Alice By the Sea

For the better part of my life, I lived 50 minutes from the coast.  I grew up loving the sea and would make as many trips over the Santa Cruz mountains to the beaches between Capitola and Half Moon Bay, as possible each year.  It was the high cliffs of the rocky beaches, and large outcroppings such as Greyhound Rock, that would make me take those long, twisting drives from the suburbia to the misty, wet air of the coastline.  I wasn't a sun bather, but one of those who'd walk the lengths of sand, and find a perch of rock that gave me a couple of hours of day dreams and peace.  I'd study the tidal pools for signs of sea life and collect abalone shells from a beach called Ano Nuevo, or New Year's Beach.  This one is famous for the resting migration of sea lions, and long ago, in the 1970's,  was able to see the sea lions, before you needed guided tours.  Sea birds, the seagulls and sand pipers, and the brown pelicans (although the white ones are my favorites), would keep me company from overhead, and I'd watch for seals bobbing in and out of waves.  Oh, how I miss the ocean!  Yet, one of the most beautiful coastal areas I've ever been to was Exmoor, in the U.K., and the White Cliffs of Dover (after which I named my dog, Dover).  And, just writing this passage, I can feel the sharp winds off the coast blowing through my hair, and smell the salt sea air with the sound of crashing waves.

My love of the coast was my inspiration for Alice By the Sea.

My friend, Betsy had sent me this 16" "vintage" Maggie Iacono doll about a year ago, and I tucked her away knowing that someday, just the right project would come along for her.  And especially, because she is a felt doll, needle felted characters would do wonderfully with her.  I had been wanting to make the Mock Turtle, as well.  I hadn't seen this little fellow done in needle felt yet, and he simply intrigued me.  As I once again opened my 1962 version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, to the illustration of the Mock Turtle, the idea for a seaside Alice was born.  And wasn't there another seaside adventure in Through the Looking Glass?  Yes.  That of the Walrus and the Carpenter.  I once again slipped down the rabbit hole and have been gone for a month working in wool, dreaming of the sea.

I didn't quite know what to do about dressing the doll at first, but I wanted her dress to be a back drop to her seaside friends, the Mock Turtle and the Walrus.  Two characters that would represent both books.  While I was determining what style of dress to create for her, I began a more traditional dress for her in wool felt with an entirely different Alice theme.  I'm not saying it was a complete failure, but my heart wasn't as into it, as Alice By the Sea.  During this week of creative muddling, the idea for a middy dress came to be.  So new wool sheets were ordered and when they arrived, the "muddling" was bagged, literally in a plastic zip bag for another day - maybe, and I started straight away on Alice By the Sea's costume.

I've done many a middy dress for other dolls, but doing one in wool and designing it as a back drop became a focus, and study, of the illustrations by the sea.  One thing they both had in common were their white cliffs.  These limestone outcroppings can also be found in Ontario, Canada, and were most likely connected, as one continent, at one time in the earth's early history.  I have appreciatively explored both coastlines.  Anyway, so yes, this was a common denominator in both illustrations and would thematically connect the two characters into one lovely story of Alice By the Sea. 

 

Of course, I've been studying Maggie's work for a long time, but particularly since I created Tara Tree-tops from the other Iacono Betsy gave me.  Maggie has done some awesome fabric art with her dolls, and I could not, and would never hope to do, what she does.  But, I did pick up on how she appliques her flowers and sometimes little vignettes to their wool felt costumes.  Complimentary thread hand stitching, or top stitching. 

I'd fully intended to make the entire dress out of the blue felt, and fidgeted for days, while making the bodice, trying to figure out how "to make sand".  One of the most darling things about the illustration of the Walrus and the Carpenter, is the portrayal of the oysters in their little boots.  I wanted to include some along the hemline of her dress.   All I can tell you is that a great deal of trial and trial went into the design of it. 

