Autumn Leaves Are Falling



Katy Curls ready to catch a leaf

It is rare that I find myself at a loss for words, but here I sit, about to write, and there I am.  Perhaps its autumn that is stirring my thoughts.  They are thinking on the change of Aspen leaves, of a trip I might take to see them next week.  My thoughts are on decorating a few small corners of my little hole in the wall today, with Halloween fancies.

They are on a book I'm reading that I wish to pick up and snuggle with in the afternoon warmth of my special corner.  They are as tired and restless as the fall, as the year becomes the busy season.  And, yet Katy Curls is ready to skip down the streets and hop up now and again to catch the stray leaf as it sweeps from limb to ground.

Katy is dressed for the cool afternoons following a happy day of pencils and books, and Golden Rules.  As you may recall Katy Curls was the first paper doll in The Little Busybodies collection by Frances Tipton Hunter, debuting in November 1922's Women's Home Companion.  Her wardrobes illustrated real patterns that mother could buy to make both her daughter and her daughter's little doll.  The first outfit I chose to make Katy was something to play in.  I believe a little girl can never have enough play clothes.

Her Autumn Play Suit

By 1920, clothes were very much designed with children in mind, and attention was paid not just to style, but to the comfort and needs of children. The Roaring Twenties was an era of liberation in much of society and this was reflected in clothing trends for men, women and children.

Comfort was achieved in both style and fabric. Whereas for decades everyone had worn many layers, now a summer outfit might consist of just a single layer over underwear. Even in winter, clothing was kept streamlined with minimal layer. The emphasis was on good fabrics that would stand up to weather. A wool dress worn over  stockings and a long knit underwear suit with a knitted sweater and jacket on top was common.

Katy's little play suit reflects the fashions of the time.  She wears her undergarments comfortably under this linen tunic with a pair of poufy knickers.  Jacquard ribbon trim decorates the tunic in rows down the front, around the edges of the belled sleeves, around the peasant collar and the bands on the cuffs of the knickers.  She wears of pair of long stockings and casual oxfords (by Fran Quinn).

Blouson Knickers

This little outfit, simple in appearance, posed many designing problems along the way.  For one, its a pullover tunic.  This was new for me since I typically dress my dolls from the feet up.  Her wig must be removed to pull the tunic over her head, but creating it as a pullover, rather than hooked or buttoned in the back was essential to the look of the outfit.  I had to make a long enough opening in the front to accommodate all of Katy from the top down.  There's a little snap-on piece that goes under the tunic to complete the look (I do not know what this is called, but often sailor tops have them).

Pattern No. 4240

The tunic is all one piece, the fold being at the shoulders.  In order to create the pouf of the top, I lined the tunic with a shorter hem.  When I attached the linen hem to the lining an inch or so up, I tugged a tad to create a bit of gather on the inside and this created a blouson affect. 

This is a simple outfit, but it was not easy to figure out or make.  It also took a great deal of time and patience to sew the ribbon on, of which there was much.  This had to be done first before the lining went in and the sides were stitched up.

1920s Montgomery Ward - Notice the apricot outfit bottom row, center.

I agonized over her socks for months.  In the illustration her stockings have a blue and two red lines at the top.  I had to settle for brown heather stockings omitting any extra colors.  Sure.  I thought of fabric paint.  I thought of embroidery.  One would have been stiff, the other would have taken away the stretch.  Still, they turned out cute and a nice alternative to a more decorative one.  I'm fairly happy with the close match I was able to make with the ribbon trim, which I purchased from Ribbonworks.  They seem to have a nice selection of petite ribbons for doll clothing.

My intention is to make the satchel that goes with the red school skirt and sweater next, and also a mini version of this play suit for Squeezicks, her dolly.  Squeezicks' outfit may take me a few days to do, although it will be much simpler in design for construction.  It is also notably a different color.  I need a fabric that is thin and won't ravel!  Good luck!  This beautiful linen for Katy's outfit was a gift from a dear friend, and making this outfit (as it turned out), would not have been possible without her loving generosity.

