Kitty Hudson: A Suitable Ensemble For Travel

"The days fly by as I continue to design and labor on the ever  growing trousseaux Mrs. Hudson has commissioned me to get her daughter, Katherine, ready for their European tour this fall.  I suppose I could have chosen lovely warm autumn colors for the Atlantic crossing, but spring caught a hold of me, so I selected a breath of mint and new leaf for Kitty's travel ensemble.  I think she's delighted with the choice, but she's especially enamored of the sheered mink collar and cuffs on the coat.  I know that this young woman will have a ball as she travels in style."  Madame Hoover

The 1920's saw many people on the move.  No longer was travel just for the wealthy, although they would continue to travel in finer style with the best compartments on trains, and state rooms on Atlantic steam ships.  Ocean liners continued to transport the wealthy on business trips and European tours, but passage for everyone was becoming more affordable and comfortable.  Trains were still a popular mode of transportation, but this was also the age of the automobile.  When a young woman like Katherine Hudson traveled, she was accompanied by a companion or her parents.  As Katherine's parents were well-to-do, only the finest rooms would be booked on the transatlantic crossing, and she would travel by boat and train once their feet landed on Europe's soil.  Luggage was required and steamer trunks were filled with clothing and every day needs for the long tours their owners would take.  Travel of this nature was still a status symbol, and Kitty would do it in the latest styles.

When I was approached to make this trousseaux, the travel outfit was the first ensemble I conjured up.  I had a vision, and I knew what I wanted to create.  I'd made luggage for dolls before, but they were always covered in cloth, usually silk or fine cotton plaids.  Those days seem an eternity ago, and for Kitty, I wanted only leather.  Heather was keen enough to find the softest, maybe not the thinnest, but thin, fine quality leather offered from a dealer on Etsy.  She bought a few pieces for me to work with, and when I saw the quality, I bought a piece in every color offered.  But, the color I most fell in love with was "banana".  I would create banana colored luggage for Kitty.  Maybe it was due in part to the name, as I was an almost weekly shopper at Banana Republic back in the early 80's.  Sometimes I'd just go in there and look and dream of Africa.  I loved that store.  It was like going on a shopping safari.

I chose spring green for Kitty's travel outfit.  Finding the right green fabric to match the green wool I'd chosen for the coat was going to be a problem.  But, not for long.  Heather set out for one of her favorite fabric stores and not only found a perfect match, but also had a beautiful leather for the shoes in the same hue.  I'd already planned on the trim being a light beige or off white, and the fur for the coat would be light in color.

After the peach and red day dress I'd just completed, I wanted to try a pleated skirt, which I assumed would be much easier to assemble.  Instead of referring to the "green book", I selected a dress from a Pinterest page of 1920's dresses.  I'm guessing these were patterns from the illustrations at the bottom of the color plates.  Down at the bottom of this post, you can see the dress in green with a leaf pattern that I worked from.  (I don't mess with photos too much when writing this blog, because they've caused me word wrap problems in the past.  So I just added it.)  While the original was most likely made up in georgette, Kitty's dress would be a sensible cotton since it needed to stand up to long days on the go.

I chose a tiny cream colored windowpane cotton for the trim.  Instead of plain cream cotton, the windowpane adds elegance and interest whereas otherwise, you'd be looking at a color block dress more in line with the fashions from the 1960's.  Shorten this dress to three or four inches above the knee, and it would fit right in with that decade.  As I designed this ensemble. I saw variations in other pieces that were brought back in the 60's.  A cloche hat for example, is very similar to the patent leather caps, some with front brims, that the girls wore.  

This fashionable little dress comprises of a bodice, a hip band, and a pleated skirt.  The trim at the neckline is enhanced with a faux tie or placket.  Two tiny mother of pearl buttons were sewn to the neckline where the placket meets the neck band.  This was a feature of the 1920's dress shown in the plate at the end of this post.  The trim at the top and bottom of the hip band is sewn into the bodice edge on top, then ladder stitched to the blouson, and the bottom band is part of the seam attaching skirt and hip band, then ladder stitched at the top edge into the hip band.  This really took me some time to figure out, but came out nicely.  The back closes in mother of pearl shank buttons and thread loops.

