jacket, its belt and pockets are lined in a white 100% silk taffeta.  Her hat is Swiss straw, and her bow tie is double-faced silk ribbon.   Lettie's golf bag (like Polly's) was made from goatskin leather, the same hide I used to decorate Daisy's raffia suitcase with.  The little clubs were, of course, purchased. 

The skirt is a circle of, if I recall, thirty-four inches, with hip length kick pleats.  Her blouse has a high neckband with the collar attached to this.  Figuring this out earlier would have been most helpful with the Halloween costume I made for Daisy last year.  Her little golf gloves are made from 100% t-shirt cotton, and to me are the sweetest part of the entire costume.

Finally, in the last stages of dressing Lettie for her travels to D.C., I kept feeling one important thing was missing.  One look I was still trying to achieve.  And so I did her hair up in an Edwardian style roll. 

 

So what comes next?  I'll begin working in a new direction over the next few months creating the adorable wardrobe and accessories for Katy Curls, a paper doll by Frances Tipton Hunter.  The doll was a collaboration with Candy Anderson, with a modern, porcelain head sculpt on a composition Rosette body making her 14" tall.  Since this trunk collection will eventually be for sale on my website, I will not be journaling the process on it.  However, as written in an earlier post, there is a darling Halloween costume planned for Polly.

Please enjoy the photos of Lettie getting dressed to play golf with Polly!

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

  

Chemise, Knickers, Stockings

Delicate Details

The stand up collar blouse

Hip length kick-pleats

The back

Golf anyone? Ball in hand.

The girls together with real golf balls.

Next: Katy Curls by Frances Tipton Hunter

Polly's Costume for 2013

Mow, mow, mow your lawn gently down the slope!

Would you buy a mower from this child?



Sometime back, maybe a month or two ago, I was browsing vintage postcards and discovered advertisment cards with little girls mowing lawns in Victorian dress.  I was tickled with the way the girls were posed to make the chore look like a walk-in-the-park.  The cards were true to Victorian times, very romantically themed and painted beautifully.  I think what followed was my quest to find a miniature lawn mower for Lettie or Polly to push along, and indeed I found one.  It was a little cast iron and wood cylinder mower, and from what I was told, the early thirties.  I just fell in love with the detail and authenticity of the little antique, and got dealer to lower the price for me to $175 when I told her what I was going to do with it.   What followed then was the creation of Lettie's Lawnmower Dress, 

So simple, even a girl can mow!

 

I used the Ransome's advertisement because it played so nicely into the sports theme clothing I've been creating over the last few months.  As you can see, the young adults are playing tennis while the child tidies up the green for them. 

 

The first lawnmower was the animal.  Yes.  The sheep, the goats, our herbivore friends, so let's not forget them.  However the first lawn mower invention took place in 1827, by Edwin Budding in Gloucestershire, England.  Budding's mower was designed primarily to cut the lawn on sports grounds and extensive gardens, as a superior alternative to the scythe, and was granted a British patent on August 31, 1830.  Budding and his partner, Ferrabee, were shrewd enough to allow other companies to build copies of their mower under license, the most successful of these being Ransomes of Ipswich which began making mowers as early as 1832.  Now isn't it funny that I would choose to make Lettie's dress from a Ransomes ad?  Perhaps it was the color and style of the child's dress that inspired me, and again, it could have been the sports themed ad, but I'd like to think that Ransomes did a remarkable job on their ad, that one hundred or so years later would inspire a designer to dress a doll from it!

 

Little Antique Cylinder Mower

Daisy is modeling our little dress for us since Lettie is packed and ready to travel.  I also think her long, blonde curls look a bit more like the child's hair in the illustration.  And, what of the mower?  Why is it not blue?  Its an antique, silly, and you don't mess with antiques.  I will tell you that this little treasure does push along a carpet quite smoothly.  I've not yet tested it on the lawn, and I don't think I will.  We'll just pretend to mow.



