Grace's Red Christmas Dress

When I was a little girl, my grandmother loved to dress me in red.  She lived with us for a period of several years, and in that time, sewed our dresses for school and special holidays.  She used to call out, as I left to go to school, "There goes my little red bird!"  Well, you can imagine how embarrassing this was, but all the same, if you think about it, it was endearing.  

My mother used to say, "I love red no matter what color it is!"  She loved the red cardinals although living in California, you'd never see one.  She was a dreamer like myself and Christmas was a favorite time of year in our home as children.  Spots of red would show up everywhere.  Little red felt elves in the tree, holly berries, red stockings she somehow hung from that brick fireplace.  Red cheeked Santas in red coats - cardboard die cuts that were taped in our front room window.

I love red, too, and there is no better time of year for the color to shine, than at Christmas.

Back in late November, as Rachel Hoffman was gearing us up for the Virtual Doll Convention Christmas Pageant, she put some of Diana Vining's original artwork in her gift shop, for sale.  When I saw the painting of Grace in this red gown, I popped it into my cart and purchased it.  This image just sang to me!  And, somewhere along the line, either by my dreamful imagination, or osmosis, I thought Robert Tonner was going to offer a Grace doll wearing this dress.  I was excited.  She was definitely going in my cart!  But, it wasn't meant to be.

The funny thing is that prior to this pipe dream, I'd purchased fabrics and roses to make the dress.  Then of course I didn't, because I thought Robert was coming to the rescue.  Nope.  Didn't happen.  Of course, we weren't even sure what he was going to offer us through the VDC until the Christmas Pageant began, and I made Grace the Partridge in a Pear tree gown.  At least she had an "official" Christmas gown and a memento from the Christmas Pageant.

Pageant over, doll not offered, Peggy Sue needed her red coat and bonnet, so I worked on getting her dressed for Christmas.  There sat the fabric, in a plastic bag for posterity.  I suppose I'd always intended to make it anyway, but did I really want to?  Well, that's the very reason I started sewing in the first place.  Right?  To be able to have something no one made and couldn't be purchased.

I'd bought two different kinds of red glitter tulle.  One from the U.S. and one from the U.K.  Both were the fine netting tulle.  Pretty as can be.  I bought miniature artificial roses.  You couldn't purchase just one, so I have lots left over.  And, a yard of red jersey knit, hoping it would all match nicely.  It did.  The jersey knit was nice, too, which surprised me.

So a few days ago, I caved, and started "Grace's Christmas Dress", as Diana called it.  I used the pattern I made for her Halloween Venus gown and altered it with Tamara Casey's t-shirt pattern.  Drawing them up together to get the bodice wasn't too difficult.  The sleeves needed to be taken in quite a bit for a snug fit, and the under bust to hips portion was already designed in the Venus pattern.  As with everything I do, this was a go-for-it moment, and I surely did not expect it to come out well - even come out at all.

The jersey bodice ends below her fanny where the ruffles begin.  Looking back on this, I probably could have shortened the length of the bodice some, but I was focused on designing the ruffled skirting at the time.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do this.  I haven't done layered ruffles in ages, and really had to give this some thought.  And, also, was it going to work for this gown?

One thing I noticed and was glad I caught, was the the middle ruffle is longer than the others.  These ruffles are not sewn on top of the fabric, but sewn into pieces.  The way I created the fullness was to lengthen each layer, then gather that once the tulle ruffle was attached to the top edge.  

Again with paper doll clothing, for me its all a matter of how to create something to look like the image.  In the painting, I envisioned tulle.  Sparkly tulle.  But, it could have been opaque fabric with sparkles.  That would have done the trick, but where does one find something like that?  I had the fabrics I'd purchased, and used them.

The layers that attach to the jersey bodice are red Shantung silk.  Its what I had on hand.  I fussed and fussed over the skirting, and even gave up a snow day skiing yesterday to have a whole day to concentrate and get this done.  Which is alright.  There will be more snow, and both my husband and I needed some alone time.  He looked so disappointed when I said I wanted to go.  He wanted to do a hard cross-country climb, and some exploring.  So I stayed home and tore my hair out trying to create this gown.

Grace is wearing the red shoes with bows from Marcia Friend's website.  Perfect match.  I fashioned her a wreath of mini roses since I could not locate my miniature holly garland.  I attached pearls and glass bead leaves to the wired wreath.  Her wig is the new one I purchased from the Christmas Pageant, and I pinned it up for the occasion.  She's wearing the red earrings from Robert's Holiday Wishes sequined outfit.