The next thing Kitty needed was a coat for chilly days and strolls aboard the deck of the cruise liner.  Again, I looked to a source other than the "green book" for the coat.  Seen to the left is a paper doll page that is simply adorable.  I fell in love with the simplicity of the coat below.  Simplicity in style, but elegant with the addition of a fur collar and cuffs.

I worked hard on designing the pattern for this one.  Frustrated after a couple of attempts, I pulled out my Tonner Deja Vu Emma Jean collection, to see how he handled the design of her coats.  I found one very similar in the basic shape of the coat, but it had a square velveteen collar similar to a sailor collar.  So I worked off his design for the shape of the coat and made two mock ups from wool I felt I could spare, to get the design in the paper doll page.  When the final mock up was made, the beautiful curved shape of the inside of the coat could be seen.  I knew I was on target, and with a few more design edits, I was able to get the coat I wanted.  Thank you, Robert Tonner.

The most challenging though was the addition of the fur collar and cuffs.  I had a box of scraps that Stacy (dimitha on Ebay)  had sent me many years ago.  I chose the white sheered mink for Kitty's coat.  Please let me note that I would normally use faux fur on modern and contemporary doll garments, but when it comes to dressing an antique, real fur is best.  Here is what I discovered.  Line the fur first.  As you go about pinning the lining to the fur, tuck the fur in and towards the center.  When cutting fur, turn it over and snip carefully through the hide to enable the fur to remain long on the edges.  Once the lining is sewn to the fur, turn it inside out, and stitch (I always use the hidden ladder stitch) the lining to the coat.  For the ends, carefully stitch them together.

I lined both the coat and the fur with a low slub quality white silk dupioni.  In the photo to the right, you can see the shape of the curve at the top of the coat that creates the look so prevalent on coats in the 1920's.  I'll be using this pattern again.  It may not be for Kitty.  It may be for a larger doll, but it was hard won and a treasure to me.

The next thing I focused on were the accessories.  The shoes and the purse.  You might recall me mentioning the Life magazine celebrating the 1920's.  In it was the photo (at the beginning of this post) with a woman and Dalmation standing in front of a luxury car.  It wasn't the car I was interested in.  Her coat is similar to Kitty's, although the collar is larger and it lacks the cuffs.  It was her shoes that caught my attention.  I had to bring this photograph under my magnifying lamp to have a really close look, and they're incredible.  I had to make them for Kitty's ensemble.

As I mentioned earlier, Heather had provided me with a nice piece of leather that matched exactly, the color of the outfit.  I wanted to try the shoes with this green, paired with a light beige.  Again, this would be a "two toned" pair of shoes for Kitty, yet this design is completely different than her red and tangerine t-straps.

I recall when I first started making my own shoes for dolls, thinking that the top stitching I saw on doll shoes was actually one piece of leather sewn to the other.  Sometimes it might be, depending on the size of the shoes, but with little shoes like this, the leather is stitched before being cut, then glued to the shoe base.  I keep reminding myself that I'd like to do a high heeled shoe tutorial, and when I do, it will be for a much simpler pair of shoes.  I'm running out of little buckles, too.  I have a ton of miniature metal buckles, but only a few shapes are nice for such shoes.  And, I also believe that a doll's garments should be able to be played with, so super tiny buckles just won't do. If the doll's foot would have been larger, I would have chosen to do a button closure with a slit in the strap to button them with.  The button would of course be a bead.  However the strap is too narrow to do this with.  For

me.  Other people may be able to do this, but I know my limits.  I'd also like to point out that the shoes can be wiggled onto the foot due to the softness of the leather.

So with the shoes made, Kitty needed a purse to match.  I'd already made the valise out of leather (we'll get to that in a minute), and I wanted to try a leather purse with gussets similar to the valise. This little purse took an awfully long time to make because the gussets were hand sewn in.  That involves taking a very thin and fine John James needle and using a pair of jewelry pliers to help push the needle through the two layers, then pull it through the other side.  Gluing the leather together for "basting" or even fastening, doesn't work.  The top sides of the leather won't stick together as you curve the bottom edge of the gusset.