Lettie's Lawnmower Dress is a simple cotton frock (did I say simple?), with golden-brown silk accents.  I did a long hard study of the illustration trying to figure out just exactly what was going on in this dress.  The entire bodice is gathered at the neck and at the waist, with a small neck band finishing this ruched look.  The silk band across the chest is machine sewn in at the sides, but hand-sewn top and bottom to the bodice.  Machine sewing this down would not allow the nice, soft ruching you see. 

 

The Sleeves

Two Layers

The leg o' mutton sleeves are banded with the silk, and a huge sash with large bow, accents the waistline.  The skirt of the dress is two pieces.  One is the top layer that has a hidden hem by including a lining one and half inches up sewn to some very thin Bearisima bastiste.  The bottom layer is an heirloom batiste with the aqua ruffle sewn directly to it.  These two skirts were pinned together at the edge, gathered, then sewn to a strip of waistband that had been sewn to the bodice. 

The straw hat is made from natural Swiss straw with double-sided silk ribbon décor.  What will be added later are a pair of black stockings and a pair of black slip-ons with bows.  I wished to complete this outfit prior to leaving tomorrow for the doll convention, and I'm feeling pretty good with the effort. 

 

Lettie's Lawnmower Dress is an outfit I truly enjoyed putting together.  She simply could not push the Ransomes mower without it!  I must admit that Daisy looks beautiful in this dress and will wear it for the duration of display.  She truly is a beautiful doll.  If you recall, Daisy, Lettie and Polly were made by the same artist, Connie Zink.

 

Please enjoy a few of these delightful postcards of lovely little girls showing you just how easy it is to push a mower.  Just don't let the men in your life see these cards!

 

Off I go!  Wish me luck and Bon Voyage!

 

Love,

Miss E. Mouse 




Even a butterfly can mow!



Margie Beats the Heat

The Bleuette Sewing Club, an online group for Bleuette enthusiasts and seamstresses, was having their monthly sewing challenge as usual.  This month Martha, our moderator, hosted a challenge called  Bleuette Keeps Cool, and offered a bib shorts pattern she made for the occasion. 

Some of the ladies were really coming up with some cute stuff, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it might be fun to join in.  The shorts were a standard, straight-legged pair, with waistband and bib, and you could dress these up any way you wanted to.  Add a hat, add a blouse beneath, and so on. 

One night before retiring, I was thinking about the shorts after I'd acquired some fabric in this sea-green color, and another in a darker teal for Lettie's lawnmower dress.  An idea, an image popped into my mind of little bloomer shorts with deep pockets.  I love pockets myself, so I felt these shorts would be cute with them, too.

The pocket pattern was taken from a LSdS coat pattern from 1915, and the hat, a much later decade Garden Hat pattern.  My friend, Arlene, has done some beautiful detailing to her costuming by working embroidery thread in a top-stitch effect.  I thought I might try this in a sand color. 

The shorts' straps criss-cross in the back and snap to the waistband.  There's not a lot to these shorts, but I'll bet Margie feels cool and playful, and ready for the summer sun in this little outfit.  I'd like to think of it as beach wear, and so added some wonderful vintage images I found online earlier this spring.

This is a short one, just like Margie's sun suit!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

In Three, Two, One

Polly's Beach Balloons

It came to me recently while watching an episode of Myth Busters ( The Discovery Channel), that much of what I do is to me, as great a challenge as those the busters face in their own experiments.  The question is always, "Can it be done", or is it a bust?  These attempts at the seemingly impossible are what drive me to keep creating. 

In Polly's Beach Balloons outfit, it was not the dress whose myth I needed to bust, but creating a grouping of balloons for her to hold.  Sure, I've seen those itty bitty plastic balloons on plastic stems that display nicely with the likes of a Ginny or an 8" Madame Alexander doll.  And, American Girl has made single molded, plastic balloons with molded handles for the doll to hold.  The joy and fascination with brightly colored floating orbs has long been the delight of many a child and adult alike.

The best I could do for the illustration!

The first balloons came from animal bladders.  A pig's bladder was used by Galileo in an experiment to measure the weight of air.  In 1847 Michael Faraday, a research professor, invented the toy balloon for his experiments with hydrogen.  Two flat rubber rounds were dusted with flour on the inside to keep them from sticking together, then the edges were glued together.  Today's helium filled latex balloons have come a long way since the days of Professor Faraday's invention!  It may have been the balloons themselves that inspired me to make Polly's Beach Balloons outfit.