Grace, or my other Grace, is now ready for the fireside holiday festivities with her friend, Dolly Dingle.  I am done sewing for the remainder of the days to Christmas.  I have at least twenty must-see Christmas movies to watch, and will catch The Nutcracker on a Youtube.  The 1993 NYC Ballet Nutcracker is a treat.  There's one from the Royal Ballet coming, but you have to buy a ticket and stream it.  I'm not sure we can do that on my computer.  I'll ask.  Now that we have TMobile, maybe it can be watched on our television!  

Its been a lovely Christmas season, and Rachel and Diana played a huge part in making it special.  Six days to go!  And, they go so quickly.  I love red no matter what color it is, too, so I'll share some Christmas Red with you below.  

Wishing you a lovely Christmastime!  The joy is in the little things that sparkle!

Love, Melissa

Maybe I'll make this for next year!

 

We're finally having some Christmassy weather today.  It has been dry, blue and clear for several weeks now.  Which has been great for my husband who is relandscaping the backyard after we had our three beautiful birch trees removed last summer.  They were threatening to consume the house, and were, yes, a fire harzard.  Sad though.  On the flip side, they dropped something on the patio and whatever was out there, throughout the year.  Even sticky stuff from a pest that eats the leaves.  And, that was the worst of all.  

But, it is raining today and a fire's been warming the house in the fireplace since last night.  We so need the rain, but to me, its a gift that keeps giving.  And, maybe there will be snow in the Sierras to go cross country skiing in this week!  If there's enough snow around 5000 ft., we'll go.

And, Peggy Sue's Christmas wish came true early.

I knew I wanted to make her a coat.  I would love to make her some snow play clothing, too, but this will have to wait until after the New Year.  Alice Leverette did not give us a pattern for a jacket or coat, much less a bonnet to go with them, so I put this off as long as I could.  Am I getting lazy in designing patterns?  Maybe a little.  Only because I have two other projects on the table and have been caring for a puppy that just had major surgery when a piece of rubber got stuck in his small intestine.  Good grief.  What next? 

And, I've been decorating the house in bits and pieces.  The main decorations, which were minimal this year, have been added to slowly as the spirit and inspiration hit me.  Maybe this is okay.  A little Christmas every day.  Its feeling very Christmassy and cheery around here now, and dolls have been getting redressed for the holiday as well.  Even little trees for the dolls are getting decorated, both pine and tinsel.

When I was browsing for coat ideas for Peggy Sue, I spotted this darling retro Christmas card, and the decision had been made there and then, that I would do something like this for her.

The swing coat in the illustration shows a peep of a star print dress beneath it.  I thought I might make a dress like this to go with it, but I'd already made a similar one that was the backdrop for the half apron with the white Merry Christmas embroidery on it.  If I spent less time making up the Winter Holiday wardrobe, the coat and bonnet made up for it in effort.  Velveteen is such a beautiful fabric, but it is such a bear to sew on.

So I put to the task of making up a pattern for a swing coat and bonnet to fit Peggy Sue.  If you think this looks familiar, you're correct!  Skipper got something similar in the early 1960's.  In fact, my Barbie Dream House is decorated for Christmas now, and Skipper has joined Barbie and Ken to watch them decorate with lights.  What Skipper's coat did not have was chunky red buttons and a bonnet lined in silk.  I don't think the fashions really began to change so much until the mid 1960's.  Full skirts and dresses were still the fashion and I remember my mother swishing around the house in them.  Even June Clever was seen dressed to the nines when ironing and cooking!  But, I digress as usual...

I chose the thinnest cotton velveteen in a bright red for the coat.  This fabric came from the U.K.  I don't know if you've tried purchasing expensive cotton velveteen before, but it can be a variety of thicknesses and only the thinnest works for small dolls.  The coat has then been lined in a fabric called Duchess Silk Satin.  Its thick and luxurious and seemed appropriate for the coat and bonnet.

I was a little hesitant to try attaching a bodice to the circle skirt of the coat, but then I realized how many times I've done something similar with hats and hat bands, and other garments.  Fabric does allow itself to be manipulated.  You just need a good degree of patience.  If I haven't mentioned this in awhile, I'll do so again as a tip to sewing velveteen and lining it as well.  Alternate the direction of your long silk pins when pinning the pieces together.  Its keeps the fabrics from pushing against each other in the feed dog and separating.  I did get a walking foot, but have yet to try using it because I have to read directions and try something new, and we all know how I am with directions.  Hopeless.