I have the patterns for both the envelope purse I made for the peach and red day dress, and this one.  But they are only the patterns for length.  I simply measure the height of the front of the bag and the bottom width and cut a gusset from those measurements.  A rectangle with curved edges at the bottom.  I have not had luck trying to sew something this tiny on a machine. There's a lined cardboard base glued to the bottom of the purse so it can sit on a surface, and it gives it shape.  The handle is top
stitched and attached to the purse with jewelry findings.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the hat.  The cloche hat is made from the same wool as the coat.  It is in four pattern pieces that are sewn together, then a brim sewn on.  The brim on this hat is top stitched so the wool doesn't stretch.  Its very narrow in the back with just a whisper of eye shading in the front. A pleated silk band from the same silk I used to line the coat, is sewn to the hat's crown, top and bottom.  I had these lovely vintage white sprigs that I found at a doll show and used a few of those to decorate the hat on one side.

Finally, we come to the luggage.  Which in truth are the first pieces I made for this ensemble.  I think I as waiting for fabric to arrive, or I just needed a break from sewing.  Or maybe I just wanted to play with that beautiful banana colored leather.

I started with the suitcase.  I was pretty sure that I remembered how I used to make suitcases, but wasn't quite prepared for covering it with leather.  I'd just purchased some packs of chip board, which is study cardboard for crafting.  I bought it in two densities.  The lighter one is good for use in making the inner soles of dolls shoes, but the thicker one was purchased to make the luggage.  I used to make my doll luggage from basswood covered with fabric.  Why?  Because you could use hardware on it.  I'd drill holes and use real screws and nails, which is what wood is perfect for.  But, with using cardboard, that all went out the window.  So I had to find a way to close the luggage without miniature hardware.  By the way, metal doesn't glue to leather very well.  I tried.  I'm not in the habit of gumming up delicate pieces with epoxy glues like the kind that need to be mixed.  You also use a lot of leather in covering the luggage, and I didn't have extra for mistakes.

Go back up to the top of this post and take a closer look at the poster of the young flapper with her travel luggage.  This illustration was my inspiration for the valise and hat box.  I love this poster!  I found so many darling travel posters from the early twentieth century, but the ones from the 20's were ingenue, sexy, and sometimes just inspiring.  These posters were advertisements made for day dreamers and people who loved to, and had the means to travel.

The suitcase is lined with a plaid silk.  The lining is separate pieces of chip board covered in silk, then glued into the halves of each side of the suitcase.  All the trim was double top stitched.  I have this beautiful thin cognac leather that I've used for straps before, but never on this scale.  I spent a day, it seems, sewing top stitched lengths of leather.  That's a lot of trim on one suitcase.  The handles?  Too hard to describe how I made them, but they are glued on at the ends to the top of the suitcases.  The straps on the suitcase that keep it closed are loose.  They are not glued to the suitcase at the bottom or top.  I decided to make them this way since it just seemed right after studying vintage luggage.  The hinges are made from leather, too, then glued on.  Real buckles were used for the straps.  I don't think this design, using leather and cardboard rather than wood and hardware, detracts in any way from the overall look or functionality.

Then I tackled this darling valise.  I love the look of old doctor's bags.  I once had Diana Wieler make me one to go with my Bleuette nurse's disguisement.  She was a genius.

I started with covering the chip board pieces with a striped silk to coordinate with the suitcase interior.  I glued these pieces to the length of the leather to define the shape and functionality of the piece.  Big mistake.  I should have sewn the gusset pieces in first, which I could have done since the size of this would have permitted me to do so (larger than the purse).  You cannot machine sew the gussets in once the chip board liners are in, so once again, I had to hand sew the gussets to the bag.  It was a nightmare to turn inside out, but the shape was good.  If I ever make one again, I'll do it differently, but I'm happy with the results.  I'm wondering how sewing without a foot, and just the needle, would work?  I may have to try this.

Delicate leather straps were added and this time, glued to the base of the bag.  With bits of cognac leather sitting about the table. I tried to make luggage tags.  I wasn't taking this very seriously.  I think Heather has luggage tags she may want to use, but I made a couple of "cute" ones and tucked in a slip of paper with Kitty's initials inside.  The luggage tags are one piece with the loop in the center.  You top stitch the edges, cut out the piece, cut out the center of one, fold it over and glue the two "flaps" together.

I was also very attracted to the hat box in this poster, so I attempted to make one.  Normally I cover them with fabric, but this time I used scrapbooking paper.  I had to order it online since crafting stores are closed at this time.  Scrapbooking paper is just too fancy these days.  I wanted just a plain black and plain white gloss, but it seems these are hard to find, or simply out of stock.  So I used Tiffany Blue.