I've been wanting to make this little outfit since I first began sewing for Polly.  It was always my intention to create this for her in summer.  With a bit of time on my hands and some extra lilac fabric left over from her Halloween outfit (the laced up girdle), I decided now was the time.  Earlier I had been figuring out a way to include the balloons themselves, and finally settled on a set of Martha Stewart Christmas ornaments.  How I came up with that one is a mystery to me now, but I had initially intended on giving Polly a collection of American Girl balloons.  Too big, too bulky, and what to do with those handles put an end to that idea.  Remember, Polly is only 16" tall and a slender child doll.

Sheila's Illustration

But, first let's talk about her little dress.  As you can tell from my last post, this was created in a very short time.  I used the A-line pattern that I made for her Yellow Chinese New Year dress.  The sleeves were a shorter version, and I did have to design the collar and bib.  The collar has small notches over the shoulders creating a soft petal sculpture.  The bib was a separate piece that I stitched beneath the collar and hidden stitched onto the front of the dress, while the petals float atop the shoulders.  Its lined with a violet voile and the little frock is soft and floaty.  Perfect for a hot summer's day on the beach. 

When the lining fell off the hat.

Petal Collar and Bib

For her hat I used the same PNB mold used for Daisy's red and white checked dress.  This style seemed to be quite popular between 1911 and 1920.  My intention was to make the hat in white straw, then spray paint the interior coral.  If you recall, I had success with coloring her Green Basket dress hat this way.  However, after I'd made this most perfect little hat, I ran into trouble.  I'd covered the top with Press'n Seal, then edged it down with blue artist's masking tape.  It should have held.  But, when I began spraying the interior, the tape got wet, loosened off, and the spray colored the top of the hat!  Big boo-boo!  I wasn't sure what to do.  I laughed at my efforts and settled to think about it for a bit.  I could make a new hat, I could borrow Daisy's and try again...but, the hat was such a nice one!  After thinking about it some I decided that a good way to fix the problem might be to paint the top of the hat white, covering the overspray of coral paint.  And, that's what I did.  It's a bit stiffer for the effort, but considering that some people shellac their straw doll hats, I didn't think it would be such a big deal.  In the end, I think it turned out just fine.  And, who's to say they didn't paint those hats back in Polly's time!

And, then we came to the episode of Miss E. Mouse's Myth Buster.  Well first I pulled the silver cup and wire off the ornaments, and spray painted several of them (minus the light blue and green ones), the colors of the one's Sheila illustrated.  So far, so good.  I'd been experimenting with how to support these ultra light ornaments after I'd purchased them in March.  Yes, I've been working on this that long.  I first tried craft pipe cleaners, but the ornament flopped over.  It was after I stitched millinery hat wire into her golf hat, that I discovered a very sturdy and multi-purposeful wire.  So I tried that.  And, it worked.  So far, so good. 

The Hat Close Up

Next I  had to combine the balloons with their stiff wire strings and make a bunch of balloons.  I wrapped them in one spot with that great Press'n Seal paper, then stitched an elastic band together to fit over Polly's wrist.  And, here is where the Myth got busted.  One balloon?  No problem.  They are incredible light.  But seven?!  Polly is just a little doll that is strung together so they turned out being too heavy as a whole for her to support.  I could not get the effect of the illustration after all.  What I might do is make a tube, like a circus or carnival stand, and put the balloons in it and stand it next to her as if she were purchasing them. 

For the time being, this will be Polly's last outfit until this fall.  I will probably begin Lettie's Lawn Mower dress and then its time to launch into a large project I've been putting together.  And, I might just even begin to work on Lettie Lane's tiny doll house.  Remember that?  I'm beginning to feel like I want to paint in miniature again, and Polly and Lettie have plenty to wear...or do they?  And, it is also time to prepare for my trip back east. 

Wishing you a day of colorful balloons and warm summer memories!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse






Fran Quinn's precious little sandals.



A Bouquet of Balloons