But through this all, I managed to make Peggy Sue a fancy and luxurious Christmas coat and bonnet set.  I had to use fine silk ribbon for the ties on the hat because I couldn't find the silk satin ribbon in my stash.  At this time of year, arrivals of orders have slowed down to a near stand still.  I can always redo the ties later, but the thin silk tucks nicely under the pointed collar. 

This, for now, concludes my sewing for the young lady.  I have countless items I've made for her since summer and enjoyed making every single one of them.  And, now I must somehow make them all fit in the aqua display case I bought her several months ago.  

Peggy Sue is packed and ready to travel with her family to her grandparent's home in the country for the holidays.  There will be skating on the pond, a sledge pulled by grandfather's large work horses to ride on, grandmother's wonderful candied ham for Christmas dinner, and best of all, loads of presents under the tree.

I hope you'll enjoy some of the 1950's ephemera shown below.  The first image the bonnet that inspired Peggy Sue's.

Wishing you the best of the season while Christmas approaches!

Melissa

My parents did this!

New image, but so pretty!

 

Gingerbread, Gumdrops and Pear Trees

The holidays are upon us.  The Christmas season is here!  Who's feeling merry and bright today?  No?  Well, maybe these images and story to go with them, will brighten your day!

Its no great secret that I'm a huge fan of Rachel Hoffman's Virtual Doll Convention, and Diana Vining's paper doll illustrations  Today we're in the midst of Rachel's long anticipated Christmas Pageant, and so far it has been wonderful.  And, I'll happily admit that it, alone, is my Christmas party this year.  The one celebration I'm attending, if only virtually, but what a sparkling event!

I get to share the season with people from all over the world, and they've generously shared their childhood stories, photos from Christmases past, and the first dolls they got under the tree  a merry Christmas morning many moons ago.  I, in turn, have been able to share with them, some of costuming I've made these past years, especially for Daisy and the Three L's.

One of the most delightful things to come of the Christmas Pageant, was Diana Vining's interpretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas in paper doll form for Grace Marie Fitzpatrick, the 16" Tonner fashion doll

When I first learned of this, I was a bit disappointed.  I knew Tonner was making a blue eyed Grace called Aspen Grace, and I envisioned Diana doing a paper doll of ski time in Aspen, Colorado for the doll.  Ski outfits, apres ski outfits, party outfits to wear in glorious ski lodges.  You get the picture.  A winter wardrobe I could interpret into costuming for my doll.  Instead, she created an adorable version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, dressing Grace in creatively imaginative costumes whose only theme was the twelve days.  The paper dolls were free to those who registered for the event.  Each day for twelve days leading to the Christmas Pageant, we received one of the paper doll outfits, in consecutive order.  Every morning a surprise would await us in our email!  And, there would be other downloads and stories and videos to be enjoyed as well.

The first paper doll page was of Grace, herself, in a red Christmas onsie, and the second was a gown for Partridge in a Pear tree.  The following outfits would be as lovely as they were entertaining.  It would be wrong of me to share them with you since the proceeds from registration are going to Rachel's mother's favorite charities.  Rachel's mother passed away last spring, and the Christmas Pageant was a memorial for Diane Hoffman, who loved Christmas.

As the paper doll pages continued to arrive, I'd print them out and put them in my VDC scrapbook binder, which, since summer, is bursting with fabulous memories.  I was working on Peggy Sue's Winter Holiday fashions, and well, you know the rest.  I really wasn't sure I'd be doing any of the Twelve days costumes, but as time approached closer to the Pageant, I caved.  I'd just finished a little item I sent to Rachel as a drawing prize, which I'll talk about next, when it struck me that I simply had to do one of them.

Of the Twelve Days outfits, the Partridge in a Pear Tree is the beginning and most memorable of images of the story.  After all, it is repeated the most in the song!  I had but five days to get my act together, and began drafting a pattern for the gown.  I knew I had some emerald green cotton velveteen - so awful to sew on! - and plenty of green silk to line it with.  I was designing the gown in my head as I plowed through my bag of special beads, and pulling out fifty tons of fabrics to get to the velvets in the back.

I thought I had tear drop crystals, but I didn't.  So I spent half a day contacting Etsy sellers to find the one closest to me, the one who would ship a tiny bag of Swarovski crystal beads to me, Priority, for the correct shipping price, and one that would answer my questions right away.  In short, I received the shipment in three days and the seller gifted me two extra 11mm S. crystal beads for the joy of giving. SunshineJazzyJewels is wonderful to work with.  Tell her I sent you!

So I began sewing this column of green velvet lined in silk, in the six panel fitted dress style with a swish to the bottom.  I wasn't sure it was going to work, but sometimes you just have to go for it.  It turned out to be a great canvas on which to embellish.  