What I came away with was the depiction of the puffy clouds, the white cliffs' coastline, and the curving stretch of sand from the Walrus illustration.  After much fussing around, and some determination to try it, I made the drop waist skirt portion entirely of the sand color.  A "piece" of sand was stitched onto the bodice to make the "bay", and the cliffs were stitched over the clouds meeting at the horizon line.  Thin strips of white wool were hand stitched onto the cuffs and sailor collar for trim.  A red bow of wool felt brightens and cheers up the dress nautically.

Then we came to the oysters.  Here was another deliberation of what to do that took a few whacks.  Somehow, just the shape of each oyster wasn't going to cut it, just stitched onto the "sand".  They needed depth, or shading.  So I cut a slightly larger oyster shape in brown wool then stitched the two pieces together by embroidering the texture of the shells.  Each oyster had to be made before sewing them onto the dress. 

The set to the right (in these photos) were done in shades of gray rather than the taupes of the others.  This was done to give some dimension to the scene.  In the illustration, they are in shade, or rather their backs are away from the sun as where the others have the sun shining directly on them.  Good grief.  How literal did I want to take this without cutting out gray shadow shapes to stitch on at their feet?!  I'm a "less is more" kind of person, yet I still love detail. 

As the doll would seldom be seen from the back, I omitted any landscaping on the back side of the dress.  But, I couldn't help including three more oysters in case anyone ever picked her up to take a look.  Her long hair, a new wig, also precluded any desires to embellish the back.  Finally, just to dress things up a bit, I tried including a strand of seaweed (in case you didn't know what that light green thing was, lol).  Each little oyster got an embroidered pair of legs and a set of little boots in wool felt sewn on with one stitch of embroidery thread.  This was a lot of work, those oysters.

Alice By the Sea needed something on her feet.  Maggie has used microsuede for her Mary Jane shoes, and I considered doing this, but the style just didn't seem right for this outfit.  So I spent three days designing a pair of side button boots to fit this doll's foot.  I intended to do them in black, but then found this oyster colored piece of leather in my stash, and determined that was it.  Little black glass bead buttons close the leather boots.  I think this would be a good time to add that I did style her human hair wig to show off her cute little ears, and tied the hair back with a large black silk bow.  I also redid her make up.  She was terribly pale when she arrived, so I enhanced her eyes, cheeks and lips to brighten her face.  I used watercolor pencils and powdered cheek blush for these purposes.  Or porpoises, as we now get into her needle felted friends. (Sorry, couldn't help myself!  Hope you're still with me.  There was a lot of work put into this one.)

I never start a project of any kind without doing my research.  Learning everything I can about the subject helps me understand and empathize with my subject - to bring it to life.  And, so it was with the Mock Turtle.  If you've never read the story, that's okay.  The illustrations are just as much fun to look at, and help tell the story visually, competently.  (When I was little, I never read the stories, but chose just to immerse myself in the pictures.  They were enough for me.)   So I reread the Mock Turtle's story. 

When Alice is encountered by the Queen who is dragging her off to the games, the Queen insists she learn of the Mock Turtle's story.  They come upon the Gryphon first, then a bit further down the beach, they encounter the Mock Turtle who is terribly sorrowful.  The Mock Turtle then begins the tale of his life under the sea, and his upsetting "education".  He is also taught how to "uglify" himself, rather than beautify.  His story is long, and leads to the chapter where he discusses the Lobster Quadrille, which is a dance performed by the Gryphon and Mock Turtle for Alice.  Sadly the existence of the Mock Turtle is for the purpose of Mock Turtle soup, and the silly fellow ends his chapter by singing about beautiful soup.  That's three chapters in a nutshell for you. 

The Mock Turtle is a strange little character.  Our minds are a fascinating thing.  We see the word "turtle", think "turtle", and see "turtle" by association.  But, the Mock Turtle has very little "turtle" in him besides his shell.  It often isn't until we try to recreate something that we notice all the little details, and figure out just what we're looking at.  My hat's off to you, if you saw, and recognized these instantly.  I think my mind is lazy at times.