I am tired.  I need a break and this is exactly what I'm going to do first.  Even if just for a few days!  When I begin again, it will be with the holidays in mind.  Katy has play clothes for autumn now, so don't be surprised if she's seen amidst a pumpkin patch or two, or skipping down the windy streets catching autumn leaves.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

The leaves had a wonderful frolic.
They danced to the wind's loud song.
They whirled, and they floated, and scampered.
They circled and flew along.

The moon saw the little leaves dancing.
Each looked like a small brown bird.
The man in the moon smiled and listened.
And this is the song he heard.

The North Wind is calling, is calling,
And we must whirl round and round,
And then, when our dancing is ended,
We'll make a warm quilt for the ground.

(Anonymous)

A Pullover, gathered at the neck as well.

Squeezicks' Version

Autumn Leaves Are Falling

The Autumn Winds Do Blow

Daisy's Owl Hat and Kimono Costume

How lovely it is to sit down with a hot cup of tea!  Especially after completing a particularly tricky project.  Or two!  Its a quiet afternoon, my studio has been tidied up.  Not a single scrap of fabric or slip of thread lay about.  Yet.  Later this afternoon, I'm certain I'll be ready to pay some attention to poor Katy who's been standing around in her skivvies for a month now.  But, I do enjoy making Halloween costumes.  Perhaps I can say that I enjoy creating them best of all.

While completing Polly's Orange Pierrot Costume, I switched gears for a couple of days and made Daisy a new costume, too.  When I once again came across this well known illustration of an elegant lady in an owl hat, I thought to have one made for Bleuette.  I asked a friend of mine if she might be interested, but she wasn't (I really do not like sewing for Bleuette), so I let the thought go, then decided to make a large version for Daisy.  Why not?

I found three Bleuette kimono patterns on the Bleudoor Portal, selected one, enlarged it, redesigned it, and took to the sewing machine.  Patty Kascsak was asked to make the fabulous Owl Hat, and what an owl hat it is!  This artist's work makes me giggle, and takes my breath away all in one sweep!

Daisy's Owl Hat and Kimono Costume is made from a black jacquard fabric.  It has a tiny stitched floral pattern in it, which I felt would be suitable for this beautiful kimono.  I used a gold crinkle silk for the border and full lining.  The redesigns were few, but did take awhile since the pattern was so large.  I lengthened and widened the sweep of the kimono, opened the sleeves wider, and shortened the collar to include a gentle scoop back to the edge.  Using my favorite Magalie Dawson lining technique, it went together fairly quickly.  This Owl Hat and Kimono Costume, is at once elegant and whimsical.



Examples of Japonisme in Impressionism

Many artists during the Impressionist movement painted women in Japonisme.  The novelty and new accessibility to The Orient was beautifully portrayed by painters like Monet and William Chadwick, to name a couple.

Another note of French charm came with Pierrot, the sad clown whose origin is late 17th c. Italian comedy.  It is said that Pierrot pined for the love of Columbine, who broke his heart leaving him for Harlequinn.  And, as with the Japonisme kimono, the Pierrot costume passed the test of time and became a staple of costuming.  Even Polly Pratt got one!

Polly's Orange Pierrot Costume

Polly's Orange Pierrot Costume was another hopeful from last fall.  I recall discussing the checks on the cuffs and lantern with a friend of mine, who then referred to it as checkerboard print.  Ah hah!  So I began searching in vain for a tiny orange and black checkerboard print and came up empty.  Before I even began this costume, I had to figure out how to make the checkerboard myself.  I fussed with this for almost two weeks until I was able to get the right combination of scale.  The first cuff set was large enough to fit Daisy and Lettie.  The second set was almost too small, but my own Polly owns these now.  The third set was appropriately in scale for both the cuffs and the lantern...and I'll never make checkerboard again!  I call it mini-quilting.