The best way to do this using chip board is to mist it, moisten it, then curve it around a can or bottle, and secure that with rubber bands until its dry.  I connect the edges with a piece of muslin and lots of glue.  Its more permanent that way.

One of things I forgot, I do forget, about making  things like covered hat boxes, is that you have to account for the minimal thickness of what you're covering the pieces with.  For instance, you need to make proper allowance for the top to fit over the base.  Because I didn't plan properly and wanted to move on, I was not able to line the top.  And, I really didn't like the thickness of the paper I used to cover the pieces.  It was not pliable like cloth, and was miserable to cover the chip board with.  The fact remains, that I seldom do something twice so even though this was a practice, it probably won't get perfected in the future.  Its a cardboard hat box.  Its large enough to hold one of Kitty's hats.  Task accomplished.  And, it looks cute for a display.  The umbrella was one that was purchased for Bleuettes when Joe (can't recall his last name), the vintage Barbie guy, had made in China for us.  These lovely little umbrellas are completely functional.

Heather had provided me with these lovely mini travel stickers to decorate the luggage with.  However, after all the work I put into the luggage, I didn't have the heart to cover that beautiful banana leather with sticky paper pieces.  They'll look darling on the luggage once selected, but I'll let her do this.  This way she can play with it once she gets it.

This has been a terribly long post, and I thank you for reading it to the end.

If Kitty were my doll, she'd be displayed in the outfit with her luggage for a year.  I had such an enjoyable time creating the travel ensemble, and it came out exactly as I had envisioned.  Can't you see her waving good-bye to America as she boards the cruise liner for Europe?

During this time of quietude, play dolls.  Create something wonderful each day.  Stay safe and enjoy the beauty of spring.

Love,
Melissa

Katherine Louise Hudson's Shopping Day

I just made myself a mug of Matcha tea to begin writing this blog with.  I love Good Earth's blend, but I especially enjoy the "fortunes" written on each of the tea bag's tabs.  "When the past calls, let it go to voicemail.  It has nothing new to say." unknown  Well, yes.  For my own past, which I sometimes spend too much time in, hit delete.  But, fashion's past?  That's a place that I can travel to and spend countless hours in.  I enjoy not only looking at the details of costuming, but noting and making comparisons to the fashions of today and those I wore years ago.  For instance, drop waist dresses had returned in the 60's.  How do I know this?  My grandmother sewed my clothing and I had two dresses like this.  They certainly didn't compare to the dresses from the 1920's, but the basics were there.  And, Mary Jane shoes were the style of both these decades, too.  There's no sweeter sound to a deb or a child, as the clack-clack-clack of a pair of shiny shoes on a hard wood or tiled floor.  (I tap danced as a child and young adult, too.  Love that noise!)

After finishing up Kitty's lingerie, I needed color to sew with.  That's another reason I hate making underwear.  White, white, white, and occasional pink or blue.  Boring! I don't care how fancy it is either.  Unless you're into boudoir dolls, ladies lounging in their unmentionables, all that work goes under a dress and you'll never see it.  So now was the time to get busy with color and a bit of dazzle.

I went back to my now favorite fashion book, that green one titled Flapper Era Fashions From the Roaring '20s.  (see previous post).  This book simply has everything in it, even if some areas, like purses, were only given half a page.  I'm a day dress person.  Fancy gowns and evening wear are lovely in their own right, but how do we spend most of our time?  Right.  And, that is exactly why I chose to build a little day dress fashion for Kitty from the ground up.  Park strolls, museum touring, tea in the café, and most importantly shopping!  Kitty loves to shop.  The 20's saw girls wearing make up, and they needed cash to shop for all the essentials.  So I designed something that would be appropriate for the afore mentioned occasions, as well as shopping in a market stall in Cairo, to a boat ride in Venice.

The image that most popped out at me, inspired me, was this simple, yet fashionable day dress shown in the right lower corner of this advertisement.  The skirted portion of it looked like a challenge, and it certainly was.  But, I also loved the details of the belted hip, the buttons and the tucks down the front.  I'm not into ties at the neck.  Haven't been since women tried to wear them in offices in the 80's to look "professional".  Barf.  Shoulder pads and ties.  Double barf.  Yet, this dress can be easily dressed up with a white silk scarf at the neckline and look fabulous.