What we have here, to my interpretation, is the head of a cow, with some kind of little horn, only one of them.  He has the ears of a pig and the feet of a pig.  His tail looks to be that of a lion, and he has fins.  Turtles usually have little feet.  Go ahead. Look them up.  They have toes and little claws to move around on.  I did some research on the anatomy of turtles just to get a head start, then of course had to go off course to make what is the Mock Turtle.  Study of his little home, his protection, the shell, was helpful though.  My head hurts just thinking about the study of this illustration to make him into a needle felt for Alice By the Sea. 

What should be intriguing to the viewer, is being able to see for the first time, what he looks like from all sides, ala Miss E. Mouse.  Of course I had to make this all up, but now we know what he might have looked like.  The most difficult part of making him, was all of him.  But if I had to choose just one area of difficulty, it was the folds of his neck.  Maybe he was good practice for creating the Walrus, but there was a lot more detail in him than the Oyster Eater. 

At about this time, I was ready to be done with this project.  I think I made the Walrus in three days' time, but just as much love was put into him as the sorrowful, uglified Mock Turtle. 

We often hear, in politics or important announcements, a part of the poem, the tale of the Walrus and the Carpenter.  "The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things: Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages - and kings..."  This story, and the poem, were told to Alice by Tweedledum.  Here there is a stunning day, a beautiful day by the sea, which was actually night.  And, along the sand come walking the Walrus and the Carpenter, and bid the oysters to come walking with them for a "pleasant walk, a pleasant talk".  The eldest oyster was reluctant to leave his oyster bed and lead the others along for the walk.  "Their coats were brushed, their faces washed, Their shoes were clean and neat - and this was odd, because, you know, They hadn't any feet".  As it turns out, this little party was nothing more than a ploy to get the oysters out of the water so that the Walrus and the Carpenter could have a feast.  Alice liked the Walrus best "because he at least was a little sorry for the poor oysters".  

Tweedledum's poem is one of my favorite passages between the two books.  Read it sometime. 

And, so I began to sculpt the Walrus.  Naturally, I did some research on walruses.  They dive into deep, dark waters to fish for their oysters.  The bushy whiskers are sent out like little fingers, feelers, to help search for their meals in lightless conditions.  The tusks help pry the oysters from their beds.  They are mostly bubbler and fins and I love the way Tenniel depicted the Walrus in a very dandy suit.  Even before I began him, I knew I would use these little brass, domed buttons for his vest and coat. 

 

I think the folds of his pants at the "ankles" were probably the most troubling part of creating him.  I actually used three photos to create him.  One was from an illustration on the inside cover of the book I have, one was an actual walrus looking at you, and the other was the illustration of the Walrus and the Carpenter with the oysters. Walruses don't have legs or wear shoes...or coats and vests for that matter, and it took a lot of imagination to create him in a needle felt.  Again, I think the fun of these two needle felts is the chance to see, imagine them, from all angles.

The Mock Turtle is almost 5 1/2" tall, and the Walrus is a solid six inches tall. 

 

I've been working long and hard on this entire project and it was one of the most enjoyable I've done.  It gave me the chance to dream of the sea and the coastal areas I miss so much.  It gave me an opportunity to deeply study Tenniel's magical illustrations again, and create a wool felt dress for a 16" Maggie Iacono doll.  And, remind me how difficult side buttons boots are to make.  Each doll foot is different.  One size does not fit all.  This project gave me a chance to do many things I constantly need refreshers on.  But, mostly, I just love Alice.  And, the sea.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse (aka Melissa)

Girls in White Dresses - Picking Violets

The other day my friend Betsy gave me a call and excitedly told me that she was sending me a package.  She told me that she'd found a beautiful antique white christening gown that she was hoping I could cut down into a dress for one of her dolls.  She and I both love the story Anne of Green Gables, and both have Wendy Lawton's 14" wood body version, and she wished a dress for her Anne.  She loves "girls in white dresses", and surely they are one of the bright signs of spring.

I was in the midst of creating the recent Polichinelle costumes for Louise and Lawrence, and delighting in their bold colors, and gilding of gold trims.  Keeping an open mind, I asked her to go ahead and send it on and I'd "have a look".  I'd recently gifted another friend of mine, a $50 hunk of antique fabric that I'd purchased at convention last summer, and wasn't looking forward to handling another piece of antique fabric.  All those little stains and moth holes give me the jitters, and cutting into something when there is no more takes a bold pair of hands and a sharp pair of scissors.