I use a decimal ruler for my measurements, and I found that .9 was the best in width, and 1.1 for length - taking in account the 1/8" seams needed to sew them together.  Determination is the key.  Also you had to back stitch the edges or they'd come apart when you turned the lined cuff inside out.  Those done, I moved on to the rest of the costume.

Checkerboard

Sheila's Illustration

The Lantern

Polly's Orange Pierrot Costume consists of a bell shaped tunic and 3/4 length trousers. The double ruffle Pierrot collar is black satin and hooks in the back.  The hat, for lack of a better term, I'll call a country hat.  It is not a witch's hat, but a clown hat with turned up edges.  The pom-poms were another trial.  There was no way I was sewing polyester bag pom-poms on this costume!  For one, they didn't even look like the costume's pretty pom-poms.  So I learned how to make them myself, and did so out of wool yarn.  Satin silhouettes of bats decorate the hat and cuffs, with the addition of a witch and crescent shaped moon on the lantern.

The lantern is a soft sculpture.  Its base is both buckram and cardboard to hold the shape of the two cylinders.  This was another toughy.  I have to laugh as I'm writing this because "who is crazy enough to go to these lengths for a doll costume"?!  Me, I guess.  More checkerboard had to be sewn for this, and lucky me, I had enough length left over from the good cuffs!  The best way I can describe the construction is like a pillow case sewn up on the edge, then the two edges hidden ladder stitched together.  Now to get the lantern hung!  I threaded embroidery thread through the top, crossing the lengths to be centrally hung on a wire hook attatched to a pole.  Since the center cylinder was longer, this was not an easy task.

Puss In Pumpkin

To complete the picture, I asked Patty, once again (she's so wonderful to work with!), to make a couple of fat, black kitties standing on their hind legs for the pumpkins.  There is no such thing as a papier mache pumpkin without a top, that doesn't have a face carved into it.  I did find some nice ones though, and took a box cutter and set to taking the tops off.  Guess what I found beneath?  Plastic!  No wonder it was so hard to carve into.  A trusty can of Krylon paint and a day's worth of many layers produced the orange pumpkin for the Puss and Pumpkin display. 

The last third of this cup of tea has gotten cold.  The autumn wind blows the trees about in this pleasant, sunny afternoon.

Am I done with Halloween costumes?  Probably not.  There is yet one more I'd like to make, but this one will be for the French Fashion Portrait Jumeau (16 inches) doll when she arrives with a new shoulder plate.  It is likely I'll use the leftover kimono fabric for it, but then again, a pretty satin or even black velveteen might be nice.  Since she is a young lady doll, this costume might be my first outfit for her, and a new challenge.  Dressing lady dolls.

The Masks

Oh!  I almost forgot.  I was asked to make masks for my customer's Polly costume and her Lettie's Grape Harvest costume.  Polly's is rimmed in tiny pom-poms with a crescent moon and bat added to the corners.  Lettie got two.  One is on a stick (which I love since it is an accessory), and the other is a face mask.  Both have the leaves, but the stick also has a small cluster of grapes and the green vine winding down the stick.  This green vine was used to hang the grape clusters on the costume.

Below are lots of photos of the details. 

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Fabulous Owl Hat

Back Sweep of Kimono

Underneath it all, a tulle slip.

Checkerboard Cuffs

Patty's Kitty

Pom-poms

Lettie's Mask on Stick

Polly's Mask

Checkerboard Mess - Never again!

 

Costume for the Portrait Jumeau lady doll

 

Same Day, Same Year, Happy Birthday!

Lori and Ollie, Her Ragdoll Cat

Several days ago while working on Polly's Halloween costume, I began pulling together several costumes to dress my Bleuettes in at the end of the month.  One of them I came across was the Persian costume Kathy O'Malley made, and this triggered a memory of a time back in 2008 when I made Bleuette's Spectacle de Magie, a magician's set complete with painted table and magic tricks, which included a costume.  When Kathy's costume arrived, I fell in love and simply couldn't part with it, so my birthday sister, Lori Saggs, agreed to make me another for the set.  And, this one was just a gorgeous!  Tomorrow, the 18th, she and I celebrate our birthdays once more.  We were born on the same day in the same year, and she has been a special friend for the many years we've known one another.