I'd just bought this gorgeous peach colored Liberty Lawn, and it had a bit of a Japonaise look to it.  Perfect for the 20's.  I'd already decided, needing color on my table, that Kitty should have a red hat, and the outfit would be designed around the red hat.

I had some lovely red silk that had an extremely light hand and wanted to try this for the cuffs, collar, trim and borders of the dress.  I know what some are thinking.  Peach and red?  Yes.  These colors are paired quite often, although when we sit to design something, we seldom think of them as going together.  There was a bit of light red to the centers in some of the white flowers on this fabric, and they'd pop with the red trim.

The first thing I needed to do was figure out the skirt.  What would give the dress the drape as shown in the advertisement?  No pleats.  No gathers.  Its a smooth attachment of the skirt to the bodice.  A circle.  A circle with a hole cut in the center, then a cut up the back so that you could attach it to the bodice.  This took a bit of effort to get exactly correct, as the hole will seem smaller, not enough, but cut the circle up the back and the circle becomes a length on the bias that pins remarkably well to a straight bodice.  The only issue is that on a little doll, you can't get the flowing drapes you'd find on a human or a much larger doll.  There's only 3" of skirt length to work with .  You can overcome this, once its attached, with steam and some manipulation.

The bodice is a beautiful thing with centered pintucks, some space, then opposite pleats just at the shoulder to the dropped waist.  These latter ones are simply ironed and sewed, while the ones decorated with the buttons are sewn.  Eight little buttons tack down the centered pintucks, and two little red buttons sit just below the peaks on the belt.  These peaks are repeated in the back of the dress as well.

To trim the belt, I cut strips of the silk on the bias, and hand sewed them to the edges.  Patience is my middle name.  At times.  While the bottom edge of the belt is sewn to the skirt, the top edge is sewn to the dress just at the peaks.  Were this a house dress, these openings might be nice as pockets.

Of course we had to make an annoying collar.  I don't like making collars, but everything I do like comes with one it seems.  The sleeves were banded, and the last use of the silk was the border at the hem.  This is where the fun begins.  As you know, I line all my dresses.  So what I did here was, sew the bias cut border to just above the hem on the front of the dress, then sewed the edge into the seam of the lining so that it would be hidden.  I made that up.  So what?  I'm sure its been done somewhere in time.  It created a nice, smooth finish.

I knew the shoes would be difficult to make, so I took a break and spent a day making the hat.  I used a Bleuette hat mold by PNB in a cloche style.  I had no idea if it would fit Kitty or not, and the only way to know was to make it.  There was barely a flip to the front and not much of an edge to the back and I wanted a much fancier hat that the mold would give me.  So I added hat braid as needed.

For some silly reason, my fringe glue, which is what "they" all use, was not adhering each round to the next.  I thought my glue had gone bad.  Does glue go bad?  I have a huge bottle of this stuff and would hate to toss it.  Personally, I think it was the braid itself.  The dye in the braid?  Some kind of chemical there that refused to behave the way these hats are made on those molds.  The biggest trouble was with the turned up rows.  So I gave up and started hand sewing those areas.  They will hold now.

After the hat had cured overnight, I decorated it with the same silk as the dress's trim.  Have you ever tried to put a flat ribbon on a round hat and didn't like the way it looked because it didn't sit nice against the crown?  So here's what I did.  I once again cut the silk on the bias, pleated it and pinned it to the crown before stitching it on.  The bias hugs the crown beautifully, and I'll remember this to the day I die.  Or at least stop sewing.  Heaven forbid!  Since I had a pleated band cut on the grain, I used it to make a half fan and stitched it to the band.  I love this hat.  I wish you could see the samples in that green book.  If you love the 20's fashions, find yourself a copy on Amazon.

Now we needed to pull this altogether with a snappy pair of shoes and a matching bag.  As I've been designing this Euro tour wardrobe in my head, I knew I'd want to try bi-colored shoes.  I love t-straps, and Heather had sent a pattern for an outfit with shoes in it and I was over the moon.  How wonderful not to have to design a shoe pattern from scratch.  This entire pattern set was supposed to fit this exact doll, and what a load of malarkey.

You know how I feel about other people's patterns anyway, but this shoe pattern was ridiculous.  I knew something was up when I looked at what she'd drawn for the inner sole, but (I'm scratching my head here), this just wouldn't do.  The sole of Kitty's foot bed in only just over 1 1/2".  I knew this from the mules I'd made already.  And the whole t-strap shoe pattern would need to be redefined.  see below for how different the drawn pattern is to the white patterns I made.  In fact, the example of the photographed shoe on the front of this pattern set could not have been made with this pattern.  Why do they do that to us?!  It happens with clothing patterns, too, and I learned this nine years ago when I tried to sew for Daisy.

Anyway, I chose red for the shoes and I also had this lovely orange leather I wanted to use as trim, keeping with the color scheme.  The shoes at the bottom of this advertisement were my inspiration, but I dressed them up with the orange for the straps.

While I was top stitching the shoe uppers, I had an idea to punch little holes in the leather to add some pizzazz.  I did all this work under my mag lamp because it was tiny detail work and I had to center the punch over the dots I'd made on the front of the leather.  Teeny strips of leather getting teeny holes punched in it. Good grief.  But, they came out darling.

It took me a full day and a bit longer to make these shoes, but this is what it takes.  This is new territory for me, and I hope that with each pair I make, they'll get nicer and nicer.

The heels are covered in the red leather and I chose silver for the buckles because that's all I had in this tiny size.  I have super tiny shoe buckles, and had used them on Huguette's shoes, but the straps are glued to those shoes.  I needed a buckle that I could get the strap in and out of.  I still use a fine pair of tweezers to do this, but it works.  And, fairly smoothly.  Sometimes I forget that I'm sewing for a doll.  It's just me, but I want the clothes and accessories I make for dolls to make the doll look like a miniature representation of a real person, and not a doll.

I'm proud of how these shoes turned out.  Its okay.  We can take pride in our work when it comes out well.

Finally, this morning, I made a purse to match.  Earlier I'd had a senior moment wondering if women eve

n carried purses back then.  You seldom see them holding one in illustrations.  Parasols, yes.  I think my mind has been stretched too far with all that's going on in the world right now, and I got thunked on the head for it, too.  However, their purses were used more as small accessories, rather than the luggage we carry today.  They were fashion accessories just large enough to carry a compact, a little money and maybe a cigarette case.  I'll get more into purses later, but I've done a lot of reading up on them since my solid thunking.  Believe it or not, there are ten pages of hats in the green book, and barely a mention of purses.  However, the "mention" was enough to inspire me to make her a wallet.  I'll call it was wallet because it looks like a big wallet.  The one in the top right of the illustration was my inspiration.

While this flap over bag has a tassel for decoration, I wanted the doll to be able to hold the purse, so I made a wrist loop for it.  From other examples I've seen, wrist loops were used as well, they just aren't described in this advertisement.

The purse is decorated to match the shoes from the orange trim to the silver buckle.  I sewed a small snap on the flap and front so that it closes nicely.  If Kitty were my doll, she'd be dressed in this outfit for the next six months, but there is still the rest of the trousseaux to get under way.

"The other day, Katherine, pardon me, Kitty, was sulking about the parlor waiting for the rain to stop.  She's been spending her days seeing the sights of New York, and has made a few friends along the way.  She was the life of the party at a salon I held the other evening, and was fascinated with my friend who has recently returned from an archeological dig in Egypt.  He took her out to meet a few friends of his, and she has since been going out in the evenings to some of the clubs nearby.  This has lifted her spirits immensely.  I trust her, as I trust Charles's associations.  I just completed a day dress for her European tour, but she wished to wear it today to meet with one of the young ladies for lunch.  The rain will stop and a taxi will be hailed.  She's been wonderful company, but I have so much to do.  I'm glad she's found friends to socialize with."  Madame Hoover

Katherine Louise Hudson, a 1920's Flapper

"I'm devastated!  Mother is sending me away to this horrible designer's home in New York City run by Madame Hoover, whoever that is!  As if 'coming out' and meeting the queen next Spring wasn't enough.  But, before this, my parents will be taking me on a Grand Tour of Europe to prepare me for sophisticated society, as if I really need this, and I do need a trousseaux to travel with.  There's only one thing I really care about, and that's traveling to the Valley of the Kings and going on a dig.  Archeology is the bee's knees!  I feel so wretched having to miss all the parties I've been invited to over the next couple of months.  Life as I've known it is OVER!"
From the diary of Kitty Hudson

"The late winter sunlight was coming through the beautiful new window in my parlor this afternoon.  I was catching up on correspondence and enjoying the jewel tones cast upon my carpet from the Nouveau window with its peacocks strolling in a garden.  This was a gift from a dear friend and was installed just recently.  Sophie came in bearing a letter for me from a young debutante in St. Louis.  It was a letter of introduction coming from the daughter of London's aristocracy, the Hudson family.  She introduced herself as Katherine Louise Hudson, but that I must call her "Kitty".  Her parents are taking her on a tour of Europe prior to her debut with the queen (in the hopes she will land a title), and she requires a trousseaux for travel.  