However, I've come to realize over my baby steps, and stumbles into sewing for dolls, that if you don't take a deep breath and plunge in, you don't know what you might be capable of.  Cutting into my first piece of silk was equally daunting, but once I got the hang of it, I wouldn't sew with anything else for awhile.  One of the reasons I sometimes, like with the last project, make the outfits, then miniatures, then accessories, is just to prove to myself that I still can - or at least refresh skills I used to own.  I am never, ever confident with any new project I start.  Ever.  Its only when I allow the materials to talk to me that I begin to understand them and start curiously discovering what can be done.  So it was with this christening gown, stains and holes a-plenty.

First of all you have a fully made gown that obviously some young mother lovingly created for her unborn child (in my mind at least).  Getting over the "how dare you cut it up" has to come first.  Then there is the beauty of the design that appealed first and foremost to the person who acquired it.  Envisioning it as something that would make a lovely doll dress is one thing.  Actually doing it is another.  You can't just cut up a dress with all that embroidered Swiss lace trim, entredeux, and pintucking thinking it will all sew together like a dream.  And, you cannot rip out those teeny stitches with a seam ripper either.  The fabric itself, is so delicate that one wrong tug and you've ripped right through the dress.  Ironing this stuff can be a pickle too, since a too high setting (try the silk setting), will brown the fabric.

Oh, I thought of and tried all this.  And let's not forget to cut only the "good" parts that haven't any holes or stains.  In the end, I cut up the whole dress for the best pieces and learned that you have to cut at least an 1/8" above the lace so that you can sew it to the other pieces (sigh!).  I also studied how the gown was made, and since it was not lined, I noticed that the seams were finished with a zig-zag stitch.  That helped so much.  My thoughts were on how to shrink the gown into doll size exactly.

In short, I followed the look of the original gown and used the ends of the sleeves for the long sleeves of the doll's dress.  There are these beautiful, tight little gathers in the centers as they attach to the insertion lace.  This insertion lace was also used to make a high collar.  Lengths of the fabric, what was left of it, were used to make the ties that end in pintucks.  The ties on the original christening gown were done this way.  Tiny mother of pearl buttons and hooks close it in the back. 

It wasn't until I was completely finished with the dress that I properly breathed.  In fact, all the while I was making it, I considered what I would do out of new fabric and laces to make such a dress if I failed in this attempt.  Lastly, I soaked the dress in Oxyclean (a Robert Tonner trick for restoring vintage doll dresses), to brighten and refresh the fabric.  I have a travel steamer I use for removing wrinkles, but the lace did need a bit of iron pressing. 

When it came time to take photos, I included one of Louise's antique picnic baskets and sprig of violets.  I love violets.  Their color and scent is a favorite of mine, next to lilacs.  Laura (my model) was happy to play "mannequin", and hopes that Anne, with an E, will enjoy wearing it for years to come.  I wish now that I had photographed the christening gown before cutting it up, but again, a lack of confidence was to blame.

There was no inspiration for this dress aside from the christening gown itself, but attached are a few antique white dress pictures that might inspire for the future.  Yesterday was the first day of spring, and I hope the white of your snow, should it linger still, turn to crocus and narcissus to brighten your path.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse 

 

The Theatrical French Polichinelle - For Louise and Lawrence

Do you ever feel that sense of giddy excitement when you know a project is coming to a close?  You've worked so hard, were not in a hurry, and the process seemed endless.  Then the moment comes when you're almost done.  You get this feeling of anticipation, then you realize that there is still so much to do!  This is the way I felt while working on the hats for these costumes.  And, even thinking ahead as to how I'd share  them with you. 


Its no secret to those of you who've followed my creative process, to know that I adore the Polichinelle.  The French Polichinelle, to be exact, but I also enjoy the English Punch, of Punch and Judy, and the Puchinella of Italy.  So who are these characters, and how did they come about? 