The gown's hemline boasts 34, 11mm crystal tear drops, embroidery of three leaves each above the crystal, and three crystal seed beads, one to top each embroidered leaf.  I felt like I was making a gown for a medieval princess.  The boughs of the tree at the shoulder, one large, one small, are made of the same silk of the lining.  The trunk of the tree is a bit of brown moleskin I had left over from my very first Daisy outfit, the indian costume.  Ten more crystal tear drops embellish the boughs with more embroidered leaves and seed beads.  It was on December 3rd that I got up at 7am, and worked five straight hours finishing all the embellishments.  But, I finished.  Just in time for Grace to have something to wear to the Christmas Pageant.

I don't think I've ever worked so quickly!

And, as I mentioned a bit ago, I'd made a drawing gift for Rachel to help boost her sales on the first night.  Putting on an extravaganza such as this costs money.  I hope it worked.

One of the things she was doing to decorate her shop, was building a life size gingerbread house.  When I saw what she was doing, I started getting "gingerbread" under my skin.  All I could think about and look up online were fabulously constructed and decorated gingerbread houses.

Then I came upon a fabulous handbag of one by Mary Frances (company?).  It was adorable!  And, I just had to make one in miniature for Grace.  I knew from the minute I started it that it would have to be given to Rachel so she could use it somehow in the Christmas Pageant.  

Prior to this however, I'd been on Pinterest, saving off and printing out little paper fold up gingerbread houses for Peggy Sue.  I think the practice of doing this helped steer me in the direction of making a pattern to create the handbag from.

Once again I was pulling out my bag of best beads and bags and bags of laces to use for frosting, and thinking and designing as I forged ahead.  Small colored Swarovski crystal beads would make marvelous little gumdrops, and cotton Venise or Cluny lace would be beautiful for decorative frosting.  

The handbag is made the same way I've done regular purses, with a cardboard base covered in cloth.  The canvas of the handbag is brown cotton velveteen.  It is lined with a slightly lighter brown silk. The base is white cotton velveteen for snow.  

The candy canes are white painted toothpicks rolled, or striped!, with 2mm red silk ribbon.  The door is covered in green silk, and the heart on the front is once again, a Swarovski crystal.  I depleted our local Michael's store of their pastel colored S' beads.  They don't carry a huge stock, and what they had was under lock and key.  I use Swarovski faceted beads for their beauty and sparkle.  There just isn't a prettier crystal bead out there.

The lace I finally settled on, which took me two days to decide upon, had to be cut into little pieces.  Snips of this section, snips of that section.  I love working in miniature.  I don't do it very often, but its a riot!  That's why I have so much "crap", as my husband calls it.  I never throw out something tiny that reminds me of something else.  In a bag it goes, and gets stored away somewhere.

The shrubbery is made from blue glass cylinder beads.  I didn't have green, and didn't have time to look, but I did have blue and they worked out just fine.

The handbag opens as a flap from the top, and two tiny round magnets are hidden inside at the edges to close the bag.  

The handle was fun.  Its leather with white leather frosting on top.  Why on earth did I give this away?!  Well, because it had to be done.  I can make another.  Will I?  Maybe, but it would have to be different.  There is no fun in doing the same thing twice.  I've seen a pink frosted gingerbread house that would make a darling handbag.

I had to laugh that Rachel almost seemed to forget to introduce it at the end of her Grace promo for the sales room the opening night of the fourth.  Poor girl.  So much going on.  She really didn't talk about the details, which is okay, but I watched as she hung it on a doll's wrist and began waving her arms around talking about the costume the doll was wearing.  That little bag seemed in jeopardy of flying away!  I held my breath until that part was over. Bless that wonderful woman.  I'm sure she knows by now what an A-Type I am.  One fussy artist too many to deal with.  I can't wait to learn who wins the handbag.  I hope it brings them joy.

Well, I have Christmas cards to write, packages to wrap, and the Christmas Pageant to get back to.  Thank goodness you can view the presentations after the fact.  I've already shopped the virtual sales floor and really need to rein it in.  I'm such a passionate collector!

I hope you'll enjoy the images below that Diana Vining drew, some fabulous gingerbread houses, and images from treasured books of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I'll be back.  Peggy Sue needs her final Christmas Day dress.

In joy, and sending you the same,

Melissa

I bought this as a treat just to hang on the wall!

Angel Dominguez's Three French Hens

Just ordered a used copy of Angel Dominguez's version from the U.K.

A Radko Tree - Wish it were mine!

Franklin Mint Rockette holding bag.