She'll be living with me as I design and create the garments she requires, and I fear she is doubtful of having a grand time.  What she doesn't know is that her parents chose me, not only for my craft, but for the salon I hold most evenings with a variety of my friends, who are mainly artists, one scientist and an archeologist who has been on several digs in The Valley of the Kings.  My hope is that between fittings and touring New York (and the gatherings I hold in my salon each evening with my terribly eccentric friends), she'll report back to her parents that all went well.  This letter arrived later than I believe she expected, and she is due to arrive early this evening.  I must ask Sophie to prepare a special meal."  Notes from Madame Hoover

And so it begins.  Just about the time I'd finished the portrait of Huguette, my friend, Heather, sent me one of her Flapper dolls to dress.  This meant I'd be stepping back in time 100 years into the fashions and lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties.  I loved the idea. Along with a step back in history, this would be the first time I'd ever dressed an antique doll.  Why not?  What a wonderful challenge.  The other interesting thing about this doll was that she not only had a young lady's form, but high heeled feet.  I've never made high heeled shoes before and this more than anything was intriguing to me.  This is also an interesting year, 2020, as it is the centennial of the Roaring Twenties.  How fitting!  I instantly picked up two magazines on a grocery store rack, and have been doing a bit of studying up on this fascinating era in history.

Kitty Hudson was made by Cuno and Otto Dressel, a German company that was founded in Sonnenberg in 1789 and continued business until 1942.  The company made not only dolls, but also metal and wood toys.  The dolls were marked 1469 and were distinctive for their lovely heart-shaped faces and slender lady bodies.  The head molds were purchased from Simon and Halbig, although heads marked C.O.D. 1469 differ from those marked Simon and Halbig 1469.  The Simon and Halbig's have a more serene expression and pierced ears.  The early 1469s were portrayed as demure Edwardian ingenues, while the later ones were presented as sassy Flappers.

Along with Kitty's arrival, Heather included a few books on 1920's fashions, and a couple of them had patterns in them.  Also provided were two patterns for this exact doll from an Australian designer.  Do we even need to once again address how I feel about using other people's patterns?  No.  But, one of the patterns had shoes for the high heel feet in it.  After looking at what she drew and how she described making them, and not even mentioning the heels except for "now glue the heel on", I did my own thing.  Like I always do.  To me, the shoes were the most important part in any of this.  If I could not make shoes for the doll, I would not bother dressing her.  So that is where I began.

Since the doll came dressed in a "maman made" onsie, or cami-knickers, I felt it best to begin with a new set of undergarments.  She would have a pair of dressing mules, or slippers, to wear from the vanity to the closet.  I looked up a couple of Youtubes on making high heeled shoes, and both were pretty bad, but I did come away with what people are using for the heels.  Golf tees.  Bamboo golf tees.  Cut them down, cut them in half and you have a heel.  This limits the kind of heel the shoe can have, but I can carve from bass wood, a variety of other heels.  It took three tries before I was happy with a pair of the mules, and the effort was worth it.  I'd made them up in white silk with fur puffs, but when I went to begin the new pair of cami-knickers, I needed them in pink.  So I put the white mules aside and began a full set of lingerie in light pink habotai silk.  In the reference book, the one in green seen above, these undergarments were described as pink, so I chose the color for authenticity.  This book, which I was wonderfully impressed with, was in my Amazon cart before Heather's copy arrived.  When I told her I was thrilled with it, she told me it was mine to keep.  Wow!  Thank you!

Kitty's cami-knickers were designed as a pair of wide legged shorts with a bandeau top sewn to the waistband.  If you look carefully at the illustration, there is gathering at the dropped waist, and the bodice is smooth.  The illustration shows open sides, but I didn't feel these were necessary, especially since these cami-knickers will never be seen.  Which is why I do not care for making under garments.  But, these were fun to do and I was especially intrigued with the dropped waist, which is what many of the dresses had in the 1920's.