Pulchinella is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century, and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry.  The star of southern Italy, he is described as "the voice of the people".  Pulchinella's worldwide popularity for his versitality, has captivated audiences since his introduction in 1620.

Regional variants developed as the character was introduced across Europe.  Europeans identified with the tired, witty "everyman" that Pulcinella represented.  His body shape of the humped back, large belly, hooked nose, and wide mouth, was said to be a mix of family traits.  In Russia, a ballet had been written for Puchinella and Petrushka.  In other adaptations, Puchinella was introduced as a puppet as they commedia dell'are style was not necessarily popular across the continent.

Most famously, was his evolution into Mr. Punch in England.  The key half of Punch and Judy, he is recognized as one of the most important British icons in history.  The marionette, Punchinello, gave his first recorded performance in 1662.  The British Punch is far more childlike, and violent (menacing with his cudgel), but also providing slapstick comedy.

In the French theater, he is known as Polichinelle, and first appeared in the late 16th century performances given at fairs.  Polichinelle was popular with the public and became on of the favorite heroes of the puppet theater.  The expression "Polichinelle's secret" refers to something that everyone knows.  I don't know when France started dressing dolls as Polichinelle, but I would imagine the glorious costuming made them popular as Etrennes sold at the New Year in the late 19th century.  Automatons of Polichinelle, as well as marionettes were treasured, just as the dressed dolls were.  Today they are much sought after antiques. 

While trying to decide what next to do for Lawrence Godey (Louise's brother), since introducing him in his purple velveteen suit over the holiday season, I knew I wanted to create complimentary outfits for the two of them.  I'd already decided what to do for them for the next holiday season, and the idea to create matching Polichinelle costumes came from that idea.  After spending time in pastel pinks and greens, I needed the visual stimulation of the bright primary colors, red and blue.  I had also never worked with metallic gold trims.  And, I was having difficulty deciding which direction to take Louise's wardrobe.  After studying countless Civil War era costuming for boys and girls, I just didn't see a way to create "boy-girl" matching outfits.

What it comes down to sometimes, is what I want to see on my shelf, and what will be fun to make to get there.  Sometimes the inspiration can be in a trim, as it is for some seamstresses with fabric.  I don't think a fabric has ever inspired me, but the trims I used surely did!  Vintage French gold metallic trim.  The loveliest stuff to work with imaginable! 

There are several components standard to a Polichinelle costume, and while the actual character is male, the dolls and automatons have often been female. Perhaps this comes from the Russian idea of Petrushka.  The Napolean hat is one of them, and sometimes it has a stove pipe crown nestled between the shapes.  A lace collar, two tones of color alternating throughout the costume, and glorious gold trimming are a few of the earmarks.  Also the shoes, usually French Court shoes with elaborate bows on them.  As I studied the various ways to combine these elements and decide on how to do the trims, as normal, typical me, I was conservative in my approach.  You will often see two different colored shoes on the feet to correspond with the alternating colors of the outfit, but I did this with the pink and white costume I made for Mignonette.  Let's try something else!

Louise's costume was done after Lawrence's.  With hers, I created a center pointed top that is pointed in front and back. Here sleeves are three-quarter in length, and have gathered lace falling from the elbows.  The skirt is paneled silk.  Ten panels of alternating blue and red were sewn together, then tiny gold bells were sewn to the centers at the hem.  Her Napolean hat has two rosettes down the front of it, over the gold trim.  All the gold trim on both costumes (all three, let's not forget her doll), were hand sewn on.  Louise's sleeve have the gold trim and topped with a rosette.  Five little gold bells top the runner of gold trim down the front of her bodice.  Her court shoes are red leather with blue rosettes. 