Spectacle de Magie with Lori's Costuming

Focused, and buried in my studio, I never got around to sending her a birthday card, so I'm taking the opportunity to make her one right now, right here.  She's a fabulous artist in her own right, wonderful at costuming, and beyond talented with the crochet hook and knitting needles.  When we think of the creative process and how things come together to make magic, Lori has always been there when I needed that one special item I could not make myself.  So I would like to share Bleuette's Spectacle de Magie with you, her outfit, my magic table and accessories. ( It also occurs to me that I only have one of the many photos of this on my website, so I need to get them all up soon with detailed descriptions.)

The Lemon Ruffle Cake Dress Lori Crocheted

The Article and Table

It was January, on a Sunday, in 2008 when I found an article in the antiques section of the newspaper.  There in the article was this incredible antique magician's table, and I knew right away that I must make a miniature for Bleuette.  Later that spring, I would visit Barbara DeVilbiss in New Jersey, and she taught me how to make a real silk top hat for the magician's hat, just like the real hats were made long ago.  This is how I learned to work with buckram and create hats.  Barbara is also a professional clown and magician, and entertained me with some tricks one evening.  She showed me some of her magician's pieces, and I sketched and made notes on what they were, and how they worked, to produce them in miniature for the set.  This indeed was a magical time, and this set now resides in Susan Quinlan's Doll and Teddy Bear Museum and Library in Santa Barbara, California.

Lori and I have shared a love of not only dolls and costuming, but of antiquarian children's books, and elephant toys.  One of the books we both hold dear in our hearts, is Clifton Bingham's The Animal's Picnic (1902), illustrated by G.H. Thompson.  I remember her giggling over the tiny elephant dolly the little elephant girl was holding in the beginning of the story.  For her birthday card, I'm telling a new story through four of the illustrations.  What is even better is that there will be a full moon on our birthday, which promises a full year of dreams coming true!

Happy birthday, Lori!  May this be a magical year for you!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

The Back

The Fabulous Turban Hat



"Let's celebrate our birthday!", cried the little girl holding her dolly.



"Let's send off invitations!", mother said.



And, so they had a birthday picnic with all their friends!

And, they danced by the light of the moon!

Close up of painted table and magician's items.

Lori and one of Ollie and Daisy's kittens.

France Tipton Hunter's Katy Curls

Katy Curls and Squeezicks, Her Doll

Similar to The Ladies' Home Journal, magazines like Woman's Home Companion featured paper dolls for the young ones in the home.  What a thrill it was when mother opened the latest issue, and inside was a new paper doll to cut out and play with!  Its surprising that intact copies of these magazines still exist, and aren't we lucky?

Dover Publications was one of the first to publish these vintage paper doll collections.  As you can see from the copy of an original, many changes were made to the presentation including deletion of text and rearranging of the clothing and toys.  But, what a treasure the originals were!  You could read all about the clothing and learn the names of the toys.  For your enjoyment, please click on the page of the original Katy Curls to enlarge and read it. 

Not surprisingly, each outfit was a pattern that could be made for a child.  At the bottom of this page reads, "PATTERN No. 4240: Child's Russian Smock Dress and Play Apron (sizes 4, 6, or 8 years), also set of same garments for 12-inch doll.  Price 25 cents.  Address Pattern Department, care of Woman's Home Companion."



The Dover Publication

I was lucky enough last year, while perusing paper dolls on the Internet, to come across a website this woman put together with reproduction copies available of many of the vintage paper dolls going back as far as Polly Pratt.  Her mother collected these magazines over the years, and never threw them out!  Happy days!  And, her daughter then founded a small business to share them with us.  I was able, at the time, to purchase copies of Polly Pratt pages that Dover Publications never published.  She advised me there were more, but that she was having difficulty "getting her mother to let her borrow them" for reprinting. 

The Original From Woman's Home Companion

The Little Busybodies was a new series of paper dolls that Frances Tipton Hunter began illustrating in 1922, and the first issue was Katy Curls in November.  Other characters like Puggy Pam and Jolly Jane would follow - and many more.  With my love of autumn and red haired dollies, how could I not make a Katy Curls?  Artist, Candy Anderson, would help me do this.  She was creating dolls from the Dianna Effner molds and using Bleuette bodies for them.  I asked her to try one on a Rosette body (Rosette is Bleuette's older sister), so that I could have taller doll with a slimmer body.  Katy Curls is the Smiling Jenny mold, and she is 14" tall.

From the Original

In an earlier post I mentioned that I would be creating this as a trunk collection for sale on my website sometime this fall - perhaps November.  But, once I finally found the perfect little wig for her, I fell in love.  This wig is an Angelica in Carrot.  Candy did a beautiful job on her and is a wonderful artist to work with. 

The first thing Katy needed was patterns and fabrics.  I spent many months searching for just the right fabrics, and most of July was spent drafting all of her clothing patterns so that I could just make the outfits up one after another without stopping to draft this one or that.  Wouldn't it have been fun to find the original Woman's Home Companion patterns?!

Katy in the Studio

Once this was done, I began searching for a doll to represent Squeezicks.  What I found in one my drawers, was a tiny German doll I'd made while learning how to make porcelain dolls.  She was probably good-as-it-gets since finding one this size with a composition body is next to impossible.  Squeezicks was the first item I made.  I wigged her with mohair weft, and spent a full week designing her little onsie.  While made with all the details and finishings, it was finally sewn on her at the shoulders since I do not believe she'll need to take a bath anytime soon.

Katy, Squeezicks and Puff

Next I made Katy's under garments.  These consist of a chemise and knickers that are supposed to button together at the waist, sides and front.  I say "supposed to" because I ended up sewing the buttons on for decoration and using snaps under them.  Why?  Because the fabric was so thin and delicate.   Also, while knowing that an iron-on Pellon interfacing would  have helped, these under garments were extremely difficult to design and make.  Most of the two pieces are completely hand sewn, save for French seams at the sides of the chemise, and front/back of the knickers.  After working three days on the knickers, I didn't want to go back and make them again with interfacing just to make sturdy buttonholes.  (Fran Quinn has just mailed me her little brown Oxfords and black Mary Janes.   Fran creates the most beautiful doll shoes imaginable!)

I also spent some of August with the two aprons, but I'll save this creative process for when they've been finished.

A lot of Hand Sewing

Lastly, the fabulous Patty Kascsak made Puff, Katy's cat.  So darling!  Patty can do anything with needle felting.  I have complete confidence in her work, and always get a giggle when I first see her photos.  I enjoy working with her so much.  If you're interested in her work, please write to her at kascsaks1@yahoo.com

Before I conclude this posting, I'd like to share some wonderful "finds".  While taking a workshop with Alice Leverette this summer, she shared with the class the kind of scissors she uses, as well as the needles she hand sews with.  Needles?  John James, crewel embroidery size 10.  Sharp and tiny points.  The scissors?  Kai.  OMG!  I purchased the small embroidery scissors  and found them to be so sharp, and they come to the tiniest points for snipping into seams.  So I tried the Kai sheers.  Life with fabric will never be the same!  You can purchase them on Amazon.com  Also, I would like to share one of the sites where I purchase my beautiful heirloom laces.  EmmaRob Laces.  Donna is fabulous to work with, and the laces are gorgeous.  If there's something you don't see, call her up and ask.  She has a store full of laces not listed on her website.  Just sharing some good sources with you!

Oh, and yes.  Squeezicks will get her little wardrobe, too.  At this stage, I'm still vacillating on the perfect fabric choices for the red sweater and plaid skirt.  I've purchased several options, but you never know what you might come across here or there.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Notations For Patty

Batting the Dangling Yarn

 

 

EmmaRob Laces, The bottom one was used on her knickers.

Kai Scissors