The cami-knickers are edged in what I think was an old attempt at tea staining French cotton lace.  It looked warm and had that vintage look, so I used it.  There was also a medallion of sorts on the cami-knickers in the illustration, so I made one up from the same lace and sewed it on.  As I was hunting and poking for buttons to close the back with, I came upon these vintage lingerie buttons that I purchased years ago at a doll fair.  They are made up of rings that have threads embroidered over them like mandalas.  A image of the cards can be seen below.  They will wonderfully go through the wringer!

In the meantime, I was thinking of stockings for the doll.  I had purchased some very silky and beautiful nylons for Cissy, from a website called Doll Secrets.  She has an Ebay store where I purchased Cissy's, so I did a little digging and discovered her regular website where she makes nylons for dolls of all sizes.  I chose two pairs.  White and nude.  They have stretch lace at their tops.  These were the Rini size for a doll 14"-15".  What a marvelous find.

The next thing we needed was a dressing robe and the kimono style was quite popular during this time.  I was tempted to try and find a suitable printed silk or satin, but in the end, chose to fashion this out of the same fabric as the cami-knickers.  You might notice that the tie on the robe in the illustration is at hip length as well.  I would have loved wearing these fashions as I was unfortunately born without a waistline.

The kimono pattern is a basic one with the shoulders on the fold.  Designing and cutting this out was the easy part.  I decided to cut long strips of the silk on the bias so that I could finish the edges with "bias tape".  The first pass was sewn on the machine, and the folding and tucking under was all hand sewn to finish the gown.  I recall that I made Daisy a kimono costume one Halloween, so I quickly recalled what I had done with that and continued.

The last thing I did was make another pair of mules to match.  Both mules are made from fine, thin leather covered with silk.  The heels are also leather and silk covered to match.  For the lingerie, I added a piece of the lace to the front of the mules.  At some point I would like to write a blog journaling on how to make high heeled shoes as I fashion them.  There really is only one more step in the process and that is the aluminum sheeting used as a brace.  If you don't do this, the heel will bend out backwards when you stand the doll up.  I might do this when I make her next set of shoes.

Well, Kitty had her lingerie, and it just didn't seem right not to have a pair of pajamas.  So back to the book I went and found some lovely gowns and sporty looking two piece pajama sets.  I chose to do the later since Kitty is a thoroughly modern girl flouting the oppressions in fashion of the past.

Back to the  pile of white fabrics I went.  I have a ton of white fabrics, but some of my favorites are the Italian shirting cottons I picked up from Farmhouse Fabrics.  These were purchased back when I made Alice Liddell's outfit.  I like choices.  When I begin designing, my table is strewn with fabrics and trims and all sorts of nonsense as I mix and match and pair until I have the look I want.  In the illustration, the pajamas had this shiny diamond pattern to them.  Believe it or not, I  had just the perfect Italian shirting cotton to create this look, and ran with it.
I already had the beginning of the pants from the shorts I made with the cami-knickers.  I simply lengthened them and banded the waisted line.  The hems of the pants are edged in white French cotton lace.  The back is closed with a thread loop and mother of pearl shank button.

The top took a little thinking though.  Its a length of fabric, a bandeau, that is gathered, or ruched at the top and finished with the same lace as used at the hem.  The straps are lace as well.  I did notice the flutter sleeves, however I would have had to design a much different top to accommodate the, and I wanted to move on. Like the side slits in the cami-knickers, they were simply omitted.  Now I had an outfit for those white silk mules.  The illustration even shows the pajamas paired with such slippers.

Kitty Hudson and I are going to be spending quite a bit of time together.  There is a full trousseaux to be created for each step of her European Tour, and I may just be coerced into making the white gown she wears to debut for the queen.

"When Miss Hudson arrived at just half past six, she was flustered, and tired, yet excited all at once.  Sophie had greeted her at the door and took her bags up to her room.  She was then ushered into the parlor while I quietly waited with my correspondence and the setting sun.  One look at her and I knew we were in for some fun.  She stared at me with wide open eyes and exclaimed, "Why Madame Hoover!, you're not at all what I was expecting!"  To be continued...

 

 

 

Madame Hoover's Intimate Collection