Lawrence's costume took a bit more time, which is why I made it first.  It was were I figured out the look of the two costumes.  His pant legs have three rows of gold trim, and the jacket is more elaborately designed.  Vintage gold piping trim was used at the shoulder where the sleeve attaches, is at the waist, and also at the wrist where the sleeve blousons.  If the sleeves had been straight, as I originally planned, they would have had three rows of trim like the pants.  As I did them, it gave me the chance to work with the piping which was attached to a ribbon that easily frayed.  I didn't do this with Louise's costume, although I had just enough to, because I wanted a completely different and more feminine look.  The trim on his jacket emulates the round belly of the Polichinelle, but it was not done for this purpose.  Its an observation of the finished jacket.  Lawrence's hat boasts the rosettes on the ends.  His shoes are blue leather with red rosettes.  I might mention, too, that the beads at the center of all of these rosettes are 24k gold plated.

To close the backs of both costumes, I used three tiny gold buttons.  This can't be seen on Louise's dress due to her long hair.  Both jackets were also designed on the dolls to annoyingly accommodate the doll stands.  Lawrence's jacket has three tiny gold bells going down the front over the trim.

 

The shoes took a couple of days to make.  I couldn't figure out why they weren't coming out the way I wanted, until I realized the soles had to be the shape of the narrow square toe court shoe.  Although they are not visible behind the rosettes, the shoes also have a flap up the instep.

I chose leather for two reasons.  Durability, I actually had colors to match!, (okay three) - and they were easier than silk shoes.  I've made ballet slippers, but I'm never quite content with the fit around the top of the foot and its strength.  You can line the silk, but if the silk isn't a heavy one, they are rather thin and flimsy.

I chose not to give them a shoe of each color, for in this case, I thought less was more.  And, I like girls in red shoes.  I can also give them one of each shoe later if I get bored with the look.  Or switch hats.  Or switch tops!  Their bodies are the same shapes. 

While making these costumes and spending the necessary fiddly time hand stitching all the trims on, I wanted an accessory for Louise.  I had this 3 1/2" doll, a reproduction mignonette, that Barbara DeVilbiss made for me some twenty years ago.  I was delighted by the photo of the large Kestner (?) in the photo below, with all her Polichinelle dolls.  My guess is that the Kestner (?) is probably about 24".  And, I also wanted a little Polichinelle paper theater for Louise and Lawrence to enjoy.

The little mignonette is dressed in the same colors and basic design concept as her two 14" admirers.  However, I needed to make his tiny costume as unique to him, as theirs are to them.  I was pretty "done" with the project when I started working on wigging and dressing him, but I also felt that this was good practice since I've not done a miniature outfit in awhile.  I wanted him to stand out as a little jewel in the display, so paid extra attention to decorating his hat, and added two beads each to his sleeves (faux bells), as well as three down his front to sparkle him up.  The outfit is sewn up the back as I don't believe I'll ever wish to remove it.  However it is made well enough to unstitch it and preserve it should I change my mind...but, I won't.

 

I'd asked my friend, Jean, if she could send me a copy of her little Punch theater to go with this set because it was done in reds and blues, but after I found the French Polichinelle paper cut out on Etsy, I thought best to keep it all French.  The little Punch theater can be used for another project, and will be.  I enjoy cutting out these paper toys, as its a very soothing, calming play-time thing to do.  I chose the Polichinelle puppets for it from another antique French publication.  It was not a sharp print, but has a pleasing appearance.  Not all people scan and share on the Internet thinking someone will want to play with it in the future.  Then, of course, I had to assemble it.  In another time, I would have adhered the paper to thin basswood and cut it out on my miniature table saw, but those days are pretty much over.  Maybe someday I'll do things like this again, when the sewing bug isn't so appealing any longer.

And, finally, I had cut out three tiny images of Punch and Judy with the baby thinking they might make good puppets for the theater.  They were too large.  Judy and the baby were fine to dangle behind the curtain, but Punch didn't fit.  The puppets for these theaters varied from marionettes to hand puppets shown from the waist up.  I attached the "jumping jacks" to sticks, and gave Lawrence and Louise one each for a final photo. 

I think these outfits were worth the month I spent on them, and I'm ready to change direction and work on another Alice project.  We simply had no winter here in California this year, yet now Spring has arrived in all its green drapery.  Time flies and each day is precious.  Live each well, and play often!  Enjoy some of my favorite Polichinelle images below.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse